The Beloved Disciple
Page 16
In the midst of constant discoveries, modern science hasn't even begun to discover the true wonder of God's universe. Yet even when I consider what they do know, I am overwhelmed with David's same question: who are we, God of all creation, that You would give a single thought to us? Let alone a mindful.
Amanda was one of the dreamiest and most tenderhearted toddlers you can imagine. I often stooped down to talk to her so that I could look her right in those big blue-green eyes. Every time I squatted down to talk to her, she squatted down, too, ... and there we'd be. The gesture was so precious I always had to fight the urge to laugh. I dared not because she was often very serious about those contemplative moments between the two of us.
Of his God, the psalmist wrote, "Your right hand sustains me; / you stoop down to make me great" (Ps. 18:35). The Amplified Version says it this way: "Your gentleness and condescension have made me great." I don't think the Scripture applies to us in the modern world's terms of greatness. I think it says of us, "You stoop down and make me significant." Yes, indeed. And when the God of all the universe stoops down and a single child recognizes the tender condescension and bends her knee to stoop as well, the heart of God surges with unbridled emotion. And there they are. Just the two of them.
As you conclude this chapter, please read aloud and thoughtfully John 1:10-12 with all this in mind. Much of the world carries on as if their Creator does not exist. Oh, but He does. Bow down, dear children of God. His love has made you great.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:10-12)
Chapter 25
MORE OF WHO HE IS
`I tell you the truth, "Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58)
Much of the lost population and unbelieving world religions attempt a show of respect by claiming that while they don't believe Jesus Christ was the Son of God, they certainly esteem Him as a good man. A true prophet. They don't realize that their summation of this historical figure reveals they are decidedly ill-informed. If Jesus is not the Son of God and indeed deity, He was either a pathological liar or mentally ill. If at best Christ was a prophet, then He had to be a false prophet because He unabashedly claimed Messiahship. In reality, if the Christ that walked among men two millennia ago was not God's Son, then He grossly misled people, and nothing good is left to say about Him.
For years I've been aware of a group of scholars who meet annually to discuss and debate matters of Scripture. Of course, that is their right. The part that baffles and even somewhat amuses me is that they come to their final conclusions by popular vote. For example, they once voted on whether or not Christ would visibly return to earth in a second coming. (They voted it down.) They have also voted on matters such as whether Mary was really a virgin and the validity of certain biblically professed miracles.
If they weren't people of influence, I would laugh my head off Why? Because the vote of humans, no matter how arrogant, couldn't change truth an iota if our lives depended on it! If the world population took a vote as to whether Jesus is the Son of God and not a single ballot was cast in His favor, He'd still be the Son of God. Furthermore, when His Father says "Go!" Christ's feet will touch the Mount of Olives, and it will split from east to west (tech. 14:4). He doesn't need our permission or even our faith to be who He is. Aren't you thankful?
We are going to examine seven claims Christ made in the Gospel of John about who He is. These seven titles are by no means the totality of His claims. They simply share several common denominators in John's Gospel that we don't want to miss. As we continue with our theme of "more," we will find that the Gospel of John tells us more about the self-proclaimed identity of Christ than the others.
Note Christ's claims of identity in the following Scriptures. No matter how many times you've seen these tides, I pray you will approach them with freshness.
· Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35).
· When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).
· Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture" (John 10:7-9).
· "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).
· "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies" (John 11:25).
· "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
· "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
In fairly rapid succession Christ made a point of defining Himself a perfect seven times. I see three basic common denominators in these seven tides. Consider each with me:
1. All seven titles are preceded by "I am." Of course, to make any sense, they must, but I want you to consider the impact of these two words when emitted from the mouth of Jesus the Messiah. Take a good look at John 8:48-59. This passage is so important that I'm providing all of it for you:
The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?"
"I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."
At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"
Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
Galatians indicates one way Abraham "saw" Christ's day. "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Gal. 3:6). Paul went on to explain that those of us who have the faith of Abraham are blessed and justified as he was.
Through Abraham's harrowing experience in Genesis 22 when God spared Isaac's life through a sacrificial offering, God preached the gospel in advance to Abraham! Now meditate on the power-packed claim of Christ in John 8:58: "`I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, `before Abraham was born, I am!"'
Jesus' original hearers reacted so violently because they knew exactly what Christ was implying. They wanted to stone Him for blasphemy because they understood the association of His reference to God's introduction to Moses in Exodus 3:12-15. In verse 15 God told Moses, "Say to the Israelites, `The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." God introduced Himself once and forever as the great I AM.
God stated one of His primary points to Moses in verse 12: "I will be with you." This great I AM WHO I AM (v. 14), the completely self-sufficient, self-existent God of all creation, introduced Hims
elf by this title in context with the promise to be with man. He did not need them. Rather, they needed Him, and He came in response to that need.
Later in this chapter we will develop the concept further. For now, you can safely conclude that the Jews listening to Christ in John 8 knew exactly what Christ meant by His "I am!" statement. He was identifying Himself as God. Dear ones, we must consider His claims as well. Either Jesus came as the incarnate God, or He is a liar. He cannot be anything in between. You and I say we believe Christ's words to be truth, and if we do, He is worthy of our most profound worship and "followship."
Before we conclude this point, we must take notice of John 18:6. After Judas betrayed Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, the gathered mob of priests and soldiers asked Jesus' identity. Christ responded, "I am he," and the entire troop fell backward to the ground.
I believe the reason they collapsed before the Son of God is intimated in the original language where the Greek word for he is conspicuously missing. The Interlinear Bible even translates Christ's words like this: "Then when He said to them, I AM, they departed into the rear and fell to the ground" (The Interlinear Bible, p. 837).
You see, the rest of us could say, "I am . . . ," and it would mean nothing more than a common identification. When Christ says the words I am, they are falling from the lips of Him who is the Great I AM!
2. The word the is included in each tide. If you go back and read each of the seven "I am" titles in John, you will find in every case Jesus said, "I am the" rather than "I am a."
The issue may seem elementary scholastically, but nothing could be more profound theologically. For just a moment forget everyone else in the body of Christ and just think about your own approach to Jesus Christ. Is He a light to you, or the Light? Is He a way for you to follow-perhaps here and there in life-or is He the way you want to go? Is He a means to the afterlife in your opinion? In other words, deep down inside do you think that several world religions probably offer a viable way to life after death and Jesus is but one of them? Or is He the resurrection and the life? Be as honest as possible in your response to the following question: Beloved, is Christ an a among several other possibilities in this life to you or is He your THE?
3. Each of Christ's seven "I Am" statements in John's Gospel is relational! If you look again at all seven tides but look for how each tide is associated with people, you will discover a blessing:
· John 6:35-He who comes to the Bread of Life will never go hungry.
· John 8:12-She who follows the Light of the world will never walk in darkness.
· John 10:7-9-Whoever enters through the Gate to the Sheep will be saved.
· John 10:11-14-He who belongs to the Good Shepherd receives protection and is known by the Shepherd.
· John 11:25-She who believes in the Resurrection and the Life will live, even though she dies.
· John 14:6-Whoever follows the Way and the Truth and the Life comes to the Father.
· John 15:1, 5-He who remains in the True Vine will bear much fruit.
Christ is many things. He is truly the Great I AM. He is the Savior of the world. He fulfills numerous tides in the Word of God, but I believe the spiritual implication of the seven "I am" sayings in the broad approach of John's Gospel is this: Jesus Christ is everything we need. Every one of these tides is for us! Remember, He is the self-sufficient One! He came to be what we need. And not just what we need, but what we desire most in all of life. The I AM came to be with us. I could weep with joy!
We will never have a challenge He can't empower us to meet. We will never have a need He can't fill. We will never have an earthly desire He can't exceed. When we allow Christ to be all He is to us, we find wholeness. One piece at a time. Every time you discover the reality of Christ fulfilling another realm of your needs and longings, His name is written on a different part of you, and you are that much closer to wholeness.
Do you see, dear one, that Christ is everything? Oh, the blessed simplicity of the pursuit and love of Jesus! "One thing have I desired .... that will I seek after"! (Ps. 27:4 KJV). In our harried times, isn't the thought of becoming a "one thing" person refreshing and freeing? In one Savior we discover all things! As the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:3, we must never allow Satan to corrupt us from the simplicity that is in Christ. Our Jesus is everything. That will never change no matter how man casts his vote.
Part 6
LIFE MORE
ABUNDANTLY
I can hardly believe we have arrived at the midpoint of our present journey together. Let's recommit to see this path to its final destination and allow God to accomplish everything He purposed when we turned the first page.
I commit to you this moment that I will not slack off in my pursuit of God, my research, or my enthusiasm. I hope you'll commit not to allow the enemy to distract or discourage you from finishing. Lord, You began a good work in us. You have nothing less in mind for each of us than inconceivable riches in Christ Jesus. We don't want to miss them! Empower us to complete what we've started and reap every reward You graciously desire to grant us for seeking You (Heb. 11:6). Give us ears to hear and eyes to see! In the glorious name of Jesus, Amen.
26
MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)
The concepts of more and abundance are tucked like priceless treasures in John's Gospel. One of our first goals was to highlight what John seemed to want us to know most. Again, our point is not that John's Gospel is superior to the synoptics but that it is distinct. It also appears last in order, suggesting that God may have intended it to be like the grand finale at the conclusion of a spectacular fireworks display. The Light of the world!
Without exception, John's Gospel equips us with more information about the Holy Spirit than any of the synoptics. The Holy Spirit is the focus of our study in this chapter. I wish somehow I could write the next statement in neon lights upon this page to catch the eye of every reader: The Holy Spirit is the key to everything in the life of the believer in Christ! Read that statement out loud! I have testified many times to my defeated Christian life through my teenage years and early twenties, even though I rarely missed a church service or activity. I take full responsibility for my own defeat because I could have read for myself what the churches I attended at those times did not teach me.
I received many wonderful treasures from the churches of my youth, but I did not learn two of the most vital keys to a victorious life: how to have an ongoing, vibrant relationship with God through His Word and how to be filled with the power and life of the Holy Spirit. Both of these are vital concepts that the enemy does everything he can to make us miss. The Word and the Holy Spirit are by far his biggest threats. I don't think John would mind if his contemporary, Paul, launched our study today with an explanation.
First Corinthians 2:9-14 explains why the Holy Spirit is so vital in a relationship with God through His Word:
As it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"-
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Beloved, I hope you didn't miss th
at your own personal "1 Corinthians 2:9" is at stake in whether or not you start reaping the benefits the Holy Spirit came to bring you. Now we'll let John tell us what many of those benefits and activities are. John's primary truths on the Holy Spirit are compacted in chapters 14 and 16 of his Gospel.
One of the most revolutionary truths Christ told His disciples is in John 14:17. He told them that the Spirit of Truth at that time was living with them but would soon be in them. Think about the repercussions of that promise. What difference could the Spirit of God make living in a person as opposed to with a person?
Beloved, that very difference turned a band of fumbling fleshly followers into sticks of spiritual dynamite that exploded victoriously on the world scene in the Book of Acts. The difference is enormous! Impossible to overestimate!
Jesus told how this dispensation of the Holy Spirit would begin: "I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7).
The fulfillment of Christ's critical promise to His disciples came to them in John 20:21-22. The resurrected Jesus breathed on the disciples and told them to "receive the Holy Spirit." He then filled them in a far more powerful expression at Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4. These glorious events unleashed a new revolutionary economy of the Holy Spirit for the "Church Age" and onward until the return of Christ.
The Holy Spirit now indwells every person who receives Christ as his or her personal Savior (Rom. 8:9). Oh, that we would absorb the magnitude of that spiritual revolution! Dear believer in Christ, the Spirit of the living God-the Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself, the Spirit of Truth-dwells inside of you! Have we heard these concepts so long that we've grown calloused to them?
Luke 11:13 suggests that no greater gift exists for God to give His children than the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Not only does God give the spirit, John 3:34 tells us that He "gives the Spirit without limit."