Josh Benner

Tag: gospel

  • Sermon: The Butterfly Effect – 2 Corinthians 3:18

    And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    Prayer: Father in heaven, let those of us who know Christ set are minds on things that are above. Let us put an end to areas of sin. May we be a people who love you and who’s first desire is to know you better. Pray that your grace can be communicated to all of us. Remind us of the great forgiveness which you offer to all people. Let us approach you this day. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

    Intro

    When I was in college, I had this pair of jeans that I loved. Every time, I put these jeans on, magic was in the air. Every time I put these jeans on, you could almost hear the angels sinning. 

    Every time I put these jeans on, I looked so good, that the girls on campus were too intimidated to even talk to me. Having such a perfectly good fitting pair of jeans was a joy that most people have never even known. But over time, the jeans began to develop a hole in them. At first, I ignored the hole. But eventually the hole got worse and worse until I eventually had to make the hardest decision I had ever had to make. What do I do with these jeans? I didn’t want to throw them away. So I thought about it. And then I got the idea to use safety pins to try to pin the hole shut. But I wanted to do a good job. So I used like a lot of safety pins. Pinned the jeans closed. Put them on. I thought “I am so smart.” Later that evening, I was going to an event and a friend came to pickle up. I sat down in the car. And the moment I sat down, ripped right open. We were still waiting on someone else to get to the car so I had a moment to think. Options were running through my head. I’m thinking “can I go like this? I can’t go like this.” 

    So I get out of the car and start walking back to my fraternity house. But as I’m walking, I’m getting poked by the safety pins. And no matter what I do, as I’m walking, I’m getting poked. It kind of felt like, imagine that you’re walking with a porcupine between your legs that’s attacking you. I tell you that story for this reason. You can have something that you really love, but that you need to let go of. Because holding onto it will cause you a lot of pain. 

    We’re continuing our series: the Forensics of Faith this morning.

    Last week, we talked about regeneration. That’s being born again. It’s God giving us new Spiritual life. This week, we talk about sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being made holy once someone has come to faith.  

    Regeneration happens once. Sanctification happens throughout life. When we are regenerated, we are given a new Spiritual disposition and volition to follow God. Sanctification is a lifetime of fruit of that work of regeneration. 

    Sanctification must be accompanied by regeneration. Because we cannot be sanctified without the means of the Spirit and we don’t have the Spirit without the new life which is found in Christ. 

    And the main idea from our text this morning is that God makes the unholy holy.

    And we have two points today: who is sanctified and how we are sanctified. 

    I. First, Who is sanctified. 

    The text says: And we all, who with unveiled faces

    I think that it helps to give some background. When Paul talks about our faces being unveiled. It’s referring to Exodus 34. In that chapter, Moses is given commands from God and Moses is in the presence of the Lord. As a result of this experience, Moses’ face becomes illuminated. 

    Moses’ face is radiantly glowing and the Israelites are afraid of this. You might be thinking “that’s crazy, I wouldn’t be afraid.” Yeah ya would. Half of us can’t handle seeing a spider, I’m pretty sure a man with a glowing radiant face would be a bit disconcerting.  

    So Moses would put the veil to preach to the people but when he was finished preaching, he would put the veil back on.

    But the text in Exodus also tells us that when Moses would go to speak to the Lord, he would take the veil off. And so our verse this morning is saying that all believers are now able to approach God as Moses did, with unveiled faces. 2 Corinthians 3:16 says that when a person turns to God, the veil is removed. 

    We have the great benefit of all being able to approach the Lord. We have that privilege because of the work of Christ.

    God grants us access to himself. God isn’t distant from us.

    If you’re a private in the military and you need to talk to someone, you don’t go directly to the general. You follow the chain of command.

    If you work for a large company and have an issue, you don’t go directly to the CEO, you go to your supervisor. There’s a chain of command.

    God isn’t distant. He’s not too busy with other things. We have access to him. Something that is so utterly profound and wondrous that we oftentimes don’t even stop to question what a glorious privilege that is.  

    We don’t have this great wall of separation between us and God, because of what Jesus has done for us. Jesus has enabled us to enter the presence of the Lord.  

    It’s true of all Christians and it is only true of Christians. Because we are sanctified through the Holy Spirit. It is given to all who have faith in the gospel. Which is why I make this point often. But a true and sincere faith necessarily results in a changed life. Because it’s not us who are making ourselves Holy. It’s the Holy Spirit who is making us holy.

    II. How we are sanctified  

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    18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    That’s profound. We who contemplate the glory of the Lord, who behold the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image.

    The means through which the Lord sanctifies us are the pillars of Christianity that I talk about so often. God sanctifies us through knowing his Word.

    2 Timothy 3:16 says All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 

    To know God’s word is to begin to know God. To know how he has revealed himself. To know what the Bible says about God, what it says about us, and what is says about his salvation in our lives. Without the Word, we are just guessing and inventing our own theology and our own God. But the Word points us to God and to truth. 

    Jesus prayed to God in John 17:17 “sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” 

    We are sanctified by God by being connected and involved in our church and through fellowship. 

    Hebrews 10:24: let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

    Real fellowship and community sanctifies us. 

    Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. 

    And those are just a couple of examples. That list is not exhaustive. 

    A lot of the pillars of faith are the same means through which we grow and through which God sanctifies us. As well as things like prayer and service. 

    But the source of the sanctification is the Spirit. And it is through this daily focus and commitment to God that God sanctifies us.

    Imagine how different life is for the person who is wholly devoted to these things. Not going through the motions, not doing things out of obligation, not making excuses to procrastinate with pursuing God, but sincere daily devotion to communion with the Almighty. 

    God does amazing things. He transforms. He sanctifies. He makes the unholy holy.  

    He’s working in the hearts of his people.

    God had made man good. And humanity fell into sin. But through Jesus, who has redeemed everyone who trusts in him, God is doing a work of restoration.

    Illustration – art 

    In 1505, the great Renaissance painter Raphael painted his Madonna del Cardellino which depicted Mary with the two babies: Jesus and John the Baptist.

    Forty years later, an earthquake hit Florence and the masterpiece fell to the ground and was shattered into 17 pieces. In an effort to restore the painting, another artist used iron nails and tried to put the painting back together. He then used paint to try to cover up seams. Over yeas, other attempts were made. And other dust and debris accumulated on the painting.

    In modern times, there was a new effort to restore the painting. Over ten years, 50 artists worked to restore the Madonna del Cardellino. They carefully got rid of added layers of paint. The restored the cracks and creases.

    What had been a beautiful design had been tarnished. It was obscured. It was inglorious. But the skilled artist was able to restore the painting to its original vibrancy and luster. Was able to restore it to what it had always been intended to be.

    That’s what God does in us as we are sanctified through His Spirit.

    He sanctifies us differently though. He sanctifies us in different ways at different times. 

    When we place faith in Christ, while we are forgiven of all of our sins, that doesn’t mean all of those sins become immediately easily manageable.

    In coming to faith, there might be things that quickly fall away, while other sins linger. You might become a Christian and know certain things are sinful while with other areas, it doesn’t even occur to you.

    Maybe you’ve been walking with Jesus for a couple years and you just feel this tug at your heart from the Holy Spirit. Saying the language you use isn’t honoring to God. Or maybe you’ve heard multiple sermons that address the subject of giving, and you’ve never given it a second thought. And then one day, you feel moved to greater generosity.

    Maybe you struggle with control issues. Always have. Never even thought of it as sin. It’s just been second nature to you for as long as you can remember. But maybe little by little, it becomes revealed to you that it’s an area where you need work.

    Or maybe God is working on something else in your heart right now. Again, he sanctifies us differently.

    One person might have a greater degree of sanctification in a certain area over someone else. Something that’s a sign of Christian maturity might come more naturally, while your struggle comes easier for the person sitting next to you.

    (slow)

    Sometimes an area where God sanctifies us can be dramatic. Almost overnight. Maybe that happened when you first became a Christian with some things. Maybe you immediately realized that it was a sin.

    Being more or less sanctified doesn’t mean a person is more or less saved or more or less right with God, because the entire process presupposes a person has faith, and it is that faith that saves. It is from God, so we must be aware that it is his work in us and not to use what God is doing as an excuse for boasting or pridefulness over someone who isn’t as far along on the journey. 

    It’s not that we are sanctifying ourselves, but we are enabled to participate in our own sanctification. How exactly that works contains an element of mystery. But an important part of that is obedience. Not obedience to trust in your salvation. But valuing the righteousness of God and saying yes to that.

    Sanctification is never complete in us, this side of heaven. Heaven is a place without sin. And we will be fully sanctified in God’s presence. But between now and then, God is working in us. He is changing us. Where are the areas in your life right now where God is working?

    What are the things that are holding you back? What are your jeans that you can’t bring yourself to throw away? Pursue God today. Pursue his will and his ways. Live for him. Again we don’t sanctify ourselves. But we do participate in our sanctification. And if there’s something in your life today where the Holy Spirit is convicting you. If there’s something in your heart that you know you shouldn’t be doing. I know it can sometimes be hard to throw those things away.

    But God is always better. His gospel is always sweeter. And in turning from sin, it is meant for your own good and for your own joy.

    I’ve given examples of means which God uses to sanctify us. But as we continue in this verse, I think that everything largely boils down to one thing.

    We all, with unveiled faces, who contemplate the Lord’s glory.  

    We contemplate the Lord’s glory, we behold the Lord’s glory, we focus on the Lord’s glory. In all of these things that we do in order to pursue a relationship with God, there is to be a focus on God, a mindfulness of God, an acknowledgement of the Lord’s glory.  

    There is something wonderful about keeping our eyes on God.

    It’s hard to have deep fellowship with the Lord, and to take great joy in him when we are actively engaging in sin.

    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” 

    Of course we are free to approach him when we sin. But that mentality to approach him assumes a desire to have a change in the heart. We can’t have a mind, completely focused on the glorious God of the universe in a moment when we are also willingly rebelling against his will. 

    It’s not him, it’s us. It’s not that he is unwilling to forgive or be gracious.

    It’s so hard when we fall into a particularly bad area of sin in our lives. It can be difficult to want to turn to God in the midst of our struggles. Rather we want to hide from him. We sew fig leaves together and pretend he doesn’t see.

    But continually contemplating God is transforming. 

    The word translated as “transform” in this passage is metamorph-oumetha, from which we get our word metamorphosis. I think that makes the idea more tangible. It’s a metamorphosis that’s happening. God is totally changing us. 

    We all learned about this in school with butterflies.

    It starts out as an egg and then hatches.

    The larva of a butterfly is a caterpillar and it grows.

    Then it has the stage as a pupa where it’s in a chrysalis, which lasts several weeks, and in that span, the caterpillar is undergoing a dramatic change as it emerges as a butterfly. 

    That’s what happens to us when God comes into our lives. We totally change. You might be a caterpillar today, but God is making you a butterfly.  

    We’ve seen it in the lives of others. For those of us who are in Christ, we have experienced it in our own lives. 

    Maybe you can think of an area that you used to struggle with, and that now, isn’t something you even really think about or miss. The goodness of God in sanctifying us. In not keeping us the same.

    We see people who are full of anger become soft. We see people who are selfish become servants,  people who are apathetic become empathetic. People who walk in fear begin to walk in faith. The power of the gospel in transforming souls.

    We see it in the Bible itself, amazing things happening in the lives of God’s people.

    There is a transformation in the life of Paul, the author of our book this morning. He has been a persecutor of Christians but Jesus was dramatically revealed to him in the book of Acts. 

    Paul went on to be the greatest missionary who had ever lived, writing this book and 12 others in the New Testament.

    Sanctification points us to the power of the gospel like few other things. 

    People who are dead in their sin are made new. First God saves us, and he frees us from the penalty of sin. And in. his. goodness, he is working a metamorphosis in our lives. The change isn’t a punishment; it’s an act of grace. We all have issues, and things we wished were different. God purges the things from our lives. 

    Hoarders

    There’s this show I’ve seen before called Hoarders. 

    It’s a show about pack rats on steroids. They save everything.  

    Imagine sin being like that. We’ve got all this junk, but God is the master-organizer. Little by little, he’s taking things away. We’ve got so much excess, that sometimes he takes boxes away, and we don’t even notice it’s gone. 

    Say that you come to faith, and you have 20 things that are real issues for you. You swear like a sailor, you drink like a fish. You root for the Packers. But God chips away at our areas of sin. 

    You’re forgiven, but all of those struggles aren’t going to go away instantly. Over time, we are becoming more holy. 

    Often times, there is a lot of growth when we first come to faith. That can be a really exciting time. Or maybe there’s been another period where your relationship with God seemed more palpable. Maybe when one of your kids was born. 

     But it’s not the same now. 

    It doesn’t have to be like that forever. But it’s hard for that to improve out of nowhere. We need to focus on God. With unveiled faces, we need to contemplate the glory of God. Is there anything more important that you could think about than this? 

    You might casually think, “Well yeah, God is glorious, I get it, so what.” 

    He is the most glorious thing in the universe! He is the ruler and sustainer of the universe, the creator of the universe, of all things visible and invisible, the holy God. In every quality which can be ascribed to him, he possesses it in its superlative degree. He isn’t just a king, but the king of kings, not just a Lord but the Lord of Lords. 

    May we all have minds utterly enamored by the wonder of God.

    Like I’ve said, God sanctifies us. We don’t transform ourselves, we don’t transform our own hearts. But in participating in our sanctification, we can actively pursue God. 

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    Philippians 1:6 says, “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” 

    God is sanctifying, he is working. 

    It ebbs and flows. Sometimes, it can be like we are going two steps forward and one step backward. But God is transforming us. 

    The text says that it is with ever increasing glory. The ESV translation says “from one degree of glory to another.” Literally it’s saying we are being transformed from glory to glory. God has transformed us into his glorious image to one point today, but it’ll be at another place in five years. It’ll be at another place in ten years. 

    (slow)

    We are being transformed into the image of Christ. We are being transformed into a greater resemblance of his character.

    And the fact that we are progressively being changed into the likeness of God should give us hope. We aren’t where we will be, but we’re better than we were. It gives us the hope of what the gospel promises. Of the work that God will do in someone who is walking in faith.

    It should give us hope that for areas where we have seen defeat throughout our lives, God is still at work, we are not done. The sculptor keeps chipping away at the hard block of stone to reveal a wondrous creation. Who you are now is not who you always have to be.

    We undermine the power of the gospel when we think a person can’t change. People are being introduced to God everyday. Addictions are being broken everyday. Broken marriages are being reconciled everyday. Don’t forget the power of God and what he can do. Don’t forget what he has done in your life, what he can do in your life, and what he can do in the lives of others.

    I’m a huge fan of the musical Les Miserables. I’ve always been struck by the relationship between Jean Valjean and Javert. Valjean, the protagonist, spends several years of his life in prison. Javert is a policemen. Valjean goes on to be an honest man, but Javert keeps recurring throughout his life. For Javert, despite the fact that Valjean is an honorable man, he is, and always will be, a criminal. He is so focused on what Valjean has done, that he is blind to the changes in his life.

    But God transforms. Whatever it is you’re struggling with, God has pulled people up from greater darkness, from lower places.

    We are being transformed with ever-increasing glory

    The verse includes with Which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    We are sanctified by God the father through the Holy Spirit.

    If you study the whole passage we’re in this morning: 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, Paul was referring back to Moses and the blessings from God during the time of Moses. But Paul is saying that this is a new era, this new covenant is even greater than what they had in the time of Moses. Now we have the Holy Spirit which has been given to the faithful. The Spirit enables us to understand God’s word, convicts of sin, equips us with various Spiritual gifts, and many other things.

    It says that we are being transformed from the Lord, who is the Spirit. The point here is that the new covenant, after the time of Christ is being experienced in believers through the Spirit. We are sanctified by God the father, and also through the Holy Spirit.

    Conclusion

    The gospel is the power of God for our salvation.

    As we close this morning, two stories of redemption come to mind.

    John Newton was a debauchorous and hedonistic sailor in the 18th century. In his twenties, he was on a ship that was caught in the middle of a tremendous storm. It was a monumental event in his life and was a catalyst in the process of his finding faith.

    But Newton went on to be a slave trader. Epilepsy took him away from sailing a few years later. He began to more fervently study God’s scriptures. He would go on to serve as a pastor in England for more than 40 years. 

    The fact that Newton had been a slave trader would become a source of regret in his life, and he became an avid abolitionist in England. He also wrote the most famous hymn ever penned in the English language, Amazing Grace.

    A second story comes to mind:

    Kelly Gissandaner was executed in Georgia in September of 2015. In 1997, while having an affair, Gissendaner convinced her boyfriend to murder her husband. On death row, Gissendaner found faith, took up the study of theology, and became a mentor and Spiritual role model to other women in the prison. She went from being a woman full of hatred to having a metamorphosis that can only come from God.  

    God can lift you up from whatever you’ve done. Anyone who comes to him in true faith, God forgives.

    In the moments leading up to her death, as the drugs were being administered, Gissendaner could be heard singing those words of John Newton, “amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, yet now I see.” 

    The power of God in the gospels shows us Jesus healing lepers, feeding thousands, walking on water, and conquering death. It takes sinful people in their separation from God and makes them God’s people.

    Surely it can take a hateful person and make them loving. Surely the gospel can take a criminal and make them remorseful. We must not think that a person is undeserving of grace. None of us truly deserves it. But no sin is so great, no person is so sinful that the cross of Christ is incapable of forgiving it. 

  • Sermon: Walking on Water – John 6:16-21

     16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 

           Prayer 

    Our heavenly Father, 

    On this father’s day, I do want to pray for the dads in our church. No matter how young or old a father is, they have opportunities to bless, to love, and to share wisdom with their kids. It is a sacred role which you have created. 

    Lord, it is a day that can mean different things to different people. Some of us no longer have our father’s with us. Some of us might have had difficult relationships with our fathers. We thank you for the men in our lives who influenced us and helped shape us into the people we’ve become. 

    And with all of their greatnesses and imperfections, Lord may our earthly fathers point us to you, our true and perfect heavenly father. 

    You rule and reign with sovereign authority. 

    You know our needs better than we do. 

    You know the number of hairs on our heads. A sparrow does not fall without your knowledge. That is your exhaustive knowledge of our world. 

    You know the situations of our past, our present, and future. 

    Lord, you are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

    In the stressful times, instead of trying to control situations, manipulate situations, worry about situations, grumble about situations, may we instead turn to you and trust in you. 

    In times of uncertainty, may we be certain of your goodness. In times of suffering, may we rejoice knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts. 

    Lord, may we trust that there is nothing in our lives, no matter how big or small which falls outside of your sovereign will. May we remember that you are eternal and eternally faithful to your promises and Word and that you never leave us nor forsake us. 

    Lord, in the frightening times of life, may we draw near to you not run from you. 

    Lord, please bless our time as we study your Word. 

    May we again be reminded of your gospel and rejoice in your Son who has come into the world so that we can be forgiven of our sins. 

    In Jesus’ name, Amen.

           Series context  

    We’re continuing in the Gospel of John this morning. Last week, we looked at Jesus feeding the multitudes. 

    This week, we look at the story of his disciples being caught in a storm and Jesus walking on water. It’s another one of his greatest hits and best known and loved stories in the gospels. 

    This event is recorded in three of the gospels. Matthew, Mark, and here in John. In all three of those gospels, it appears directly after Jesus feeds the multitudes. 

    John’s version of the story is the shortest by a significant margin. Matthew’s account is more than twice as long as John’s, but that makes the account no less important.  

    Also, I should mention that a good exercise to do sometimes when reading a story that’s recounted in more than one gospel is to look at the stories and see what one writer emphasizes more or less than another.

    Before we jump into our passage, I just wanted to make one more comment. Last week, we talked about how John chapters 6-8 echo a number of themes found in the Exodus. We’ll see that again in our passage this week. 

    Last week, we saw it in the time of year. It’s Passover, the same time of year when the Israelites had been freed. When Jesus feeds the multitudes, it alludes to the Lord providing manna during the Exodus journey. 

    In Jesus walking on water, it echoes the crossing of the Red Sea. In the preceding passage, the current passage, and next week’s passage, John continues orienting the geography of these events around the Sea. And that will be especially relevant today. 

    So we’ll jump in and this week we will again look at this passage in three scenes. A setting, a conflict, and a resolution. 

     First scene – Setting

    After the feeding of the multitudes, last week’s passage concluded by telling us that Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself (John 6:15). 

    Just as Moses has gone up to Mount Sinai alone, Jesus departs from the multitude of people to be by himself on the mountain. 

    Verses 16-17: When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 

    So there’s a shift in time of day.  It’s now evening. 

    And so the disciples go down to the sea. Last week’s passage told us that they were next to the Sea of Galilee. 

    Now, when I hear that something is called a “sea,” I tend to think that it’s a small ocean. But the Sea of Galilee here is actually a large lake. Not impossibly large. If the Sea of Galilee were in America, it would be the 80th largest lake in America. 

    The important thing about this lake isn’t the size but it’s geography. It’s more than 650 feet below sea level, but you have hills and mountains around the lake and so it can be susceptible to severe weather as cold air coming from over the mountains mixes with the warm air over the lake. 

    Verse 17 tells us that the disciples get into a boat and start heading for Capernaum. It’s probably about five miles away from where they are. 

    John  also mentions that it’s dark. Solidifying the mood of the story. He’s already said it’s evening and now he mentions darkness. 

    Light and darkness continues to be an important theme woven throughout John’s Gospel. Yes, it’s dark, literally, but it’s also dark in the sense that they do not have the light of Jesus with them. It’s one of the few places in this gospel where there’s a temporary absence from Jesus in the story. 

    Second scene – we see the conflict 

    Verse 18 into 19: The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles

    The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 

    It can be easy to just glance at that clause and keep on reading. That’s a very brief description but they were in a precarious situation. They’ve gone about three and a half miles. 

    Based on the other gospel accounts, we know that it’s about 3 in the morning. Keep in mind that some of the disciples were professional fisherman. They knew how to sail a boat. The trip should have taken an hour or two. 

    But they get caught up in poor weather. It’s night, it’s dark, waves on the Sea of Galilee can be fierce in poor weather. They’re undoubtedly getting exhausted as they struggle with this storm. 

    It would be a frightening situation. But then Jesus enters the story. 

    Third scene – we see the resolution 

    Verses 19-20: they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

    The disciples see Jesus walking to them and they are frightened. None of the gospels mention that the disciples were actually fearful of the weather. 

    All three gospel accounts mention that the disciples were frightened when they saw Jesus walking on water. 

    Matthew 14:26: when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.

    They’re fearful because they don’t realize it’s Jesus. 

    In ancient thought, the sea was often thought as being an unfriendly and hostile environment.

    For some in the Greco-Roman world, they thought that if you drowned, you could not go to heaven and that your soul was lost. For the disciples, they might have thought that Jesus was an unfriendly spirit coming for them. 

    But instead, it’s Jesus. In the disciple’s time of need, Jesus shows up. He’s Lord even in the storms. He’s Lord even when a situation seems hopeless. He’s Lord even when we’re afraid. 

    Jesus sees the disciples struggling in this storm from several miles away. He walks out in this storm with waves crashing down on him and walks out to the boat with his disciples. 

    This is an allusion to a few events in the Old Testament. 

    It’s an allusion to creation. 

    Genesis 1:2:  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 

    Jesus is the Lord who was in the beginning and who made all things. In both creation and this miracle, we see the dominion of the Lord over the water. 

    As I referenced in the beginning, we again see allusions to the Exodus in this event. 

    In Exodus, God had worked miracle after miracle to free the Israelites. He had brought plagues upon the Egyptians. He had displayed his righteous judgment upon Egypt for their treatment of the Israelites and refusal to release them. 

    But as a final step before entering into the wilderness, the Israelites were confronted by the Red Sea with the Egyptian army following behind them. 

    Did they trust in the Lord? Did they look at how far God had already brought them? 


    Exodus 14:10: When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.

    The people question why they’ve been brought into the desert to die and talk about how things hadn’t been so bad in Egypt. 

    Their minds go to absurd places. Moses responds. From Exodus 14:13:  And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.” 

    What happens next is one of the best-known events in the Bible. Through the mediation of Moses, God parts the waters of the Red Sea and enables the Israelites to pass through on dry ground and to escape their Egyptian persecutors. 

    For the disciples, in their time of need, it is Jesus who comes to their rescue. Not by walking through the sea but by walking on the sea. Again. Remember the time of year. It’s Passover and here you have Jesus walking on water to come to the rescue of his disciples. 

    And if you read chapter 6 in one sitting, John keeps orienting the story with its proximity to the Sea. He keeps bringing it back into the story for emphasis. 

    And the similarities to Passover do not end there. To quote again from Exodus 14:13: Moses had said to the Israelites Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord

    Jesus similarly tells the disciples not to fear. 

    Verse 20: 

     But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

    Don’t be afraid. In the Exodus, Moses was able to tell the Israelites not to fear because of the Lord who was bringing salvation. Jesus can definitively say not to fear because he IS the Lord who brings salvation. 

    Where he says “It is I,” we lose the meaning in translation. Literally what Jesus says in Greek is “I am, do not be afraid.” 

    In the following section, Jesus will give the first of what are known as the “I am” statements which are statements Jesus makes which further disclose his Messianic identity. 

    It’s possible that his point is simply to say “it’s me, don’t be afraid.” In the Greek, that’s possible. And perhaps the disciples didn’t catch the reference in the moment. 

    But given all of the allusion back to the Exodus, I believe Jesus’ “I am” statement is again referring back to the Old Testament. 

    In Exodus, when God first appears to Moses and tells Moses that he has been chosen to lead the Israelites out of slavery, Moses asks God to reveal his name and the Lord says to Moses in Exodus 3:14: “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

    What does that mean? 

    I am. 

    That’s been debated since before the time of Christ. 

    In part, it speaks to God’s self-existence. That God is being in itself. That God is so uniquely and purely himself. 

    And so you have Jesus on the Sea near the time of Passover, coming to rescue his disciples and telling them not to fear because “I am” is with them.” 

    In the storm, knowing of the life and glory that was in Christ was the reason why the disciples were told not to fear. 

    You might be tempted to think “Yeah, but they actually had him with them. I wouldn’t be afraid if Jesus was with me either.” 

    How does Matthew end? 

    Jesus says: I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). 

    John 15;26, Jesus talks of the helper he sends us. The Holy Spirit: When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

    The Bible says that Jesus prays for us. 


    Hebrews 7:25: he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 

    Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus will say that he has gone to prepare a place for us. Fear not. For we have a wonderful savior. Is that always easy? It’s not. We’re still fallen and sinful. The world around us is fallen and sinful. 

    But one of the great temptations that we face is to doubt God when things don’t go the way we should. We so often put more stock into our will being done, than God’s perfect will being done. If you know Christ, then 100 percent of the things that happen in your life are for your ultimate good. Again, in the eyes of the world, that’s nonsense. In the eyes of the world, the cross is foolishness. 

    But to those who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18-20). 

    When God tells us to fear not it is not because every situation will always work out the way we think it should or the way we want it to. 

    We’re told to fear not BECAUSE every situation will work out to our great God’s sovereign will. 

    Did you know that the most common command in the Bible is to not fear. 

    An article on Crosswalk brought up that generally when the Bible tells us not to fear, it doesn’t just say that in isolation. 

    In other words the Bible doesn’t say “don’t fear. All right, onto the next thing.” 

    It says “fear not” and grounds that in a truth about who God is. 

    We actually saw that in the Exodus verse where Moses was addressing the Israelites. Final time quoting from Exodus 14:13: Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.” 

    God tells Abraham in Genesis 15:1: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

    Genesis 26:24, God is speaking to Isaac: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.

    Lots of other examples. In the Bible, people are told not to fear because God will fight for them (Joshua 10:8). 

    Joseph is told not to fear taking Mary as his wife because the child she was carrying had been conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). 

    In Luke, we’re told not to fear because God has given his kingdom (Luke 12:32). 

    I think that’s really something that should be instructive for us. When we’re fearful, or worried, or stressed, don’t put the pressure on yourself to just will yourself to not feel that way. 

    But instead, fill your mind with what God has said in his Word and hold to that in the difficulties. 

    Don’t just tell yourself to not fear, but tell yourself why you can trust in God. 

    Jesus says: “I am. Do not be afraid.” 

    Let us go to him in the times where we fear. 

    Jesus is Lord of the storm. 

    We’ve had a lot of storms as a society this year. 

    For some of us, health issues. 

    For others, struggles in our family.

    I think for all of us, we struggle with all of the little losses we’re going through right now. And those do matter too. Watching a game, going to a restaurant, traveling, the little things that add the little joys to our lives.

    I don’t know if I can think of a time in my lifetime where there was more uncertainty and angst about the future. There are concerns over the economy and what that will look like in the coming years. 

    There are worries about societal upheaval. There are worries about the future and the unknown. There are worries about our churches. Not just this church but churches throughout our nation and world. There is fear of the impact of that. There are fears for our society as America seems to be becoming increasingly secular. 

    In the Book of Revelation, also written by John, he has a vision of Christ and is terrified. 

    Revelation 1:17-18:

    17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

    God is still on the throne. 

    Fear not, for we have the God of the universe. 

    He is good. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He hasn’t forgotten us. And he loves us. 

    In Matthew 10, Jesus says:

    Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:28-31)

    Again, the subject of fear comes up. Jesus is Lord of the storm. 

    Final verse of the passage. The disciples now realize that it’s Jesus. They’re relieved. 

    Verse 21: Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 

    They want to take Jesus into the boat with them, but Jesus has just nonchalantly worked another miracle. 

    The story ends with them safely reaching the shore. 

    I love this quote from Herman Ridderboss in his commentary on John: “in virtue of the glory given him by God, no darkness was too deep, waves too high, or sea too wide for him to find them and be with them in the midst of that tumult.”

    Jesus is the God who sees us in our struggles. He’s the God who comes to us in the storms. He’s the God who’s there at our lowest moments. He’s the God who tells us not to fear. Because the safest place to be is in his presence. Even if our body dies, for those who believe in the gospel of Christ, we are eternally secure with him. We don’t always see him. But in whatever we face, he sees us. He knows what we need. 

    Will you trust in him? 

  • The cross of Christ shows us the cost of sin

    pexels-photo-208315.jpeg

    Originally published May 1, 2018 

    We have a sinfully low view of sin. We cannot overestimate the weight of sin when we see the cost of sin on the cross. 

    None of us lives up even to our own moral standards. Do you ever get mad and you regret it? Ever yell at someone and wish you hadn’t? Ever look at something and feel shame for it? Ever tell a lie or bend the truth and wish you could have it back? Ever manipulate people to get your own way? Ever do something where you know deep down it’s not what you should have done? Of course you have. We don’t live up to our own standards. And if we can’t do that, how on earth do we live up to the standards of a holy God? We don’t and we can’t.

    We have nothing to go to God with on our own and say “you have to accept me. You have to love me. You have to let me into heaven.” On what grounds?

    We sin. And it’s not just “well nobody is perfect.” But that we sin. We rebel against God. In our thoughts, in our hearts, in our actions, in our inactions. Our view of sin is so low that we think we can master it on our own. Our view of sin is so low that we think we can do enough good to outweigh our sin. 

    Then why the cross at all? Why did Jesus die? The world likes to judge God. Likes to say what he should do if he really were loving. That he’d just wipe the slate clean. That that would be love. We like to tell God what love is. Because we have a sinfully low view of sin. Because the reality is that God SHOWS US what love is. On the cross. That’s what love is. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friend (John 15:13).

    Jesus shows us what love is when he lays down his life for you. When he endures the penalty of your sin for you. When he bears the wrath of God for you. And again that’s a message that many find offensive. That many hate. But that again shows our sinfulness when we try to judge God. We try to tell the God who made us what really would be just or holy or good. We can’t earn God but he freely gives himself. On the cross.

    We might debate sin. Just how big of a deal it really is. Just how much it really matters. But Jesus shows us how big of a deal sin is on the cross. He shows us how imperfect we are on the cross, how sinful we are on the cross. Because he bears the weight of our sins. 

    We have a sinfully low view of sin. We cannot overestimate the weight of sin when we look at the price Jesus paid for sin. Jesus didn’t die for you because your sins weren’t that bad. He did it because of the holiness of God and our inability to live up to that. But rather than to just have us languish with no hope, he gave us hope. On the cross. 

    Jesus is God. And because he’s God, he was a worthy sacrifice for our sins. For all of eternity, Jesus is God. God came into the world. The word became flesh and dwelled among us (John 1:14). Born of a virgin at his incarnation, Jesus is fully man. And because he’s fully man, he is like us in our human nature. He lived the holy life we could not. The sinless life we could not. And he died for you. 

    Jesus goes to the cross and in going to the cross, he doesn’t simply die for us. He’s tortured for us. It’s not like our day and age where methods of execution are designed to be relatively painless. Crucifixion was designed to humiliate and maximize the torture and pain. It was designed to prolong suffering. After being flogged to within an inch of your life, a person would have to carry the top part of the cross beam, which weighed upwards of 125 pounds to the place of his or her death. Nails would have been driven through the wrists and feet. Just imagine the agony of that. And the cross beam would be hoisted up with the condemned person attached. Struggling to breathe, their body sagging down on the weight of their legs. Then pushing up somewhat to get more oxygen. And repeating this horrid cycle until a person died from asphyxiation or exposure to the elements. 

    But there we have God on earth. Dying in the most agonizing way. The most humiliating way. In a public way. But it was for the sins of the world. It was so we could be forgiven. Because as he was nailed to the cross, so was our sin.  We have a sinfully low view of sin. That that was the price to be paid for it. God on earth dying for it. But he did it willingly. Not because he had to. But because of his love for you. That’s what love is. 

    Jesus never leaves us, he never forsakes us. His disciples let him down. Three times they fell asleep in the garden. Three times Peter denies Jesus. Judas leads the party who arrests Jesus. Judas walked with the Lord for three years. And betrayed him. Jesus is brought before the Jewish ruling council. They’re not out for the truth, they’re trying to find any charges that will stick. They take his words out of context and bring him before Pilate, saying he should be crucified.  Pilate is an earthly authority, the governor. Pilate knows he can find no fault in Jesus. He sees the innocence of Jesus. Pilate symbolically tries to cleanse himself: he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 

    In the face of intense pressure, Pilate can’t bring himself to do the right thing. He offers up an option. Pilate has a custom of annually releasing one prisoner. There is Barabbas who is a killer and an instigator of insurrection. Or they can have Jesus who is totally innocent. And they select Barabbas. The Roman guards later mock Jesus. They make a crown of thorns, they hand him a reed as a makeshift scepter, they put a robe on him. They bow down and say “Hail, king of the Jews.” But again they play into the irony. Because Jesus IS the king. He’s the king of kings. While he’s on the cross, the mocking continues. Jesus is crucified with two men who are guilty. And they too join in the mocking. The guilty mocking an innocent man. Dying people mocking the Lord. Crucified men who can’t even show humility for another man who is dying the same gruesome death. 

    The priests, scribes, and elders continue mocking Jesus, beginning in 27:42, “he saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” 

    It’s because Jesus didn’t come down from the cross that we CAN believe in him. Because Jesus died on that cross that day. The mocking continues in 27:43 “he trusts in God, let God deliver him now, if he desires him.” Again they miss the point. God did not spare his son so that he could spare you. The followers of Jesus, the betrayer of Jesus, the ruling Jewish authorities, the ruling Roman authorities. All contributing in various ways to Jesus’ death. 

    This isn’t the isolated failing of one person. It’s not a lone wolf assassin who takes out Jesus. If that had been the case, maybe we could chalk it up to one bad egg. But in the passion narrative, it’s everyone. Everyone’s failures and sins lead to the cross. But even in spite of that, God is working it for his own glory. In spite of that, God had planned throughout all eternity to actually use that evil and wickedness for our salvation. Because even though it was sin and evil that brought Jesus to the cross, it’s because Jesus went to the cross that he was able to die to sin for all who believe in him.  

    We see the sinfulness of humanity in Christ’s passion. We can’t downplay the sinfulness of humanity when Jesus came into our world and we killed him. The righteous and holy God who made the world came into the world and we crucified him. We can’t downplay the severity of our sinfulness with that one. The most atrocious way that humanity has ever conceived of to end a person’s life, crucifixion is what is used against the righteous savior of the world. But in spite of all of that, we again see the grace of the Lord on the cross. Because Jesus bore infinite wrath for sin.

    There is infinite grace when we turn to him. There is no sin he is unable to forgive. It’s not that he died and can forgive every sin, but he can’t forgive that one, or this one, or what you did, or what you’re struggling with. Infinite wrath because of our sin. But infinite mercy on the cross because of his grace.

    Thanks for reading. Please comment and don’t forget to subscribe.

  • Sermon: The two resurrections – John 5:24-29

    Audio:
    https://joshbenner.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20200515-202931.mp3

    Text
    24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

    25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 

    Prayer

    Our heavenly Father,

    We again come to you in a Spirit of thanksgiving as we praise your holy name. May we marvel at your majesty over your creation. We praise you for the gift of everlasting life which is available to all through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Forgive us our sins Lord, as we are fallen people in a fallen world. We struggle with our areas of selfishness, our failings, our instances of pride, the times when we choose sin over you.

    Lord, may we come to you on our own in confession of our sins. Lord, may you strengthen us to repent and to more and more live for you. May we be daily sanctified through your word and by the power of your Spirit. May we be transformed from one degree of glory to another.

    I pray for each of us that we trust in Jesus, that we know him personally, that we know the salvation that he promises, that we believe in the life that he invites us into, that we have placed our hope for eternity onto his work, and that we might look to him as the greater priest who offered the final sacrifice, as the greater Son who makes us worthy to be your children, and as the greater sacrifice who gave his life for us so we could be forgiven.

    May we all trust in that Lord. For any of us who are hanging onto any vestiges of self-justification or trusting in our own goodness as what will make us right with you, may we turn away from that and trust in Jesus. It is entirely by his work of a perfect life and his abounding grace that sinful people are forgiven. We praise you as the everlasting and eternal God. Would you grant us ears to hear as we study your most Holy Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.

    Introduction – we love justice 

    Our society LOVES justice.

    6 of the top 20 highest grossing movies of all time are Marvel super hero movies in a story line where good defeats evil. Other movies with themes of good and evil pervade the rest of the top 20: Star Wars, Avatar, the Lion King.

    Many of our most popular television shows are in the legal sphere: Blue Bloods, Law and Order SVU, Chicago PD, FBI, SWAT, Seal Team, the new Hawaii 5-0, the new Magnum P.I, NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Los Angeles, just to name a few. The most popular DVR’d television show in America last year? Live PD. When there’s a high profile criminal case, cable news networks will follow the smallest details around the clock. You have entire TV channels that are dedicated to crime. You have Court TV, Investigation Discovery which is basically the true crime channel. You have Headline News which is basically the Forensic Files channel.

    Our love of justice carries over into other domains. In sports, if a consequential call is botched by a referee, there is outrage among fans. Even if it’s a team that people aren’t fans of. We like seeing the right thing happen. We like seeing the person wins who deserves it.

    It’s what’s right. We love justice.

    But justice so often doesn’t happen on the timetable that we want.

    We’ve seen despotic dictators who led nations in misery and oppression live to ripe, old ages. We’ve seen scoundrels cheat to get ahead in business. We’ve seen crimes go unsolved and the culprits get away with it. It grates against our sensibilities and our sense of justice, of right and wrong.

    But here today, we come to our passage as we continue in the Gospel of John. And we learn that judgment belongs to Christ.

    Study
    If you recall last week, we made a couple of important affirmations which will again be relevant today. Jesus has the power of God.

    From verse 19, we learned: For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

    We learned that Jesus has the power over life. From verse 21: as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

    We also learned that Jesus is a judge. From verse 22: the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son

    And our passage today carries over the idea of the judgment that comes from Jesus which is a direct result of our relationship with Jesus.

    Beginning in verse 24: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

    Beginning of this verse, Jesus says truly, truly. The Greek word for truly here is “amen,” from which we get our word amen. It’s the second time he’s used it in this chapter. Jesus does it to emphasize the importance of what follows.

    Based on verse 24, what does Jesus say is the way to eternal life? Jesus says: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

    The word which Jesus is speaking of here is the fullness of Jesus’ teaching and gospel which he has revealed. And the true hearing of this word isn’t merely about some sound waves entering your ear canal. It’s hearing his word and responding to it. Truly hearing it. Living by it.

    Whoever hears this word and also believes in him who sent him.

    In this overarching section of John 5, Jesus keeps making these statements that show us the profound unity between him and the Father, and also showing the distinction between them as two persons within the Trinity. And what Jesus is saying here is that to truly believe in God is to accept Jesus.

    Jesus says that the person who believes has eternal life. And in the Greek, the form for “has” is in the present tense. It’s not that you will have eternal life. It’s that when you believe in Jesus’ word and in the God who sent him, you HAVE eternal life.

    Jesus says:  He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

    Just as we have eternal life when we believe, it is also a present reality that we withstand the final divine judgment on account of what Christ has done for us. The person who does not believe is already in judgment. We are born in sin. Our default human setting is condemnation and judgment unless someone has heard the Word of Christ and believes the one who sent him.

    The one who does believe has passed from eternal death to eternal life.

    Verse 25: “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

    This verse once again begins “truly, truly.”

    an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

    A paradoxical statement.

    There is a future time when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. There is a future time when all will stand in judgment before the Lord. All will be resurrected, no matter how righteous or unrighteous, no matter how good or evil, everyone will stand before Christ.

    Philippians 2:9-11 says:
    9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

    That time is coming.

    Justice is coming. There will be a day of reckoning.

    Judges and hunger 

    And the judgment will be perfect and righteous. We are often not good judges of character. Have you ever thought someone was really a stand up person, only to discover they were anything but? Have you ever disliked someone unfairly, only to discover that they were solid?

    In our legal system, which strives to be just and fair, human judges are still just people and therefore still imperfect. In 2010, three researchers from the U.S. and Israel tracked parole rulings of eight judges over a ten month period. These were not new judges to the bench. On average, they had been judges for 22 years.

    In reviewing 1,100 parole board hearings, the researchers found that people had a 65% higher chance of being given parole first thing in the morning. Then the likelihood dwindled lower and lower until the time of a mid-morning break or lunch where likelihood of being granted parole spiked again.

    Jesus is the righteous, divine judge while being a little bit hungry and swaying a human judge.

    Jesus judges perfectly and the judgment is based on our faith in him. Everyone will stand before Christ. But in our passage, Jesus says that hour is already here as well.

    So we have this tension between what is here and what is coming.

    How is it that the time is also already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God? 

    What Jesus is saying is that by his presence in the world, those who are Spiritually dead, those who are dead and sin but who hear the word of Christ, the gospel of Christ are given eternal life.

    We will all stand before Christ in the future, but Jesus also ushered in the time through his word for people responding to the truth of the gospel and who he is.

    Where is your hope? Where is your justification? Is it in yourself and being a good person? Being good enough? Doing a little more nice than bad? Or is it in the Lord Jesus? The one who is the judge who promises everlasting life because he himself bore our punishment?

    Jesus is not saying “believe what you want.” He’s saying “believe in me!”

    whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

    Verse 26: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

    Another loaded statement. This might be the most difficult verse we’ve seen so far in our study of John. I think a lot of pastors wouldn’t even respect the intelligence of their congregations enough to tackle this verse, but give me just a moment.

    The first part is simple enough. God has life in himself. God is self-existent. That’s a clearly attested Biblical affirmation.

    But the verse says that the father has granted the Son also to have life in himself. We have already seen the homage from the Son to the Father.

    Quoting again from 5:19: the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing

    There is a submission between the Son and the Father. I mentioned last week that Jesus is subordinate to the Father during his lifetime. And I said last week that I believe this subordination began at the incarnation as Jesus was fully God and man.

    A point I did not make last week is that Jesus is also eternally the Son of God. And for that, think of sonship somewhat like a title. The Father is eternally the Father. Jesus is eternally the Son.

    What that is not saying is that Jesus is created. Once again, to quote from the opening of John.

     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God (John 1:1). 

    John 1:4, speaking of Jesus goes on to say: In him was life

    Back in our passage. This a very technical idea, but I take it that Jesus is eternally existent and eternally God. And in the relationship within the Trinity, Jesus is eternally the Son of God.

    Throughout John, we see the closeness of relationship between the Father and the Son. We see a very giving relationship between the two. We see them both honoring each other.

    Again, I realize it’s a very complicated idea. But it’s worth exploring because it’s in God’s Word. And there is another very important point that verse 26 makes and that is that the Son has life in himself, and the fact that Jesus has life in himself speaks to his divinity.

    That’s not something I can say. That’s not something you can say. We’re finite and frail.

    I think of all of the measures that are being taken against coronavirus. There’s a lot of fear in our society. Human life is fragile. It can be over in an instant. Everyday, all over the world, healthy people wake up and it’s their last day in this life. It’s just the reality. We never know when our time is over.

    But with Jesus? He has life in himself.

    And it is because he has life in himself that he can give eternal life. It’s because he has life in himself that we can have the confidence in his promises.

    Verse 27: And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

    That is reminiscent of something which Jesus has already said. From our passage last week, and quoted at the beginning this morning. 5:22 says: the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son

    Jesus is the one who judges.

    2 Corinthians 5:10:
    we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 

    Romans 2:16:
    on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. 

    Jesus is the one who will judge all men. He is the one to whom we will give an account.

    The reason why God has given Jesus authority to judge is because Jesus is the Son of Man. This is a reference to the Book of Daniel.

    Daniel 7:13-14 talks of a divine figure called the “Son of Man”

          and behold, with the clouds of heaven 

    there came one like a son of man, 

          and he came to the Ancient of Days 

          and was presented before him.

    But then verse 14 begins to talk about the power of this “Son of Man.”

          And to him was given dominion 

          and glory and a kingdom, 

          that all peoples, nations, and languages 

          should serve him; 

          his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 

          which shall not pass away, 

          and his kingdom one 

          that shall not be destroyed. 

    Son of Man is the title which Jesus most often uses when referring to himself in the gospels.The Son of Man has these qualities which speak to his divinity but the title used here for Jesus “son of man” can also refer to a person.

    So you have in the Old Testament, qualities of this divine and human figure who has dominion and glory of an eternal kingdom.

    And what John is saying is that Jesus is this person, and that is why he is able to judge.

    Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

    Jesus is the judge of the world. There are certainly many scriptures which talk of God also being a judge, and certainly any adjudication would be perfectly agreed upon between the persons of the Trinity.

    Once again, this goes against any sort of idea that it doesn’t really matter what you believe, or that all religions believe the same thing.

    Other leading religious figures do not personally claim to raise everyone to life. But that’s exactly what Jesus states in this verse.

    Again, this gospel confronts you.

    That’s either true or it’s not.

    Not all religions believe that the Lord Jesus is both Lord and judge.

    Think of all of the billions of people who have come and gone before us. Every single one of them will one day stand in the presence of Christ. And that same is true for all of us and all who will follow until Christ returns.

    Everyone will be raised by Christ, either to everlasting life in glory of everlasting judgment. Hitler will be raised and so will Martin Luther. Gengis Kahn will be raised and so will Billy Graham. Ted Bundy will be raised and so will C.S. Lewis. Napoleon will be raised and so will the Apostle John.

    And so will I. And so will you.

    Jesus is the judge. He is the standard by which people are either reconciled to the Father or condemned to eternal torment in their sins.

    Verse 29:  and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 

    Verse 29, once again, might give us pause.

    Wait a minute. Isn’t this all about faith and believing in Jesus. How is it that those who have done good are brought to resurrection life and those who have done evil are brought to a resurrection of judgment?

    Good works in John ultimately culminate in believing in Jesus.

    John 1:12 says: to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

    And again in John 3:21: whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” 

    And then the result of that true faith in Jesus is a life that is transformed and bears fruit. So it is not saying that we are judged based on works based righteousness.

    Jesus judges based on our response to him. He is the one who has life in himself and has the power to give life. He is the judge who judges righteously.The faith must be genuine. The belief in Jesus must be real. He is the one who knows and who judges.

    What do you believe?

    Is he the eternal Lord who came into a sinful world and died to give everlasting life? Than our only response is to believe in the judge who came into the world and took our penalty for us on the cross.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

  • When we want the savior but not the Lord: the great disciple mistake

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    Our society likes to emphasize God’s love and forget that he is also just and that he has wrath towards sin. We like the easy message. We like the easy gospel of “yeah you’re not perfect but neither is anyone else and God is a God of love and he forgives you.” 

    We make faith about a vague ascent with Christ, a loose agreement, hearing “you can be forgiven,” and then saying “sure, I’ll have that,” like it’s someone asking if you want to share an order of mozzarella sticks at a restaurant. 

    But the danger of an easy gospel is losing sight of Jesus and his call to discipleship, his call to live life in the light of what he has done.  (more…)