The Greatest Right

Well, good morning, everyone. How lovely to see you.

Here's what I'd love you to do. I'd love you to grab your Bible, if you have one, and turn to the Gospel of John.

If you don't have your own Bible with you, you've got two options.

Number one, poke your neighbour or something like that to get the one that's on the pews. You can do that.

Also, if you want to put up your hand, another option is you can get one of these, John's Gospels.

We've got tons of these to give away, but this is going to be really helpful for you to have God's Word open in front of you.

As we start this morning, a new series in the Gospel of John, which I'm really thrilled about.

I promise you as well, just before we start, that my PowerPoint has no cannulars in it.

So hopefully it won't make you too squeamish because I was there saying, get that off the screen.

Here is John's Gospel in at John chapter one.

So here's what happened to me the other day.

I was on the phone to my insurance company.

And after a few pleasantries and a few security checks, the person on the other end of the line said,

Sir, just before we start, I just want to take a moment to read you your rights.

Now, folks, I had no idea that I had so many rights.

And so it got me thinking from there of all the rights that I enjoy in my life.

I'm living in the West.

Are we not the beneficiaries of so many as we live our lives here that people have died for over the years?

Our rights.

I've got so many rights in my life.

And then the question came to my mind.

One that I extend to you to think about as we begin this series.

Whoever you are here today, whatever you think about this God,

what is the greatest right that you have?

You know, go on, give it to you, folks.

What's the right that gets you out of bed in the morning?

What's the right that offers you any kind of hope about what tomorrow might hold?

What's the right that gives you any kind of comfort or purpose in the day?

What's the right that makes your soul sing?

I've been a Christian for 20 years.

And here's why I love coming back to John's gospel.

I read it hundreds of times in my life.

But every time I come back to it, my heart sings.

Do you know why?

Because it wonderfully reminds me of my weariness and my unspectacular life.

I'm a life that feels so mundane all the time.

Doing the same things every day.

Same school runs, same meal, same everything.

It reminds me of my unspectacular looking life.

It reminds me of the greatest right that I have.

And it reminds me of the right, the only right that's going to matter eternally in life.

And it reminds me of the greatest right that any of us here today could ever hope to know.

And we get it here in the opening verses that we're going to read in just a minute of John's gospel.

You know, in our Bibles, we've got four historical accounts of Jesus' life.

We have Matthew, Mark and Luke.

They're often called the synoptic gospels, right?

Synoptic derived from the Greek word syn meaning with, optic meaning sight, right?

Opticians.

So it's commonly believed that Matthew, Mark and Luke come at Jesus with the same sight, right?

You kind of read them and you'll discover a lot of the same material.

But John, here is a man who also wants us to know about Jesus, but who writes from a profoundly different angle.

It's almost as if, and this kind of helped me think about it, right?

Matthew, Mark and Luke, their aim is to show us the face of Jesus.

But John invites us deeper and he wants us to see his heart.

And who better to write this gospel, this man who Jesus invited to come and be not just one of his 12 disciples, but to come and be one of the inner three.

So that means that this man, he saw and he heard things that deeply moved him.

And he writes towards the end of his life, having reflected long and hard on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

And the guy cannot get enough of him.

And so what's his aim?

He writes it, and this is always important in John's gospel.

He says right at the end of his gospel, chapter 20, verse 31.

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

So that's why he's written his gospel.

So that we may have life in his aim.

Life in his name.

That's his aim.

So let's read together from verse 1 of chapter 1.

Again, into this glorious gospel.

John writes this, and hear him reflecting on just how mind-blowing Jesus is.

He writes this,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made.

Without him nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life.

And that life was the light of all mankind.

The light shines in the darkness.

And the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

Different John.

He came as a witness to testify concerning that light.

So that through him all might believe.

He himself was not the light.

He came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

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 did receive him,

to those who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God.

Children born not of natural descent,

nor of human decision or a husband's will,

but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory.

The glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John testified concerning him.

He cried out saying,

This is the one I spoke about when I said,

He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.

Out of his fullness,

we have all received grace in the place of grace already given.

For the law was given through Moses.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God,

but the one and only Son,

who is himself God

and is in the closest relationship with the Father,

he has made him known.

So as we step through the front door of John's prologue,

the introduction,

again,

this is what helped me.

The prologue functions almost like a hotel foyer.

Right?

You know,

you would go into a hotel

and you would,

in the foyer,

the lounge,

you would get a sense of what's on the walls,

you would get a sense of the color scheme,

you would get a sense of the smells and the sights

that set you up for what the rest of the hotel is going to be like.

Well,

in the foyer of John's gospel,

in the time that we have,

friends,

there's so much we could say here.

Encyclopedias won't even cover this.

Right?

Four pictures are on the wall

by way of a simple structure.

Right?

Here's the first one.

It reads identity.

Who is Jesus?

Love it.

Was it

a sound of music?

What did Julie Andrews,

her character,

say?

Where is it good to begin?

In the beginning.

Right?

Who is Jesus?

The gospel,

other gospel writers,

you see how they go to Bethlehem.

But John takes us way back

into the corridors of eternity

and says,

in the beginning.

Do you see those opening words?

In the beginning.

That's a deliberate echo

of the first words of the Bible.

Genesis 1 reads,

In the beginning,

God created,

the heavens and the earth.

Who is this God?

The God who was there

before anything was.

The God who has always

and will always be.

The God who exists

as a loving community

of Father, Son, and Spirit,

and who has for all eternity

been one God

in three persons.

This God created the world

out of an overflow

of his loving existence

by the power of his word.

Friends,

this should stretch us.

Right?

Should stretch us.

And John says,

in the beginning

was the word.

Greek word there,

logos.

One which the philosophers,

the Greek philosophers

of the day,

but these guys

who are reading this

as the first readers

are steeped in.

Greek philosophers

used that word,

logos,

to talk about the wisdom

and the perfection

by which the world

was made.

And John draws

a massive equal sign

and he says,

the word equals Jesus.

He was with God.

He was God.

This is Jesus.

Now put it in everyday terms,

right?

Have a breath.

Inhale, exhale.

Inhale, exhale.

Do you understand

that Jesus is the one

who sustains that breath?

He's the very reason,

friends,

that there is existence,

any kind of existence.

He is the one

who designed

and sustains

the law of gravity.

He is the one

who created

and maintains

the process

of photosynthesis.

He is the one

that makes the birds sing.

He is the one

that wakes the sun

in the morning.

He is the one

that makes the seas calm.

The Jesus

who is the life

and light

of men

and take in the imagery

there,

the life

and the light

of men.

Do you know

when we walk

to school each morning

with the kids,

do you know

when we get a cracking

view of Arthur C?

It was so early

in the morning

and yet every morning

the kids look up

and see the ants

at the top

and they say,

how early does somebody

need to get up

to climb that thing?

Who would get up

that early?

Why would you get up

early to climb

that thing?

Answer,

why would you climb it

that time in the morning?

See the sunshine.

See the sunrise.

Isn't it amazing

that wherever you are

in the world

a sunrise

is one of the most

spectacular things,

breathtaking things

friends,

that you and I

can ever hope to see.

And it's as if

John is saying

just as in Genesis

God spoke

and the light

penetrated the darkness

in a physical sense

it's almost as if

he is saying

with the coming of Jesus

into the world

that we'll think about

in a moment

God was penetrating

our world

and the light

was shining

on the spiritual

darkness.

In the words of

J.C. Ryle

former Bishop

of Liverpool

Christ is to the

souls of men

what the sun

is to the world.

And just like

an inextinguishable

candle

and those things

annoy me like anything

that light

is never going

to be overcome.

Right?

Never going to be

snuffed out.

Never going to put it out.

Identity.

This is who he is.

Second picture

rattling through this

reads tragedy.

On the wall

the foyer

tragedy.

Verse 9

the true light

was coming into

the world.

John masterfully

building the tension

here as we move

towards the theological

climax of this

at verse 14.

Jesus was coming in.

Do you see

notice the downward

movement?

There he is.

That's who he is.

Jesus was coming

into the world.

Now what is it?

Jesus was in the world.

The creator

of all things

wrote himself

into the creature's

world.

And here's the tragedy

end of verse 10

the world did not

know him.

Two senses I think

to that.

First one

the world did not

see his greatness

didn't perceive it.

What is it we spent

the last number of days

doing as a country

paying our respects

to greatness?

We all get it.

We all get it.

Loved it.

David Beckham

Kuhn

for how many hours

of the day?

12 hours,

13 hours along

with hundreds

of people

to honour

greatness.

Some of our

most historic

buildings in this

country,

police escorts

everywhere,

non-stop TV

coverage.

Friends,

we're responding

to greatness.

But contrast

that to how

the world

looked upon

a humble

carpenter

with splinters

in his hands.

A lowly

teacher who

called former

fishermen to

be his students.

A defeated

man who

didn't even

put up a

fight and

was crucified

on a Roman

cross and

he was laid

to rest

in another's

tomb.

The world

did not

recognise him.

Didn't see

his glory.

And not just

the world,

did he have

his fellow

Jews

furnished with

the promises

of God,

called to live

by the law

of God.

They did not

receive him.

The world

did not see

his glory.

It was totally

upside down

to the world's

glory.

There's one

angle on it

but I think

another one

is simply

that the world

just did not

want to know.

Refusing to

see him for

who he truly

is.

You know,

John Piper

writes that

our greatest

problem as

human beings

is not that

we lack

light,

it's that

we love

the dark.

It's our

heart's

disposition.

It's the

light of the

world came in

who did

not want

to know.

And yet,

do you see

that word

yet but

verse 12?

John introduces

us to the

other side

of the

coin,

to what

is on

offer

in

Christ.

And here's

our third

picture,

friends.

It's the

opportunity,

the word

opportunity,

one freely

available to

all those

who believe

in his

name.

Now,

before we

get to

what it

means to

believe in

his name,

see what

John's

doing,

primarily

for his

fellow

Jews.

He's

showing them

that there's

no such

thing as

a spiritual

shoe-in.

Okay?

No one is

adopted into

the family

of God

merely by

being born

into the

right tribe.

Born of

blood.

Or no one

is adopted

into the

family of

God by

being from

good religious

stock or

because they

live a

moral life.

Born of

man.

Adoption is

a privilege

granted to

follow the

language to

all those

who are

born of

God.

In other

words,

only God

can do

this light

shining work

into our

dark hearts.

If you're a

Christian here

today, that's

what's gone

on in your

life.

Yes, you

made a

decision to

follow Christ,

but before

that, God

wrote your

name into

his book

before the

foundation of

the world.

And the

son came

into the

world.

The Holy

Spirit worked

and light

dawned in

your heart.

How do we

know who

are those

people?

We've got to

see that all

those born of

God and all

those who

believe in

his name are

the same

thing.

Those that

recognize him

as the

creator and

us the

creature.

A cracking

conversation

with my

girls in the

car today.

They were

telling me

that we're

all mammals.

Daddy, I

didn't know

we were

mammals.

I said, yes,

we're all

creatures.

Of course, we're

all creatures,

but do you

know what?

Animals aren't

dignified, said

they were made

in the image

of God.

Human beings

are.

We are

creatures, but

friends, we

are made in

the image of

God.

We recognize

that we are

the creature

and he is

the creator.

We understand

that our

unworthiness

before him, a

holy, worthy

God.

People who've

come to see

their unrighteousness

before a

holy God

and in light

of all those

things, stake

it all on

Jesus, right?

His perfect

life, giving

us his

righteousness

that we

could not

earn, his

death where he

became sin for

us, his

resurrection showing

that the price of

paying the penalty

of the offense of

my sin in the

eyes of a holy

God really has

been paid.

And because of

that, what does

God see?

when he looks

at me, when he

looks at you, if

our faith, small

as a mustard

seed, is in what

Christ has done

for us, what does

God see?

Who are we?

Children of God,

precious sons and

daughters of God,

get your head around

that, guys.

Call to share in

the love that the

Father has for all

eternity had for

his Son, to share

in that.

And do you know

what I love?

I was thinking

about this week, I

love that God, my

Father, wants me to

know that that is a

right.

It's not some kind

of coupon, it's not

an opportunity, a

chance to become a

child of God, knowing

that there's an

expiry date at the

end.

Do you know I hate

expiry dates?

You know when you

go into the fridge

for a deep clean, and

you go through the

fridge, and you'll

inevitably find

something that

smells and looks a

bit, what do we

call it, a bit

funky.

Normally brought

to you by the

color green.

What's happened

there?

It's expired.

It's gone off,

hasn't it?

I love that God

wants us to know

that this is a

right.

It's something that's

yours, and a right

that's been given to

us as opposed to

being earned.

Something that cannot

be taken away, that's

yours for life.

Friends, that is

something that I can

build my life upon.

And get this,

whatever's going on

in your life today,

a right is true just

as much on your

worst day.

When you've kicked

the dog, when the

washing didn't get

done, when you fell

out with your spouse

on the way to church,

whatever it is you've

done this morning, a

right is true for you

on your worst day, just

as much as it is on

your best day.

A right is true in

the times when the

future looks rosy, and

life is cushy, and it's

true when the future is

unclear, and life feels

messy.

Brothers and sisters,

here is what I

believe the Lord would

want us to know today.

It's a right that he's

given us.

It's a right that he's

given us.

The Father has not

saved us and placed us

on a probation period

before him to see if

we're worthy enough of

his love.

You know, I hate those

things you've got three

months in your contract

to show if you're good

enough for this job.

It's not how it works

with God.

He's not placed us on

probation period.

Our experience of his

love for us does not

work like performance

related pay.

How often we live our

Christian lives thinking

that that's how it works

with our Father.

Just reflecting on this

in sabbatical, friends,

how often is that the

thing that causes me not

to progress in the

Christian life?

And how often is that

the thing which stifles

my joy in the Christian

life that I forget that

that's who he is?

He's my Father.

Because of my faith in

Christ, he loves me as

he loves his Son.

Oh, how often I allow

the logic, my logic, my

thinking of how it should

work to determine how I

live my life rather than

allowing the voice of my

Father through his words

to tell me how it works

in my life.

You know, the status of

being declared a child of

God with everything that

that entails.

Because of your faith in

Christ, however unimpressive

you think your life is

just now, however wrong

you think you've got it,

friends, know that that

is your right.

And I would have killed

in America.

Amens everywhere.

Oh, friends, I was

thinking about it this week

as we buried our dear

sister and friend,

Doreen, into the ground.

And as I thought, how

unimpressive does this look?

And yet, what did I

picture?

I pictured her going

into the ground and

she's clutching her

right.

It's Lenn, she goes

through her chemo

treatment starting soon.

What is it that can get

her through that?

It's her right that she's

loved by her Father.

They're holding the

right given to them by

their Father that says,

you're my child.

And no power of hell,

no scheme of man,

can ever pluck us from

his hand.

Oh, and here's

best book I read on

sabbatical.

In the words of J.I.

Parker, if you're not

familiar with J.I.

Parker, he's a guy really

to get in touch with.

And his wonderful book,

Knowing God, and I've

got one copy I can give

away at the end of the

service if you come in.

I was going to say fight

me for it, but you don't

fight me for it because I'll

beat you.

Just come and take it,

okay?

J.I.

Parker, and get this in

your heads.

Adoption is the highest

privilege of the gospel.

The traitor is forgiven,

brought in for supper,

and given the family name.

Do you get that?

To be right with God the

judge is a great thing.

And make no mistake that

it is to be right with

our God, but to be loved

and cared for by God the

Father is greater.

And that's only possible

because of our fourth and

final picture.

And it reads mystery.

Verse 14, and here we've

reached not only the

theological center of John's

introduction, but we've

reached the staggering truth

that's right at the heart of

the Christian faith.

And if you aren't with me,

come and with me to verse

14.

The words became flesh.

So Jesus, without for a

moment ceasing to be

everything that John has

just described in verses

one to five, and we've got

to be theologically clear

on that.

He took on a human body.

The eternal became an

embryo.

Rebecca McLaughlin, I was

leading that last night,

as she pointed that out,

and he dwelt with us.

The word dwelt there,

literally he tabernacled

among us.

That's the word there.

He tabernacled among us.

John, very deliberate in the

use of that word.

The tabernacle, the tent,

the place where God had

said that he would be,

as it stood right in the

middle of his Old Testament

people.

John is saying that God's

come to dwell with us

in a fuller way in the

person of Jesus.

Jesus.

Fully God, fully man.

Not 50-50, not 70-30, 100-100.

That really matters.

Fully God, fully man.

Why does that matter?

It matters, friends, because

if he's not fully God, if he's

from the same gene pool as us,

if he is tainted by the same

sin that we are, then he's

unable to live a perfect life

of obedience and worship and

righteousness in the eyes of

the Father.

He'd have no righteousness to

share with us that we might be

right with God.

It matters that he's fully God.

And it matters that he's fully

man.

It matters that he's one of us.

Why?

So that he could represent us

and sympathize with us in all

our weakness and be, and be

stretched by this, be the second

and better Adam who God created

right at the beginning of the

Bible to live in a perfect

relationship with him before

Genesis 3 and sin entered the

equation.

Jesus stands in the place of Adam

as our perfect representative

before the Father.

And because he's that, because

he's fully God, fully man, do you

see the end of verse 18 what that

means?

He makes the Father known.

You know, the first person launched

into space was a Russian man, I

learned this on holiday, called

Yuri Gerdgaren.

I think I've said that right, Yuri

Gerdgaren.

And he joked when he got up to

space, he said, I went up to space

and I didn't see any God.

But see when the Bible talks

about finding God, it's never in

language that suggests that we

somehow need to make our way up

to him.

And I once heard someone say that

we should stop calling it the

enlightenment and start calling it

the endarkenment.

Because what the human heart does

is we try and figure out what God

would be like.

All it does is it just comes up

with idols.

We fashion God into our own

likeness and according to our

fancies.

In other words, this is what we

think God would be like.

But in the Bible, do you see,

friends, it's always the other way

around.

The only way that we can know who

God truly is, is if he reveals

himself first to us.

We derive our understanding of

Christianity because our God is

exactly like Jesus.

We derive our understanding of

Christianity and what God is like

solely by looking at him.

And I say that because I know that

so many of us may well be getting

our info about God and what he's

like from somewhere else.

Okay, perhaps rumors that you've

picked up on the news or impressions

that are given to you by friends or

family or parents or experiences that

you've had of church from years ago.

And listen, I've spoken to enough

people in my time doing this that I

understand that lots of those things

might have deeply hurt you.

You've got to get real about that.

And so here's my invitation to you

this morning.

Is one who would love to walk with

you in your pain and questions.

Friends, if that is right, if Jesus

has come to reveal to us the Father,

here's the question then.

When was the last time that you

looked into Jesus?

Why not allow him to do the talking?

Is you seek to understand who God

truly is and what he's like.

It's a loving invitation.

If you want to take me up on that,

take anyone who's seen up the front

on that, we'd love to explore that

with you.

It's why we do this, so we can get

to know God better.

Because verse 14, what you'll find,

says John, when you look at Jesus,

is a Jesus full of, and take these

two words in, not harshness and

falsity, but grace and truth.

And we need both those things.

Imagine if it was harsh and truth,

we would be so scared.

Imagine if it was grace and falsity,

we wouldn't know where we stand with

him.

Grace and truth.

You will find a Jesus surprisingly

and wonderfully brilliant.

A Jesus in this gospel as we journey

through it, and this is why you've got

to come back in the weeks to come.

A Jesus who will go towards the

outcast.

A Jesus who lifts up the broken.

A Jesus who calls out the hypocrite.

A Jesus who is moved by exploitation.

A Jesus who speaks openly about

heaven and hell.

A Jesus who speaks plainly about the

wickedness that lurks inside of every

human heart.

And a Jesus who will show us that he

loves us more than we ever thought

possible.

because he's come to reveal to us

God the Father.

And so John can say through the eyes

of faith right at the end there,

and this is his invitation to you,

as you look at Jesus as he's recorded

here,

to come and see his glory.

You know, just as we close, friends,

do you want to hear about why they

laughed at me in America?

Of course you want to hear that, right?

As we close, and that's always

cue for, come back in for three,

four minutes, okay?

Here's why they laughed at me in

America.

They laughed at me because I'd never

seen a firefly before.

Ever seen one of these things?

No?

There we go, friends.

There we go.

They laughed because I'd never seen a

firefly before.

So there I was one evening sitting on

the back porch of our host house,

85 degree heat, chatting to friends,

James Taylor playing on in Alexa in

the background, living what I would

call the real American dream, okay?

And all of a sudden, this bug flies

past my line of sight, and it flashes.

And I turned to my host, and I said,

please tell me I'm not the only one

that just saw that bug, because that

thing is on fire.

Please tell me someone else saw that.

And all of a sudden, my eyes are taken

from this one bug that's flashing.

I look at the garden, and the whole

garden is lit up by these bugs.

As they do the resmeric dance, as they

blow my mind, as I thought I'd seen it

all almost in creation.

And I say, guys, listen, how awesome is

that?

And they say, yeah, buddy.

Dude, we see them all the time.

And listen, that thrill for us wore off

a long time ago.

And here's the point.

How easy is it for us to get so familiar

with things that should blow our minds?

Things that should blow our minds.

How awesome is that, friends?

This God, through Christ, has given us

the right to become children of God.

Let me ask you, are you weak in your

affection for Jesus?

Are you growing in your understanding

of who he is?

Or has he become to you just somebody

that you turn up on a Sunday and sing

about and has no relevance for your

everyday life?

This is what this series is about,

friends, because here's what I love

about John.

John is a man.

As you read him, he strikes me as a man

who has never got bored, never ceased

to be thrilled by Jesus of Nazareth.

Let me just say, if you're here and your

affections for your Savior have gone cold,

you need this gospel.

Maybe you're a student here today, and I

just say because it's this Sunday and you

guys are back.

Friends, this is why you need to pick a

church and go to a church.

Don't drift.

Please don't do it.

I've done this for 10 years to see it

happen often enough.

Go to a church and settle, because that

is a place where you're going to grow in

your affections and love for Jesus and

knowledge of who he is.

And if you stop coming to church on a

regular basis since COVID, it's difficult

to come.

Friends, this is why we need to get here,

because this man is glorious.

Here's what John writes at the very last

verse of his gospel.

And hear him say it himself that Jesus

is blowing his mind.

Here's what he's saying.

Jesus did many other things as well.

If every one of them were written down,

I suppose that even the whole world would

not have room for the books that would be

written.

Friends, here is the God who in Christ

offers us the opportunity, the right,

to become children of God.

Let's pray, will we?

Father, I thank you so much for your word.

Thank you for what we were thinking about

there.

That the only way we know what you are like

and who you are is because you are a God

who has revealed yourself to us in creation,

in your words, and most perfectly in your

son.

Father, I pray this morning that by your spirit

dwelling amongst us, Father, that you would

comfort the disturbed.

Lord, those who come at this and say,

this couldn't be true for me.

Father, would you reassure us wonderfully

because of our faith in Jesus

that this is true for us.

And Father, conversely, as comforting the disturbed,

I pray that you would disturb the comfortable.

Lord, those of us here who have grown tired

in the Christian life, Lord, would you encourage us?

Those of us here who maybe don't know this Jesus,

Father, would you convict us of our sin and the

eternal reality ahead of us.

Father, would you help shine the light of the

truth of the gospel into our hearts that we might

behold the glory of this man.

Father, thank you for your love for us.

Lord, help us this week in all the different things

that are going on in our lives.

Father, help us to live in light of the right

that we have because of your wonderful grace to us.

And we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.