Sermon

John 1:1-18

October 8, 2018 IPC Ealing Sermon Podcast

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Thank you, Peter. If you were here last week, you'll know that we're starting a new series.
We've just started a new series, looking at how the Apostle John paints a picture of genuine Christian faith,
of belief in Jesus Christ throughout his gospel.
And today the message is pretty simple, really. It's pretty straightforward.
It is that true believing is receiving Jesus Christ.
True believing is receiving Jesus Christ.
The section that we've just heard from John's gospel is what's known as the prologue.
It's the opening section of the book.
And the climax of the prologue is actually in the middle, in verses 12 and 13.
Look at verse 12.
To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
Do you see what John does there? He parallels, doesn't he, belief in Jesus with receiving Jesus.
This belief is like a homecoming scene, isn't it, if you can imagine it.
It's like a reunion scene. Maybe a close member of the family has gone away for a while.
And suddenly they reappear at the front door.
And there they are, and they come in.
And someone puts the kettle on, and there's a banner in the dining room,
Welcome Home.
When Jesus comes knocking, when he comes to you,
it is not just seeing him through the letterbox and knowing who he is.
This believing is receiving Jesus.
It is opening up the door and receiving him into every place of your life,
into every room of the house.
And you'd use the word receiving to talk about hospitality, actually.
Believing is to receive Jesus as an honoured guest in your life.
Picture the scene of this homecoming, John says.
He says it all starts with the arrival of the guest, doesn't it?
It starts with the arrival, verse 9.
The true light comes into the world.
The true light comes into the world.
You know, the Bible's idea of true belief,
belief of Christian faith,
always starts in the same way.
It always starts when God appears.
When God comes and visits people.
Whether it's Adam, or Abraham,
or Moses, or Samuel, or the prophets,
or Mary and Joseph.
Belief does not start when we travel our way to God
with our thoughts,
and our meditations,
and our religion,
and our imaginations.
But God travels to us
and visits us.
Belief in Jesus starts in this way,
with a move of God
into the world.
John uses another way to describe Jesus,
doesn't he?
He calls him the true light.
This light, he says,
was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
verse 10.
John tells us, doesn't he,
earlier in this introduction,
that before he makes this journey,
he was in another place.
He was with God.
He was God,
in verse 1.
And then he makes this huge leap
from this transcendent place,
out from and above of this world,
if you can imagine such a place,
into this world.
It's as if, isn't it,
humanity lives in a place
that is utterly distinct
from where God is,
in one sense.
It's as if humanity lives
in this kind of box.
And it's a beautifully ornate box.
It's like a treasure box.
And much about the box
that we live in,
in this creation,
tells us
that there is a maker
of the box.
The apostle Paul says
that God's invisible characteristics,
his attributes,
namely,
his eternal power,
his divine nature,
are clearly seen,
they're clearly perceived,
how,
in the things that are made
around us,
in the creation of the world.
Someone asks you,
how do you know God exists?
One answer is to say,
well, look at creation.
Look at the world.
Look at this finely tuned,
beautiful, ornate world
in which we live.
This creation.
The stars above us
speak of the majesty
of their maker.
Just as a piece of artwork
isn't just there
by chance, is it?
It speaks of
there being an artist
behind it.
But for John,
that knowledge,
whilst it's good,
the knowledge that we get
of God inside the box,
isn't enough
for this belief
which leads to life.
God must come
into the box.
The creator
must come into
the creation.
And the little
two-letter word
in verse 10
is really crucial.
That little word there,
in.
He was in
the world.
John doesn't just say,
does he,
that he was near
the world,
or that he hovered
above the world,
or he glanced
the world
and touched
the world.
He doesn't just
pay a quick visit,
make a cameo appearance,
and then disappear.
No,
he was in it.
He was amongst it.
In Jesus,
the sun
that warms us
today,
is the same sun
that warmed
God's face.
He breathed
the same air
that we breathe.
His appearing
is an involvement
in the world,
and he comes
to us
in such a way
so that he
is accessible
to us.
He doesn't come
merely as a vision,
or as a messenger.
He,
himself,
the message,
comes into the world.
So that every
human being
can come
within reach
of him.
Not some third party,
not merely
a prophet of God,
but God himself.
He comes right
to the front door
of the world
so that we
can believe.
he comes
knocking.
Life-saving
belief,
Christian faith,
happens when
God comes
into the box
in the arrival.
The light
comes into
the world.
But then,
reading along
with John
in this
reunion scene,
the light
comes into
the world,
but then
there's a
cold reception,
isn't there?
Because,
secondly,
the world
is blind
to the light.
The world
is blind
to the light.
The story
goes of
some tourists,
and the story
is just better
when you know
that they were
American tourists.
No offence
if you're American,
but you'll get
why it's important.
These American
tourists,
they were on a
trip round
the British Isles,
and they spent
a bit of time
in the grounds
of Balmoral Castle,
the Queen's
holiday home
in Scotland.
And they were
walking around
hoping to catch
a glimpse of her.
On that
particular day,
Her Majesty
had gone
for a walk
dressed in
tweeds
and a headscarf,
and unwittingly
these tourists
met her
on the road
and asked,
do you live
round here?
Imagine the
conversation
with Balmoral
Castle
as the backdrop.
She kind of
played along
with it and
said,
well,
I've got a
house nearby.
They asked her,
have you ever
met the Queen?
And she points
to her bodyguard
and says,
well,
no,
but he has.
It's a weird
moment where
the one they
were looking
for was hidden
from their
eyes.
They didn't
recognise the
one who was
right in front
of them.
They were kept
from seeing her.
Now,
that's a silly
story,
isn't it?
But it illustrates
something of what
is going on in
verse 10.
He was in
the world,
and the world
was made
through him,
yet the world
did not
know him.
The light
comes into
the world
in the most
accessible way
possible.
He comes as
a human being,
two human
beings,
yet in some
mysterious way
the world
does not know
him.
And it's an
absolute mystery
for John.
It's unfathomable
how you can't
recognise royalty
when they're
right in front
of you.
He says,
even though,
even though the
world was made
through him,
the world
doesn't know
him.
The world
is strangely
unable to
recognise its
maker.
It is blind
to his
light.
For John,
this is an
enigma
wrapped in a
riddle.
He just
doesn't get
this.
That human
beings do
not recognise
Jesus for
who he is,
as the God
of the
universe,
as the God
who made
them.
Now we
think that's
pretty normal,
don't we?
Thousands and
thousands of
people don't
believe that.
They don't
believe that
Jesus is
God.
They don't
believe that
he is the
one that they
need to
receive and
receive life
from.
That is
pretty normal.
all.
But John
is saying
here,
no, no,
that is
really weird.
It is
warped.
It is
deeply
worrying
that the
world does
not recognise
this.
That the
world does
not know
what it
should know
of Jesus.
Just as
the Syrian
war broke
out,
you hear
stories,
don't you,
of families
separated in
the refugee
crisis.
Awful.
And just
recently,
there have
been more
stories of
reunifications
of families
that were
split apart.
I watched
one clip
of a video
of two
children
being reunited
with their
mother and
father.
And you'd
expect,
wouldn't you,
for it to
be a moment
of joy
and of
relief.
But
something is
deeply wrong
as they
meet together.
Because
after the
arrival of
the parents
in the
airport
foyer,
the child
does not
recognise
his own
parents.
The father
comes to
embrace the
child,
but the
child turns
away.
I don't
know you.
As a
parent,
it's deeply
disturbing to
watch.
It's quite
upsetting.
when it
should be a
moment of
great relief
for this
confused,
lost child,
but it
is spoilt
by a deep
inability to
recognise.
John is
saying that
happens when
the light of
the world,
the creator,
comes into
the world.
That's where
belief starts,
but the
arrival is not
enough in
itself.
The
appearance of
God in
Jesus Christ
does not
guarantee this
receiving of
him.
You can be
blind to
this light.
You can
shield yourself
from it.
You can
stay in the
dark.
John shows
us that
actually there's
a sinister
side to
this,
because it's
not just a
case of
mistaken
identity.
there is
something
deeply
defiant
about this
blindness.
It is a
willing
blindness.
The world
doesn't know
him and
they don't
receive him.
The maker
comes into
the world
and the
door is
actively
slammed in
his face.
The world
willingly
chooses not
to be able
to receive
him.
Somebody
described it
like this,
the world
is hostile
towards the
protagonist of
creation.
Such a
helpful line.
The world
is hostile
towards the
protagonist of
creation.
The protagonist
is the main
good character
in a story,
isn't it?
It's as if
the world
is hating
the main
good character
of the story
of creation.
If you go
and watch a
film,
if you go
and watch
Lord of the
Rings,
imagine you
get to the
end of it
and the
hobbits
have rescued
the world.
They've done
away with
Sauron and
they are the
heroes.
As the
credits roll
up at the
end of the
last of the
three films,
someone next
to you turns
to you and
says,
you know
what,
I can't
stand that
Frodo.
I just
cannot stand
him.
It's just
weird,
isn't it?
It's like
watching a
film and
then hating
all of the
goodies.
The weirdness
of it is,
the tragedy
of it is,
for John,
he maxes
it out
even more,
doesn't he?
When John
adds in
verse 10,
he came to
his own,
came to
his own
people.
He's referring
there to
God's people,
the Israelites.
See how
deeply the
blindness
goes to
who Jesus
is.
It is so
deep that it
affects even
the people
who are
looking for
him to
arrive.
the whole
of the
Old Testament
has been
leading up
to this
point,
hasn't it?
Where God's
people are
waiting and
waiting for
him to
appear,
but it's
the irony
of rejecting
the one
that you're
waiting for,
of slamming
the door on
the one
that you're
preparing to
receive.
The light
comes into
the world
in the
arrival,
but there's
a cold
reception.
The world
is blind
to the
light.
So thirdly
and lastly,
God must
give new
sight in
a new
birth.
God must
give new
sight in
a new
birth.
John
tells us
that there
is a
general
pattern in
the world.
The world
is kind
of shorthand
for humanity
in John's
Gospel.
Human
beings
universally
are like
this,
he's saying,
a pattern
that when
you boil
it down,
it is
grossly
negative
towards
Jesus
Christ.
Up until
now,
he uses
words to
describe
the world,
doesn't he?
Darkness,
verse 5.
There's this
ignorance,
the world
did not
know him,
verse 10.
There's this
hatred of
Jesus,
the world
did not
receive him.
But then
comes this
ray of
light,
because it
turns out
that there
are some
people who
are marked
out as
ones who
go against
this pattern
of the
world.
Verse 12,
but to
all who
did receive
him,
he gave
the right
to become
children of
God.
There are
some who
do recognize
who Jesus
is,
and who
do open
the door
to him,
and host
him,
if you
like,
and receive
him.
It's
unfathomable,
John says,
that despite
being made
by Jesus,
the world
does not
know him.
But this
is even
more of a
surprise,
that despite
being blind,
some people
do
believe.
that is
a miracle.
Because
true
Christian
belief
has got
nothing to
do with
human
potential.
Actually,
it's got
very little
to do
with you,
and your
family
connections,
and your
ethnicity.
He says,
doesn't he,
those who
received him,
it wasn't
because of
blood,
or the
will of
the flesh,
or the
will of
man.
this
belief,
this
incredible
miracle of
belief,
happens not
because some
people might
fall back on
their better
nature,
or have
more spiritual
potential than
other people,
or they've
got a
religious
gene.
The miracle
happens,
do you see,
at the end
of verse
13,
because they
are born
of God.
It is when
God causes
something in
them,
it is when
God causes
a deep
change,
it is
like being
born,
he says,
and born
again,
so that
the blind
can recognise
Jesus,
and receive
him,
and trust
in him,
and have
life in
his name.
And without
doing that,
without God
doing that,
Jesus may
even be at
the very
door of
your life,
but actually
you'd rather
he left
his coat
on,
you'd rather
he didn't
get too
comfortable,
you'd rather
he didn't
stay for
too long.
Let me
say that
if you're
here and
you're not
a believer,
you're not
a Christian,
and you
know that,
it's really
good that
you are
here,
we are
delighted
that you
are here,
and if
you wonder
why that
is,
maybe you
kind of look
at others
and you
think,
I wish I
could have
their faith,
something like
that.
John knows
why.
He knows
why you
don't
believe.
It is
because even
despite your
best efforts,
you just
cannot
recognise who
Jesus is
on your
own.
John is
showing us,
isn't he,
that this
whole belief
thing,
whilst it
is a simple
thing,
it is actually
much harder
than we
imagined,
than we
thought.
Until you
are born of
God,
it is
impossible
to
believe.
Yet,
if you
were here
last week,
John's
aim at
the end
of the
gospel is
that we
may believe,
isn't it?
He wants
us to
believe.
He tells
us we
can't do
it,
and yet
he wants
us to
do it.
What is
going on
there?
Well,
that's the
thing,
because by
knowing that
it is
something that
you cannot
do in
yourself,
therein
lies the
key of
doing it.
We cannot
fall back
on something
within ourselves,
on our
better nature.
All we
can do is
see our
radical blindness
to who
Jesus is.
And just
as we need
God to
intervene and
come into
creation,
to come into
the box,
we also need
him to
give us
eyes to
see who
he is.
So true
belief is
actually all
about God,
isn't it?
what he
does,
what he
does for
us.
And so we
need to
pray for
his help
with this.
Let us do
that now.
tell you
a little
a little
a little
a little
a little
a little
a little
a little
a little