Life is stronger than death

Father, please pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, lead us and guide us into all truth.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

I heard what he said, and what he said to me was that if I knew who he really was,

I would fall down on my knees or on my face right then, and I would worship him.

And that's what he said to me.

And when I heard him say that, I said I wouldn't do that.

And I'm not talking about Jesus.

I'm talking about the guy who was sitting in a chair in my living room.

And the guy in the chair in my living room, it was July.

We'd had a good period of about, we'd had like three or four or five or a week,

or it would have been quite a while of plus 30 weather.

He was wearing long jeans.

He had a T-shirt on with a plaid jacket over him.

Our house was un-air conditioned.

And he had been dressed like that without changing his clothes for four or five days.

He hadn't had a shower.

You could smell him from several feet away, more than several feet away.

And he, with all of the seriousness, the mentally ill can be spectacularly serious,

just like a Supreme Court judge reading their judgment.

And with all of the seriousness that only a mentally ill man can have,

he said to me that if I knew who he was, I would fall down and worship him.

To which I said something to the effect of, I'm not going to worship you and you need a shower

and a change of clothes or something like that.

At the time, I was part of a group that had a ministry to those who were mentally ill.

Now, I say all of that because I don't know how well you followed what was going on in the gospel text,

which I just read a couple of minutes ago.

But in there, it's very clear that Jesus claims to be God.

Jesus claims to be God.

And here's the thing.

If you could put up the first point, that would be spectacular.

This is coming from John, who wrote one of the four ancient biographies of Jesus.

John is an eyewitness to the different things.

He's an earwitness and an eyewitness.

He writes this early biography when there are many, many people around who could contradict it.

There's no contradictions of it.

He's recording something which Jesus actually said.

And if Jesus actually said that people, the dead can hear his voice,

the dead can hear his voice and rise,

that he will judge every single human being who's ever lived,

that whatever God the Father does, he can do as well.

If Jesus said that with complete and utter seriousness,

and if he is not God, then he is either a con man or seriously mentally ill.

If he's a con man, his con backfired on him because he died in his mid-30s in a terrible, horrible death.

If he's mentally ill, it's still tragic the way he died.

But the main thing about it is the one thing you can't say about somebody who would say that,

just like nobody would say about my friend Bob,

sitting there unwashed for four or five days,

smelling from feet, many feet away,

that I should fall down and worship him.

A man like that just needs help, doesn't he?

In fact, one of the times in my life when I was very afraid was a little bit after this,

and he was still in our house, and he had a big knife,

and he was helping in the kitchen, cutting up an onion.

He started to get into a real, he got angry about something,

and he was a big guy, like, you know, for me.

He's like 6'3", 6'4",

and he was sort of waving this knife around angry,

and I was worried, actually, as to what he was going to do.

And shortly after that, of course,

he had to be put into the Royal Ottawa Hospital

because his psychoses just got too bad.

The point of it all is,

why should, I mean,

if Jesus says these things,

and the historical evidence is that he does,

if he says this and he's not God,

he's either a con man or seriously mentally ill.

The point is, we should have nothing to do with him.

Nothing to do with him whatsoever,

if he is not God.

And in fact, Islam is wrong on this

because they say that Jesus is the second greatest prophet.

The average Canadian who says that Jesus is a good guy,

they have a problem with the church,

but they love Jesus,

they can't possibly be correct.

They're well-meaning.

The Baha'i who see Jesus as a prophet,

they are well-meaning,

but they cannot possibly be correct

if Jesus says the things that he says.

If he is not God,

he's either a con man

or seriously mentally ill.

And we should flee from him.

Now, some of you might say,

George, I'm more than a little bit confused now

by what you've said.

Yeah, I get all that that you just said.

I get it.

But, you know, George,

when I was listening to you read that text,

what sort of struck me is

it wasn't Jesus, right?

George, it wasn't Jesus who said

he's claiming to be equal to God.

That's why the Jewish leaders were upset with him.

He didn't claim that.

But when, George,

isn't it the case that when he answers,

does it sort of sound like when he answers

that maybe he isn't God,

that he's not equal with God?

He doesn't say he's equal with God,

does he, George?

And doesn't it sort of say

that he only has these things

because God the Father gives it to him?

So, George, are you maybe

not reading it accurately?

Are you sort of reading it out of context?

Like maybe the Jehovah Witnesses

have something on it,

that he's just,

he's a man

who is sort of like what Islam

describes him at,

and God has given him these special powers,

but he's just a man.

Well, that's a very, very good question.

And in fact,

if there happened to be a Jehovah Witness here today,

they might actually say,

George, you've completely misunderstood the text.

He doesn't claim to be equal to God at all.

So let's look.

So if you have your Bibles,

it's John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

And as I said,

the story before is the healing of the man.

John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

In verse 17,

to explain why Jesus told him to carry,

told, you know,

why he did what he did,

healed on the Sabbath,

told the guy to carry his mat on the Sabbath,

Jesus says,

my father is working until now,

and I am working.

And the Jewish religious leaders,

they understand the grammar

and the context.

And in verse 18,

this is what John says.

This was why the Jews,

and in the text,

it could really be more accurately translated

as Jewish leaders.

This was why the Jewish leaders

were seeking all the more to kill Jesus,

because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,

but he was even calling God his own father,

making himself equal with God.

And those of you,

my preaching Bible actually happens to be

a red letter Bible.

It has the words of Jesus in red.

And if you have a Bible like that,

you'll see that all of the,

what follows is red.

So it's,

and if you look at verse 19,

it begins with so.

And in other words,

Jesus understands

that that's what's going on.

He understands what's going on

in the minds and the hearts

and the affections of the religious leaders.

And he probably understands as well

the doubts of his own disciples,

because making himself equal with God

is just not right.

And,

I mean,

they've seen him,

I don't want to be impolite,

but they've seen him pee

and poo.

And he claims to be equal with God.

That's a pretty big jump,

just to be honest.

And they've seen him eat,

they've seen him hungry,

they've seen him tired,

they've seen him thirsty.

It's a pretty big claim.

So Jesus knows what's going on

in their thoughts,

and that's why it says so.

So Jesus now makes a statement about it.

And this,

the truly,

truly,

I love the old King James Version,

verily,

verily.

Some of your things say,

I solemnly declare.

It could also be translated as,

amen,

amen,

and it's a verbal and literary technique

to draw attention to the solemn truthfulness of something.

And if I was to start saying,

amen,

amen,

all of you who've been drifting off,

would wake up,

right?

Whoa,

amen,

amen.

What,

what,

is it over?

And,

and it's,

so it's a literary technique,

it's a verbal technique,

it's a technique to aid,

aid memory.

And,

and so how does he answer?

He goes like this,

truly,

truly,

I say to you,

the son can do nothing of his own accord,

but only what he sees the father doing.

For whatever the father does,

that the son does likewise.

Now,

you can see right off the bat,

it,

it does sound,

I mean,

it,

it's a bit confusing,

isn't it?

It,

it doesn't really sound like equal,

if he can't do anything of his own accord,

and if he can only do what the father is doing.

Then verse 20,

for the father loves the son and shows him all that he,

that he himself is doing,

and greater works than these will he show him,

so that you may marvel.

For as the father raises the dead and gives them life,

so also the son gives life to whom he will,

the father judges no one,

but has given all judgment to the,

the,

the son,

and we'll just sort of pause there.

You can see sort of a bit of the problem,

right?

So first of all,

Jesus doesn't begin by saying,

yes,

I'm equal to God.

In fact,

if you go on,

a Jehovah witness,

if they tell you that Jesus doesn't seem to be equal with God,

they're correct.

They haven't misread the Bible.

It's not that they have a weird Bible translation.

He actually doesn't say he's equal with God.

He doesn't,

he could just say,

yep,

you know,

that's me,

but he doesn't.

And the language is a bit confusing.

He only has certain things because the father gives it to him.

It doesn't sound like it's equal.

So actually,

if you could put up the next point,

that would be very helpful.

It's sort of a big point.

And we're going to park here just for a few minutes.

But the unceasing love of the father for the son and of the son for the father means that thinking in terms of equality will only confuse me.

See,

Jesus is a great teacher and he teaches to our hearts.

And he knows how our hearts will be easily confused.

You know,

look,

look at verse 20.

For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing.

The unceasing love of the father for the son and of the son for the father means that thinking in terms of equality will confuse me,

will only confuse me.

So what on earth do I mean by that?

Well,

here's the,

it's not a point,

sort of a point,

but not written down.

Equality is medicine,

not food.

Equality is medicine,

not food.

Now,

this isn't putting down equality.

I'm not putting down equality.

We need equality,

don't we?

I mean,

there's many times we need medicine.

You know,

I used to be very prone to strep throat.

Before they had antibiotics,

I could have died from strep throat.

And I needed the antibiotics to get better and to not die.

Medicine's a very,

very good thing.

And there's a very,

very big problem of inequality.

I mean,

in Canada,

whatever,

a hundred years ago,

women wouldn't have had the vote.

They needed to become fully equal in the law.

Our neighbors to the south of us had slavery up until they had to fight a very,

very bloody civil war.

over that and many other issues.

But that was a very key part of it.

And those who were of African American descent,

they needed to be free.

They needed equality.

It's still an ongoing issue in our society.

A couple of years ago,

I was talking to a doctor,

and there had been a bit of thing in the news about some freestanding medical clinic,

because you're not allowed to have private medical care, by and large, in Canada.

And the arguments were going that you couldn't go to private because there'd be two-tiered medical,

that our country would be divided between those who could get better medicine and those who had to go to the socialized medicine.

And I mentioned that to my doctor, and he said, there already is two-tiered medicine in Canada.

He said, why is it that when a player on the Ottawa Senators needs an MRI,

they don't have to wait for a long time like an average Canadian?

Do you ever think about that?

And he said, you think anybody in the cabinet, at the time it was a conservative government,

he said, you think anybody in the cabinet has to wait as long as one of your kids to get a medical treatment?

He said, there's already two.

Anyway, that's a bit of an aside.

Now I've lost you all.

The rest of you are just going to be thinking about that,

and I've done a bad thing in my sermon.

I apologize.

So back to the topic.

It's not about Medicare.

But here's the thing.

We need equality.

We need medicine at different times,

and equality is exactly what we need.

People need to be treated equally.

And in fact, I would just say that one of the problems we're going to face,

and we already see it going on in our culture right now with some of the social trends

and the things which are going on,

is that we're losing our sense of equality before the law,

and we need to be careful about it.

But it is, in fact, only the biblical narrative,

only the biblical narrative and the biblical worldview grounds equality,

because only the biblical narrative, only the biblical narrative,

says that every human being that is conceived in the womb

is made fully in the image of God

and is worthy of equality with all other human beings.

Only the biblical narrative, not evolution, not Hindu mythology,

not Buddhism mythology, not indigenous mythology,

not ancient mythology.

Only the biblical narrative grounds equality.

And as the biblical worldview is lost in a culture,

we will lose equality in a culture as well.

Well, so the Bible, I'm not saying,

when I say that thinking in terms of equality will only confuse us,

I'm not denigrating equality.

Equality is very important medicine, and we should never lose it.

But deep down, deep down,

every human being wants something more than equality.

I mean, we want equality, but once we've got equality,

we want something more than equality.

What do you mean?

We want love and intimacy.

We want community.

We want love and intimacy and community,

which is grounded in equality,

but is something way more.

You see, in the best marriages

and in the best friendships,

there are rhythms.

And there are rhythms of sacrifice

and trust,

of asking and giving,

of command and of being.

If I come home someday,

and Louise said,

I've been to Costco,

and there's a whole pile of milk,

can you take it downstairs to the fridge?

And I said to her,

how dare you boss me around?

We're equal.

Well, that would not go over very well.

Nor should it.

I shouldn't get away with that,

should I?

Like if afterwards,

you know,

I came and complained to people

and said,

Louise is a little bit upset with me

for saying that to her.

Not single one of you would side with me,

which is right.

You shouldn't.

I would have been being a jerk.

Well, but she commanded me.

She asked me.

But it's the very nature of all intimacy

and all love,

of all affection,

that there is a request

and a sacrifice,

a giving and a denying.

It's, in a sense,

the air that love

and intimacy

breathes.

It's its food.

And that's what we desire

more than equality.

Medicine comes in

when that reciprocity

and that affection

and that intimacy

and that trust is broken.

But we want to move

beyond equality

to that which is more.

And so it is,

we see in this text,

that what confuses us

in this text

is actually

the diagramming,

the picturing

of how intimacy

and the unity

and the trust

actually works.

One more example.

A couple of years ago,

one of my sons

was playing indoor soccer

and he's just in a house league.

And occasionally,

his team would play

another team

and they were,

I mean,

they're not pros

because they're kids,

but they're in competitive soccer

all year round,

probably with special coaching.

And it was always,

especially in the early days

when they're just around

10 or 11 or whatever

and they're playing

other 10 or 11 year olds,

it's actually quite,

it was astounding to watch

because,

and this is partly

what makes sports

so wonderful to watch.

But with these,

so, you know,

my son and his friends,

they would sort of

get the ball

and then you could tell,

okay, you get the ball,

okay, what are we going

to do with the ball?

And so people would start

to move to be passed to

or to dribble.

But that's not how

the other trained team worked.

It seemed as if

the second one of them

got the ball,

the other four people

were moving

and rather than them

moving to where

they could have

the ball passed,

some of them were moving

to where the ball

would be three passes later.

It was just,

it was beautiful to watch.

Just all of a sudden,

they didn't all sort of

converge around the ball

or just move near it.

Some of them were going there,

some of them were going

way over there

and it would go like this,

like this,

like this,

like this,

and in.

And, you know,

you watch a football play

and it's just,

it's astounding

if you think about it.

These 22 guys,

11 on one team

and they,

and the ball is snapped

and they're all moving

all over the different places

and the next thing

the ball goes

and it looks

and it's just spectacular.

When you watch

the snowbirds fly,

they seem to be moving

as if they're one

and one person

obviously must be

some type of initiator

but what you don't see

is the initiation

and the command.

You don't see

sort of one person

doing something

and others all

trying to catch up.

It's as if

there's such a trained unity

that even though

there's one

whom they're obviously

going to be taking

their lead for,

you can't actually

even tell it

when you watch it

because it seems

as if they move as one.

What you're actually

seeing diagrammed here

is love and intimacy.

This unceasing love

of the father

for the son

and the unceasing love

of the son

for the father

so that there is

in sense

but one will.

You see,

why is equality

a problem for us?

What is it we usually

connect with equality?

If I'm equal,

I can do what I want.

Isn't that what

equal means to us?

The sign of equality

is independence.

The freedom to choose

to make our own decisions.

Well, as I said,

that's an important medicine.

You have slavery.

There's still slavery

throughout the world.

You want to give them equality.

You want to have it

so that they

can make their own choices.

But what do you want in marriage?

Marriage ain't going to work

if every day

the two of them

are saying,

we're equal.

You can't tell me

to do that.

That wouldn't even make

past the first date,

would it?

Wouldn't make it

past the first date.

Wouldn't work in friendship.

Doesn't work in husbands

and kids.

I mean,

parents and kids.

It just doesn't work.

But for us,

the sign of equality

is independence,

being able to do

what we want.

And that's why

Jesus,

who is such a good teacher,

who knows that equality

is medicine and not food,

who knows that

even in Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

what they wanted,

what human beings wanted

when they fell,

was to be equal with God.

And the sign of being

equal with God

was being able to do

whatever they wanted,

even if it meant

that God told them

not to do it,

even if it meant

eating of the knowledge,

the tree of the knowledge

of good and evil.

That equality for us

is so deeply connected

to independence

that if he had said,

yeah, we're equal,

we would have all

been confused.

And instead,

what we see here

is it's almost

like a creed.

And I was sharing

when I was speaking

in Parliament Hill

Christian Fellowship

on Parliament Hill

on Friday,

I was sharing,

you know,

if you think about it,

if you just think about it

for a second,

when Jesus was around,

they had no Facebook,

no iPhones.

It was such a different world.

And Jesus and these guys,

they would have walked

from place to place to place

and they weren't all

checking their Instagram updates,

they weren't listening

to podcasts,

they were just walking.

And Jesus must have spent

that time going over

and over and over

simple truths with them,

simple things that he said

over and over and over.

And there would have been

a culture that remembered

that far better

because they weren't filled

with the noise

that we're filled with.

But listen to this text

if you understand it

in terms of

that everything it says

about the Father

is true of the Son.

But it's describing it

in terms of intimacy.

Go back and we'll read

verse 19.

Truly, truly,

I say to you,

the Son can do nothing

of his own accord

but only what he sees

the Father doing.

For whatever the Father does,

the Son does likewise.

And our Jehovah Witness friend

says,

you know,

that shows they're not equal.

One moment.

God makes the sun rise.

Jesus just said

he does that.

God holds the galaxies.

Jesus just said

he does that.

I mean,

that's an unbelievable claim.

I shouldn't say unbelievable.

It is believable.

I hope you do believe it.

It's an astounding claim.

But it's mingled there

with this sense of intimacy.

The Father,

in some ways,

is the initiator

and the Son

is going to do everything

that the Father does

and it's going to look like

the snowbirds fly.

It's going to look like

an unbelievably spectacular

football team

or soccer team.

It's going to look like

a couple

where,

in a sense,

when the couple

is really in a good groove

and they're really in love

and one can sort of tell

almost instantly

from the other

what they're thinking

or what they're wanting

and they seem to act as one

as if there's some type

of a unity

and that's what's

being described here.

Verse 20,

For the Father loves the Son

and shows him

all that he himself

is doing.

One moment here.

It's saying that

the Father

is completely

and utterly

transparent

and visible

to the Son.

and the Son,

Jesus is saying

that him actually

seeing God

in his heart

and in his plans

and in his actions

and in his affections

does not

explode him

and unmake him.

That he can handle that.

And isn't that what happens

in,

I mean,

that's one of the things,

will marriage survive

the husband discovering

what the wife

is really like

and the wife discovering

what the husband

is really like.

When they see each other

when they're grumpy

and when they're

successful

and when they first

wake up in the morning

it's not a pretty sight

in my case

if you're looking at me

when you just wake up

in the morning.

You have to look at me.

And that's

what Jesus is saying.

Verse 21,

For the Father

raises the dead

and gives them life.

So also the Son

gives life

to whom he will.

This doesn't mean

he's willful

or just sort of picky.

It means that

it's just by his will

that life is given

to the dead.

It's in his power

to will it.

The Father judges

no one

but has given

all judgment

to the Son

that all may honor

the Son

just as they honor

the Father.

Whoever does not

honor the Son

does not honor

the Father

who sent him.

Why?

Because

whatever is true

of the Father

is true of the Son.

Jesus,

God,

the Son

made flesh

is fully God.

Fully and completely God

in this intimacy

of reciprocity

and giving.

Verse 24,

Truly, truly,

I say to you,

whoever

hears my word

and believes him

who sent me

has eternal life.

Present tense.

He does not come

into judgment

and here the word

judgment means that

you're not going

to be judged

and found guilty

but has passed

from death

to life.

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 is a wonderful text.

It works on three

different levels.

It's, of course,

on one hand

going to be speaking

of what's going to happen.

I think it's in six more chapters

when Jesus,

after Lazarus,

has been dead

for four days,

Jesus speaks

to Lazarus.

Dead four days

and Lazarus

comes back to life.

Not only does he

come back to his body

but the body

that the soul

that comes back

to the body

is not the body.

I mean,

that body's been

decomposing

for four days.

It's a spectacular act

of healing

and recreation

so that whatever

it was

that led Lazarus

to die

has been healed.

All of the decomposition

is completely

and utterly reversed.

It's almost,

in a sense,

like a new body

for the soul

to come back to

and Lazarus hears

and is made alive

and as we know

when the story

comes out.

But it's not only

talking at this level.

The Greek is very,

very subtle.

It's also talking

about the fact

that every single

human being

apart from Christ

is dead.

In fact,

the way we tend

on one hand,

I mean,

we tend to think

of conversion

on one hand

as some type

of a process

and on one level

becoming more like,

I mean,

not on one level,

on every level

becoming more like

Jesus in my day-to-day life

is a process.

But what Jesus

is saying here

is that we are

all spiritually dead

and we need

to hear his voice

and when we hear

his voice

and obey

and believe

that God,

in fact,

is the father of Jesus,

that all of this

is the father's,

it is the power

of God

for salvation

for all who believe.

It comes from God.

It is his provision.

It is his accomplishment

and that when I hear that

and receive it,

I move from death

to life.

It is a difference

not in degree

but in kind.

It is the difference

between a cut rose

and a rose bush

planted,

protected,

well-watered,

well-nourished

in the ground.

Completely different.

Difference in kind,

not a difference

of degree.

Verse 25,

verse 26,

for the father

has life

in himself

so he has granted

the son also

to have life

in himself

and he has given him

authority

to execute judgment

because he is

the son of man.

Do not marvel at this

for an hour is coming

when all who hear,

who are in the tombs

will hear his voice

and come out

and those that have done

good to the resurrection

of life

and those who have done

evil to the resurrection

of judgment

and here in the text

within the overarching

context

you can see

that what brings them out

is God's sovereign act

in the person of Jesus

and so have done good.

Goodness isn't the cause

of the resurrection

to life,

it is the sign

that they have given

their life to Jesus

because good works

is to flow

from saving faith.

It is not the cause

of resurrection

to life

or resurrection

to judgment,

it is the sign

of conversion.

Now,

the only reason

we should believe Jesus

is if he rose

from the dead.

Right?

This all,

Jesus making these claims

the only possible reason

any human being

could have

to believe Jesus

is that not only

does he rise

from the dead

but that his resurrection

from the dead

comes within a certain

type of context

otherwise it is just weird.

You know,

it would be like

a horror movie

or something like that

where the person

shoots somebody

in the head

and you see

the blood splatter

story

you know,

out the back

and then

you know,

a day later

they come up

and they start

chasing you

and it's just

a horror movie

it's just weird

it's just creepy

it's just crazy

and it makes

no empirical sense

whatsoever.

Right?

So it's not just

that Jesus

comes back to life

he has to come back

to life within

a certain context

and the context

is that of course

is that he's made

prophecies

the context is

as we're going to see

next week

is that he's saying

that the entire

Tanakh

the entire Old Testament

is pointing

to what's about to happen

and the other thing

is that it

it fits in

with our deepest

longings

and our fears

so what do I mean

by this?

If you could put up

the next point

that would be

very helpful

all of the best

science proves

that death

wins

and life loses

did you know that?

We have at least

one physicist here

you can ask him

the first law

of thermodynamics

wins

the Big Bang Theory

shows that

shows that at some

point in time

all of the planets

all of matter

will move so far

away that all life

will come to an end

and cease

all of it

everywhere

doesn't matter

if we jump

from planet

to planet

doesn't matter

if we are like

in the movie

altered carbon

and somehow

or another

figure out how

to digitalize

who we are

and keep putting

ourselves in

different bodies

doesn't matter

if any of those

things happen

at some point in time

first law of thermodynamics

wins

the Big Bang

wins

all life ends

all the best

science proves it

can you put up

the next slide

but here's the problem

human beings

have a deep longing

for life to be

stronger than death

and for love

to be stronger

than death

don't we?

doesn't every human

being feel

that there's something

just wrong

about death?

doesn't every human

being

even when we hear

that

there's part of us

that rebels

and says

but surely

that cannot be so

surely

life must be

stronger than death

in fact

surely love

must be stronger

than death

and surely

don't we sort of

have a deep

sense that love

and life

are deeply connected

that they're

intertwined

that life without

love wouldn't be

life

and love without

life

well what does

that even mean

that somehow

love should be

stronger than death

life should be

and is

in some way

even though

yes the best

science proves

that that intuition

is completely

and utterly

wrong

but shouldn't

it be the case

doesn't our

heart cry out

that that should

be the case

only the biblical

narrative explains

this

only the biblical

narrative explains

this

Buddhism doesn't

explain it

Islam doesn't

explain it

and atheism

definitely doesn't

explain it

it's only

this

biblical

teaching

that before

anything existed

the father

has loved the son

from all eternity

the son

has loved the

father

from all eternity

only the biblical

narrative that

God makes all

things good

and makes human

beings in the

image of God

so that we have

a natural desire

as image bearers

of God

to be connected

to God

and only the

doctrine of the

fall of how

we've turned

our back in God

and sin has come

into the world

and death through

sin

and so death

comes but still

we have this

sense this longing

that we should be

connected to our

creator

and it is in the

context of such a

story and in the

context of such

intuitions and such

longings and yearnings

that Jesus comes

next point please

John tells the

true story of the

death of death

in the death of

Jesus

John tells the

true story of the

death of death

in the death

of Jesus

look back to what

it says here in

verse

26

for as the

father has life

in himself

so he has

granted the

son also

to have

life

in himself

this is a

very very

important thing

because here's

here's how it

works there's two

different ways to

think of death

with you and me

one way to think

of it is it in

sense as I'm

walking through

life death is

following behind

me and I try

to jog and I

try to eat bread

and food that

has like lots of

grains and

sprouted and my

wife you know

make sure I eat

vegetables and

stuff like that

against my natural

desires and so

I'm walking along

and death is

following along

behind me but the

one thing we know

is death will

eventually catch me

another way that we

think of it is that

we're going through

our life and death

is standing there in

front of us and

in some point in

time we meet

death and what

happens death

always wins but

what it's saying

here about Jesus

when it says here

that he has life

in himself it

means that death

wasn't following

Jesus and death

wasn't facing

Jesus in a sense

it's saying that

death knew that

Jesus was there

and salivates over

him but cannot

touch him and so

it is that it's

very very powerful

that the way the

Bible describes the

death of Jesus is

the final words of

Jesus upon the

cross are it is

finished which means

it is accomplished

I have done and

accomplished what I

with the father's

heart had to have

accomplished and

then he gives up

his spirit he

enters death

death doesn't

catch him he

enters death and

what the Bible

describes is that

it is the true

story of the death

of death in the

death of Jesus

if you could put up

the next point and

all it is is verse

24 I tell you that

the solemn truth the

one who obeys my

message and believes

the one who sent me

has eternal life and

will not be condemned

but is passed over

from death to life

it's the present

tense because Jesus

knows that his

victory is coming and

he shares it he's

speaking from beyond

the grave to you and

me right now that when

we put our faith and

trust in Jesus that

Jesus who is has life

in himself that when

he dies he dies having

accomplished all that

he had to do so that

you and I that the

condemnation that I

deserved is on him

the accusations that

come against me come

on him the shame that

troubles me comes on

him the life I could

not live he gives to

me his conquering of

death he gives to me

the life that will is

needed for me to once

again live and see my

father face to face and

walk with him in the

garden in the cool of

the day he gives to me

he accomplishes it all

he wins it all he

offers it to me and

one of the things which

is so powerful and

precious about this

text is that we might

say well how is it

that even if Jesus

died on the cross maybe

he dies on the cross

for me but he doesn't

have the authority to

give me life but he

does have the authority

to give me life because

it says it might be well

maybe he dies upon the

cross but the one who

stands in judgment of

us is different than

Jesus but it says Jesus

is the one who stands

in judgment upon us and

he is the one who

died for us and maybe

maybe it's the case

that that you know

that God is doing all

of these other things

he doesn't know that

Jesus is dying on the

cross but Jesus knows

everything that God is

doing he knows

everything in his heart

he knows everything

that's going on and

the same one who knows

everything that's going

on is the same one who

dies for us and is the

one who promises us

that when we put our

faith and trust in him

that we have that we've

passed from death to

life that we are no

longer cut flowers that

we are his if you could

put up the final point

I cannot honor Jesus

too much I mean what

Jesus is saying here

science tells us that

death wins but we see

we have this intuition

that death cannot

possibly be the final

word the highest word

the deepest word the

oldest word the

eternal word the

everlasting word something

within all of us says

that cannot possibly be

the case and the only

way that we can

understand that that

not is in fact the

entire case is because

of Jesus where we see

the death of death and

the death of Jesus and

it means that all of our

truest and deepest

yearnings find their

rest in him and and this

discussion of the

intimacy of God and the

fact that he is the

creator and the

sustainer and and the

source of life and that

that the fact that life

and love in fact are at

one and at unity and at

peace and goodness and

power and beauty and all

of the our minds can rest

in these our affection can

rest in Jesus our fears

find their rest in Jesus

because of who he is and

what he's done and the

wonderful thing about

Jesus is that no one who

comes to him will ever be

denied no one who comes

to him in the words of

verse 24 will ever be

thought to be too

unworthy no one who

comes to him is too

little or too unimportant

to be passed over

because he says that he

comes to do it for us

he loves the important

poobahs in the eyes of the

world and he loves the

least and there is no one

so broken no one so far

from God that these

words of verse 24 that if

you believe and obey that

you receive and trust that

you will pass from death to

life please stand

bow our heads in prayer

father we thank you for

Jesus we ask that you help

us to honor him more and

more and father we ask that

you help us to turn to him

that we could come to him

with our fears that we will

know that we can come to him

father with our learn our

yearnings and our longings

father that we might come to

him for life and father we

thank you for him we thank you

that he died the death that we

could not die without coming

into judgment that he did that

for us he did for us out of

love for us father make us

disciples of Jesus who are

gripped by the gospel learning to

live for his glory father draw us

to yourself we ask this in the

name of Jesus your son and our

savior amen