The Word Rejected & Received

You may be seated. Children, you are excused to your King's Kids class.

And if you would please open up your Bibles to John chapter 1. It's on page 1053 of your Pew Bible.

John 1 · chapter mention

Last week, this past week, I picked up my daughter Mary at her school out west on 50.

It's dark, traveling back eastbound on 50, getting to the bridges before Menards.

You know where I'm at?

And I look up into my rearview mirror and behold, flashing red and blue lights.

This was not my first experience with that.

And of course, the first thing I did was look at my speedometer.

And then lo and behold, the lights have come up onto my left.

What? What's going on?

It was an SUV.

And the whole thing was wrapped in Christmas lights.

And it was like, you know, there's this rhythm going on with them as they're cruising along.

Has anybody wondered where Christmas lights come from?

What's the origin story of Christmas lights?

And so, I, this week, did some vast research on the World Wide Web.

And my theory was confirmed.

Christmas lights that shine in the darkness in Christmastime,

they speak a word of the true light which came and is shining in the darkness,

Jesus Christ.

The Word become flesh.

God incarnate.

He is shining in the darkness.

Now, if you ask most people in the city of Kenosha,

why do we have Christmas lights?

I'm guessing you'd get one of three answers.

Tradition.

The other one would be something like,

man, I remember putting Christmas tree lights up with my dad or my mom,

so there's a sentimentality about it.

Or more, it's kind of like, you know what?

It just helps us get into the Christmas mood.

Well,

the origin of Christmas lights has largely been forgotten,

disconnected by our culture from its origin story.

The true Christmas light is the light of Jesus Christ.

And he is shining into the darkness.

The true light is shining life into the darkness of the world.

And so, this morning what I'm going to do is,

I want you to follow with me in verses chapter 1 of John, 9 through 13,

and I'm going to make three points.

The light radiating,

the light rejected,

and the light received.

The light is radiating life this morning.

So, the light radiating.

Verse 9, we read,

the true light,

which gives light to everyone,

was coming into the world.

Now, if you haven't been with us for the last couple weeks,

you might be thinking,

light?

What is this light all about?

Well, let's trace it back from verse 9.

In verses 6 and 8,

there's this guy named John,

JTB,

John the Baptist.

And in verse 8,

he's not the light,

but he came to bear witness to the light.

So,

John the Baptist is not the light,

but he's bearing witness to the light.

Who's the light?

Verse 5,

there's this light that is shining in the darkness.

Verse 4,

this light that is shining in the darkness to men

is the light of life.

You see,

this light is the radiance of life.

Eternal life.

And in verse 4,

at the very beginning,

you see,

in him was life.

And the life was the light of men.

Who's the he?

We go into verse 3.

The he is the creator of all things.

In him,

all things were made.

Without him,

nothing that was made was made.

So,

this light is this life,

who is a he,

not John the Baptist,

and the creator of all,

in verses 1 and 2,

in the beginning was the Word.

And the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

The light is the life,

the creator of all,

who is the Word.

The greatest expression of God ever has walked the earth.

He's distinct from God,

but he is fully God.

The Word.

And we learn in verse 14,

the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Verse 17,

we are told the name of this person,

Jesus Christ.

So,

all the way back to verse 9,

the true light

is Jesus Christ.

And he came into the world.

He took on flesh.

The eternal second person of the Trinity

became a man.

That's who the light is.

And he's radiating life into the darkness.

I want you to actually see one word in verse 9.

Let's drill down a little bit more.

It's the word true.

The true light.

Now,

I'm guessing you hear the word true,

and the opposite of the word true is false.

false.

But in the Gospel of John,

in fact,

in John's writings in the New Testament,

John will use that word true

in a little bit different sense.

In fact,

we see it

in John chapter 6

John 6 · chapter mention

and John chapter 15

John 15 · chapter mention

of the Gospel of John.

It actually means ultimate.

Full,

ultimate

reality

of something.

So,

in John chapter 6,

John 6 · chapter mention

I'm not sure if you remember,

this,

Jesus has just fed the 5,000.

He comes across the lake.

There's a bunch of Jews

who are asking,

hey,

show us a sign.

Just like Moses

showed us the sign of manna,

show us a sign,

Jesus.

And in chapter 6,

let me just read you

how Jesus responds.

Verses 32 and 33,

Jesus then said to them,

truly,

truly,

I say to you,

it was not Moses

who gave you the bread from heaven,

but my Father gives you

the true bread

bread from heaven.

For the bread of God

is he who comes down

from heaven

and gives life

to the world.

I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me

shall not hunger

and whoever believes in me

shall never thirst.

You get

Jesus' bread

bread

and you're satisfied.

And so what Jesus

is saying there

is that,

hey,

God gave the manna

to Israel

back in the day

and he fed them

every day,

blah, blah, blah.

I am the ultimate

bread manna.

You partake of me,

you'll never be hungry again.

There's another use of true.

It's in chapter 15,

verse 1.

Jesus says,

I'm the true vine.

And in Isaiah chapter 5

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

and chapter 27

in Isaiah,

God is describing

his people Israel

as a vine

that doesn't bear

any fruit.

And so what Jesus

is saying

in chapter 15

is he's saying,

I am the true vine.

I am God's Israel

and you abide in me

and you will bear

much fruit.

For apart from me

you can do nothing.

Both are talking

about life-giving things.

Bread,

the vine.

And Jesus is saying,

I am the ultimate,

the true bread,

the true vine.

And so when we read here

in verse 9,

the true life,

not only is he saying

something in contrast

to John the Baptist,

he wasn't the light,

the true light

Jesus is the ultimate light.

And what we learn

from verses 1 through 5

is he's the light of life

shining in the darkness.

He is the radiance

of eternal life

shining into the darkness

of sin and death

that we all live in

day in and day out.

The true light

is Jesus' ability

to impart eternal life

to those who are dead.

Those who receive

the true light,

they are miraculously

recreated.

He is the recreator.

So the light

shining eternal life

into the sin darkness

of the world

is none other

than Jesus.

He's radiating

his light of life

today.

Hey,

let me ask you a question.

Just between you

and me.

Where are you

looking for life?

Where are you

looking for that

soul-satisfying

life?

Maybe you think

it's the approval

of other people.

You're like,

oh,

I just want that person

to acknowledge me

and say,

good job.

And you think

that there's some

kind of life in that.

There's no life in that.

Not ultimate life.

Not Jesus' life.

Or maybe you've got

your heart set

on the next thing

that you're going

to purchase.

And you're thinking,

oh man,

if I only get that,

then,

man,

I'm going to be set.

It's going to be,

satisfy me.

I'll be happy.

You know what it is

for me right now?

I'll just be very candid.

I'll just be totally

honest with you.

I'm a mountain bike guy

and I happen to

fall into the

wrong way of thinking

once in a while.

I think

somehow

carbon fiber

handlebars

are going to

bring life

to me.

I shared with you

honestly,

I thought pants

a couple weeks ago

were going to do that.

And now I'm thinking

it's carbon fiber

handlebars.

And you know what?

That'd be great.

But you know what?

There's no life in them.

What's your carbon

fiber handlebars?

What's your next

purchase that you want

that you think

is going to give you life?

There's no life there.

Not Jesus' life.

Not ultimate life.

Not soul-satisfying life.

Or maybe this.

Maybe you'd like

to control things.

Because you think

if you can remove

all risks,

if everything's just right,

there's life.

There's no life there.

Your controlling things

will not bring about life.

The light of life,

Jesus,

that's where your

soul satisfaction is.

He's the true light

of life.

And when He shines

on you,

you're given life.

The light radiating.

Let's look at the

light rejected.

In verses 10 and 11,

we are reading something

that we already know.

we already know that

Jesus is not

welcomed by all.

We know that.

Verses 10 and 11

make that clear.

In verses 9 and 10,

there's a repeated word.

It's the word world.

And it's a very important

word to define right.

Whenever you're

reading your Bible

and you read

a repeated word

in a short amount

of biblical real estate,

it's usually emphasized.

something.

So what does

the world mean?

Let me just read it to you.

The true light

which gives light

to everyone

was coming into the world.

He was in the world

and the world

was made through Him.

Yet the world

did not know Him.

What in the world

is world?

So maybe you're thinking,

you know,

in your brain right now,

you have this iconic

photograph,

Earth rise,

1968,

the Apollo 8 crew

from the lunar surface

took a picture

of the Earth

swirling white clouds,

bright ocean waters,

the tans and browns

of land masses,

not even the world.

That's not how

John's using the world.

When John talks

about the world

in most of his writings,

whether that's John

or that first,

second,

or third John

or the book

of Revelation,

what John is talking

about is something

not nearly

as positive,

not nearly even

as neutral.

When John talks

about the world,

he's talking about

sinful humanity

in organized rebellion

against God.

In 1 John

1 John 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

this will sound familiar

to many of you,

do not love the world

or the things

in the world.

If anyone loves the world,

the love of the Father

is not in him.

For all that is in the world,

the desires of the flesh

and the desires of the eyes

and the pride of life.

I don't know

of any mountains

that have the desires

of the flesh

and the desires of the eyes

and the pride of life.

Those are human qualities.

That's darkness.

Sin darkness.

It's not from the Father,

but it's from the world.

The world is passing away

along with its desires,

but whoever does the will

of God abides forever.

The world walks in darkness.

The world is ruled

by its desire for sin.

In verses 9 and 10,

we read something

with that definition in mind.

John changes before your eyes.

In verse 10,

you see something

of incredible irony.

He was in the world,

the true light,

the creator.

And the world was made

through him.

Yet the world did not know him.

Anybody see Undercover Boss?

You have a CEO

of Fortune 500 company

who comes and dresses up

as kind of one of the grunts

of the company for a week

and he works with the grunts

for a week

or she works with the grunts

for the week

and at the end of the week,

there's this kind of reckoning.

People get fired.

People get bonuses

and things like that.

But what we're seeing

in verse 10

is not Undercover Boss.

It's incarnate God

with irony.

The very ones that

the Word created,

He comes to them

and they don't recognize Him.

Remember,

we just worked our way

through the Gospel of Mark

and in Mark 15,

the Gentile,

Pontius Pilate,

he looks at Jesus

first time

and he says,

are you the

King of the Jews?

Didn't recognize Him.

His Creator

didn't recognize Him.

It's very ironic.

And then verse 11

goes even more specific.

Out of all those

in the world

walking in darkness,

His own people,

the Jewish people,

who should have welcomed Him

as the Messiah King

because they had

the Old Testament

bearing witness to them

again and again and again.

There's one coming,

God in the flesh,

who'd rule on David's throne.

And they did not receive Him.

in Jerusalem,

they yelled,

crucify Him.

So,

most of the world,

including His very own people,

rejected Him,

the true light.

And the same is true today.

Most people living in darkness

who are blinded by their sin,

blinded by the evil one,

will reject the light.

They won't receive Him.

Like people who are seeing

millions of twinkling

Christmas lights

throughout the Christmas season,

they don't put it together

that they're pointing to Jesus.

Why would anybody

reject the light of life?

Why would anybody do that?

You want to know

a hard truth?

Turn in your Bible

to John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

We all know 316,

but now with our working definition

of what the world is,

316 should pop

a little different.

For God so loved

sinful humanity

and organized rebellion

against Him

that He gave His only Son

that whoever believes in Him

should not perish

but have eternal life.

Look down at verse 19.

Why wouldn't anybody

receive Him?

And this is the judgment.

The light has come

into the world

and people loved

the darkness

rather than the light

because their works were evil.

For everyone who does

wicked things

hates the light

and does not come

to the light

lest his works

should be exposed.

People reject

the true light

because they treasure

the darkness more.

it reveals

the deadness

of their condition.

They're spiritually dead.

They have

no inclination.

Our problem,

our sin problem

as a humanity

is so deep

and extensive

we are rendered

incapable

of spiritually

reviving ourselves.

we can't give ourselves

life

because we're dead.

Do you know

what an EKG machine is?

Echocardiogram?

You get hooked up

to it

and it goes

beep, beep, beep, beep.

Let you know

there's a heartbeat.

If you hook up

a spiritual EKG

to someone who

is dead in their sin

you strap it to them

it's a flat line.

Beep.

beep, beep,

no heart

for God

at all.

Spiritually dead.

And then think about this.

When you have a bunch

of spiritually dead people

gathered together

to accomplish things

organizing

it's not necessarily

going to be pretty

all the time

is it?

The world

is

sinful humanity

and organized rebellion

against God

and it

creates

currents.

So what this means

is

our spiritual

depravity

is worse

than we think.

There's a warning here

if

in 336

Jesus says

whoever believes

in the Son

has eternal life

whoever does not

obey the Son

shall not see life

but the wrath

of God

remains on him

on her.

if you haven't

received

the true light

if you haven't

believed in the

true light

not only are you

in darkness

not only are you

dead in your sin

God's just

wrath

remains

over you

the stakes

are high

and into

this world

the true

light

shines.

The light

rejected

our spiritual

depravity

is worse

than we can

think

we can imagine

but

God's love

is greater

than we can

fathom

for God

so loved

the world

that the true

light shines

into the darkness.

The light

received

verses 12

and 13

so

all of humanity

is in darkness

all of humanity

apart from Christ

are dead

in their sin

but

for some

miraculously

some

receive

the true

light

and are

recreated

they're given

new life

the light

of

recreation

shines

life

in verse 12

we read

this

but to all

who did

receive him

in contrast

to those

who did

not receive

him

verse 11

but to all

who did

receive him

you know

that word

receive

in the original

language

it actually

is the

common use

for welcoming

people

you receive

people into

your home

you welcome

them in

you're like

hey

hey

good to see

you

come on

in

welcome

and when

you receive

someone

when you

welcome

someone

like that

you're

welcoming

them

that person

for who

they are

and you're

opening your

life to them

come on in

take a seat

let's start

a relationship

when

you

receive

Jesus

the true

light

you don't

receive

your version

of Jesus

you receive

Jesus

who is

eternal

creator

savior

revealer

king of kings

lord of lords

the true

light

the true

bread

the true

vine

that's who

you receive

now could you

imagine

Jesus comes up

to the front

door of your

house

knock

knock

you open

the door a

little bit

you peek

out

who is

it

the true

light

what do you

want

to give

you life

forget about

it

close the

door

that's

not

receiving

Jesus

here's what

it looks like

to receive

Jesus

who is

it

the light

of life

come on

in

come on

in

all of

who you

are

you are

all welcome

to all

that I

am

mi casa

esu

casa

come on

in

you can

you have

right

because of

who you

are

to every

square inch

of who

I am

and that I

have

responsibility

for

it's

it's all

yours

welcome

that's what

it means

to receive

Christ

and in

this verse

John

clarifies it

even more

he says

but to all

who received

him

who believe

in his

name

who are

believing

in his

name

last week

I used an

illustration

to help

us understand

biblical

belief

do you

remember it

so hey

come on

let's go

hang out

mid-February

by Lincoln

Park Lagoon

and we're

walking around

the lagoon

and I ask

you hey

do you think

the ice

will hold

your weight

and you're

like yeah

sure I

believe it

will hold

my weight

but what

you're

actually

saying is

I accept

the possibility

that that

will hold

my weight

but when I

say hey

come let's

go out on

the ice

together

that's when

you start

to trust

the ice

that's

biblical

belief

that's how

it's being

used

here

to trust

in his

name

one commentator

talked about

his name

as not

simply like

the name

Jesus

but the

totality

of who

he is

so here's

what happens

when a

new

Christian

steps out

onto the

ice

of Jesus

they're kind

of timid

at first

is this

going to

hold my

weight

and he

holds your

weight

but then as

you mature

in Christ

you put

the skates

on

and he

starts

skating

and then

you start

doing

moves

because

your

belief

in him

is

delighting

in him

who

believe

in his

name

it's

joy

when

someone

receives

Jesus

they

something

miraculous

happens

something

out of

this world

happens

we see

it in

at the end

of verse

12

just

the beginnings

of it

but to all

who did

receive him

who believe

in his

name

he

the true

light

the word

he

gave the

right to

become

children of

God

that's

legal

terminology

for

adoption

the

moment

a sinner

believes

in Jesus

they're

justified

anybody

remember that

from August

yes

and they're

also

adopted

which is

another

legal

category

you have

you've been

given all

the rights

and privileges

of now

being in

the family

of God

all the

rights and

privileges

which means

you have

24-7

access to

the father

it's quite

a privilege

but there's

something else

in verse

13

in verse

13 we

read

those who

are given

this right

who were

born

that's

life

language

that's

new life

language

that's

the light

shining into

the darkness

and when

it shines

on those

who receive

who believe

something

happens

they're

born of

God

but did

you notice

the negatives

he says

who were

born

not of

blood

nor of

the will

of flesh

nor of

the will

of man

being born

of God

doesn't come

as a result

of your

royal blood

line

being born

of God

doesn't happen

as a result

of the will

of the flesh

something

of your

ethnicity

which side

of the tracks

you were born

on

it's not

like white

people have

unusual

access

to be

born

of God

over black

people

or brown

people

or yellow

people

or red

people

no

did you

read the

beginning

of verse

12

but to

all

who did

receive him

anyone

any sinner

who recognize

that Jesus

is the true

light of life

and receives

him

you take

all those

negatives

together

and you

know what

it means

there's

absolutely

no

human

contribution

to the

miraculous

work

of

regeneration

of a

sinner

into a

new

creation

absolutely

none

it's

completely

by God

by his

power

by his

grace

only he

is able

to change

someone dead

in their

sin

and give

them new

life

in Christ

we are

so dead

in our

sins

that only

God

only a

miraculous

work of

the regenerating

grace of

God

can give

us

new

life

that's

what it

means

to be

born

of God

and then

that's

what Jesus

talked to

Nicodemus

about in

John 3

when he

says

Nicodemus

you must

be born

again

brother

a working

of the

spirit

that is

beyond

us

merry

Christmas

this is

why the

true light

came into

the world

because we

were dead

in the

darkness

this is

why if

you were

a Christian

you

are

a

walking

miracle

of God

born of

God

nothing you

have done

you are

a miracle

of God's

regenerating

grace

with all

the rights

and privileges

of being

a child

of God

called out

of the

darkness

called into

the family

of light

and that's

why we

read passages

like John

8 12

John 12

46

that say

you no

longer walk

in the

darkness

if you've

received

the light

and

there's

nothing

that we've

contributed

to this

new

birth

so we've

seen

the light

radiating

we've seen

the light

rejected

we've seen

the light

received

so what does

this mean

for us

it means

the true

light

of Jesus

Christ

is shining

into the

darkness

and how we

respond

is by doing

this

we

step into

the word

shine

and live

step into

the light

of life

and live

receive

him

believe

him

and live

if you're

not a

Christian

and right

now you're

in this

room

and you

have this

profound

sense

that before

God

your sins

justly

condemn

you

that God's

wrath

that remains

over you

is not a

mistake

it's just

if you

have that

sense

guess what

God is

actually showing

kindness to

you

that you

would see

those

things

your

step

is to

step

into the

light

of Jesus

Christ

is to

receive

him

is to

welcome

him

with

arms

open

wide

not

as the

baby

in the

manger

but as

the king

of kings

and lord

of lords

who is

crucified

risen

and reigning

and one

day closer

to his

return

you believe

in his

name

you believe

in all

that he

is

it's

it's

this

word

incarnate

that

suffered

all of

God's

wrath

for all

of your

sin

so that

you

could be

born

again

if you're

not a

Christian

here

you're

like

I would

like

that

how

do I

get

that

you

invite

Jesus

in

you

welcome

him

you

tell

him

you

confess

him

you

say

something

like

Jesus

I

welcome

you

all

that

you

are

the

true

light

of

life

into

all

that

I

am

welcome

thank you

for giving

me life

thank you

for forgiving

my sins

help me

to walk

with you

in the

light

it's a

prayer

it's a

prayer

of faith

you're

walking

out

on the

ice

now

if you're

not a

Christian

but a

Christian

let me

call you

to three

ways to

respond

stop

trying to

find life

in lesser

things than

Jesus

stop

stop

looking

for

soul

satisfying

life

in

created

things

instead

of the

creator

of all

things

if you

struggle

with the

approval

of man

there's

no life

there

but let me

tell you

this

if you

are like

Jesus

you're my

everything

you are

my life

guess what

happens to

your desire

to be

approved

by man

you just

don't care

as much

because in

Christ

God has

approved

you

or if

you're

trying to

find life

in carbon

fiber

handlebars

or really

cool pants

or whatever

your thing

is

when

Jesus is

becoming

your life

you're like

okay you

know what

carbon fiber

handlebars

aren't that

big a deal

you

you

experience

contentment

or

or if

you

struggle

with

control

when

Jesus

is your

life

you

realize

he's

in

control

he reigns

over all

and

in

you

trusting

in

him

can

live

with

things

not

being

nailed

down

step

into the

word shine

and live

that's the

first call

second is

this

be

sobered

by the

depravity

of sin

and don't

be surprised

by how

dark

the darkness

is

don't be

surprised by

the number

of people

who love

the darkness

more than

the light

I met

with a

brother this

past week

who was

very angry

over the

direction

of our

country

very angry

I don't

like it

either

but

and I'm

guessing many

of you

don't like

the direction

of our

country

what do

you expect

it

when people

love the

darkness

more than

the light

they're going

to move

towards the

darkness

do you know

what our

country needs

most

they need

word shine

brothers and

sisters

that

they need

the true

light

it doesn't

mean we

back out

of political

engagement

but it

means we

prioritize

the light

so be

sobered

by depravity

don't be

surprised by

the number

of people

who love

the darkness

more

let's

major on

the light

Jesus

third

be amazed

that

you are

a walking

miracle

of

regeneration

be amazed

that

the light

shining of

the darkness

shone on

you

and you

responded by

faith

and you

were made

alive

thank you

Jesus

for that

it's the

gift that

keeps on

giving

it's eternal

life

and that

starts

now

rejoice

give thanks

be amazed

at what

he's done

and walk

in the light

walk in the

light

brothers and

sisters

our time

of walking

in darkness

we put

enough time

into that

let's walk

in the light

as he is

in the light

and let's

do that

together

and let's

create our

own currents

and it was

all out of

love

he

he pursued

you in

your darkness

not because

you were so

lovable

but because

he is so

loving

rejoice

I started

talking about

a sermon

about Christmas

lights

every night

in Kenosha

there are

millions of

twinkling Christmas

lights

but people

don't know

that the

Christmas

lights

are speaking

a word

of the

true light

that is

shining in

the darkness

that has

come

that's

shining

his life

into the

darkness

of our

world

today

don't

reject

him

step

into his

word

shine

and receive

him

and live

happy

incarnation

let's

pray

God in

heaven

we do

thank you

so much

for sending

in love

for us

sending

the eternal

creator

savior

ultimate

revealer

king of

kings

lord of

lords

Jesus

to die

in our

place

to give

us new

life

so that

we can

claim the

right

of being

your

children

thank you

for making

us alive

God would

you help

us to walk

in the light

as you are

in the light

in your name

we pray

amen