(John) as Many as Received Him — Brian Brodersen

The Word, Life, and Light in John's Gospel

All right, let's turn to John's Gospel and we are in the introductory part of this gospel here and tonight we're going to be looking specifically at verses 6 through 13, but let's go back again to the beginning and just get the connection from right back there in verse 1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines continually in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Now in the fourth and the fifth verse we have this introduction to light, and remember we've been noticing the parallel between John chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 1, and remember there in Genesis chapter 1 the very first thing that occurs is light.

God said let there be light, and here in John's Gospel he's talking also about light. He said in Jesus Christ was life, and the life was the light of men, and we talked about this in the previous study, but I wanted to just go back and touch on it for a moment tonight.

It is no doubt spiritual life that John's referring to when he talks about in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. Jesus has brought us spiritual light. Man apart from Christ is in darkness, and it's only through Christ that we can have an understanding of spiritual things in the true sense.

There are a lot of people that dabble in spirituality and are into different kinds of spiritual things, but of course they're connecting with the wrong sources. The only way to connect with God with the true spirituality is by doing so through His Son Jesus Christ.

So it's through that spiritual life that He gives us that we receive the true light concerning God. Now in verse 6, John the Apostle briefly introduces us to another John, John the Baptist, and we're going to just skim over these verses pertaining to John the Baptist, and we'll pick them up again a bit later when we come to verse 19, but let's look at it to see the connection here.

John the Baptist as a Witness to the Light

He's talking about the fact that in Him was life, the life was the light of men, the light shines in the darkness, the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe.

So John the Baptist came to bear witness to the light. Now notice in verse 8, John the Apostle tells us he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. So John wasn't the light, of course, and as we move on in the gospel, we're going to find that when John began his ministry, the people in his generation, especially the leaders, they came with that very question.

They came thinking maybe he was the light, or they came thinking that perhaps he was the Messiah, and they came and they asked him, are you the Messiah? And then he explained to them that he wasn't. But John tells us here that he was not the light, but he came to bear witness of that light, and then he says this, that was the true light which lights every man coming into the world, or gives light to every man that is coming into the world.

And so this is where we really want to pick up tonight. We want to pick up in our exposition in verse 9. So John says concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, we know who he is talking about because we've read the rest of the story, so we're not in any mystery regarding who he's referring to.

He's talking about the Lord, and he says that he was the true light. Jesus is the true light, and John says, which gives light to every man coming into the world. Or another way to translate that is that he is the true light which coming into the world gives light to every man.

So it can be translated either way. So it's either referring to he's giving light to every man that's coming into the world, or it's saying that in coming into the world, the true light, as he's coming into the world, he's coming and he's giving light to every man.

Universal Witness and Human Accountability

I tend to think that it's probably a reference to his coming in because, of course, when he says he gives light to every man, that's all inclusive. You don't have to add to it the idea of man coming into the world.

So John tells us that Jesus gives light to everyone. Did you know that there is not a person and never has been a person that actually has an excuse for their unbelief? Because the Bible tells us that God has borne witness of himself, and that's really what is being talked about here.

Although the world is steeped in darkness, although the world is covered in darkness, God has not left himself without a witness. And God holds all people accountable to respond to the witness that he's given.

God has given a universal witness to man of his reality, and that universal witness is found in three areas. It's above us, it's around us, and it's inside of us. Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament or the sky shows his handiwork.

So you see, here's the reality, you know, people say all the time, well, I don't see any evidence for God. Well, just look up. That's what God said. The heavens declare the glory of God. These heavens, these stars and these heavenly bodies, the moon and the sun and these things, the planets.

God says this is all a testimony of my glory. Now, scientists have all kinds of theories about how large the universe is, and I think the most recent speculation on it is it's something like 20 billion light years in diameter.

That's it's pretty big, to say the least, you know, and there's theories about, you know, we live in one galaxy and then there's, you know, galaxies upon galaxies and so on and so forth. And and it's just obviously it's this incomprehensibly vast thing.

The heavens are and in the heavens, there are these bodies, the sun and the moon and the stars. And and of course, the sun is is our sun. It's within our system and it and it provides for us here upon the earth.

But it's a star, basically, and it's a big star. But they say that it's an actually a small star in comparison to to other stars that are out there. And when you look at the vastness of the universe, you know what it is meant to communicate, it's meant to communicate one simple thing.

God is great beyond comprehension. The fact that God stretched out the heavens, the fact that these things exist and, you know, of course, they're all in their their perfect position within heaven. They're all sustained there in heaven by God's power, obviously.

Job, back in his day, he said that the Lord hangs the earth on nothing. In those days, nobody knew that. Job knew it by revelation of the spirit. But you look up at the moon, you know, what is it hanging on?

It's hanging on nothing. You look at the sun. What is it hanging on? It's hanging on nothing. What is the earth hanging on? It's hanging on nothing. God's the one who's sustaining all of this. And so the heavens themselves, they testify to the glory of God.

So we look above us and we have a witness. We look around us and we have a witness as well. You see, God expects man to look at creation and to draw the most reasonable conclusion. There must be a creator.

That is the reasonable. That's the logical conclusion to draw when you look around at the created world. And God holds man accountable for the created world around him as being a testimony to his reality.

The Internal Testimony of God's Law

But then we have something even beyond that. We have an internal testimony. We have within us that sense that there is a God. We have all of us within us, as we've talked before, we have that sense that there are things that are right and there are things that are wrong.

And they have been instilled in us, not by our parents, not by culture. They've been instilled in us by God himself. And Paul tells us in Romans chapter two that there are remnants, traces of the law of God that reside in the heart of every single man.

You see, when God created man, he created man with the law of God in his heart, it was written upon the heart of Adam. But of course, we know that Adam sinned. And so that law that was written there became darkened.

And of course, as the generations have passed, Adam passed on to us that sinful condition. And so with us, too, the law is there, but yet it's darkened. But yet we still know, we still know when we're doing things wrong.

We still know that we should do certain things and we shouldn't do other things. We know it intuitively. You see, that's the witness of God to us. But John is actually talking about something just a little bit different.

Because he's talking about something that Christ brought when he came. Jesus brought additional light to us. You see, we have the light of the heavens, the light of the creation around us, and we have the testimony within.

But Jesus came and he brought something beyond that. And although all of man is in darkness by nature because we're in sin, yet God has given us an amount of light, enough light to be able to make the right decision, to be able to hear the gospel and respond to the gospel and believe in the gospel.

Theologians refer to this as prevenient grace. Prevenient grace is a way of saying that God has illuminated man to the extent that every man has the ability to believe the gospel. Even though man is in darkness, God has lifted the darkness just slightly and given enough light for men to be able to hear the gospel and respond to it and be saved.

And so as Jesus came into the world, the true light, he gives light to every man. So the idea that there's some poor soul out there that would have gotten saved if they would have just had that opportunity, but oh, they missed it and now they have to go to hell.

That poor soul doesn't exist. That scenario is not a reality. There's no person that will end up in hell that would have gone to heaven had they had the opportunity, but because they didn't have an opportunity, had to go to hell.

There's no such thing. And yet, you know, people come up with those kinds of scenarios, but they're imaginary. They're not real. Because God is going to get his salvation to every person that desires it.

You can bet your life on that. There's not going to be anybody that didn't make it to heaven because the missionaries didn't arrive on time. It doesn't happen. That kind of thing doesn't exist. So John says concerning Christ, he was a true light.

Now we can develop this whole thing of him being the true light, but we're going to come back to this later because Jesus will refer to himself later with that same terminology. So we will wait till we come to that.

The Creator Rejected by His Creation

But as we move on, notice now verse 10, and these are these are profound statements here. Speaking of the Lord Jesus, it says he was in the world and the world was made through him, but the world did not know him.

What an indictment. He came into the world and the world had actually been made by him. You see, that's what John's telling us here. In no uncertain terms, the creator came into the world. That's who Jesus is, as we've already seen, as we studied previously.

All things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made. Not even one thing was made apart from him. And John is reminding us once again that it's the creator who came into the world and it says that the world did not know him.

Now, think about this. When the creator came into the world, Jesus of Nazareth, it wasn't the world of nature that didn't know him, because as you read through the Gospels, you discover the world of nature actually did know him.

You see that Jesus was acknowledged by nature. The wind knew him, it submitted to him when he commanded it to cease blowing and the waves knew him, they calmed down at his command. The animals knew him.

The fish jumped into the net at his command. You remember that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the full of a donkey, and we are specifically told that no man had ever ridden that animal. Now, you know, you can't just hop on the back of a donkey or a horse and ride it.

Jesus did. What does that tell you? It tells you that that little colt knew who was being carried on its back. The rocks knew him. And you remember what Jesus said when the Pharisees were indignant that the children were crying out.

And you remember they were saying, oh, save now, son of David. And the Pharisees said, you tell them to be quiet. They're calling you the Messiah. And Jesus said, I'll tell you the truth, if they were to keep quiet, the very stones would cry out.

I don't think that was hyperbole. I don't think that was exaggeration. I think that was fact. The stones would cry out. You know, back in the Old Testament prophets, it is somewhat poetic language, but it talks about the trees of the field clapping their hands and the mountains breaking forth in praise.

I think there's something more to that than just poetic. I think that we will see someday that all of creation, as the scripture says, truly will and truly has praised the Lord. So it's not the world of nature that didn't know him.

But the great tragedy is that it is the world of men who did not know him. And think of the irony in that, because man is the pinnacle of creation. Man is the only creature made in the image of God. No other life form was made in the image of God.

Man alone is made in the image of God, and the very creature that's made in the image of God doesn't know his maker when he comes. Unbelievable. But you see, atheism is something that men hope is true.

It's wishful thinking. Men say there is no God because they hope there is no God, because they don't want to face the fact that there's someone above them, someone over them, someone who has a right to require certain things of them.

Atheism and the Refusal to Acknowledge God

Sigmund Freud was an ardent atheist. Yet, amazingly, interestingly, he was preoccupied his entire life with the idea of God's existence. Now, here's the irony about it. Sigmund Freud said that religious ideas were a sign of man in his infantile state.

He referred to all religious sentiment as a fairy tale. He referred to all religious experience as hallucinatory psychosis. I mean, this guy was an ardent atheist, but interestingly, his entire life he was preoccupied with the question of God's existence.

Dr. Armand M. Nicolai, Jr., in his book entitled The Question of God, states this concerning Freud. He says, Letters written throughout Freud's life are replete with words and phrases such as, I passed my examination with God's help.

If God so will, the good Lord taking the Lord to task into the keeping of the Lord until after the resurrection, science seems to demand the existence of God, God's judgment, God's will, God's grace, God above, if someday we meet above in the next world, and my secret prayer.

Now, listen to what he says. He says, What does this mean? Can we not dismiss all this as merely figures of speech? And then he says this. Yes, if it were anyone but Freud. But Freud insisted that even the slip of the tongue had meaning.

You've heard that term, a Freudian slip. You know, somebody will say something, say, Oh, you know, that's what you really think. That's what you really feel. And that came from Freud. He he theorized that.

Well, here's a guy who he had several slips of the tongue. At 82 years old, his final book was entitled Moses and Monotheism. His whole life, he couldn't escape this issue of the question of God. Yet he remained firm in his atheism.

And what you really see as you look at him is here is a man who everything in him told him there was a God. But he simply did not want to consider that as a possibility, lest he have to submit to God.

And do things God, God's way instead of his own. And when John tells us that he was in the world and the world was made through him, but the world did not know him, that's what he's talking about. He's talking about man's refusal to acknowledge his creator.

Israel's Rejection of the Messiah

And so Jesus came into the world, but the world didn't know him now to some degree at the time of Jesus's coming into the world, you might be able to at least partially excuse the the world at large, the Gentile world, because for millennia, they had been left really without any specific revelation.

Because you remember God many centuries earlier, he sort of removed himself to some extent from working among the nations in general, and he set apart a specific nation to accomplish his work in and through them.

And that was the nation of Israel. So to some degree, you could understand a little bit how the Roman world or the Greek world might have missed him when he came. What you could never understand is how the Jews missed him.

But that's what John goes on to say in the very next verse. He said he came to his own and his own did not receive him. He came to his own people. Did you know that literally you could translate this?

And I find it quite interesting. You could translate this literally. He came home. And when he came home, his own family didn't receive him. You could you could translate that. He came home. All throughout the history of the Jewish people, as a matter of fact, the rabbis themselves, you know, the rabbis have a statement in in any rabbinic literature you find.

If you open up the Talmud, which is a compilation of all the rabbinic writings throughout all the centuries at the very introductory part of the Talmud, it says this. The rabbis have written that the world was created for the Messiah.

So these guys had a messianic ideal. They had a messianic concept. They had an expectation of the Messiah. But amazingly, when he came home to his own family, they did not receive him. And this is really inexcusable because there was a portrait that had already been painted.

I mean, in a sense, it was like God had in advance given them a portrait. This is the guy. Right here. Check it out. When you see him, he's the one. Because that's what prophecy is, really. It's a it's a portrait in advance.

And when you think about what was given to Israel, they knew that the Messiah would be a descendant of David. They knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. They actually knew if they studied hard enough, and many of them did, they actually knew the very day of the Messiah's arrival.

Because back in the prophecy of Daniel, it was declared that it would be 173 ,880 days from the day a decree went forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. And that decree was given by King Artaxerxes of Persia to Nehemiah in approximately 445 B .C.

Some people say March 14th was the actual date might have been. So from that date, all you had to do was count ahead 173 ,880 days and you come to the very date of the Messiah's arrival. And amazingly, that is the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem on that little cult that we were talking about earlier.

Daniel had made it clear that the Messiah would come, that he would be cut off. And the term, the Hebrew term that he used speaks of being murdered, put to death, and that all of this would occur before the temple was destroyed.

Now, the temple was destroyed in 70 A .D. So all of these things had to have occurred before 70 A .D. As a matter of fact, amazingly, at the time that Jesus came. There was not only a Jewish expectation for a Messiah, but even among non-Jewish authors and historians, there was the idea that a ruler would rise out of Judah to rule the world.

You can find it in secular literature of the time. So there was in those days, not only amongst the Jews, but amongst their neighbors as well. There was a messianic expectation. But Jesus didn't, it wasn't only that he was a descendant of David and born in Bethlehem and met those exact dates and so forth, but he did the very things that the Messiah would do.

He went around doing the very things that would mark the messianic age. And you know that he gave hearing to the deaf and the ability to speak to those who were mute. He gave sight to the blind and the lame were leaping for joy.

All of these things were things that the prophets had said the Messiah would do. You know, later in this gospel, we're going to read the story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind. And when we read that story, you're going to see there is this intense opposition from the religious leaders and an absolute refusal to believe this guy was blind from birth.

They refused to believe that to the point that they finally tracked down his parents and say, is this your son? He says he was born blind. We don't believe it. They said, this is our son. And he was born blind.

You know why they were so resistant to it? Because they themselves taught that only the Messiah could give sight to someone who was born blind. So you see, he came to his own. He came home and yet he was rejected.

His own people did not receive him. But here's the hinge, but this did not thwart the Messiah's work. You know, there's an interesting prophecy in Isaiah 49, and it's actually a description of what the Lord himself experienced in his being rejected by his people.

And God's response to that, listen to what it says in Isaiah 49, verses one through six. Listen, O coastlands to me and take heed you peoples from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb, from the matrix of my mother.

He has made mention of my name. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand. He has hidden me and made me a polished shaft in his quiver. He has hidden me. And he said to me, you are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Then I said, I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain. Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord and my work is with my God. And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, listen, to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel is gathered to him.

For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength. Indeed, he says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel.

I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. Now, remember that in light of. Verse 13, he came to his own and his own did not receive him. The Lord said to the prophet Isaiah, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing.

You see, there was that sense with the Lord himself that because of that rejection by Israel. That his mission had failed, but then he encourages himself, yet my work is with the Lord and then God goes on to promise him.

You're not only ultimately going to restore. Jacob and bring back Israel, but I am going to give you as a light to the Gentiles. You're going to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. And so he came to his own.

His own did not receive him, but as many as would receive him as many is a reference to. Everybody outside of Israel, the Gentile nations. God has now extended because of Israel's rejection of their Messiah.

God extends the salvation out to the ends of the earth. And so John tells us that even though he was not received by the very ones that should have recognized him when he came. That as many as would receive him to them, he would give the right to become the children of God.

Becoming Children of God Through New Birth

You know, I don't know if you've ever thought about this. I have thought about it, and I don't know if it's even worth thinking about it, but I've often wondered what would have happened had Israel received the Lord.

Because, of course, we know that Jesus had to die. The whole redemptive plan was contingent upon his death. And we know, of course, from history that it was the rejection of Jesus by Israel that led to his death.

They rejected him, and they had him crucified by the Romans. But I've thought, well, what if the Lord would have been received by Israel? What would have happened then? You know what I think would have happened?

He would have been embraced by Israel. They would have hailed him as their king. The Messiah is here. The son of David is here. And now the kingdom is coming. And the Romans would have swooped in and arrested him, and they would have taken him and crucified him for an insurrection against Rome.

You see, either way, the crucifixion was inevitable. But it didn't happen that way, did it? So that's why I said I don't even know if I should mention it, but sometimes it's fun to just think about some of these things.

So John says, as many as received him, to them he gave the right, the authority or the power, it can be translated any one of those three ways, to become the children of God. Now, take note of that. You see, it's a mistaken notion to think that all people are God's children.

That's not a biblical idea. All people are God's creatures. Every person, of course, is created by God. God is the creator of all men. But he's the father only of those who receive Jesus Christ. So you see, a person who hasn't received Christ is not a child of God.

Jesus is the only one that can give the right or the authority or the power for a person to become a child of God. Why? Because he is the only unique son of God. And sonship or that relationship can only be imparted through him.

Nobody else can impart it. It's impossible. So when you hear people make reference to, you know, maybe people of another faith as, well, of course, they're God's children. And then with this group, they're God's children.

And we're all God's children. It's not a biblical idea. It's, as a matter of fact, it's contrary to the Bible. The Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter two that our natural state is a state of condemnation, that we are actually by nature the children of wrath.

We come into this world in sin and under the judgment of God. I have to be born out of that state. That's I have to be born again. Of course, Jesus will say that clearly when we get to the third chapter.

But that's what John's talking about right here. So as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name. And now he defines that. Verse 13, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

So a person who is a child of God is a person who has been born of God. And John spells it out very clearly that this cannot happen through any human. Effort, nothing, there's no human contribution to it whatsoever, born not of blood, it's not passed down through the bloodline.

What's passed down through the bloodline is sin and condemnation. It's not passed down through the bloodline. It doesn't matter if your parents are devout Christians. It doesn't matter if you're go back generations in your family.

It doesn't matter if you had uncles and relatives that were in the ministry. None of those things matter. As someone has said, God has no grandchildren. You come straight in. You can't get in on the coattails of somebody else.

Not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, determination will not produce the life of God. You can be so determined, I am going to be spiritual, I'm going to be holy, I am going to live that right life so I can come before God someday and say, here I am, I succeeded.

It'll never happen. It's an impossibility. I don't know if you've ever tried to do that before, but I have, and it just doesn't work. You put your best effort forward, and you might do okay for a brief period of time.

And for that brief period of time, you might fool yourself into thinking, I can do this, it's going to be all right. But it won't take long before you realize it's an impossibility. Because, of course, we have this problem, we have this sin nature, we have this darkness that's in us, and our inclination is to go in that direction.

So it's not of blood, nor is it of the will of the flesh, it's not through anything that I can perform, anything that I can do, nor is it, finally, of the will of man. No man, no person, can make anyone else a Christian.

Salvation Is Not Produced by Human Effort

When I was, I don't know, two, 18 months, I don't remember exactly how old I was at the time, but they took me down to the church, and they tried to make me a Christian. They got out the water, and they dripped it on my head, and I understand that my original sin was taken away, and I was a Christian.

At least that's what I was told. Well, you know, the further along I got on in life, the more I realized that it didn't work. It didn't take, because I was not a Christian, by any stretch of the imagination.

And now I'm sure that priest who did that for me was sincere. He probably was very sincere in baptizing me, and thinking that he was cleansing me from my original sin, and making me a Christian. But it doesn't work that way.

It's not through the will of man. It's not through membership in a church. Sometimes you ask people, are you a Christian? Sure, I'm a Christian. I belong to such and such a church. Well, that doesn't necessarily mean you're a Christian.

Some people say, yeah, I'm a Christian. Billy Graham made me one. I've even heard people say Chuck Smith made me a Christian. I've heard people say that to Chuck. Chuck, you made me a Christian. Chuck says, oh, I hope not.

If I did, you're in bad shape. You know, people say this, and sometimes, of course, they just don't realize what they're saying. I remember one time Chuck and I were walking through the parking lot at Corona Del Mar after a baptism.

And one guy comes up and he literally said, he said, Chuck, you're a hell of a pastor. He said, you're the one who saved me. And I remember Chuck's reaction, you know, as we got in the car, he was just sort of laughing, you know.

There's no man that can make you a Christian. Only God can do it. And that's what that's what we're told here. They're born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but they are born of God, born of God.

It's a supernatural thing. God himself, he's the one who gives us new life. How does it happen? Notice, as many as received him, to them he gave the power. It happens by receiving Christ. This is such an important thing.

Personally Receiving Christ

And I know many others. I believed in Jesus, I think, probably my entire life. I grew up in a Roman Catholic home, somewhat nominal, but I went to Catholic school as a kid for a few years. And for some years I was forced to go to church on Sunday and, you know, just go through the whole routine.

And although I didn't like it and I didn't necessarily buy into any of it, I was, of course, just busy being a kid. But I'll tell you this, I always believed in Jesus. I believed he was the son of God.

I didn't have any problem with that theologically. I remember when I was a boy, I'd watch some of those movies, you know, that they would come out with about Jesus. And I would be very moved by that. But I never heard of the idea of receiving Christ.

And so I can look back and I can say, you know, I believed in Jesus in the sense I believed he was a historical figure. I believed he was the son of God. I believed he died on a cross to save people from their sin.

I believed all of that. But it had no effect on me whatsoever. It did not do one thing for me because it was never made personal. You see, I'd never received him. And I think there are so many people still around today in that exact same situation.

And you might even come across them and they will tell you, well, I believe in Jesus. Ask him this, have you received him? Because to as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the children of God.

You see, because it's not a matter of just acknowledging Jesus's existence in history. It's not even a matter of acknowledging that he was the son of God. You might believe all of that. You know, there's such a thing, a term, it's the term is dead orthodoxy.

And the idea behind it is that you believe all the right things, but you have no experience of it. You're dead. And there are people who believe all the right stuff, but they've never had it applied to their own life.

And so they're dead. They're not alive spiritually. They're not children of God. The power hasn't been imparted to them because they haven't personally received Christ. See, that's the thing. The only human component in salvation is you personally receiving Christ.