INTRODUCTION: We return to a series that I have up till now been preaching on a Sunday morning. “Cultivating a passion for Jesus” So far we have looked at 1. Seeing Jesus, Understanding Jesus – Jesus the Seed (From the parable of the sower) 2. Understanding Jesus (The Ransom) 3. Understanding Jesus (Epic Jesus – Colossians etc….) Tonight we will be looking at the fourth message in the series - Accepting Jesus. In John’s prologue we find the theme that we will explore in this session. John 1:11-12
READING: JOHN 1:11-12 “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”
The Context of John: In John’s gospel we find 9 images of Jesus and 9 signs of Jesus. John is not that interested in a timeline for Jesus as he is more interested in who he is. For John when he writes the epistle some things are true for the church. The church has almost departed from the truth that is to found in the real Jesus of the gospels. In John 20:31 in what will be the closing statements of the gospel John tells us the real meaning of the gospel that he has written, the same truth that he begins with in the opening statement of the gospel. The same truth that he writes about in the 3 epistles and the same truth of the revelation. The single figure of the New Testament. The Alpha and Omega. This is the context of the opening of John’s Gospel. We find Jesus being referred to by John as the “One and Only, the only begotten, In fact in the early part of the Gospel we have painted for us the true identity of Jesus. John sees the church in his day in danger of forgetting who Jesus is and being more in favour of the new philosophies of the day that were creeping into the church. Sound Familiar. The church in our day too has lost sight of the Jesus of the Gospels and the epistles. The King of Glory and the Eternal God. In this session I would like us to look at what it looks like to accept Jesus
1. Receiving Jesus.
“Yet to all who did receive him” Vs 11
· Welcoming, Hospitality, Listening, being open to, Accepting.
· The rest of the Gospel charts what that looks like. (Accepting, Not Accepting)
2. Believing – Blind faith or seeing faith. Believing in the Name of Jesus.
“to those who believed in his name” Vs 12
· Belief in what? Not in a system, not in a philosophy, not in a doctrine. The Gospel as a person. Not blind faith. Not Just belief in God but belief in Jesus.
· The expression to believe in [Jesus’] name occurs five times in the New Testament, all in the Johannine literature. When talks about believing in the name of Jesus, substitute the word title for name. To believe in Jesus’ name is to acknowledge Jesus’ title, to acknowledge who Jesus really is, to acknowledge who Jesus claimed to be, to accept the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the divinely-chosen divine King of salvation.
· To believe in Jesus Name is to believe in his title and authenticity. He is who he is.3. Right to become Children of God.
“he gave the right to become children of God” Vs12
· Becoming a child of God depends on Jesus and depends on what we do with him.
· “HE gave the right” It’s up to him according to John – (Keeping thinking about many departing and abandoning Jesus as John writes this)
· Becoming a child of God means you become a beneficiary of all that God has and is.
· In other words, if you become a child of God, you become an heir of all that God owns. All that belongs to God is your inheritance. In the resurrection everything that exists will be yours. And God will care for you forever and make you infinitely happy in his presence.
CONCLUSION: When we accept Jesus, we accept him who is the pinnacle of the New Testament. The focal point. The centre piece, Or as the scripture says the “alpha and omega” the beginning and the end. It all leads to him, I flows from his, He fills all things with his wonder and glory and we are invited to accept him, and believe in him and have him become the main thing in our lives.
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