 We're in John's Gospel chapter 1. We're going to be looking at verses 10 through 18 and so I'll begin reading at verse 10 I'll read to verse 13. We'll get into our study John chapter 1 Verses 10 through 13 He was in the world The world was made through him and the world did not know him He came to his own and his own did not receive him But as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name Who were born not of blood? Nor of the will of the flesh Nor of the will of man but of God and So as we're going through John Let me remind you of a couple things as I introduce this portion of scripture The Apostle John has just introduced to us John the Baptist and remember how he had introduced John To us in contrast to Jesus Christ and and as he was doing so he had made a declaration You see it in verse 9 that Jesus is the true light So the Apostle John wanted to make it clear that John the Baptist was not the light John the Baptist in other words is not Messiah. He's a forerunner of Messiah John had been sent to bear witness. He said in verses 7 and 8 to bear witness of that light that true light Jesus Christ Which is what scripture says concerning John in in Mark chapter 1 verses 3 and 4 It speaks of him in this way the voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord Make his path straight John came baptizing in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sin So he is the one who is crying in the wilderness and he was crying out Prepare the way of the Lord and so he's not Messiah. He is the forerunner of Messiah And so from the beginning the Apostle John has made it very clear that Jesus is the true light He is the one who illuminates our sin dark in minds and souls That's what he speaks about in verse 9 when he says that was the true light Which gives light to every man coming into the world notice how he says which gives light to every man who comes into the world Now just I didn't touch on this last time. I'll pick up on it for just a moment right now Some believe that when he's speaking of this light verse 9 the true light That this light is within every person that they're actually born with it That's been called general illumination It's what is also referred to as our conscience and when you think about that and You look at Romans chapter 1 verses 18 through 20 You can see why some would say that because in Romans 1 18 through 20 Paul the Apostle said this He said the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because what may be known of God is manifest in them For God has shown it to them since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made Even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse. He's saying that through conscience mankind stands guilty before God because your conscience can accuse you and Excuse you and so your conscience is a barometer. It's a moral barometer if you will He can't save you. It does inform you But that's something that's within all of us every culture has a sense of what is right and what is wrong So Paul would be saying in Romans that people are without excuse because they know that they don't always Live up to the moral codes or the things that are best and that would be something that Some theologians would say speaks of this light that gives light to every man coming into the world They would say that you were born with the capacity of knowing what was right and wrong You have that ability to do so that that's innate And so he would be saying that this light is something that gives to us the ability to know when we're wrong and thus ought to Accuses us and ought to help us to understand what were that were wrong, but it's not sufficient to save us Salvation requires the work of the Holy Spirit and God's word instructs us and when God's word and The Holy Spirit are working together. There's a conviction in our hearts and then God's word Instructs us on our way of salvation how to come out of that and have a life with him You see God saves any and all who come to him through Jesus Christ and it requires us agreeing with him That he's right It requires that we repent from our sin and it requires that we turn to him in faith And so that's what he's basically it seems that he's been laying a foundation for and so he spoke of Jesus Who is the word of God? He speaks of John who came before Jesus. He's speaking of that light within man That actually should awaken us to our need for salvation and then he moves on into verse 10 And he's speaking of this true light and it's how this is how he says it in verse 10. He was in the world and The world was made through him and the world didn't know him He was in the world the world was made through him The world didn't know him the created world in other words generally ignored the coming of Jesus Christ God was with man But man didn't want him Man chose to reject him now That's something that the Prophet spoke about one prophet in particular. Isaiah said it like this and Isaiah 53 1 through 3 He said who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground He has no form or comeliness and when we see him there's no beauty that we should desire him He's despised rejected by men Manisaros acquainted with grief We hit as it were our faces from him. He was despised. We did not esteem him And when you think of Jesus when he had been beaten in the way that he was his face was was beaten to a pulp His beard had been pulled out of his face He had a crown of thorns and that's what Isaiah is referring to they looked at him But they didn't want him. He had no form. He had no comeliness He is despised he was rejected and that's what John is referring to when he says in verse 10 He was in the world the world was made through him the world did not know him The world didn't want Jesus Christ and by the way the world still doesn't want Jesus Christ in Verse 10 as it says the world was made through him All things both seen and unseen are created through Jesus Christ In Hebrews 11 verse 3 it says by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible Now this truth is encapsulated in one of the early creeds one of the faith statements of the church There was a council back in 325. It's called the council of Nicaea and The council of Nicaea authored what is called the nice seen creed Which in part says I believe in one God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and Invisible and so the church Is has always understood that Jesus is the one who made the world he made everything in First Corinthians chapter 8 verse 6 Paul said for us There's one God the father of whom are all things and we for him and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things Were created and through whom we live and so though all things were created through him the world didn't know him Now when it speaks of the world not knowing him He was in the world the world was made through him the world did not know him the word no speaks of intimacy The word no is they didn't want a relationship with him. They rejected this to have a knowledge of God is an intimacy It's not an intellectual thing alone. There are many who believe that that Just believe it in your mind that there is a God is Sufficient but what God desires is fellowship with us an intimacy with us You know, I can say that I know somebody because I've seen them playing baseball I can say I know a particular baseball player. Oh, yeah, I know so-and-so But that that simply means I know of that person But there's a difference between saying I know of someone and I know someone personally and What God wants is not us just to know of him But he wants us to know him and the world didn't want to know him the world didn't want to have intimacy with God They rejected him. They had no desire for him. They didn't want that kind of fellowship It's like what Isaiah in chapter 1 says in verses 2 and 3 where he says here. Oh heavens and give ear Oh earth the Lord has spoken. I Have nourished and brought up children and they've rebelled against me The ox knows its owner the donkey its master's crib But Israel doesn't know my people do not consider Donkey and an ox know their owner Where they eat But he says my people don't know me and You can almost hear the tear in the voice of the Lord as he speaks concerning Israel Well, that's how they were when Jesus came he came to his own They didn't want him the world he says in verse 10 didn't know him notice verse 11 He came to his own his own did not receive him Now that word owned there he came to his own in verse 11 and his own did not receive him Those are actually two different ways of speaking When it says he came to his own it's speaking of his own place He came to his nation he came to his own place and his own people did not receive him He came to Israel and the Jewish people rejected him. It's what he's saying The word of God came in a special way to the people of Israel But the people of Israel rejected him It's like mark 6 verses 4 through 6 where Jesus said a prophet is not without honor except in his own country Among his own relatives in his own house He could do no mighty work there except that he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them He marveled because of their unbelief He went about the villages in a circuit Teaching a prophet is not without honor except in his own country among his own relatives and in his own house They rejected him Now this nation that is rejecting him in verse 11 this nation had so many advantages Paul speaks about that in romans 9 verses 4 and 5 when he's speaking of the nation says to whom pertain adoption The glory speaking of the shekinah glory the covenants The giving of the law the service of god and the promises Of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh christ came Who is over all the eternally blessed god amen This nation had so many advantages, but they rejected him and they refused to believe him Hebrews 4 2 says indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them But the word which they heard did not profit them not being mixed with faith and those who heard it You see it's easy to listen to a bible study But you need to mix the words with faith in order that your life will be transformed Again, it's not simply putting Notes down on a piece of paper. It's when the word of god is engraved in our hearts And so they rejected him he came to his own his own didn't receive him They didn't welcome him but verse 12 as many as received him To them he gave the right to become children of god to those who believe in his name Notice as many as received him when he says as many that would refer both to jew as well as gentile You see the jews were descendants physically of abraham And because they were physical descendants of abraham, they thought they were automatically saved They would speak of themselves as children of abraham But when john was baptized and it's recorded in matthew 3 7 through 9 He saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism and he said to them This is his welcoming statement. Think of this next time we have a baptism. He said brutal vipers Who warns you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance And do not think to say to yourselves We have abraham as our father For i say to you that god is able to raise up children to abraham from these stones Don't say that you have some kind of connection with god because you're a descendant physically of abraham Because the reality is as abraham is a man who is marked by his faith abraham believed god the scripture says and it was counted Into him as righteousness. It wasn't just that abraham Had some kind of quote-unquote knowledge of god. He had faith in god He believed god and it wasn't all the works that he did that saved him It was his faith in god that saved him and we become children of god even as abraham was because we have faith in god You see to be saved was always an exercise of faith Now jesus is amongst them there to receive him as messiah They need to welcome him. They need to acknowledge him. They need by faith to appropriate him and they need to trust him And by trusting they're going to become children of god It's not a natural but a supernatural birth that they need And that comes through faith in jesus christ when i got saved And this may be offensive forgive me, but it's it's part of my testimony. I don't know how to say it in a way that Has a kindness to it. It's just a fact And i'll say it like this when i got saved I hadn't been in church for years the only time i'd ever go to a church was for um either a baptism Or a wedding and that was Infrequently at best and never went to church. I stopped going to church when i was about 13 And now i'm 20 i haven't been in church for seven years So i got saved in december and now it's the first of the year it's It's january and i got a letter That said this is a letter from your church And it's it's the time of the year for you to give your gift to your church. They wanted me to send them some money But they said This is and then they had a little envelope that said my gift to my church Now i'm a brand new christian. I haven't learned tact yet Apparently i still haven't because i'm sharing this story with you But i'm a brand new believer brand new You know five five years to some people that's lightweight But i was 15 to 20. I was abusing drugs alcohol You know stealing i was i was living a crazy life And and going down You know the last month before i got saved i dropped i've said this to you before Between 30 and 40 pounds because i stopped eating i was and i was i was not a big person I only weighed in my mid 170s at that time. I went down to about 130 540 pounds because i wasn't eating I wish i could lose weight that fast now But at that time i just wasn't eating because i was drinking and smoking dope and and that's what i was doing So i stopped eating And dropped weight And so when i when i went to hear the gospel and i got saved i was radically saved it wasn't one of those Well, you know i'll give jesus a try kinds of things there are people today who do that Well, let's give god a chance as if god's on trial god's not on trial But we we will give you a try we'll see whether it works or not if it doesn't work I can always go back. That's not salvation. That's not seeking god. That's not being broken that that's that that's that's That's just not real. That's not real. I had a real salvation experience I saw myself for what i was a sinner i saw myself for where i was i was lost And i saw myself for for for being a hopeless person i had nothing no love no joy nothing i saw that And and when i heard the gospel A radical transformation took place in my life Got away from the drugs got away from the alcohol got away from the life And started talking to people about christ brought my father to faith brought my mother to faith brought my sister to faith I mean i was radically transformed and now i'm getting a letter Your church wants money And i wrote them And i said dear church I said it's interesting. It's interesting that you wrote me a letter saying my church wants my money I said when in fact i haven't been in my church for seven years and nobody noticed Nobody has noticed that i have not been there And yet you are sending me a letter asking me for money for my church When you haven't missed me one day that i've been gone I said but let me tell you something I i said instead of giving a money gift to you i want to give you something you never gave to me I want to give you the gospel I want to tell you that jesus christ died on the cross for sinners I want to tell you that he was buried and the third day he rose from the dead I want to tell you that i've been saved by jesus christ by the grace of god through faith in him I'm giving you something you never gave me I'm giving you the gospel and i'm telling you you need to repent and come to faith in jesus christ I was 20 years old. I haven't I haven't changed since then that's a fact That's a fact You see we we it isn't that we go to church It isn't even that we go midweek as we are now thank god that you're here and i bless the lord But it's not that it's that we have a relationship with jesus christ as too many as many as received him To them gave he the power to become sons of god Even unto those who believe on his name It isn't simply acknowledging the reality of a jesus But you receive him you welcome him by faith and that's how you become a child of god by trusting in him It's a supernatural birth Galatians 3 26 says you are all sons of god through faith in christ jesus In second corinthians chapter 6 17 and 18 Paul writes therefore come out from among them be separate says the lord Do not touch what is unclean I will receive you. I will be a father to you You shall be my sons and daughters says the lord almighty Notice how he says in verse 12 to them. He gave the right That right the word right the power that right means the honor the privilege to become children of god somebody said Those who accept jesus christ as he is offered to them in the gospel Have through his blood a right to sonship And those who are engrafted In the heavenly family have the highest honor and dignity To which it is possible for a human soul to arrive The sinner who was in error To all god's curses As through the sacrifice of jesus a claim On the mercy of the most high He gave you the right the privilege to become his children to receive his mercy Notice verse 13 who were born not of blood Nor of the will of the flesh Nor of the will of man But of god God's children do not owe their sonship Or daughtership for that matter To physical descent Or carnal desire Or a decision Of the will He become his children because he receives us as his children When he draws us to himself John 644 says no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him The holy spirit convicts the world of sin righteousness and judgment The holy spirit through the gospel tells us the way of salvation Drawing us to a relationship with him It wasn't something that we did on our own It was something he did on our behalf And we have responded by faith to accept that which has been offered So the gospel explains to me how I can be saved The holy spirit convicts me of my sin And I by faith receive that which has been offered to me We were born not of blood Not of the will of the flesh Not of the will of man But of god He moves on in verse 14 and he says And the word became flesh Dwelt among us We beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father Full of grace and truth Now remember in verse one how he had said in the beginning was the word The word was with god And the word was god He had also said in verse four in him was life The life was the light of men And he had said in verse seven this man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe So jesus christ is the word And through him through john's preaching of repentance we come to faith in him So when he says in verse 14 the word became flesh He's hearkening back to verse one when it speaks of the word being with god and notice again the word was god There is a particular organization that has added Uh A they have said he is a god that is not in the original greek whatsoever. They're trying to make jesus into a creation of god John never said that jesus was the first creation of god. That's actually an ancient heresy That has been dealt with and debated early in the history of the church No, he is god And it says he is the word of god and then he says this word in verse 14 became flesh Speaking of the incarnation and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory The glory has of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth So john says the word Became flesh john is saying god took upon himself human nature So the point he's making is there's a god and the god that we worship is personal He's loving And he's caring Why is this important enough for john to be moved to communicate this to his readers? Because a loving personal god who would dwell with men was unheard of at that time And i'm going to give you a little bit. It's a bible study. I'll give you a little bible teaching here Of why that's important and I have to do so by referring to an ancient heresy and ancient teaching And i'll just read my notes that way. I make sure that i'm clear in this There were greek philosophers during that day then john was writing this this gospel And again every gospel has a reason for being written you need to remember that You know matthew was written in order that the jews would understand that their messiah had come That's why when you read the gospel of matthew you see him saying this was that which was written of by the prophets Because matthew was written as an apologetic to jews So his jewish readers when they would when they would uh read matthew they would see the scripture That would give to them insight into the fact that jesus christ was jewish and he fulfilled jewish scriptures When you when you look into mark mark uses a word quite often Servant he's and he used the word serving concerning jesus christ and how jesus christ was a servant because he was writing to especially roman gentiles and in rom the uh the greatest Person in the roman empire the greatest person most respected was was really the servant of the state When he was writing when luke was writing to the greeks He was writing that's who he was writing to he's writing to the greeks And he would use terminology to help the greeks to understand who jesus christ was and that's why very often in the gospel of luke He speaks of jesus as a son of man Because he was trying to reach the mind of the greek through using terminology they understood when john was writing john was writing to the greeks who had been influenced by the nostics By a philosophy that was beginning to permeate at that time and was an attack against the christian faith And so they were greek ascetic. They were called ascetics greek ascetic philosophers And they had rejected the thought that there could be a god who is spirit who could take upon himself human nature They rejected the assertion that god took upon himself human flesh They thought that jesus was only a man And that he had a portion of what they called the messiah or the christ spirit upon him So one of the greatest opponents of the gospel when the gospel was written were the nostics the word nostic is a greek word That speaks of knowledge noses. So they were the ones who believed that they had secret knowledge They were called the nostics. They were ascetics Who believed that spirit would not inhabit flesh because spirit and flesh were at war And so they believed the material body was sinful They thought that god could not dwell in such a body Consequently the nostic could not believe in the incarnation Some believe that jesus only appeared to possess a physical body These have come to be called docetists or Dossetics because the greek word docene means to seem Others said that the divine christ came upon the human jesus at his baptism and they pointed to matthew 316 when the spirit descended But that he left the spirit left him before his death You see in matthew 27 where jesus said my god my god. Why have you forsaken me? And that's what the docetics believed That there was no way that god would take upon himself human flesh That the nostics did not believe that sin was a problem within man For the nostic a man was lost because he was imprisoned in a material body His only hope was that through knowledge was through knowledge So the way he could be delivered from his prison was to obtain secret knowledge And the nostics taught the problem that humanity has is not sin But ignorance And so that was at that time But god's answer to the nostic was simple Our problem isn't ignorance our problem is sin And the solution is confession of sin Repentance turning away from it and receiving forgiveness Now many today are uncomfortable with the concept of a personal god Part of the reason for this discomfort is it requires accountability when you believe there's a personal god Then you have become accountable to this god And it's spiritual blindness that john intends to remedy through the gospel And he wants to point out to us that god is personal That god took upon himself human nature And god lived amongst men Notice how he says in verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us that word dwelt Is the word tabernacle He tabernacled amongst us Colossians 115 will be looking at this this sunday speaking of jesus. He's the image of the invisible god the first born overall creation And he goes on in colossians 2 verse 9 to say in him in jesus dwells all the fullness of the godhead in bodily form So john intends us to associate the tabernacle of the old testament with jesus Now when you read your old testament, you remember there's the tabernacle that ultimately became the temple Well, the tabernacle was a place of worship It was where god said he would meet with his people In exodus 25 8 god had said let him make me a sanctuary that i may dwell among them And so when it says we be held as glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth He's saying that this word is speaking of the shekaina It points to the manifestation of god in the flesh And god has dwelt in the tabernacle in the old testament god dwelt in the tabernacle and the priest saw his glory When jesus dwelt amongst men his glory was manifested In his words and his actions and jesus is revealed here as being the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth God tabernacled amongst men People had an opportunity to see him They saw him in the flesh They were able to to to speak to him to to eat meals with him to lie down in a campsite Next to him john was able to put his head on On on the chest of jesus and to to actually hear the heartbeat of god. Can you imagine that? To hear the heartbeat of god He would put his head on his chest And in doing so He was hearing god's own heart amazing thought We saw him After jesus had died was buried was resurrected He appeared to his disciples John wasn't around at the first time and uh And men said we saw jesus or rather thomas They said we saw jesus and thomas said no unless i put my hands in his wounds in his side The marks that he received i will not i cannot believe And so that a few days later jesus appears to thomas And then speaks to him we all know the story We'll get there. It's in chapter 20. It'll be two years, but we will make it And he says thomas He said put your hand In my wounds Put your hand in my side You can touch my wounds You see he wasn't a ghost He was physically resurrected in a glory not a glorified but in a spiritual body and thomas Didn't want to reach over and touch this physical body of christ He simply said my lord and my god. You remember the story My lord and my god thomas you believe because you see Blessed is one who never sees and yet believes And that's us Thomas had said unless i Touch him less i feel I will not believe Jesus said no blessed is the one who never sees And yet believes and that's you because you walk by faith and not by sight But john is saying here he tabernacled amongst us. We beheld his glory The glory as of the only begotten son of god full of grace and truth. We saw him We lived next to him. We saw god in the flesh We are eyewitnesses to this and this is a god filled with grace God filled with truth grace and truth being fully revealed in jesus The grace spoke of causes joy The grace is is is goodwill. It's kindness. It's undeserved favor Because jesus was kind. He's merciful. He's gracious Gracious in the way that he did good to all He he was seeking man's welfare through great sacrifice and love God revealed and provided his grace In jesus especially in his death for us He was filled with truth and it's the truth that sets sinners free Somebody said he was not like the false prophets and false messiahs who were entirely imposters He was truth itself In first john 1 5 this is the message which we've heard from him and declare to you god is light In him is no darkness at all And he goes on and he says in verse 15 john bore witness of him cried out Saying this was he of whom i said he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was Before me He ranks higher than me because he predates me though my ministry may predate his You see john was physically born before jesus, but he didn't exist before jesus john had a starting point And jesus does not In psalm 90 verse 2 before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world Even from everlasting to everlasting You are god So jesus had no beginning and john did and that's why john bore witness of him and said this was he of whom i said He who comes after me is preferred before me. He was before me Verse 16 and of his fullness we have all received in grace For grace of his fullness Fulness the abundance of his grace the abundance of his mercy By which he made atonement for his sin Jesus is a fountain of god's abundant grace blessings in mercy In Ephesians 1 7 it says in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace You ever think about how much god has forgiven you you ever think about that? I hope you do I do I think about it. I do I do abundance of his grace The super overflow of grace to me his mercy You ever think of his mercy If god didn't give us his mercy indeed. We'd all perish instantly But he has shown his mercy and i'm so grateful the scripture says that his mercy is new every morning Because i pretty much use up all his mercy in the first day and then the next day i need more His mercy is renewed to me daily and to you too And we partook of his grace we received of his mercy Because he loves us don't forget that Don't forget that If there's anything i believe yet that your flesh and the devil conspired to make you believe Is that there may be a god, but he doesn't love you That's just that's just not true God loves us Do we deserve it? No Do i deserve the love of god? No, of course not. Do i do i deserve him sending his son jesus to die in a cross for me? No, do i even do i even conceive of What an incredible Thing that is no i i i've been walking with the lord a long time and i have still yet to understand The depth of what it means that god loved the world so much that he gave his son I still haven't gotten hold of that yet after all of these years Because it's depth is deeper than anything that i can conceive That god Who knows this you know like it says he knew the splendors of heaven Knowing that his destiny was a lonely hill called galgotha where he laid down his life for me If that isn't love And it is love that god loved you and me so much That he gave his son We have a new granddaughter my Olivia Olivia's already got a personality She's demanding So my prayers have been answered for her parents May she put you through what you have put us through In jesus name amen i believe it and i receive it So with that She was with us uh her mommy and daddy brought her to the couples retreat this last week Yeah and uh She's demanding I mean she when she's nursing if if she doesn't get enough She lets you know And with an angry little baby growl and she gets mad and When she's being changed She fights she kicks her father. She doesn't like being changed. It's just a Joy to see this and so She was born a month early A month early Tiny little thing You know and we prayed daily father, you know made this baby's survive and you know because you know it's still A premature baby you you're concerned for you're concerned for any newborn, but I was very concerned for this little one And and so she was with us just this last week and and marie and I grandma and I um spent time with her on saturday afternoon we had The baby in our room and her parents had to come too but We had the baby with us and you know Holding her and just looking at her and any parent or grandparent knows what i'm trying to say It's just there's just something there Is something there grandparent wouldn't it been great to just skip the children and go great right to grandchildren? Can I get an amen? Yes Yeah, it's just amazing. You know they get weird and just hand them to the parents see you later. You know it's just different And so this this tiny little thing here this tiny little thing Such a personality already She stares at you. She'll look in your face like who are you? She she does that you know and and you're just drawn irresistibly You know as a grandfather and grandma just want to we just want to bite her you know just Just love that baby Well, mary had a baby too And that baby was jesus And mary loved that baby too She she cared for him She fed him She she changed him She played with him She had something to do a great deal to do with him learning to walk i'm sure to talk She watched him grow up She saw him play When he fell and hurt himself I'm sure that she as a mother would pick him up sometimes maybe even cry Scripture doesn't say that jesus fell and hurt himself most children do perhaps he did And she watched this baby and in the back of her mind She was dwelling on the reality that she knew this was the lamb of god who would take away the sin of the world She knew that and she raised him And she brought him to adulthood and he's 30 and he's now at cana and he's had a wedding and we'll see this when we get to chapter two in a month and She says they have no wine And he says to her woman was that got to do with me my hour has not yet come She knows that there's an hour for her son She says they have a need Jesus meets the need performs his first miracle And she knows now the clock is ticking It's ticking all through the gospel of john the clock is ticking And then one day And jesus is in a garden He has celebrated Passover He's taken his disciples with him to the garden of Gethsemane one of them had left early People thought that he perhaps had something to buy for provisions for the Passover They didn't know that Judas had left to betray him They go to that garden They're in that garden When these soldiers with torches and lanterns and officers come and by force they want to take jesus jesus stands In opposition to them, but if you come for come for jesus i am he they fall to the ground I said unto you i am he what do you want they take him? He either tries to defend but just him and his little sword. There's nothing he can do put away your sword jesus tells him And he takes he's taken he stands before Two individuals pilot being one he's beaten disfigured Crown of thorns placed on his head his face is bruised up His beard is pulled out There's no doubt that his blood In his face his back has been ripped open Carries his cross and he ends up in place called Golgotha And there it's john marrying a couple of the other faithful women And they watch him as he gives his last words from that cross Father forgive them. They know not what they do Woman behold your son son behold behold your mother He begins to speak and share we'll look at those things as we get there Finally, he says it is finished and he puts his head down He breathes his last He dies on a cross and his mother's there watching this They take his body down. They put it in a borrowed tomb. Did you deserve that? I didn't I didn't took my place He took my place And if that doesn't make me love him What will have I forgotten Is it is easy to forget? To think well, of course he did that. He's god. He can do anything. No, he was man And he took upon himself the sin of the world He felt god's frown for the first time When he said Father, why have you Why have you forsaken me? He felt what you and I feel Abandoned Because sin makes separation Truly the god that we worship is a god of love Truly he is A god who cares Who god who left His throne And took his place on a cross A god who was placed in a manger A god who was placed on a cross A god who was placed in a borrowed tomb That's our god A god who conquered the grave and conquered sin A god who is alive A god who ever lived to make intercession for us A god who is coming again for us And that's our Jesus And that's what he has done for us And so naturally God's grace God's grace has been abundant towards us And we have seen it In Jesus He says in verse 17 The law was given through Moses But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ No one has seen god at any time The only begotten son who's in the bosom of the father He has declared him The law was given through Moses Grace and truth came through Jesus The law revealed sin resulted in judgment And less perfectly obeyed So this presents them with the understanding That the law actually pointed to Jesus Christ That's what Paul said in Galatians 3 When he said in verses 24 through 26 The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ That we might be justified by faith But after faith has come We are no longer under a tutor For you are all sons of God through faith In Christ Jesus The law revealed sin The law revealed sin Brought judgment But Jesus gives us grace He goes on in verse 18 No one has seen God at any time The only begotten son who's in the bosom of the father Has declared him Jesus is in the closest possible relationship To the father Though Moses had a tremendous ministry Moses cannot compare to Jesus Who is the son of God So when he says no man has seen God at any time He's referring to God in his essential being No one has seen God in his complete glory We saw him as he was incarnated But no one has seen him in his complete glory Remember in the Old Testament book of Exodus Moses was speaking to the Lord in Exodus 33, 18, through 20 And he said, please show me your glory God said, I'll make all my goodness pass before you I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before you I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion But he said, you cannot see my face No man shall see me and live You are not capable of seeing me in my essential glory So what did God do? He took upon himself human flesh And we saw God in Christ, human form We were able to behold him And Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, 6 It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness Who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge Of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ When you see Jesus, you see God clothed in human flesh And so no one has seen God in his essential glory The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father Declared him So we see God as we see Jesus