John Points to the Heart of God

John Points to the Heart of God

“There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.” (John 1: 6-7)

Many preachers when preaching from John’s Gospel jump from verse 5 to 14 because the context seems to lead us in that direction. However the inspired Word of God brings John into the discourse at exactly the place where God wants him introduced. John’s job was simple, profound, and exceeding applicable to our lives as Christians. He pointed to the light. That is our job, point to the light. The scripture says something very interesting here. John’s work was to all men. Jesus said that he had not come except to the house of Israel. John in this sense could be considered the first apostle of the church. He was the bridge between the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles in the New Testament. His work was an introduction to the great commission of the Lord Jesus Christ that would be further defined for the Apostles.

He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (John 1: 8-9)

We are in this fact, exactly like John. We have no light in ourselves. We are not pointing men to our talents, our churches, our music, our ministry but to Jesus. The Lord is very clear that before we came to Christ we were enemies, and without hope in this world. John says, there is a universal application to this light, “it is to everyman”, but not everyman accepts it. That light came into the world and is seen through creation.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (John 1:10, 11)

This scripture is not speaking about an inability to recognize him but an unwillingness to recognize him. This is the based on the response of man, but when I think about the heart of God and His intention to save man, the most profound act to consider is the incarnation of Christ. It is God entering creation in order that everyman may have the opportunity to know him.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 1:17)

God’s heart is to save men’s souls, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10) There is an offer being made by the creator of the universe to his own creation. It is the offer to enter into a Love relationship with him. Many reject him. God knows that inherent in any offer is the right of refusal but the Lord is seeking those that will worship him in spirit and truth. Love is central to true and spiritual worship and Love is volitional. It has to be given freely. If it is not receive, it is not received. This power of receiving is a saving issue; it is a miracle working issue Jesus did not do Miracle in Nazareth because he was not received there. In Matthew 10 Jesus told his disciples to go from “house to house,” and shake the dust off your feet” as a sign to those who do not receive you.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

This began with the Jewish believers that the Lord had gathered to himself. Their work extended to others who evangelized and won millions of believers to Christ from every people group on the Earth. This is the born again experience, this is the adoption that comes from on high, this is the security one experiences by becoming a child of God. We are born of him. Have we truly understood the privilege the Lord has granted us? He could have simply given us ‘two tickets to paradise’; he could have given us the privilege of serving him as employees, as slaves even. To be a slave to a Righteous King is an honor. To be the slave of your creator would be the natural consequence of being created, but God made us family. The etiquette demanded of the members of the family of God is that they are lead by the Spirit and do not serve our own interest and are motivated by Love to honor God.

Money, Eddy, “Two Tickets to Paradise” Columbia Records, 1978 http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/grandtheftautosanandreas/twoticketstoparadise.htm