Light Came for Us to Become Children of Light - He Is Your King

[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. I hope you are well.

[0:12] I hope you can hear me. That's better. I can hear myself now. That's always good. That's always good. Let me just get myself sorted here. I'd like to... This is not part of what I was going to prepare, but that song there, I really appreciate you playing that and singing that lady so beautifully because the first song that I ever sang in front of a church was that song.

[0:35] I badgered my dad, who was a pastor, for me to... I said, I just want to sing in front of the church. Can I sing? Please let me sing. That was the first song I'd ever sang.

[0:46] Father God, I wonder why you adopted me. Well, we're going to find out, which is always good. Thank you for your warm welcome.

[0:57] This morning, it is my absolute pleasure to be here with you this morning. And as Stephen's already mentioned, I've been here before. I've shared with you before. So if you're wondering, you're looking at me going, I kind of know that guy. Where's he from?

[1:11] Well, we're from Calderwood. I have been here before. I've had the pleasure of leading the praise here before. I've given my testimony to you also. So it's an absolute honor and a privilege, and my pleasure to share with you this morning God's word.

[1:28] I don't have my guitar with me this week. I don't know if that's pleasing to you or not, but I don't have my guitar with me this week, but I do have the word of God. And we're going to continue in our series that you're going through with Cal.

[1:41] I'm here with my wife and my mom and my two children. They left my wife, Margaret, and two children, Reuben and Naomi. My mom, Linda, she's up with us this morning.

[1:54] We will be continuing in John's gospel, the account that he gives us. And if you have your Bibles with you, I'd like to invite you to open them to John 1, verses 9 to 13.

[2:06] I'm reading from the ESV version this morning. I'll give you time to find that. And we shall read God's word together this morning.

[2:19] The true light, starting at verse 9, 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.

[2:31] Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

[2:57] Let's pray together. Our loving God, our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can come to this place. Lord, that we can sing your praise.

[3:09] That we can call you and cry out, Abba, Father. Lord, that we can open your scripture, that we can read from your word, your living word.

[3:19] So, Father, as I preach now, I pray, Lord, that you would help me convey your message here this morning. And, Lord, it is only for your glory.

[3:31] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'd like to start this morning with posing a question. What is light?

[3:43] What is light? We've just read about it. What is it? Science tells us that light is a kind of wave that is made up of electromagnetic waves, made up of a mixture of electricity and magnetism, and that these beams of light travel quite quickly, I would say.

[4:01] So quickly, in fact, that light travels at 186,000 miles a second, if you didn't know. You do now. To put that into context, a beam of light could travel all the way around the world seven and a half times in one second.

[4:20] That's pretty quick. I'd say that's some pretty amazing light. In the Bible, light is mentioned 117 times in the Old Testament and 95 times in the New Testament.

[4:34] And I imagine what we'll think of when light is mentioned in the Bible. Most probably, most of us, potentially, would quote a familiar verse from Genesis. Genesis 3 tells us, And God said, Let there be light.

[4:49] And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day. And the darkness he called night.

[5:00] And there was evening and there was morning the first day. I always imagined this moment, that particular moment of God switching the lights on.

[5:13] You know, the light switch, like a heavenly light switch, I mean, just switching that light on. Just only at a much higher voltage and an incredibly cosmic level. All the created beings like, around the throne going, What's he doing?

[5:24] What's going on? And then he just goes, Bing! And all the lights come on and they all go, Ah, okay, I see what you did there. Is all light the same? And what, or more specifically, is the true light that we've read this morning?

[5:43] They'll mention many times throughout the Bible, the light we are reading here is a light like no other. John has already laid the foundation for who this true light is in the early passages of John 1.

[5:58] And to recap, let's just have a look at the opening eight verses together. At John 1.1, it says this, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[6:11] He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

[6:24] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Praise God. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him.

[6:40] He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The word true here in verse 9 in the Greek is, and if I pronounce this right, if there's any Greek scholars among you, my apologies if I mispronounce this, is alethinos, which translates as real or genuine.

[7:02] Throughout the history of the Bible, there are many instances in which we find a real or genuine encounter from God. For example, the manna supplied to the Israelites in the wilderness was genuinely from God.

[7:18] Many people in the time that this was written claimed to be a light. They claimed to be a vine or even God Himself. In some instances, this word true, meaning genuine and real, has also been described as ultimate.

[7:36] It is an ultimate. When John, writing here, attributes the true light to Jesus, he is clearly stating that Jesus is the ultimate light.

[7:50] light. That He is the true or ultimate vine in which His people need to be grafted to. And that He is the true or ultimate bread of heaven.

[8:06] Any hearer or reader of this gospel account at the time would know the Old Testament and would also know that the law and wisdom give light.

[8:17] They illuminate. As John records further on in chapter 8 verse 12, it says, Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world.

[8:30] Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. In the time of Jesus, there was a celebration of the Feast of Booths.

[8:43] And John records this for us in chapter 7. Candles were used to commemorate the pillar of fire. Cast your minds back to the Old Testament. The pillar of fire that provided light and guidance to the nation of Israel when they were in the wilderness.

[8:59] Jesus is this light to which the pillar of fire refers. And in chapter 8, Jesus points to Exodus 3.14 by assigning the title to Himself of I am.

[9:13] Since God is light, Jesus' words here proclaim His deity. And that Jesus coming into the world is the light.

[9:27] The true, genuine, real, and ultimate self-disclosure of God to the world. If we continue reading verse 9, the true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

[9:42] He was in the world and the world was made through Him. Yet the world did not know Him. John writes that this true light gives light to everyone.

[9:53] Everyone is an interesting word when it comes to here. This could be interpreted as every living thing on the earth. From what I can see and what I've studied here, I think that John what he's trying to tell us is that all who come to Jesus receive His life, receive His light.

[10:10] they are the ones given to Him by the Father to receive salvation which we will look at later on. It's interesting to note also here within this verse that John's repetitive language here in that the world was made through Him tells us and reinforces again that Jesus is God.

[10:35] There are three connotations that I can see when the world is mentioned and John talks about the world often in his account. There's a positive type for God so loved the world.

[10:49] There's a neutral type in that the world or cosmos is simply a geographical place where we all live. The physical place for earth. Then there's the third which is the negative type.

[11:04] This world is not to be confused with the universe but the created order where human beings dwell where we conduct and live out our lives.

[11:16] This world of human beings living in rebellion against their maker. If you'd like to turn with me to John 3.16 if you have your Bibles open with me just read from John 3.16 it says this for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the only son of God and this is the judgment the light has come into the world then the people loved 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 but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out by God amen what does this tell us why does John record this for us it tells us that and speaks to a testament of who God is gives us an insight into God's character that shines through these verses and it's wonderful it is not an endorsement of the world at all it's an endorsement of who God is the very heart of God is what it points to it displays

[13:08] God's rich love and grace and mercy that even though the world full of sin full of people who are lovers of darkness rather than the light lovers of wickedness and not of light despite these things despite all of that wickedness despite all of that darkness and all of that sin Christ came into the world that he would be rejected in verse 10 of our passage today in 11 we read that the world did not know him he came to his own and his people did not receive him Jesus came to his own let's just rest on that phrase just for a moment he came to his own his own his own people and they did not receive him

[14:08] I wonder if you've ever been somewhere where you've had no welcome whatsoever no welcome and maybe they were strangers to you maybe they were friends or previous friends and you've had no welcome whatsoever and you've just been shunned put to the side these people were the very ones that Jesus created and they rejected him this rejection the betrayal of the very ultimate word and life himself Jesus was not received by his own the Jews the scribes the Pharisees all these people were the most religious the most spiritual and the most privileged for knowledge of the time there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah all the scripture and the prophets point to his coming that is Jesus the Jews knew more than anyone yet they did not receive him and they rejected him

[15:16] I wonder how many times you have read the passages mentioned this morning ten times tens of times hundreds of times maybe this is your first time reading these passages or hearing these passages we know that Jesus is the ultimate light and that it is only he who gives light and life how many times have you or I rejected Jesus why is it and you prayed it beautifully brother why is it that when we fall into sin when we look to our own works to help us when we are so unrepentant in our lives do we not sprint for all we are worth to the arms of Christ why is it we look for enlightenment elsewhere oh wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death

[16:23] I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord amen true light does not come from within it can't it's simply it's impossible true light does not come from this world but the true light most definitely came into this world my observation of this passage over the last couple of months is that it appears to me that this that they present as a valley from verse 9 to 13 they present as a valley to me okay we start at the top talking about this true light and we slide very quickly into the bottom of the valley into the rejection of Jesus if we were to stay at the bottom of this valley at the end of verse 11 it looks like it's all over Jesus' mission has failed it's all done just go home forget it there's nothing here however John doesn't want to leave us in the bottom of the valley he doesn't want to leave us thinking that nobody accepted or responded to the true light or the true word in Jesus the majority of people at the time of Jesus and during his ministry did reject him why?

[17:37] because they hate the truth people refuse to come to the light because they love their sin and do not want to be illuminated by the light they are willfully blind for those who reject the light they are willfully displaying preference to the dark John MacArthur says that the world's hatred of God and rejection of Christ in no way overrules or frustrates God's plan for he makes even the wrath of men praise him it's wonderful I'd like to point out at this point here literally right here where I am in my sermon when I was preparing I got to this very point where I am right now and I had a conversation with Ruben my son he's just gone out I explained to him where I was in my sermon prep and he saw the word count on the screen and exclaimed you've written over 2,000 words for 4 lines being the first 3 verses that we've covered in our passage this morning this is certainly where we are at this point in our passage we are not at the end of the story hallelujah someone anyone please tell me what the first word of verse 12 is please but but this wonderful 3 letter word suddenly makes for a dramatic shift in the text that we are reading it offers us the opportunity to sit up and want for hope and let me encourage you there is plenty of hope coming up in the next 3 verses

[19:25] I wonder if you've ever been on holiday if you've ever been to a place where there's a steep hill to climb or maybe a mountain and you've got on a cable car from the bottom we are and you're going up to the top of the mountain you can see the top of the mountain but you go do you know what that's a little bit far for me to travel just on foot oh there's a cable car let's jump on that we can get to the top folks we are about to embark on a cable car journey right now we're at the bottom of the valley and we are going back this cable car folks is called grace and love who is standing at the top of the mountain waiting for us it is Jesus himself the same Jesus that before the very foundation of the world the word who was with God and was God the same Jesus who has for all time been in perfect harmony in perfect love with the father and the holy spirit part of the trinity not needing us but wanting us he is at the top of our mountain and his arms open wide ready to receive you let's continue in verse 12 but to all who did receive him but but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God wow we sang it adopted into your family now there will be those and some who receive him for those of you who are

[21:09] Christians here this morning we are testament to that these three verses that we've just read are a gift they are a heavenly divine supernatural gift from the father to the son to us who is this offered to who is this gift offered to when John wrote this in the first century John is writing in a time when salvation was reserved for only certain people reserved for people who had the right credentials if you were intelligent enough the philosophers would show you the way if you had the right social standing being the elite would grant you salvation having just the right amount of piety and to be seen being a good Jew at the time that would grant you salvation and favour with

[22:12] God who is this offered to all all as it says in the text when the message of the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ entered first century society it completely laid waste to these ideas as it declared faith and salvation for everyone who would receive and believe in him for there was no exclusion it mattered not what age what gender what race you were there was no prerequisite religious standing and it is still today one of the glories of Christianity that all who believe may come what does it mean then to receive the word or to receive the true light and to believe his name and again if there's any

[23:14] Greek scholars in here this morning my sincere apologies the Greek word for receive or receiving is lambano the word used here in verse 12 means to take to lay hold of any person or thing to obtain or to grasp to receive Christ is more than simply acknowledging his claims historians will acknowledge that Jesus lived on this earth for a time other world religions acknowledge that Jesus in their own way lived on this earth even the demons acknowledge that Jesus is the holy one of God they recognized it this receiving goes hand in hand with believing in his name to receive the word is to receive the true light this message of the gospel is repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved

[24:16] John uses this construct of believing in Jesus Christ throughout his gospel account and it becomes a consistent theme we find it in this in John 6 chapter 8 9 12 14 16 also in 1 John 3 and 5 John lays down the importance of believing in Jesus of the four gospels Matthew mentions believe 11 times Mark mentions it 14 and Luke mentions it 9 however John mentions believe 98 times in his gospel account John has emphasized this as an active belief in Jesus this is not something you merely have but it is something you do to believe in the name of Jesus his name is to believe in the totality of Christ's being it is all and everything that he is and does he is ultimate it is impossible to separate

[25:27] Christ's deity from his humanity it is impossible to separate his being saviour from his being lord of all it is impossible to separate his person from his redemptive work on the cross Thomas Watson once said it like this a cloud that covers over the sun makes no change in the body of the sun so though the divine nature be covered with the human it makes no change in the divine nature this believing this saving faith is to actively accept Jesus Christ in all his fullness in all the fullness of what scripture has revealed concerning him and completely devoting ourselves to him what does this gift of grace enable us to be then in the second half of verse 12 we read we are given the right to become children of

[26:40] God that is amazing a wretched sinner like me I am granted adoption children of God if you believe in the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior you are given the right to become a child of the most high the creator of the very universe has saved you and adopted you for his glory hallelujah a final verse verse 13 who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of men but we've got another but in there of God I love these verses it starts with God and it ends with God there's a lot in between but we start with God and we end with God these verses once again as does all scripture gives us cause for hope

[27:45] John is writing here to a people who at the time were absolutely crippled by a society where rank and status meant everything most would have been slaves without any freedoms rights or any standing in society so to hear that Jesus offers everyone the right to become children of God not by anything anyone could do is an immense gift Bruce Milne describes it as nothing less than personal relationship within the family circle of God our society sadly tells us that you can be anyone anyone who you want to be anything that whoever you are is who you are you don't need to change anything about yourself you are perfect just the way you are you're born this way these are lies straight from their father the devil which is why you must be born again children children of

[29:07] God are not born of natural descent you're not a child of God by your bloodline your parents do not pass it on to your children which is why it's so important as parents to train our children in the ways of the Lord this means your heritage or race not even even Jewish is irrelevant when it comes to spiritual birth and being adopted into God's family this is by blood we read on nor of the will of flesh nor of the will of man these two phrases preclude and utterly remove man's part from the gift of salvation hallelujah because I think if it was left up to me I'd lose it pretty quickly no sexual relationship between a man and a woman can ever grant this children of God are not born of the flesh we have another but here as I've already mentioned but of

[30:15] God we need to hear and know this this morning and understand that people cannot be saved unless they receive and believe in Jesus Christ salvation is not of works it is not of our doing it is the sovereign work of God who creates a new heart one from stone to flesh taking the sinner from death to life this is read in Ephesians 2 verses 8 to 9 you don't have to turn to it I'll just read it for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast I don't know about you this morning but when I ponder of what God through Christ has done for us and especially in line with what

[31:17] Ephesians has just said I can understand now why Fanny Crosby wrote blessed assurance God has done this work for you there is no other world religion that the God dies for the people we look at society again today with all of our rights with all the freedoms that we have and we can see so many people who suffer from a complete lack of self worth not only in society folks in the church brothers and sisters your identity is found in nowhere else other than in Jesus Christ if you receive and believe in him you are cared for with infinite love by our father in heaven who for his son's sake is well pleased with you receiving the light results in becoming children of light so then what will you do with this light that you have received from Jesus and how do you know if you are a child of God

[32:42] Matthew 5 tells us you are the light of the world a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house in the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven the Christian's task is to make the Lord Jesus visible Christian do not hide this light shine this light to everyone for all you are worth be a beacon of light in a world that is in darkness do not hide from the task of sharing the good news about Jesus but share your faith in every moment in every opportunity that is given to you whether that is in the workplace whether that is at school whether that is talking with friends or even strangers do the small things well every day keep the true word the true light close to your lips and close to your hearts ready to give an account of the faith that you have in

[34:06] Jesus you may be sitting here this morning and thinking to yourself some very honest thoughts how do I know if I'm a Christian how do I know if I'm saved because eternity is a long time we read in Romans 10 that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved further on in the same passage it says for everyone who believes on the name of the Lord will be saved have you the marks of a child of God which accompanies being born again do you have a sense of sin faith in

[35:09] Jesus do you have a love for others do you have righteous living being in the world but not lovers of the world being someone who is a lover of God's word for it is in devotion to reading the Bible studying the scriptures that you will deepen your relationship with Christ this is our active obedience that you are called to as a Christian maybe you're not a Christian here today or if you're hearing this as a recording online and you feel that weight of sin you feel those strings on your heart being pulled that my friends is the work of the Holy Spirit prompting you to think and wonder about these truths that we've spoken about this morning do not turn your ear away do not harden your heart come and receive the light believe in the name of Jesus and he will give you the privilege of becoming a child of

[36:13] God wherever you are in your walk of life with Jesus or not with Jesus let me encourage you God the God of everything God who created everything the universe the cosmos the world we live in revealed himself to us in the person that is Jesus Christ Jesus left the dwelling place in heaven the gaze of angels to enter this world as a man still fully God and fully man the deity did not change he was clothed in frail humanity to live a perfect life to fulfill the law to die on a cross for the redemption of sins to rise from the dead and claim the victory over sin and death to state it is finished the work is done the price is paid in full

[37:27] God the Father is well pleased that you are accepted in Christ to be adopted into his family for all eternity for it is by grace alone and faith in Christ alone revealed in scripture alone that we are saved and it is for the glory of God alone through reading through studying this word this morning some people like to name or you know put a title to their sermons and just in closing my sermon title is here is your king amen however I think I'm going to change it just at the very last minute if that's alright if you'll allow me to do that from what we have read in the verses Jesus Christ is the true light he is the king of kings and the lord of lords this is your king amen let us pray father god we count it an absolute wonder and mystery that you would save a wretch like me like us lord that the only qualification we need is for the sin that we bring that we might stand here redeemed and restored through the redemptive work of our lord jesus christ so lord we thank you for your word we praise your name and it is all for your glory and all your honor in jesus name we pray amen and a Payam and a forgive