What if God was one of us?
I'm showing my age.
Do you know the song?
What if God was one of us?
There we go.
I'm not allowed to sing anymore because YouTube will give us a strike and kick us off.
However, in 1995, that song was written.
It goes like this.
If God had a face, what would it look like?
And would you want to see if seeing meant believing,
it meant that you would have to believe in things like heaven and Jesus?
God is great.
God is good.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us.
Just a stranger on a bus trying to make his way home.
Back up to heaven all alone.
Nobody calling on the phone except the Pope maybe in Rome.
What if God was one of us?
I remember being 10 years old on a bus, on the bus to school and hearing that song and
sitting there for the whole bus ride just thinking about that question.
What if God was one of us?
As a kid, though, I missed all the sarcasm and the bitterness in the song.
Because it's the song of a secular person.
It's a song of someone who believes that God doesn't exist.
And even if he does, it wouldn't matter even if he did show up.
But what if God was one of us?
Today we're going to hear from a man like one of us called Jesus, who claimed to be God.
The wildest claim anyone could make.
But if it's true, it really does matter.
Is Jesus really God?
If you went down into Chatswood and asked people that crazy question, what would people say?
They might say, God doesn't exist, so Jesus is a fraud.
Is Jesus really God?
Or God does exist, but he doesn't care or can't or won't do anything.
He's lazy or voiceless or vindictive.
Jesus, no, he doesn't matter.
Or maybe Jesus is God or some other deity.
Maybe they're all the same.
Or I'm a good person.
I live a good life.
So I don't need Jesus, even if he is God.
How would you answer?
I want you to imagine you're on a plane.
But the plane is crashing.
I'm sorry.
The plane is crashing.
What do you worry about in that moment?
Would you be devastated that your life is about to end?
Or angry at a God who doesn't care?
Or be counting up your sins and checking your moral status?
Would you have any assurance of what meeting with God will be like after you die?
The truth is, we are all on a plane like that.
A plane that is our lifetime with no landing gear.
No matter what point in the flight you are, every life hits a mountain called death.
We need someone to give us life beyond the crash before we crash.
And we'll see today that there is only hope for life if Jesus really is God.
So get John chapter 5 in front of you.
The beginning of this chapter, we heard this last week from John Lauer.
And Jesus went to work on the Sabbath day.
When it was illegal to work.
He went and found a man who could not walk and did the work of healing him.
And then in verse 16 of chapter 5 it says,
The religious leaders began to persecute him for doing this.
Why?
Because Jesus deliberately broke the law as they knew it.
It was said that only God could work on the Sabbath.
For God is always working and his work is effortless.
God only needs to speak and creation obeys.
But Jesus says in verse 17,
My father is always at his work to this very day.
And I too am working.
See, Jesus was claiming to be working legally.
He was claiming to be God.
And the religious leaders understood exactly what he claimed.
No longer were they going to just persecute him as a nuisance.
But from that point, as soon as Jesus said that,
they sought to kill him.
Not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God his own father,
making himself equal with God.
And the rest of the chapter
is Jesus' answer to their charges and judgment of him.
That he was not God and deserved punishment.
Deserved death.
So Jesus stated his case before them in our passage today,
outlining his claims in more detail,
and how he planned to prove that those claims are true.
Jesus claimed to be God.
He said that he was doing God's works,
like a son following in his father's trade.
Imagine a son and a father in a workshop.
Maybe they're working on some wood.
I'm not very handy.
But I'm imagining this is the kind of language
and picture Jesus is trying to paint
when he says in verse 20,
for the father loves the son
and shows him all he does.
Jesus even said he's worthy of worship like the father.
Verse 23.
Whoever does not honor the son
does not honor the father who sent him.
But the two-edged swords of his claim to be God is this,
that he is the judge of all
and he is the giver of life.
Let's read from verse 28.
A time is coming when all who are in their graves
will hear his voice and come out.
Those who have done what is good will rise to live
and those who have done what is evil
will rise to be condemned.
Jesus' accusers were not shocked
that he said every person will be raised to judgment,
either to death and condemnation
or death and to eternal life.
But they were shocked
because Jesus said he is the voice.
He is the voice that would rise the dead
into judgment.
Verse 22.
The father has entrusted all judgment to the son.
Verse 27.
And he has given him authority to judge.
Jesus literally claimed he will judge all people
for the life that they live.
Their eternal destiny,
my eternal destiny,
will be determined by Jesus.
Man.
Speaking in Palestine 2,000 years ago.
Verse 25.
Very truly I tell you,
a time is coming
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God
and those who hear will live.
Were you reading along with your Bible?
You've got to hold me accountable here
because I left something out.
I did it on purpose,
but you've got to be reading along.
Because, he says,
a time is coming
and is now here.
The determining of eternal destiny
started the moment we heard Jesus' voice.
The judge of the world has arrived.
He came with a voice
that would condemn
or bring life.
And Jesus also claimed
to be the giver of life.
At the beginning of chapter 5,
he goes to work
and does a healing.
He heals completely dead legs.
And then in verse 12,
he came to be able
to raise the completely dead
just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life.
Even so, the Son gives life.
It's not just physical death, though,
that he claimed to have power over.
It's spiritual deadness, too.
In verse 24,
whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me
has eternal life
and will not be judged,
but is crossed over
from death to life.
This judge claimed
to be able
to grant
life
on one condition.
salvation.
And it's backwards
to what people
in our city
might expect.
It's backwards
to what the people
hearing Jesus
expected.
Because it's not merit.
It's not good works.
It's not our own goodness.
Jesus said
just by believing
he would grant
eternal life.
This believing
is hearing Jesus
claim to be God
and agreeing
that God,
the Father,
sent him.
Look again
at verse 24.
Look at this promise.
Jesus said
that by believing
in him
we have
eternal life.
We have
crossed over
from death
to life
at the moment
of believing.
how could
Jesus
promise people
this?
There's a clue
in the next verse.
Verse 25.
A time is coming
and has now come
when the dead
will hear
the voice
of the Son of God
and those who hear
will live.
Jesus is the start
of eternal life.
It's his initiative.
It's his life
and it's his promise.
Believing in him
now
begins
an eternal life.
with him.
We will all
one day
be physically dead
and without
an eternal life
beyond death
where spiritually
is good as dead.
Yet anyone,
Jesus says,
can receive
eternal life
now
by believing
in him
and cross
from death
to immediate
abundant
eternal
life.
Life that begins
in eternity
with him
as your God.
Free from
condemnation,
free from fear,
free from
hopelessness
by simply
believing
that Jesus
really is
God.
These claims
shatter
the expectations
of our city.
God
and over
100 years
ago,
a man
called
C.S.
Lewis
in a
different
city
that didn't
care about
God
and if they
did,
they had
the wrong
expectations.
He wrote
this about
all that
Jesus claims
as a challenge
to us.
in the mouth
of any
speaker
who is
not
God,
these words
would imply
what I
can only
regard as
a silliness
and conceit
unrivaled by
any character
in history.
You must
make your
choice.
Either this
man was
and is
the son
of God
or else
a madman
or something
worse.
You can
shut him
up a
fool,
you can
spit at
him and
kill him
as a
demon
or you
can fall
at his
feet and
call him
Lord and
God.
Chatswood,
we've got
to make
a choice.
Is Jesus
a mad fool
worthy of
death or
the judge
of the
world freely
offering you
immediate
abundant
eternal
life?
Those claims
are astonishing.
But Jesus
claimed he
can prove
it to
you.
He lines
up witnesses
to his
claims.
For he
says it's
not enough
for me
just to
say,
in verse
31,
that I
am God.
It's not
enough for
me to
witness to
myself.
According
to Jesus,
John the
Baptist,
the greatest
man of
all time
as Jesus
described him
in Matthew
11,
John the
Baptist
declared
Jesus as
the Lamb
of God.
And God
the Father
declared
audibly from
heaven,
this is
my Son,
listen to
him.
But Jesus
says in
this passage
that his
accusers don't
recognize the
Father.
They've never
seen him,
they don't
know his
voice.
So what he
says of
Jesus goes
unheard.
John 5,
37,
he says,
you've never
heard his
voice.
And
agreeing with
the Father
is scripture
itself.
That whole
Old Testament
that's come
before.
Jesus
summarizes it
as Moses,
the great
prophet and
champion of
Israel.
He says in
verse 46 and
47,
if you
believed
Moses,
you would
have believed
me.
For he
wrote about
me.
But since
you do not
believe what
he wrote,
how are you
going to
believe what
I say?
The religious
leaders of
the time had
their heads
buried in
God's words,
but that was
not enough for
them to
recognize God
right in
front of
them.
But most
of all,
it's Jesus
works
themselves
that witness
strongest to
the truth of
his claim to
be God.
Have a look
at verse
36.
Jesus
says,
I have
testimony
weightier
for the
works that
the Father
has given
me to
finish.
The works
that I
am doing
testify that
the Father
has sent
me.
If you've
been following
along with
this at
church,
or if you've
ever read
it before,
the book
of John
describes
Jesus'
miracles,
not with
that word
miracle,
but the
word sign.
Signs
point to
something.
They can
be proved
right or
wrong.
If you
follow
them.
If you're
local or
you've
been around
Chatswood
at all,
or if
you've
ever been
to our
church,
you go
straight down
this street
here,
down
Help
Street.
Over
the train
line is a
gigantic
sign.
It looks
like it
could be as
big as
that wall
right there.
That sign
is trying to
convince you
that a new
breakfast cereal
or a new
car or a new
hair product
is better
than your
current one.
The
flattering
photoshopped
picture is
its proof
that their
cereal is
tastier,
that the
car has a
smoother ride,
or that you
really can
regrow your
hair.
Chatswood is
a prove-it
kind of
place.
If you
made the
claim Jesus
is God
in
Chatswood,
if I
put Jesus
is God
on that
sign,
people would
drive down,
it's hilarious,
it's called
Help
Street,
but they
drive down
Help
Street,
look at
that and
go,
prove it.
Chatswood
is a
prove-it
kind of
place.
And Jesus
says,
his proof
is in
his signs.
So let's
look to
some of
Jesus'
signs.
And see,
can Jesus
really give
us the
life he
claims to
offer?
Look back
at verse
21.
Just as
the Father
raises the
dead,
even so
the Son
gives life
to whom
he is
pleased
to give
it.
Jesus
was able
to give
life to
dead
legs.
Can he
give life
to dead
people?
Can he
give life
beyond the
grave?
Let's
look in
John for
some
proof.
John
11.
Later in
John's
Gospel,
Jesus
received a
message that
his friend
Lazarus was
sick and
to come
quick to
the town
nearby and
heal him.
But Jesus
waited.
He waited.
He didn't
go.
And when he
finally did
go,
Lazarus had
been dead
four days.
And
Lazarus's
sister
Martha said
to Jesus
in verse
21,
if you'd
been there,
my brother
would not
have died.
And just
as an
aside,
last week
we looked
at John
4.
There was
a man
who lived
20 miles
away from
where Jesus
was and
he traveled
to Jesus
and asked
him,
can you
come the
20 miles
to my
town to
heal my
dying
son?
And Jesus
just said,
your son
will be
healed.
The man
went back
to 20 miles
and found
his son
healed.
Jesus
doesn't
need to
go.
Remember
the signs
people.
So
Lazarus
went with
those in
mourning.
Jesus
went with
those in
mourning to
Lazarus's
tomb.
and he
commanded
it to
be opened
and the
smell
hit everyone
full in
the face
and Jesus
shouted,
Lazarus
come out
and Lazarus
walked out
in burial
cloths
alive.
Jesus
proved he
could raise
the dead.
He
proved he
could bring
dead limbs
back to
life.
He
proved he
could bring
dead people
back to
life.
How
could he
prove that
he could
offer
eternal
life?
John
knows that
that's
his next
question
because
immediately
after he
describes
this
wonderful
moment of
celebration,
this wonderful
sign,
he says,
and now the
religious leaders
literally signed
his death
warrant.
That was the
moment they
said,
nope,
enough is
enough,
no more
planning,
he's got
to die
now.
And
spoiler alert,
he did.
Jesus'
plane hit
the mountain.
How can a
man that
claims he
is God
and the
giver of
eternal
life be
legitimate
if he
dies?
Well,
in a
similar tomb
to Lazarus,
Jesus was
buried.
And a
couple of
days after
his brutal
murder,
his followers
went to
properly
prepare
his dead
body,
because they
couldn't
go on
the
Sabbath,
because that
would have
been work.
But the
tomb was
empty and
the body
was gone.
And then
Jesus revealed
himself as
alive,
unexpectedly
risen,
still scarred
from his
cross,
and hundreds
met with
him.
And many
of them
died
witnessing
to his
resurrection.
But one
disciple,
early on,
Thomas,
missed seeing
the risen
Jesus with
the rest
of them.
And he
doubted that
Jesus lived,
and he
demanded,
in John
20,
25,
he says,
unless I
see and
put my
finger where
the nails
were,
put my
hand in
his side,
I will
not believe.
He challenged
Jesus'
claims.
He's
Chatswood
in that
moment.
We join in
with him
and we
say,
prove it.
Then Jesus
appeared to
Thomas,
as if to
us,
and said,
go ahead,
touch my
scars,
it's really
me.
But for
Thomas,
seeing was
believing,
as he
witnessed,
my Lord
and my
God.
Jesus
really is
God.
Jesus
claimed to be
God who can
offer immediate,
abundant,
eternal life,
and proved
it.
He proved
it by signs
he performed
as the
God and
the giver
of life.
And Jesus
was on the
plane of
life like
we are,
and died
like we
will,
yet lives
to prove
that he
has life
to give
for now
and for
eternity.
And that's
why this
gospel exists.
Just read it
out before.
John says
immediately after
Thomas'
witnesses to
Jesus,
almost like
he's connecting
it on
purpose.
To show
us this
sign.
So that
you may
believe that
Jesus is
the Messiah,
the Son of
God,
and that by
believing you
might have
life in
his name.
That's why
he's written
the book.
He hopes
you'll see
Jesus through
his witness.
And that
Jesus really
is the
life-giving
judge of
all people.
And that
Jesus really
is God.
Remember
that song I
quoted at the
beginning?
What if
God was
one of
us?
I just
want to
point you
to verse
two.
Because it
asks this
bitter,
sarcastic
question of
us,
assuming that
it wouldn't
matter if
God was
one of
us.
Here's the
question.
If God
was one
of us,
would you
want to
see?
If seeing
meant that
you would
have to
believe in
Jesus?
Well,
like Thomas,
your answer
should be
yes.
Yes,
I want
to believe.
I'm
on a
crashing
plane and
Jesus is
offering me
life.
No matter
what you
right now
think of
God,
no matter
what,
Jesus
offers you
life.
No matter
what you
think of
your life,
Jesus offers
you an
abundant
life today.
life.
Jesus can
offer it
to you
because he
died your
death.
He
experienced
the crash
of your
life and
all of
your judgment
for you
as he
crashed on
his cross.
His
astonishing
offer of
life is
proved just
and fair
because his
perfect life
deserved no
end.
His life
deserved landing
gear.
instead,
he offers
you a
trade.
If you
claim the
trade Jesus
offers you,
you can
exchange your
life and
your judgments.
Evil for
good.
Condemnation
for life.
life and
he will
give it to
you right
now.
Crossing
over from
death to
life if
you believe.
Only
Jesus can
offer you
an abundant
life which
is rest and
peace from
all that
your life is
striving toward.
forward.
There's no
ticket on
offer here
off this
crashing
plane but
there's rest
and peace
for the
flight and
that's what
Jesus'
abundant
life redeems
you from.
It's a
life at rest
from the
striving that's
underneath all
the work that
you do.
The work in
striving for
your security,
for your
reputation,
for your own
righteousness.
righteousness and
it's peace from
having to work
your works to
earn anything
before God.
You can
receive belief
in him as
an unearned
gift.
Only Jesus
offers you
hope beyond
life.
Here's the
verse I would
write to this
song.
What if God
was one of
us?
In this
broken and
violent,
decaying,
deathward
world,
there is
an end to
your fear
of
condemnation,
an assurance
that cannot
be shaken.
It's joy for
today and
tomorrow and
hope beyond
death.
For God
was one
of us.
Jesus really
is God.
Is Jesus
really God?
Your answer
should be yes.
I want you
to believe in
Jesus.
You should
want to
believe in
Jesus.
Take your
next step
and believe
today.
Receive the
eternal life
that he
offers.
For Jesus
really is
God.
And if you
believe Jesus
is God,
then join
in with
John as
a witness
to Jesus.
Share
Jesus'
signs with
people so
that they
might believe
in him.
From
belief in
Jesus brings
a desire to
be a sign
that points
people to
Jesus Christ.
I'm going to
do something
we don't
often do in
church,
which is
get out
your phone.
Get out
your phone
and point it
at the
screen and
scan this
code.
And if
you do,
you will
download an
app that's
free.
It's a
resource called
Word
One-to-One.
This is the
Gospel of
John and
it's broken
up into
little short
readings.
There's
questions to
ask yourself,
to discuss
with others,
and there's
help to
understand the
context and
the meaning
of the
book of
John.
This app
will help
you share
the good
news of
John,
explore the
claims and
proof that
Jesus really
is God,
and how
it really
matters that
Jesus is
God.
Once you
have the
app,
there's a
button called
Share,
and you can
hold that
code out to
anyone who
has a phone,
and you
can open
the Bible
with someone
who doesn't
have one,
no matter
where you
are,
as long as
you have
battery on
their phone.
And if
you believe
that Jesus
is really
God,
then he's
worthy of
your worship.
As we enjoy
Jesus'
accomplishments
for us,
and the
peace and
rest in
him,
we reorder
the priorities
of our
life around
his.
For he
is worthy
of your
life.
That's why
we've sung
today.
That's why
we teach
and learn
new songs,
because he
inspires works
of thanks
and praise.
So,
what if
God was
one of
us?
He was.
He was
one of
us.
He is
Jesus.
He claimed
this,
and he
proved this,
and he
offers you
immediate,
abundant,
eternal life
in him.
So,
take your
next step
and open
your Bible
and hear
God speak.
Verse 24,
a time is
coming,
and has
now come,
where the
dead will
hear the
voice of
the Son
of God,
and those
who hear
will live.
Amen.