A Message by Rev.
Greg Moser
Given to
March 21, 2010
DISCOVERING JESUS
John 1:35-51
I.
FOLLOWERS POINT OTHERS TO THE LAMB (vv. 35-37)
·
Cousins! Can you imagine what John was thinking?!
·
Humility was
crafted into his identity!
·
“God resists
the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
·
John’s
ministry began to vanish. Jesus would
now be the central figure.
·
“I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who
has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and
hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of
mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:28-30
II.
JESUS SEEKS TO TRANSFORM HIS FOLLOWERS (vv. 38-42)
·
Notice the
“other” name Jesus gave Simon—Peter (Rock)
·
Simon’s
personality/temperament was brash, impulsive, and undependable. He would lunge into something and then bail
out. He was the first one in and often
the first one out.
·
Simon needed
to become like a rock—stable, dependable.
·
So, Jesus used
the two names as a teaching tool.
o
Simon—Jesus
used it when he had done something that needed rebuking or correcting.
o
Peter—Jesus
used it when he was being obedient
·
Jesus wanted
the nickname to be a perpetual reminder to him about who he SHOULD be.
·
From that
point on, whatever Jesus called him sent a subtle message.
·
Just like Peter, Jesus wants to continually
challenge us so that He can transform us into His likeness.
III.
FOLLOWERS FRAME THE GOSPEL IN UNDERSTANDABLE TERMS
(vv. 40-51)
·
John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
·
Andrew: “We have found the Messiah!”
·
Philip: “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law
and also the Prophets wrote!”
·
I would
propose to you that since we are no longer a Christian nation, no longer a
biblically literate nation, we have to use an Acts 17 model of witnessing more
often than an Acts 2 model.
·
ILLUS: Commercial for “The Amazing Race”—Joan of Arc
(contestant thought that was the one who built the ark)
·
Our culture is
a “mixed bag” of religious views and understanding (pluralistic).
·
Gideons need to
reconsider who they distribute NT (w/Psalms and Proverbs) Bibles to—no Genesis!
o
Acts 2:22-41
§
3 Different
Audiences:
·
Jews who lived
in
·
Jews who had
been dispersed and had come back to
·
Jewish
proselytes-Gentiles who had been converted to Judaism
§
They ALL had
an OT background!
o
Acts 17:18-34
§
Paul was
speaking to Greek philosophers—they were evolutionary-based in their thinking.
·
The Epicureans
taught that everything on the earth had evolved from the material of the earth.
·
They saw no
purpose in nature.
·
Sensual
pleasure was the chief good of existence.
Sound like any country you know?
·
A
knowledge of Creator God was
absent.
§
The Greeks did
not have the Jewish Scriptures (OT). How
many in
·
They saw sin
and evil, but had no concept of an absolute authority or absolute
truth—narrow-minded. Sound familiar?
§
The Greeks had
no understanding of Adam, and sin coming through Adam.
§
“Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and
so death spread to all men, because all sinned…” Romans 5:12
o
“But we preach
Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness…” 1 Cor. 1:23
·
So how do we
appeal to an evolution-based culture?
o
Paul appealed
to nature and their consciences.
§
“For since the
creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine
nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so
that they are without excuse.” Romans
1:20
§
“They show the
work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and
their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them…” Romans 2:15
·
Evolution is a
belief system, not science! Secular
scientists have discovered much, but they interpret it through their belief
system—evolution!
·
There can/is
an alternative belief system that explains origins more accurately.
·
Both evolution
and Christianity are “faith-based” belief systems.
o
ILLUS: Where did matter come from?
§
Okay, if I'm right, according to the Big Bang theory, the
universe started out as a highly concentrated ball of matter. Well, where did
that matter come from? I mean, where did the stuff to create everything in the
universe come from? Did it just appear or something? (PLEASE answer! This has
been bothering me for YEARS!)
§
In the
beginning, there was not yet any matter. However, there was a lot of energy in
the form of light, which comes in discrete packets called photons. When photons
have enough energy, they can spontaneously decay into a particle and an
antiparticle… The next question to ask is: where did all the antimatter go?
§
Where did the
ENERGY IN THE FORM OF LIGHT come from?!
§
Genesis 1:1 –
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
·
7 C’s of History (Story Telling) IMPORTANT for moms/dads
o
Creation
§
God created
everything!
§
Scientists
have NOT proven that the earth is billions of years old. Look at the amount of salt in the
oceans. Scientists have discovered that
the oceans should be much, much, much saltier if the earth were billions of
years old.
o
Corruption
§
Adam/Eve
rebelled and sinned. Death entered the
picture. Man and earth were cursed.
o
Catastrophe
§
Worldwide
flood. Helps us understand where the
rocks and fossils came from. There are
marine fossils on top of
§
Baby dinosaurs
loaded up on the ark.
o
Confusion
§
§
All people
groups came from Noah’s family.
o
Christ
§
Fully God,
fully man. Sinless.
o
Cross
§
Death was the
punishment for sin. Animal sacrifices
weren’t enough.
§
He died in our
place (substitution).
§
ROSE FROM THE
DEAD!
o
Consummation
§
The curse on
His creation will be removed.
§
New heaven and
new earth.
§
Live with God
forever!
·
When sharing
the Gospel, determine a person’s foundation first.
o
Do they have
an understanding of the Bible or not?
CONCLUSION:
·
Have you
discovered the truth about Jesus? Have
you done an honest search? Have you been
influenced by evolutionary beliefs to the point that you no longer are an
“honest doubter”?
·
I invite you
to “come and see” that Jesus is real.