John 1:10
�He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.�
The text verse this week says that Jesus came into a world that did not know Him. One would think, with the angelic announcement of His birth, the visit of the Magi, and the forerunning of John the Baptist, that the world would have been well aware of this Person.
In some ways, of course, they did know about Him. The religious leaders were all too aware that the average people hailed Him as a prophet. The general population thronged to hear Him speak and were amazed at His healing touch on those who were ill, halt, blind, and deaf. At one point the crowds about Him were so great that the friends of a sick man actually laid back the tiles of the roof of the place were He was, so that they could gain an audience for their sick friend.
Yet, the Scripture claims that He was not known to the people to whom He came to minister. That is, of course, true. The people knew Him as a healer and moralist. The religious leaders knew Him as a threat to their established order. The military might of the Roman legions would have known Him as a Jewish celebrity, of sorts, as the crowds - which these soldiers made it their business to examine in order to keep the peace, pressed about Him. But, very few understood that He was the promised Messiah whose mission was to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
The world was an unknown place. �He was in the world...�
To the Divine Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, the world was an alien place.
When God placed Adam in the Garden, He gave to Adam the oversight of His creation. The essential sin of Adam was that he cast his lot with the creature rather than with the Creator.
When we read the story of Adam�s sin in the third chapter of Genesis, we see something that we do not completely comprehend at first glace. At the beginning of the chapter we see Eve beguiled by the serpent. At one point Eve tells the serpent a lie. She says that God had told Adam and her not only to not eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, she also claims that God had said not to touch that tree. We have no record that God said for them to not touch this tree. It appears that Eve lied at this point. That would appear to be sin. Yet, we see nothing happening.
Then Eve took of the fruit of the forbidden tree. This was sin. It was a direct disobedience of the clear command of God. Yet, we see nothing happening. Don�t misunderstand me, here. I do believe that something happened in her soul. I believe, in accordance with the words of God, that Eve spiritually died at this point.
Eve then offered this fruit to Adam. Adam was not beguiled. He was not seduced. He was given a clear, hard choice. He could either continue to be obedient to His Lord, or he could join in the rebellion of the woman and turn his back on God. At this point we see the great changes in the plant, animal, and climatic elements. Adam, as the overseer of the creation of God, had given all the created elements unto the man of sin.
Because of the sin of Adam, Jesus came into a world which was completely alien to His perfection and deity. Storms and disease were part of that which surrounded the Prince of Peace. These may have been subject to His Word; but they would have their say upon the people of the planet.
Even the population of the planet was alien to the things of the Christ which was come into the world. Although many would follow Him - thousands, only few would accept Him as the promised Holy One. Fewer still would understand the purpose and necessity of His sacrifice on Calvary.
Currently I am awaiting an operation to remove a cataract on one of my eyes. Because of this malady, I see a fuzzy and opaque image through my right eye. Because of the sin of Adam, the people of the days in which Jesus physically walked this earth could not clearly see that He was the promised Savior. They could not understand that He was come to offer them spiritual life to replace the spiritual death they had inherited from their common ancestor, Adam.
The world was an abandoned place because of the power of Satan. Don�t be fooled. Satan is a defeated enemy because of the triumph of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. But, Satan is a very powerful enemy.
In this present world, most of the people have not accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives through faith in His atoning work at Calvary. Therefore, most of the population of this present world are still in their sins as brought about through the fall of Adam. It is an inherited condition. The spiritual world is not a vacuum. When allegiance to God is not accepted, allegiance to Satan is the �default setting� in the computer of their lives.
This is the state of every man, woman, and child on this planet who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Please, understand! This does not make them bad people, in the natural sense. It does, however, make them lost in a spiritual state. Not accepting the lordship of the Lord, they are bound by the lordship of Satan.
This does not equate to evil in all areas. It does equate to evil in many areas. Just look at the state of the world around us. Can any argue that there is not malevolent intent among the armies, and - sadly - religions, of this world? But, for the most part, Satan understands that he has the situation of these souls in hand. As long as they do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Satan has the victory in these lives. He will just sit back, to use a football analogy, and play a �prevent� defense. He knows all he has to do is to keep people from reaching the goal line of salvation in Christ and he has won his victory over these lives.
When the lordship of Jesus is rejected, the lordship of Satan is remains, whether an individual understands this concept or not, accepted.
That is why people do not accept the power of God into their lives.
Nor do they accept the concept of this power in the world at large. There was another �letter to the editor� of our local paper today where a man took the time to explain why the concept of evolution was correct. He discounted the possibility of the power of God because he didn�t accept this as a real possibility. How silly. How blind to look at the world about him and not realize that all of this could not possibly have come about by chance.
When I was in school, we were taught that most people of the middle ages believed in a concept of �spontaneous generation.� They believed, for instance, that if one left a loaf of bread sitting out, flies would be generated from the rotten bread. We all felt that we were so superior to have left all those old �superstitions� behind. Then we went to our biology class and were taught that if a bunch of rocks and water were left sitting outside, they would - eventually - generate all the life on the planet.
If our science denies the reality of the spiritual equation, then our knowledge is a �Ferris Wheel.� What goes around just keeps on going around. And, we always figure that we are at the top of the wheel. We are never at the top of the wheel unless we are closer to the God of Heaven.
The world was, when Jesus walked the earth, and now when we walk with Him, an armed camp in the Spiritual War.
Did you ever consider the words of Ephesians 2:2? �Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.�
Once again, we often underestimate our enemy. The Bible describes Satan as the �prince of the power of the air.� Satan is a powerful foe. In the temptation account of Matthew, chapter four, verses eight and nine, Satan says, �Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.�
Jesus answered, in verse nine, �...it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.�
Notice that Jesus did not say, �Satan, don�t try to con me. You can�t give what you don�t have.� Jesus realized that this was a legitimate offer from a legal standpoint. The people were under the influence of Satan. He could move upon them to worship Jesus. But, in order for that to happen, Jesus would have had to worship Satan. Satan would still be in control of the people. It was a real offer; but, it was an offer with heavy strings attached.
Jesus understood that which was at stake. Jesus was not fooled by the trap of Satan. Jesus said that all worship belongs to God.
At this point the defeated Satan left Jesus. ...for a season. Satan is very patient. He is also very dedicated to his task. Don�t feel that a victory over Satan in your life is a cause for spiritual rest. Satan is a strategist. Sometimes he will take one step back so he can run forward into your life, with abandon!
What the world did not see was that Jesus was come to offer them freedom from their allegiance to Satan. Allegiance to Satan is not our natural state. It is our �normal state� because that is where people will �normally� reside. But, that is not the place where we were created to reside. We were created to reside with an attachment to the Lord of the Universe. As a race of humanity, and as individuals, we will never be completely at peace until we give our full allegiance to God.
One of my nieces recently went to get fuel for her car. Like everyone else she was interested in getting the cheapest gas she could find. At a new gas station she found a price much lower than she had been finding. So, she filled her car. Now, I don�t know how she got the nozzle to fit, but she filled her car with diesel fuel. Since her car was designed to run on unleaded gasoline, this was not the best thing for her car.
(This sermon was prepared in 2005 before diesel fuel become more expensive. That is another illustration of the world. The world changes; we can never know exactly where we stand. Even the rules of right and wrong are fluid. The Words of God are of eternity. They abide, steadfastly true for all generations and times!)
Still, it did seem to be right to her. Then she found the outcome of her action.
We will not function properly, or function at all in a spiritual sense, even in our natural lives, if we are not in the spiritual place which we were created to occupy. Jesus came to show us the truth of the way we need to walk. He even gives us the direction to find that place. He even came as the vehicle that would carry us to our destination.
The world, at large, still does not understand this.
To the world, the actions of Jesus are still an unknown production. �...and the world was made by him,...�
The world does not accept, or really understand, that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Author of this physical world. He is seen as a teacher. Although, to be honest, how many people are really evidencing in their own lives, the principles of love that He taught? Even most of the religious people have such a jaundiced view of His teaching that they fail to follow the example which He taught.
Many fail to reference the true concept of sin in the world. They do not understand the need, or reality, of the sacrifice which Jesus offered on the Cross. They see a religion of love without the necessity of repentance.
The truth is often overlooked that the purpose of the coming of Jesus into the world was to spread a gospel message which was otherworldly. To the woman at the well (see John, chapter four) Jesus did not offer the proverbial �cup of cold water.� To her He offered the Water from which man would thirst no more.
The fundamentalist will, too often, fail to understand that Jesus spoke love and tolerance to the sinner. He did not commence His message to them with either condemnation or condensation. He sought them out where they were, and in the condition in which they found themself, and offered them a new life through forgiveness. You may recall that even the woman taken in adultery was not condemned. Jesus forgave her sins and asked that, on condition of His forgiveness, she sin no more. (see. John, chapter eight)
This was because Jesus came to this world as the Arbitrator of the dispute of sin in creation. He understood the failure of man. In that He offered hope. In this hope He offered a way from the cycle of sin and degradation to which sin had held sway among mankind.
Even to the Christian, the one who has been born again, God says this in His Word:
�If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.� (I John 1:8 -2:2)
This was written to the Christian. When we attack others because of their sin, may we be cognizant of the fact that we, too, were sinners. We need to live above the sin of pride. We need to show the love that Jesus Christ wants to display to the world - just as He did in the New Testament records!
Jesus is still the activator of spiritual renewal. He renews us, spiritually, in the new birth experience. We have a great access to the Throne of Grace because of His salvation. This is a wonderful tool in our spiritual lives. May we use it a little more than do most of us!
We also have the Holy Spirit�s guidance when we read the Scripture. That is an indispensable tool if we are to understand the meaning of the Word of God. May we be attuned to the leading of the Spirit instead of drowning Him out by the roar of our own prejudices.
There is a great (I use the term in size only!) Fundamentalist university in South Carolina. If you�ll just listen to them talk about themselves, and they will!, for just a few minutes they will explain just how great and fundamental they are. At one time they had a rule that foreign students were not allowed to date. The government took away their tax exemption as a religious institution because of this.
This was wrong from the governments side. If the term �freedom of religion� has any real meaning, it must mean freedom. Because the government disagrees with a person, or groups, interpretation of the Bible, does not give the government the right to discriminate on that basis. Every group is free, in a free society, to be wrong.
But, since that time I have heard that this strongly held religious belief from the university has been changed. It makes one wonder just where in the Bible they had gotten this belief. Had the Bible message changed? I don�t believe so. I believe this was just cultural prejudice incorporated into a belief system.
This is wrong when it is the Mormon church deciding that God must have changed His mind on polygamy, after threats from the government. Or when the Mormon church decided that their doctrinal stance disallowing �dark skinned persons� to be church officials is changed, again at the behest of the government. But, if we say this, we must also say that it is wrong for a fundamentalist institution to tailor its beliefs to the dictates of the Internal Revenue Service.
I did not agree with that universities stance, still don�t, but if they were standing on the principle of the Book, as they claimed, who rewrote the Book?
There is no place in the Christian life for religious pride. There is no place in the Christian life for prejudice. There is no place in the Christian life for hatred, class, racial, or religious. It is unChristlike! There is only place in the Christian life for the love of Christ and a burning desire to spread that fact of the love of Christ to a world lost in the darkness of sin.
The spiritual renewal which Jesus offers reaches the whole man. We were created a whole person and Jesus restores that wholeness.
Part of this �wholeness� is the fellowship which the Christian enjoys at the Throne of Grace. We are offered a meaningful prayer life. Why do so many of us accept the salvation but ignore the fellowship?
I went to the bank today. I took my little three-year-old granddaughter with me. The teller at the bank gave her a piece of candy. Shandi took it, unwrapped it, put it in her mouth, and said, �Come on, grandpa, let�s go.� She had what she wanted. After I reminded her, she told the teller, �Thank you.�
Far too many Christians act just like that three-year-old little girl. We just take the free gift of salvation and walk off to lead our own lives. We, in effect, forget all about God until the next time we want something.
Why can�t we show Him a little respect? Part of spiritual renewal is the prospect of communication between us and Deity. That very fact should make us jump with joy. It should excite us.
A couple of years ago my wife and I had the opportunity to meet President Clinton. I shook hands politely. Linda shook hands and, with her background of union work, said, �About this NAFTA thing you�re trying to shove down our throats...�
O. K. It wasn�t quite that abrupt. But, Linda had a great opportunity. She wanted to use this communication to which she had access.
We have the access to speak to the Author and Sustainer of the Entire Universe. Why do we fail to speak to Him. This is especially so when He has done so much to effect our salvation!
Jesus, on earth two thousand years ago, and on earth today, is an unknown Person. �...and the world knew him not.�
Most of the people of the day recognized Jesus as a Healer of bodies. They saw that He had the power to raise the dead.
I was talking with a businessman in town a few weeks ago. He asked why we conservative Christians were so interested in the Heavenly, and afterlife. He said that we needed to spend more time on the here and now.
I can�t completely disagree with this man. We do need to be relevant. We do need to let our Christian values speak to the needs of today�s people. I think this is a large part of what Jesus had in mind when He said, �Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.� (Matthew 5:16)
I believe that the Christian people have done this through the years. The Christians have established Rescue Missions, orphanages, hospitals, libraries, food banks, and more. The Christians have answered the call to disaster relief and to victims of homelessness. These are all good and proper functions.
But, these functions are less than meaningful if they neglect the great fact of salvation from sin. We are often criticized, for instance, when we insist that a man at a mission first listen to a short gospel message before he eats his meal. Why? What�s wrong with this? We are not forcing him to accept that message; he is just asked to give it a polite hearing.
It is morally reprehensible to offer a man a meal which will assuage his hunger for a few hours and yet refuse to offer that same man the gospel which will save his soul for eternity. Not just stupid. Certainly not overbearing. It is reprehensible!
How can we, with our value system of Biblical morality, claim to show compassion to a man and yet not allow him the opportunity to see the salvation of his immortal soul?
Many people respected Jesus as a great moral teacher. Many still do. But, Jesus was not primarily interested in moral teaching. Jesus told the people in Zacchaeus� house that �...the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.�
To see Jesus as simply a moral teacher is to completely misunderstand His purpose on this earth. Remember what Jesus said about Himself? Jesus said, �...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.� (John 14:6)
This was one of the last statements Jesus made to His disciples before He endured the cross. He knew that the cross was soon coming. He considered this the most important part of His work on this earth.
We speak of the afterlife, and the otherworldly, because that was the purpose of the life of Jesus upon this earth. He came to save sinners. He healed bodies that would die again. More importantly, He saved souls that would never perish.
The world at large still does not understand this.
Stop, just now, and read the twenty-second Psalm. This Psalm reads as though it were taken from one of the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion.
Jesus was rejected as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies even by those who most assisted Him in fulfilling those very prophecies. It is amazing that a people who were so well versed in the Law and the Prophets would reject the One Who came as a fulfillment of those prophecies.
But, they did. Many, most, of them rejected Him.
But, is �modern� man any better than they? No. Most of the world, today, will reject that notion that Jesus is the Savior of the New Testament revelations.
They will honor Him as a good man. A moral teacher. A reformer. A step on the road to our own �God Consciousness.� But, they will reject Him as the Savior of the World.
Still, the Apostle John summed up the writing of the entire Bible when he wrote: �And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.� (John 20:30-31)
What about you? Have you yet accepted Jesus as your Savior? That is the purpose for which He came into this world. Come to Him today.