WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.560 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the Spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.560 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:15.679 Awesome. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:16.800 So good to be together. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.480 If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, you can open it up to John chapter 5. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:22.800 We're going to be getting into God's word this morning. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.519 If you don't have a Bible, the ushers are making their way down the aisle. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:26.399 You can just flag them down. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:28.239 They'd love to get a copy into your hands. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:31.440 John chapter 5, verses 18 to 30. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:38.079 And I just want to let you know one of the great privileges of preaching is that, you know, this is a shocker. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:43.840 I write the sermon beforehand and get to meditate on God's word throughout the week. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:49.200 And so often I think have a perspective in the worship of what's to come. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:55.520 And I'm just amazed at God's planning, and I know He has something in store for us this morning. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.560 You've heard the saying, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.799 In fact, you've heard that saying and probably experienced it as well. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:12.000 Maybe it's an album you found, you played it on repeat, and you're sick of it. 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:16.159 It once was good, you hear it now, it's like get that off the radio. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.799 Maybe it's a hobby that at one time captivated you. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:25.519 You were all in, some of you like myself, kind of all or nothing mentality. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:30.079 You're all in now, you know, that road bike is sitting in the garage. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.319 Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:02:00.799 Now, in John 5, then, with that in mind, what we see then in John 5 is absolutely astounding because what we see is that the Father has found a glory so infinite that if it were like a sponge, we're told for all of eternity he has squeezed this glory, and for all of eternity he has found it dripping. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:06.640 That glory is the Son Himself. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:19.840 And John 5 is profound because Jesus is going to stand up and really declare that he is that eternal Son, whom the Father has loved and honored and gloried in for all of eternity. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.240 Jesus will reveal this glory in our passage. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:31.680 Perhaps I would say actually the densest passage we have in all of Scripture about the father-son relationship. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:36.800 And so I know it's a snowy, cold morning, but it's time to buckle up. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:41.680 We got some deep stuff here, but just before I read the passage, look with me at verse 20. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:46.960 Look what Jesus says for the Father, speaking of himself, loves the Son. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.199 Shows him all that he himself is doing. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:03:01.120 Later in John 17, Jesus will pray this to the Father: glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:09.360 For all of eternity, the Father, in the triune relationship of God, has delighted in the Son. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:13.680 For all of eternity, past, for all of eternity, future. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.719 That has been the glory of the Father. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:21.759 He has squeezed that sponge and it has not dried out. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:38.879 A wonder of the gospel, then, for you and I, is that Jesus comes to this world and listen to this, he invites you into that love. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:42.240 He invites you into that glory. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:51.919 He invites you from the things that you are pouring your affection and attention to in this world that are rusting, that will be gone in the blink of an eye. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:58.240 He invites you away from that, into this eternal glory of the triune God. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:06.879 And this right here is the very heart of why Christianity at its core is good news. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:15.680 Ask me to boil down what Christianity is to its core substances, and I will tell you, it is good news. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:28.319 Yet it is possible that many of us are here with this idea that Christianity, you know, it's definitely something you need, but it's not really something you want. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:34.319 And if we're honest with ourselves, some of us would put Christianity in the same category as broccoli, right? 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:35.120 Broccoli. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:38.560 Never heard anyone say, man, I'm really craving some broccoli. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.759 And yet we know that we need it. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.319 We know what our mothers said was true. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:46.240 Eat your broccoli. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:48.480 Was Christianity like that? 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:50.800 That's certainly how the Pharisees saw it. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.560 They loved religion because it brought them to God. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.800 They loved religion because of how of how it made them feel. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:21.199 But what we just read of, if you were with us last week in John 5 and the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda, was that this religion, this glory in such a lesser thing, caused them to miss the astounding healing power of Jesus to cause this invalid man who had been invalid for 38 years to walk, they missed the wonder of it. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:25.839 They missed the greatest invitation they could ever receive. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:39.120 The invitation that Jesus gave to the Samaritan woman that she did receive, that there is a well so deep that you can drink from it for all of eternity and be satisfied and never see the bottom of it. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:53.759 Let me suggest with the time that we have together this morning that we meditate on this reality that there is nothing outside of Christ, there is nothing in life like this. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:00.560 Is there anything in your life that is eternally and infinitely satisfying? 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:03.439 You know, I know it's not money. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:06.480 You've likely heard of John D. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:12.720 Rockefeller, who, you know, inflation, all things considered, likely one of the richest men in the history of the world. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:18.480 Once asked by a journalist how much money was enough, and he said just a little bit more. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.480 And you and I have run on that treadmill before. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:27.199 Everything in our world runs out. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:29.920 The batteries die. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:32.959 The honeymoon love fades away. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:35.680 The vacation, it ends. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:39.759 Success, it's it's fleeting. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:46.720 You know, you fight for that corner office, and the day after retirement, all the work that you have done, that corner office is replaced. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:51.199 Here's a message this morning. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:07:03.360 God has found a glory so great, so infinite, that for all of eternity past, he has gloried in this one thing, his son, and for all of eternity future, he will glory in this one thing, his son. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:11.439 And if God has found that glory in the Son, if the Father has found that in the Son, church, shouldn't you and I as well? 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:14.480 Shouldn't you and I seek him? 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:30.879 You know, if the Father who has created all things and knows what satisfaction they can provide for you, if he has created all things and yet looks away from those things to the glory of his son, that's sort of like a signpost for us, isn't it? 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:37.360 One time I ate breakfast at a place and I looked in my booth and there's a little plaque on the wall and it said Jerry Seinfeld ate here. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:40.720 And all of a sudden I felt a lot better about this breakfast place I was eating at. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:41.439 I don't even know why. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:45.120 I don't know, like he's not some sort of breakfast connoisseur that I know of. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.399 And I felt this sort of like, okay, if he ate here, it must be good enough for me. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:52.560 And this is what the father, do you understand this, church? 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:53.680 Do you understand this this morning? 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:54.879 Listen, okay, listen. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:56.399 Let's hit the pause button, okay? 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:57.360 Pause on the sermon. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:59.199 Are you sleepy this morning? 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:00.959 Are you sleepy this morning? 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:02.800 Are the are like the shoulders a little hunched? 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:04.560 It's a little cold outside. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:06.319 Are you sleepy this morning? 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:11.759 Listen, we we I'm just like we get so familiar with the gospel that we hear these astounding things. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:14.240 The cre listen to me, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:15.759 Punch your neighbor in the arm right now. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:16.720 Can you do it for me? 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.160 Punch your neighbor in the arm. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:19.680 Very violent church. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:27.360 I saw some spouses who were like really getting out a few weeks of anger and that, and some, you know, who are a little closer to the beginning of their marriage. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:30.079 They're just kind of, you know, tenderly snuggling. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:49.200 The creator of the world is holding a giant signpost in front of your face this morning through his word, speaking to us, saying, I have delighted in the Son for all of eternity, and he has never left me hanging, and so can you. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:50.799 Do you want that, church? 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:53.519 Do you want that? 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:56.000 One application this morning. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.080 Often as I preach, here's a little window. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:09.840 You know, I try to weave some application in the sermon and here and there and sort of sprinkle it throughout a diverse of applications from God's Word, maybe to different people, to different, you know, men, women, young people, old people. 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:11.360 One application this morning. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:12.000 You ready for it? 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:12.720 Note takers? 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:13.519 Here it is, okay? 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:14.960 Size 20 font. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:16.559 Seek Christ. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:19.919 Seek Christ. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:26.720 Everything from here on out in the sermon is meant to point to that application. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:28.320 Seek Christ. 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:31.840 There is if the Father has done it, so should you. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:33.440 Seek Christ. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:41.440 So, what's happening in the sermon is it's a little bit like a social experiment I've been running lately. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:48.799 Many of you know, about two years ago I started golfing, and many of you have been following my golf career very closely. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:53.200 I'm just kidding, nobody is interested in my golf career at all. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:57.919 I've been doing something lately, and it's part of it's coming from a real place of honesty. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.080 I've been telling golfers that I think I'm gonna stop. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:01.519 I'm done with golf. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:05.679 Part of this is honest because there is nothing more humiliating than golfing. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:11.039 You're playing the most impossible game in the whole world and hitting the tiniest little ball, and I just want to get to something easy. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.519 Like, give me pickleball, it seems easier to me. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:19.440 Now I've offended pickleball players and golf players, and that is my point. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:29.759 However, I've been telling people I'm gonna quit golf, and one of the amazing things is to tell these golfers I'm gonna quit golf, and to hear the plea as to why golf is the most amazing sport in the world. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:44.480 And that's sort of like what the sermon is, but but it's the father speaking, and so we need to listen up, speaking about his son, and Jesus is telling us about the glory that the Father has had in him for all of eternity. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:51.120 And so listen, John 4, Jesus calls us to drink everlasting water. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:11:02.559 The beginning of John 5, Jesus shows us why the Pharisees missed it, and here he wants us to convince us of his glory, of his worthiness to be honored and to be sought, seek Jesus. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:05.519 Let's just read it together, John chapter 5. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.440 Let's begin at verse 16 for context. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:25.600 In fact, as we read God's word, would you stand with me and we recognize this is not the word of man, but this is the very word of God, and a truly spectacular word at that. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:27.519 John chapter 5, verse 16. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:32.639 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:38.559 Jesus answered them, My father is working until now, and I am working. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:48.399 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:57.600 So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:01.440 For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:10.799 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:18.559 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:28.240 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.840 Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:38.240 Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.480 He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:52.080 Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:13:07.840 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:19.840 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.440 Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:34.399 Father, these are things that are so beyond our understanding, and yet, God, they have been revealed to us because of your Son Jesus Christ, who is God. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:45.759 And God, even as we meet together here this morning, I'm reminded of the continued work of your son to reveal your heart to us. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.240 God, you want to speak to us. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:56.639 And the fact that we are standing here hearing your word with Bibles open, God is proof that you, Lord, have revealed yourself to us. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:06.159 God, that you have invited us into this eternal glory that you have delighted in for all of eternity past with no beginning to all of eternity future with no end. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.519 Lord, you have delighted in the Son, and you invite us into that now. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:10.960 But Lord, we are weak. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:16.879 We are weak and we are distracted and we are often so caught up with the lesser things of this world. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:21.200 God, one application, we need your help with the Holy Spirit. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:23.840 Help us even now to seek Christ. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:29.360 Bless our time. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.080 We pray this. 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:33.279 Because of your Son and all that He has done for us. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:34.240 Amen. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:34.960 Amen. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:36.480 You can take a seat. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:38.320 One application. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:40.240 Seek Christ. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:41.519 Well, how come? 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:45.679 First thing I want you to see is it's because he shows us the heart of God. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:15:07.039 Now, this passage really begins at the beginning of chapter 5, where Jesus there heals a man at the pool of Bethesda who had been an invalid for 38 years, but worse than his crippling physical condition was his spiritual condition. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:16.399 This man was caught in a system of maybe a blend between Pharisaical religion and mysticism. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:35.360 And so powerful was that system of religion he was caught in that even when Jesus, the Son of God, stood before him and healed him, and his 38-year disease had been healed, and he was walking and carrying his mat, he immediately turned his back on Jesus and went back to his religious system. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:48.799 So deep were the Pharisees in this system of religion, this damning system, that they could not see past the fact that Jesus had just performed this profound miracle. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:54.559 They were caught up with questions of how Jesus could break their man-made law. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:07.200 Now, in verse 16, we're told, you can put your eyes on the text there, we're told there that this is why Jesus was, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, but notice that in verse 17, Jesus answered them. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:11.440 Now, in the original language, the weight of this is not just like a question and answer. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:12.799 You know, I ask you, how are you? 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:14.159 and you say, good. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:19.039 The weight of this is actually like a defense that is given in a courtroom. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:20.799 And really, this is what's going on. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:26.080 This really is the beginning of a defense that will end on the cross. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.720 Jesus is on trial. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:39.679 And the reason he's on trial is because the Pharisees understood the implications of his word when he said in verse 17, My Father is working until now, and I am working. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.360 They knew that that claim was heretical. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.639 Now, what Jesus does then is defend that claim. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:55.039 Jesus is gonna make this astounding claim that he is God, and when questioned, he is very comfortable to give an answer. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.559 Now, this is really important for us. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:02.320 We can draw something out of this that Christianity is a worldview that is willing to be tested. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:07.920 When Jesus is asked a question by the Pharisees, he answers them, he gives a response, he gives a rebuttal. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.119 He doesn't cross his arms and say, hey, listen, don't ask questions. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:22.400 Now, you know, I've heard time and time again of people who have grown up in the church, and when they begin to question their faith and start to compare the Christian worldview to other worldviews, that they're told, hey, listen, just have faith. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:26.880 And it's interesting here that Jesus' response isn't just have faith. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:31.440 In fact, with the Pharisees, he wades into the depths of theological understanding. 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:36.799 Listen, the Christian worldview is a worldview that you are free to test. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:38.319 In fact, Paul did it. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:39.839 His whole life, Paul did it. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.319 Paul said that if you could prove that Jesus wasn't resurrected, then we are all just fools here. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:45.759 And so he said, give the proof. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:58.720 You know what the problem is, is that when you approach Christianity with intellectual honesty, what you will find then is that the claims of Jesus have all the evidence to support that they really are true. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:03.200 And that's what it means to be a Christian is to believe the evidence. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:20.960 Now, nowhere is this clearer than in this passage, Jesus is making a radical claim here, a number of radical claims, that just as the Father is worshipped, so too should the Son be worshipped. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:30.079 Now, what we have to do, as many of us have probably heard, you know, ten sermons, even on John 5, that are probably even better than this one. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:40.000 What many of us have to do is kind of take off our Christian goggles that familiarize ourselves with what is happening here and understand the historical context of what is happening. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.599 Jesus is a historical man, flesh and blood. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:45.359 This isn't fairy tale. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:56.559 This is a man who walked on the face of this earth and he's amassing a great crowd, and then he says something pretty radical if you take it for what it's what it means. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:58.880 He says, Essentially, I am God. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:06.640 Now, could you imagine a politician today saying that? 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:10.480 Many of us nod our heads because politics is a pretty crazy landscape. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:12.880 Like you could you could imagine it for sure. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:17.519 But what you could also imagine is the fallout that would come from someone saying that. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:18.960 Listen, are you crazy? 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:20.319 You think you're God? 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:23.039 You think you should be worshipped like the Father? 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:29.519 Imagine like a thinker or a podcaster or anyone going on a platform and saying, I am God. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:34.240 What would need to happen is that claim would need to be tested. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.400 And Jesus says this test it. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:39.599 He comes boldly and makes the claim. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:40.880 He's not hiding this. 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:42.079 Now understand this. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.799 He doesn't say the exact words, I am God. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:46.079 And this is important for you. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:57.920 If you're a Christian and you're sharing the gospel, this is incredibly important for you to put this in your pocket as a tool for you as you are sharing the gospel, especially with people of other religions and worldviews. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:04.000 There are many who take issue with the fact that Jesus never is quoted saying these words, I am God. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:08.640 There are many in the Muslim faith who will say, you know, well, Jesus never claimed to be God himself. 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:14.799 There are many cults who do not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ as God, who will point this out. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.839 Jesus never said these words. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:27.519 I don't think Jesus needs to use the words that we expect for his meaning to be unmistakable. 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:34.400 What's unmistakable here is that the Jews, the one who truly knew God, knew exactly what was going on. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:44.640 And in verse 19, they understood that he was calling God his own father, and that by doing that, he was making himself equal with God. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.559 Now, how was Jesus God? 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:55.119 The primary way that Jesus tells us he is God is through this father-son relationship. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:00.400 He looks to the Father and He calls him just that, my father. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:12.240 And to grasp the weight of what's happening here, you and I need to consider the cultural significance of the father-son relationship in the ancient Jewish world. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:17.119 In our modern world, we don't really care about the father and son relationship. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:19.519 You know, I know many of you very well. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.880 I know almost nothing about any of your fathers. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.680 Unless your father attends this church, and then I know him, and unless you're my wife, I know her father. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:30.160 But other than that, I really know nothing about your father. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:32.400 That's a very Western thing. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:38.799 In fact, one of the first things that you would be asked in in the ancient Jewish world is not what do you do? 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:41.519 We're a very individualistic society, aren't we? 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.759 We often ask that question within the first few qu uh seconds of meeting someone. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:48.640 First thing that you'd be asked is this what does your father do? 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:52.720 You are a representative of your father. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.359 A son was seen as the extension of his father. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:04.720 He he carried the father's authority and Maybe even more importantly, he represented the father's interests. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:11.759 Especially in a household where there is a family trade, he was expected to take on the father's work. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:19.440 So when Jesus comes and he says, My Father is in heaven, you can understand the weight of what is going on. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:23.440 The absurdity of his claim. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:34.559 Jesus comes, and his claim is this that if you know him, you know the Father, that he is a representative of the Father, that through him you see the heart of the Father. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:39.279 This is why we seek Jesus, because there is one way to know your creator. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:44.079 There is one way to be in relationship with the one you were created to know. 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:45.839 It is through Jesus. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:23:04.160 Now, this passage is dense, and I want you to see Jesus here very quickly make seven claims, and you can maybe number them differently, but I'm preaching, and this is a monologue, and I've numbered it as seven, so you've got to listen now. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:06.960 Look at the claims that Jesus makes. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:08.799 And again, understand this. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:10.960 What's the application here? 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:12.319 Just one, right? 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:13.039 Seek Jesus. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:14.319 I don't have anything else to say. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:15.359 Seek Jesus. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:15.839 Why? 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:16.799 Here's the first thing. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:19.119 Because he perfectly represents the Father. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:21.119 Do you want to know your creator? 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.400 You want to know the one who created you? 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:30.640 You need to seek Jesus because Jesus acts in complete unity with the Father, we're told in verse 19. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:35.039 Nothing that the Son does, he does of his own accord. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:42.079 Well, here's the second reason you should seek Jesus, according to Jesus' own word, because he perfectly reveals the Father. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:44.799 You want to see what the Creator's up to in your life? 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:48.160 You want to see what plans he has for you for eternity? 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:50.480 Then you need to seek Jesus. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:51.680 You need to hear his word. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:53.039 You're not going to find that here. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:54.559 You're not going to find that in a podcast. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:56.559 You're not going to find that in a self-help book. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:00.160 Jesus, the creator, has come to reveal the Father to you. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:06.960 Another reason we seek Jesus is because we want to be led by God. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:12.160 And so the third thing we see here is that Jesus perfectly executes the authority of God. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:20.240 The Son, we're told in verse 20, has been given authority by the Father to perform works greater than anyone could imagine. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:30.799 We want to see those works, and so we seek Jesus because it is through Jesus that the Father has decided to perform those works, every sign and miracle. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:35.680 Whenever, through the book of Acts, whenever they did signs and miracles, what did they do? 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:36.799 What did they say? 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:42.319 In the name of Jesus Christ, they pointed to him. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:51.359 This is why I have such a bone to pick with so many people who are creating miracle-driven ministries to bolster their own name. 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:55.279 Because if your name is known in the miracle, then you are screwing it up. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:57.599 It was all about Jesus. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.319 Here's the fourth thing: Jesus. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:09.759 As the Son of God, he perfectly grants life that is only found in the Father. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:20.720 Just as the Father raises the dead, the Son of power, we're told in the Son of the Son, we're told in verse 21, has the power to give life to whom He wills. 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:24.880 Loved one, do you desire life? 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:28.640 Seek Jesus. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:33.039 Fifth thing, Jesus, he perfectly judges with supreme authority. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:37.680 Verse 22 All judgment is given, entrusted to the Son by the Father. 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:42.000 The Father positions Jesus as the ultimate judge. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:44.160 You and I will stand before judgment. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:47.039 Do you want to pass through death to life? 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:49.279 Jesus is the judge, seek him. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:52.240 Sixth reason. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:59.279 Jesus perfectly receives the worship of all, verse 23, including the Father. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:14.240 In fact, this is why the Father has passed judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father, so that whoever does not honor the Son, we're told in verse 23, does not honor the Father who sent him. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:19.680 Here's the seventh and final thing. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:30.079 We seek Jesus because he is the one who holds eternal life, begins from the Father and flows from him, and it is Jesus that is the source. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:43.920 And eternal life, we've been told time and time again through the Gospel of John, we will be told time and time again as we continue to march through the Gospel of John, it is available to those who hear his word and believe in the Father who sent him. 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:52.960 Now listen, is anything else that you could ever seek in this world giving you those things? 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:58.160 Does anything else that you seek in this world have the power to give you life? 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:02.960 Answer is a little bit, doesn't it? 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:07.599 That's why we love to seek the things that we love. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:15.599 If your idol is gluttony, there's a reason why you just love food so much because it's awesome. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:18.480 Because food tastes amazing. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:31.519 There's a reason why, if your idol is material things, there's a reason why you're willing to spend so much money on a nice car or a new phone or a bigger house, because there is this feeling that when you get inside that, it makes you feel better. 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:39.039 Like can we we can be honest that there is some pleasure, but the Bible says in Hebrews that it is fleeting. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:40.880 It is a fleeting pleasure. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:48.400 And there's a great contrast here between the pleasure that God the Father offers us in the Son and the pleasure that we find in the world. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:59.200 And the contrast here is that God has been eternally satisfied by the Son, and we are only ever temporarily satisfied by the things of this world. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:12.720 And oh, what how clear it is in a moment of clarity to choose the eternal satisfaction, but how hard it is when that carrot is dangling on a stick in front of your face and it feels the like the right thing to do. 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:16.880 And Jesus says there is life found when you believe in him. 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:19.200 You believe in him. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:22.319 It's a fleeting pleasure. 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:25.039 You ever seen a kid chase a shadow? 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:28.400 Have you chased a shadow recently? 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:32.079 You can't catch it. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:34.960 You keep running, it keeps going a little bit farther away. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:36.720 I don't know about you. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:40.400 In a moment of honesty, like, you know, we're here. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:42.640 And we might as well be honest while we're here. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.880 Can we just say like everything outside of Jesus has been like that? 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:48.559 Everything. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:50.880 So what are we doing? 00:28:51.440 --> 00:29:00.000 What are we doing when God in his compassion is stopping us in our tracks and saying, hey, listen, there is something that has not like been like that for me, and it is the Son. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:01.440 Seek Christ. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:03.039 Seek Christ. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:08.559 That's why Jesus was sent, that all we're told, may honor the Son. 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:10.640 Secondly, I want you want you to see this. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:14.240 We seek Christ because He holds life in His hands. 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.160 He holds life in His hands. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:26.240 At the very center of what Jesus wants us to understand about His role as the Son of God is this, especially in this passage, that He holds life in His hands. 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:27.920 Look at verse 21 with me. 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:31.440 Yeah, no one, hopefully, don't look at me, look at your Bible. 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:32.720 Verse 21. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:44.640 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to who? 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:47.839 To whom he will. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:53.599 Now, surely this refers to physical life. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:57.839 Jesus, we are told, is the one who sustains life. 00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:03.680 This is the heart of the argument that the Pharisees were having, and this is what they actually got right. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:14.720 The question was, on the seventh day of creation, did Jesus, did God take a total rest from his work, or was he still doing the work, was he still actually working? 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:18.000 And the answer was yes, God must work on the Sabbath. 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:26.640 They were correct because if God were to cease for a moment to sustain the world, you and I would collapse into oblivion. 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:33.200 In fact, we're told that Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power. 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:37.839 And so I drove in this morning, and I'm sure you did as well. 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:43.200 And I saw evidence of this claim in the trees. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:48.400 There, you know, the snow is falling in such a way that it's collecting on the trees, and it's really beautiful, isn't it? 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:49.279 Did you see it? 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:52.160 If you didn't, maybe you'll still be there when you go out. 00:30:52.559 --> 00:31:11.440 Really is beautiful, and you know, evidence, every one of those snowflakes, guided by the power of Jesus Christ, to land on those branches the way that they do, so that what the psalmist says, Psalm 19, all of the heavens declare the glory of God. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:17.119 But I see evidence of Jesus' sustaining power right up here. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:20.640 The fact that you're here this morning. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.240 You know people whose life has been taken like that. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:28.160 It seems like for no reason. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:31.119 And why is it that you're here? 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:36.240 Why is it that this morning you are here listening to this message? 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:42.480 Because Jesus sustains your life and he has brought you here. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:50.319 But I want you to understand it's not only physical life that Jesus holds in his hands, he also gives spiritual life. 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:58.160 And in verse 21, we read that Jesus gives life, and this is the text to whom he will. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:12.240 Jesus has the authority then given to him by the Father theologically to give life to those whom he wills who are dead in their trespasses and sins. 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:15.279 And this is exactly what the Bible says about you and I. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:19.839 The Bible says that you and I are dead in our trespasses and sins. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:21.279 Spiritually, we're dead. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:22.240 This explains it. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:36.720 Like what happened in John 5 at the beginning, where the man at the pool of Bethesda was healed, and then all of the Pharisees immediately ignored that and immediately asked why he's picking up his mat, and all of us are scratching our heads and saying, Why do you care so much about the mat? 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:38.160 The man's healed. 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:40.799 How could that happen? 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:50.799 Because they are dead in their trespasses and sins. 00:32:51.920 --> 00:33:00.799 And you know, when you come to Christ, don't you ever look back on your life and look at the time when you weren't following Christ and say, How could I not have known? 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:06.640 Don't you ever look at other people's lives and say, like, how could how could they not know that God created the world? 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:08.559 How could they not see it? 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:17.440 Because we're dead in our trespasses and sins, and dead people cannot see. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:18.720 Isn't that profound? 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:21.599 It's not very profound, is it? 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:22.880 That people can't see it. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:23.920 You ever gone to a graveyard? 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:26.160 In fact, could you try this this afternoon and send me a video? 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:29.359 You go to a graveyard and just yell for people to stand up. 00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:31.759 Tell them to do whatever you want. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:33.839 I mean, you could invite them to the keg. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:36.079 Invite everyone at that graveyard to the keg. 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:37.119 You'll pay for everything. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:38.400 You can say that with assurance. 00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:39.920 Like you're not gonna have to pay for anyone. 00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:40.400 Why? 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:44.400 I mean, it's simple, it's silly, because dead people can't do anything. 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:46.319 They cannot respond. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:52.480 Now, this is incredibly important for understanding of what is happening in the gospel. 00:33:52.640 --> 00:34:03.440 Listen, the gospel is not God on a lifeboat, and we're all treading in the middle of the ocean, saying, Over here, God, save me, I'm over here. 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:08.159 And God's on the lifeboat, sort of, you know, saying, Okay, I'm this person I'll pick up, and this person I won't. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:12.800 It's not like we are treading in the water biblically, theologically, you know where we are? 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:14.719 Where are we in the illustration illustration? 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:20.800 We are at the bottom of the ocean, dead, decomposed, rotted away. 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:27.119 We're being eaten by those little weird suckerfish things that I don't like to see in those movies or whatever. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:29.840 We're dead in our trespasses and sins. 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.159