05-25-08 Sermon Review

Do You Know Jesus?
John 1

Charles Spurgeon says in one of his sermons, "The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead, in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation nof the great subject of the Deity."

It would do us well to recognize the truth that comes out of young Spurgeon's mouth (he was only twenty when he preached this). The Christian world today, it seems, has mostly abandoned the "science of Christ." It is no longer willing to put in the sweat and tears to actually... study. And I raise this particular issue about what it means to know Jesus and I bring this to your attention today because I believe that pastors and teachers can stress different aspects of what it means to know Jesus to the point where you are left with one wing of an airplane and not two.

I am very thankful to the Lord that in recent days, many have arisen to stress that knowing Christ must mean that you are changed and that your life is lived in a way that proves you indeed know Jesus. I am very, very thankful for that. But what I grieve over is that such emphasis often leads to legalism and bumps Jesus out of the picture. People are relentlessly trying to live their lives to show others that they know Jesus, when they don't know him at all.

Who are these people like? They are like a husband that lives in every way like a genuine husband. He writes notes to his wife, he calls her, he does the dishes, he leads the family. Yet when you ask him what her favorite color is, he couldn't tell you. He couldn't tell you who her friends are, he couldn't tell you what kind of food she likes, he couldn't tell you any of her close relatives names. Now that's pretty absurd, but that's what American Christianity looks like.

Look at what Jim Boice writes: "In the last century alone, approximately 60,000 books have sought to explain Jesus. Those writing them have differed widely. So, for many who do not know the biblical replies, the question about who Jesus is goes unanswered."

There are many, many opinions out there about Jesus, and sorry to say, many Christians fall into the category of those "who do not know the biblical replies." Just like the husband described earlier, many Christians probably couldn't give much of an answer when asked, "Who is Jesus Christ?" It is really no wonder why there has been so many deceived into false Christs; many have forsaken the "science of Christ." I am still surprised that some people actually think Jesus was born in Nazareth (He's called Jesus the Nazarene)! And we hear so often of how many so-called "born-again" Christians can't even name the four gospel accounts or differentiate Paul from Moses.

What makes it even more sad is that Christians often times know much about a certain subject, much more than Christ. I am culprit of this! My siblings can attest to the fact that a few years ago I was heavily into the manga/anime culture, actually I was living and breathing it. My brother, sister, and I were so into it that we spent almost twenty hours a day watching anime over the school breaks. Yes, you read it right, twenty hours a day! For a whole week or even more! I could probably tell you every single character detail about any given anime character. I knew my anime. Yet, what did I know about Christ? You see, it's not that it's hard to get to know much about Christ. There are just other things that we like to study more, and until we dethrone the idols that captivate our minds, we will pay little attention to the "science of Christ." Please, help me change the sad state of American Christianity where we know more about our pet dogs than Christ, where we know more about our dream cars than Christ, where we know more about the NBA playoffs than christ, where we know more about fictional cartoon characters than the true and living Christ.

Now, why do I bring this up? Well, we have just spent eight sermons on the first chapter of John, and each sermon was a highlight of Christ. I don't want you to miss that. We have been studying the person of Jesus Christ. I want to review today, as we end our first chapter, the seven different ways Jesus is addressed and ask you the question, "Do you know Jesus? Do you know the Jesus that John is describing?" I pray as we examine, very briefly, these seven titles of Jesus, that your knowledge of Him and who He is will grow.

The Word - The opening of John starts with this bold identification of Jesus as the Word. What does this mean that Jesus is the Word? He is the ultimate, supreme revelation of God. Hebrews 1:2 states that God has spoken in many ways but "in these last days has spoken to us in His Son."

The Light - Jesus is the source of life for all men, as well as the one who shines the way. He is not only the source of life, but He is the conqueror of death. The darkness cannot overcome the Light.

The Lamb of God - Now a short summary of this title would not do it justice, so let me encourage you all to study it in more detail. Suffice it to say, Jesus as the Lamb of God means that He is the substitionary sacrifice for our sins.

The Son of God - This highlights the deity of Christ as well as his separate personality from God the Father. He is fully God as stated in vs. 1 "the Word was God," but is separate from the Father. He is the beloved, most prized and cherished by the Father.

Rabbi -This is a hebrew word for teacher. Jesus is the one whom we follow, whom we come to in order to learn and be His disciples. He has the words of life, we don't. He has the truth, we don't. He is our teacher.

Messiah - This title denotes three important offices: King, Priest, Servant. There is much more to be said of this title, but suffice it to say that He is the long anticipated one for Israel. He will restore them in the end.

Son of Man - Jesus loved to call Himself this, and in the Gospel accounts, no one except for Himself ever called Him by this title. Isn't it amazing that the living God, the blessed Son, the eternal Word would forever add upon Himself human nature? And for this very reason, the Son of Man will be exalted. That He humbled Himself means that He will be lifted up. He will return in glory.

I pray this bullet point analysis of what we have seen so far in the book of John was helpful for you to have a grasp of who Jesus is. Theology and the "science of Christ" does not mean you truly know Jesus, you really need to live like it. But remember, you can't live like you know somebody, if you really don't know anything about him. You can't live like you know Jesus, if you don't know anything about Jesus. Let's put our focus on searching for the person of Christ through the witness of the Scriptures that we may know Him. I pray we all have the mindset of Paul when he writes "I have counted all things as loss... that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering" (Philippians 3:7-10). May we all be able to answer question "Do you know Jesus?" with a hearty "Yes, I do!" Stay strong and God bless!