An Introduction to the Gospel of John Part 2

This message was preached by  Abhishek and Asha at Word of Grace Church on September  8th , 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

ABHISHEK:

My message today is the message of Love. Love: demonstrated. 

The Awe inspiring., enduring love of God.

The scripture we are going to look at is John 1: 10 & 11

John 1:10-11 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

The Gospel of John was written by the Apostle John. And John himself states why he has written this gospel. He writes in John 20:31 that these are written that you may believe and in so doing have eternal life.

So we have to look at these verses John 1:10-11 from that viewpoint.

Verse 10 says, He was in the world - the world which he made himself.

John 1:3 says everything that was made was made through him. 

So he came into the world which He Himself created and yet the world did not know Him. 

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

Psalm 8:3 NIV

This shows the magnitude and power of God.

We can fit 1300000 earths in the sun. But the sun is not the largest star in our solar system. The largest star observed is Canis Majoris which is 1420 times the size of sun.

That's the awesome power of God - the power that makes the heaven and earth. 

Verse 11 says He came to His own

  

but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

Jeremiah 7:23 NIV

God separated those people to be his own people. 

the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Romans 9:4-5 NIV

Jesus was their Messiah. But they didn't receive Him. 

Those days the word " receive" meant to receive with a kiss. 

Jesus lowered himself to take on the form of human, servant.

rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Philippians 2:7 NIV

That's the joy set before him. That's the magnitude of God power. 

John 3:16 talks about Gods love for us.

He endured the lowering only because he loved us.

If we put our trust in him, he gives us eternal life. Here is an invitation - if there's anyone who hasn't believed in Jesus yet, this is a very good opportunity to put your trust in him. 

These things are written so that you'd believe in him.

ASHA

The Great Reception and a Response

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:12-13 NIV

The summary of my sermon is The place where Jesus died for me is the place where I live from

Here is a story of a girl -

She is from Kerala, born in a Marthoma Christian family. 

There were 7 families converted by Thomas. Marthoma is one of them.

In 2011, she started reading Bible systematically and she encountered Jesus and accepted him.

In 2016, she got baptized and in 2017, she got baptized with the Holy Spirit.

And that girl is now standing here and preaching.

We all know we are God's creation, his handiwork. But are we children of God?

Believe and receive is the key for eternal life.

To become child of God, do we need to do good things?

We need to do 2 things to become children of God -

1. Believe in Jesus

2. Received Jesus in our lives

This is supernatural because it is God who is giving the right to become a child of God through the Word so that we become the sons and daughters of the King.

This is done by gift of faith. It is a free gift. If I have to buy a gift for a friend of mine, I have to pay for it and give it to my friend for free. 

We were all orphans. But God sent His own son, sacrificed him so that we could be adopted into His family.

Verse 13: it is a new beginning a new birth by renewing your mind and washing your heart with the word of God.

Your ancestry or background has nothing to do with it. And the way of Grace is dependent .We cannot but He can.

 Give your life to Jesus today. 

Now what are you going to do after becoming a child of God.  He has given us the power and the right to become his children .

With great power comes great responsibility: 

When you are becoming a child of God your DNA is changed. ( Divine Nature Activated) .

We are children of God means we are related to him.We carry his DNA, we are inseparably joined to him. 

Basic nature or character of DNA is to replicate without losing its essence. 

What do you say to a person who is using the latest iPhone only to make calls and receive calls?

We would say he's not using it to the full potential.

We are his image-bearers and DNA carriers.

what should be the response: Replicate the divine nature. behave and believe like Jesus. We should give our full potential.

Let the place where Jesus died for us let that be the place where we live from.

 Moravian saying-  May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering." By the way I live.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.