May I Present Jesus (Part 5)

Take your Bible and turn with me, if you would, to John chapter 1. John chapter 1, verses 1 to 5. If I was going to introduce to you a project, if I was going to introduce to you a program, if I was going to introduce to you a person, I would want to make sure that that introduction would make you very curious as to what I was going to talk about.

That introduction would have to be concise, it'd have to be clear, some degree it'd have to be complete, but most importantly, it would have to be very, very curious. Because I would want to keep your attention all throughout my presentation. So if I can begin on the right foot, if I can begin by introducing to you this program or this person or project, that I'm able to keep your attention through the entire presentation until I get to the end.

John is introducing to us the Lord Jesus. He's doing it in a very unique way, but as he introduces Christ to us, he is very concise, very clear, but he piques our curiosity as to the identity of this one who was preexistent, self-existent, and coexistent with God. He wants to do that because he wants you to stay with him through all 21 chapters.

He wants to be able to unfold for you everything he introduces to you in the first 5 verses. And he will do that quite effectively. But he does that because he wants you to come to a place where you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

That's where he's taking us. That's to the end. But the very beginning, he begins in a very unique and special way.

He says very simply these words, in the beginning was the Word. Speaking of the eternality of God. And then he says, and the Word was with God or face to face with God.

In other words, he's dealing with the personality of this individual who is God. And then it says, and the Word was God or God was the Word. He tells us of his deity, the eternality, the personality, and the deity of the Word.

And then he says, he was in the beginning with God and all things came into being through him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. Now he tells us of his creativity, his activity, that everything comes into being because of this one who was coexistent with God and preexistent with God is now the creator of everything.

John is very precise in how he begins his introduction because as he piques our curiosity, he's gonna move us through all of this as he goes through the rest of his gospel. And then he says these words. Verse number 4.

In him was life and the life was the light of men. He introduces us to his vitality, his vibrancy, his energy. Not only is he preexistent and coexistent, he is self-existent.

In him is life. He is life. And that life is the light of men.

In John 14, he will say that I am the way, the truth, and the life. He will say in John 11:25, I am the resurrection and I am the life. In John 5, verse number 26, he will say these words.

He will say, I'm sorry, verse number 24: truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life.

Now we know that God from the very beginning said in Deuteronomy 32 that I am the Lord. I am the one who gives life. I am the one who causes death. No one dies without God's permission and no one lives without God's permission.

That's bios, the physical life. But John is using a different word, zōē, talking about the quality of life, the vibrancy of life, the overflowing, the overabundant, the overwhelming kind of life that Christ gives. For he is more than just existing.

He is the essence of all quality of life. In him is life and the life was the light of men. In other words, Christ came to give life to those who were dead.

Man is born dead in his trespasses and sin. So in order for him to have life, he must see the light that is life and Christ is that light. In fact, the reason Jesus came was to give life.

Listen to John 6, verse number 33. The Lord says these words. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.

The son of God is the bread of life that comes down out of heaven and is the only provision of life the world will ever have. For he is the bread, the life-giving bread given to the world. In John 10, Christ says, I came that they might have life, zōē, and that they might have life more abundantly.

So Christ makes it very clear. The reason I'm here is to give you life. Why? Because you're dead and dead people need to be resurrected.

Dead people need to have life and I've come down out of heaven to give you life. So John just very clearly and concisely states, in him is life and that life is the light of the world. Very, very important.

As the word was God and God was the word because the word and God had the same essential qualities, so life and light are the same because they possess the same essential qualities. So because there's life, there's light. Because there is light, there's life.

And so John will use the phrase light and life all throughout his gospel to show you that the life is the one that brings the light and without the light, you'll never have the life because the two possess the same essential qualities. In fact, Christ says in John chapter 8, verse number 12, you know these verses.

John 8:12, Jesus spoke to them and said, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have what? The light of life. You see that? You won't walk in darkness because you'll have the light which is a life-giving light.

Over in Psalm 36, verse number 9, it says these words, for with you, God, is the fountain of life and in your light, we see light.

So God, you are the fountain of life and that life gives light, and in your light we're able to see more light. And then the Bible says over in 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse number 4, or verse 3, and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. So the light of the gospel shows us that Jesus Christ is the glory of God, that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

And then in verse 6, it says, for God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who was shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Remember, when Christ was born, the glory of the Lord would shine all around, all around the shepherds. And so what is the glory of the Lord? It's the presence of God manifested in brilliant light.

So God was manifesting himself in his glory as he would shine down in light around the shepherds. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Christ who is the life would unzip his flesh and brilliant light would shine forth because the life is the light and the light is the life. You cannot separate the two.

So Christ's brilliance would shine forth there on the Mount of Transfiguration and the disciples would behold the glory of the Lord. So John says at the very beginning, I wanna talk to you about the one who is self-existent, the one who has life in himself, the one, the only one who can give life to dead people because he's writing to those who are dead and they need life. And the only way they're gonna receive the life is to see the light.

So in him is life and then he says very clearly these words and the life was the light of men. Christ's whole life was about shining down on man that he might behold the beauty of the Lord. We live in a world steeped in darkness, filled with death.

And so in comes the light that gives life to dead people. That's the ministry of the Messiah. That's Christ himself.

He is light, he is life. The Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 5 that the world is engulfed in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Why? Because they have no life.

The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 2, verse number 13, that sinners are those who leave the paths of brightness to walk in the ways of darkness. In Proverbs 4, verse number 19, it says, the way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know over what they stumble.

You see, the wicked walk in darkness because they're dead. They have no light. They have no life.

So they do not know where they are going. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:18, that the world is darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their hearts. In Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse number 14, it says that fools walk in darkness.

Why? Because fools don't know life. Therefore, they can't see light. The Bible says in John 12:35, he who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

So in a sin-darkened world filled with death comes the light of life. And the Bible says in verse number 9 of John 1, that the true light enlightens every man that is in the world. So the life of Christ, which is the true light, enlightens every man that is in the world.

That's every man with that exception. Every man has something of the light, but they refuse the light. In fact, Simeon, remember when Christ was born and Simeon took the Christ child in his arms? What did he say? That this child, this child alone is the light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

This life is the light to the Gentile world. This life is the light to the nation of Israel. This child who is life lights the way so those who are dead can experience life.

In Matthew chapter 4, Christ said the people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light. And those who were sitting in the land and in shadow of death, upon them a light dawned. Matthew would take that from the Old Testament prophets and show how the Messiah would come and the light would dawn upon people because the life of Christ had arrived.

And so Christ says I am the light of the world. Why? Because I am life. And life gives light to those who are dark and those who are dead.

And that's the world we live in. But that's who Christ is. So you would think that those people who are dead in the trespasses and sin and those people who are living in a dark world would flock to the light.

But they don't. They reject the light. Why? John tells us, John will say in John chapter 3, verse number 19, that this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil.

Think about that. Why is it the people you love so dearly and you share Christ with don't come to Christ? It's because they love the darkness. It's like a man filled with a deadly disease who just wants more of his disease.

And that's the way the unbelieving world is. They love their deeds of unrighteousness. They love their sin. They don't wanna be saved from their sin. They love their sin too much.

Paul in Acts 26 would talk about those who through repentance and faith in Christ would turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God. They received the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sacrificed or sanctified, excuse me, by faith in God. In other words, Paul says I came to preach the gospel which is light and life to those who are dead and dark. And through repentance they turned from their sin and from the domain of Satan and they entered into the kingdom of the living God.

That's what Paul says in Colossians chapter 1, verse number 13. It says that they are rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved son. Therefore you become sons of light and sons of the day.

No longer are you sons of the night and sons of the dark. And so Christ comes, in him is life and that life is the light to all men. John says these words in 1st John chapter 5, verse number 10.

The one who believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning the son. And the testimony is this, that God has given his, given us, excuse me, eternal life and this life is in his son.

He who has the son has the life. He who does not have the son of God does not have the life. And then over in verse 20, and we know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true in his son Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life. Christ gives eternal life because he is eternal. So you obtain his life and that's just not a long life.

That's not longevity of life. Why? Because everybody lives forever. You just either live forever with God or live forever without God.

Everybody lives forever. Nobody goes out of existence. When you die, your soul is separated from your body but your soul lives on.

And one day, John 5 will tell us that that unbelieving body will be resurrected and connected with that unbelieving soul and will live forever in hell. But the believing soul is connected with the believing resurrected body and that is a glorified body and will live forever with Christ. But everybody lives forever.

Nobody goes out of existence. So what is eternal life? Eternal life is quality of life. It's Christ's life.

It's the overwhelming, overflowing, overabundant kind of life that Christ himself can give. It's vitality of life. It's vibrancy of life.

The question comes, what kind of life do you have? What kind of life do you live? Do you have Christ's life? You look around the auditorium or you look around most churches and you talk to most people who claim to know Christ and you wonder if they have any life at all in them because they look like they're dead. They live as if they're dead. They don't live as if they have life.

Christ's life in them. He is life and him is life. Colossians 1:27 says that Christ in you is the hope of glory.

Christ in you is the hope of glory. When you get saved, Christ invades your life. That's why there's a transformation.

When someone is born again, the life of Christ invades your life. He takes up his abode in you. That's why you can't continue in sin over a long period of time once you become a believer because Christ is in you.

Your body is the temple of the living God. God lives in you. So those who are believers have his life in them, that vibrant, vital, energetic life that Christ gives because he lives within you.

There is never an excuse to live a bad life if you're a believer. There's no such thing as a bad life if you're a believer. It's only a good life because you serve a good God and a good God lives within you.

So your life is a good life because of a good God who dwells within you. Now here's the point. The Bible calls God the living God.

He's not just any God, he is the living God. All the other gods are dead gods, but Christ is the only living God. Remember in Caesarea Philippi up north in the land of Israel when Christ asked that question to the disciples, who do men say that I am? And they would say, well, some say you're the Christ and some say you're John the Baptist and some say you're Jeremiah and some say you're one of the prophets, but no one's saying you're God.

They say, so who do you say that I am? Peter says, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. The living God is a title for the name of Christ. That's his name.

We know his name is Prince of Peace. We know his name is Mighty God. We know his name is Everlasting Father.

We know his name is El Shaddai. We know his name is El Gabor. His name is Living God.

31 times in the Bible he's called the living God. 15 times in the Old Testament, 16 times in the New Testament. But do you understand that our God is the living God? He is the self-existent God? And the living God dwells within his people, giving them his life.

So John is introducing Christ to us. He says, let me present Christ to you. Let me present the word to you.

Let me introduce it this way. Let me talk to you about the eternality of the word. Let me talk to you about the personality of the word.

Let me talk to you about the deity of the word. Let me talk to you about the creativity of the word. But let me talk to you about the vitality of the word.

Because in him is life, and that life is the only light to man. There is no other light. It's the life of Christ himself.

The first time the Lord is mentioned as light is in the book of Deuteronomy. The last time, it's the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 7, Deuteronomy chapter 5.

In Deuteronomy chapter 5, Moses is speaking. God has just given the 10 commandments on top of Mount Sinai. And it says in verse number 24, you said, behold, the Lord your God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire.

We have seen today that God speaks with men, and yet he lives. Now then, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God, speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived? So the first mention of the fact that God is the living God is in Deuteronomy chapter 5.

Joshua then will refer to God as the living God in Joshua chapter 3, as Israel is about to embark on the promised land, and they're about to cross over the river Jordan, and in verse 7 of chapter 3, it says, now the Lord said to Joshua, this day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. You shall moreover command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, when you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, come here and hear the words of the Lord your God.

Joshua said, by this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will assuredly dispose from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Gergeshite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. Only the living God can do that.

And so then you go to a very familiar verse, Psalm 42, which says, verse one, as the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. The living God. Not some dead idol, but the living God.

In fact, in verse 45, it says, why are you in despair, O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me, hoping God, for I shall again praise him for the help of his presence? Why would our soul be in despair? Why would I live as if there's no hope? Why? I'm in the presence of the living God. The God who lives and reigns forever and ever. I live in the presence of a God who lives forever.

He goes on to say the same thing in verse 11, and also in chapter 5 of verse number 43. Why are you in despair, O my soul? Why should my soul ever despair? Because I live in the presence of the living God. Over in Psalm 84, verse number 1, how lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts.

My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for the joy to the living God. Again, he's referred to as the living God.

The psalmist's recognizing that God is not just present with him, but is alive and well among him. He dwells with him. He is the living God.

As you recall, it was Caiaphas who said to Jesus before his crucifixion, he said, I commend you in the name of the living God. Are you the Christ, the son of God? Remember that? He commended Christ, who is self-existent. He is the living God in the flesh.

Caiaphas commands under the direction of the living God, are you the Christ, the son of God? Not even recognizing that before him was the God who lives. And that's because he refused to see the light of the life of the living God. So he remained in darkness and thus died in darkness.

Paul would say in Acts 14, these words, he says, it is the living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. Only a living God can do that. So Paul, picking up on John chapter one, of the creativity of God and the vitality of God, that he is the living God that creates everything, that brings everything into existence.

And then over in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse number 14, Paul says, I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long, but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. The church is the assembly, the gathering of God's people. We have the living God living within us as a church, therefore our church is alive because God himself is alive.

It says in 1 Timothy 4:10, for it is, for this we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe. It's the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

At the resurrection of Christ, remember what the man in white apparel said. Maybe it was an angel, maybe it wasn't. We don't know. There were two men in white apparel. Could have been the same two men on the Mount of Transfiguration, as far as we know. But he said, why do you seek the living one among the dead? Why seek the living one, the living God? Why do you look for the one who lives among those who are dead? Why would you do that? In Revelation 1, verse number 19, oh sorry, verse number 17.

As John was on the island of Patmos, he stood before the glorified and risen Christ. Christ said, I am the first and I am the last. I am the living one. And I was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore. You see, he is the living God. And therefore, we serve a true and living God.

The Bible says in Hebrews 9, verse number 14, that God will cleanse your conscience from dead works so that you might serve the living God. Those in Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 9 and 10. They turned to God from idols in order to serve the true and living God.

They turned from dead idols, from empty, vain idols that mean nothing to serve the true and living God. And that's why the Bible says it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31, why? Why is it a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God? You see, because if you don't give your life to Christ, the only life you will live is a life without Christ.

You're either with Christ or without Christ. There's no in between. There's no gray area.

In fact, we should never say to someone, are you a believer in Christ? I mean, you could say that to a demon. He would say, yes, I am. I'm a believer in Christ.

They believe, yet they shudder. You'd ask someone, is Christ living in you? Is the living God living in you? You should never tell somebody you're a Christian. Tell somebody that Christ lives in you.

It's a more descriptive way of explaining to people who you are. Everybody thinks they're a Christian. Everybody says they believe in Jesus, but we have Christ in us.

We told you before that the Buddhist doesn't have Buddha living in him. Why? Because Buddha's a dead God, a false God, right? The Mormon doesn't have Joseph Smith living in him. Why? Joseph Smith is a dead man.

He's not God. The Christian scientist doesn't have Mary Baker Eddy living in them. They might follow their teaching.

They might believe in what they say, but we as Christians, followers of Christ, actually have Christ living in us. Christ lives in us. Christ in you is the hope of glory.

Christ lives in us. The living God lives in us. That's why you have a life.

If you don't have Christ, you have no life. You exist, you breathe, you go to work, you play, you make money, you buy things, and think you're happy, but you don't live. You just exist.

Only people who live are those who have the living God reigning in their lives. How about you? Do you have the living God reigning in your heart and life? Does Christ live in you? Is your life a bore? How can you live a boring life? Sometimes your kids say, hey, what are you doing? I'm not doing nothing. I'm bored.

Really, you're bored? What does that mean, you're bored? I don't understand boredom. How can you have the living God give you life and you be bored? Something's wrong, not with God, but with the one who claims to have the living God living within them. Our lives should be vibrant.

Our lives should be vital. Why? Number one, let me get to my outline. Number one is because we have an abundant life.

An abundant life. I came that you might have life and that you might have life more abundantly. Not only do you have an abundant life, you have a blessed life.

Listen to what Jeremiah says. Jeremiah 17, verse number 7. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord, for he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes, but its leaves will be green and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

That's the blessed life. The blessed life is not an anxious life. The blessed life is not afraid of the year of drought.

Why? Because the blessed life is the one who trusts in the Lord and waits upon the Lord. That's why when Jesus came and preached the Sermon on the Mount, what did he say? Blessed, blessed, blessed, nine times. Why? This is what it means to be a child in my kingdom.

You have the blessed life, the makarios, the joyful life, the contented life. You have the inner joy that's unaffected by any external circumstances because you have me in you. This is the blessed life.

That's what the living God gives. He gives the abundant life. He gives the blessed life.

He gives the converted life. Matthew chapter 18, verse number 3. Unless you are converted and become like a little child, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven.

There's a conversion, a transformation that takes place in the life of someone who gives their life to Christ because the light has shone down upon them. So the life that God gives is an abundant life. It's a blessed life. It's a converted life. It is a directed life.

Isaiah 30, verse number 30. Excuse me, verse number 20. Although the Lord has given you bread for privation and water of oppression, he, your teacher, will no longer hide himself, but your eyes will behold your teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you.

This is the way. Walk in it whenever you turn to the right or to the left. There's something about a believer that has a directed life.

That's why he's given us his word, which is a light unto our path and a lamp unto our feet. So we can always walk with purpose and direction. So the Christ life is an abundant life.

It's a blessed life. It's a converted life. It's a directed life.

It is the eternal life. John 5:24. It's a life that is not just a long life.

It's the life of Christ because of the eternal God who lives within you. It is the forgiven life. Colossians 1:14.

In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. It is the grace life, Ephesians 2:8-9. For by grace you have been saved through faith that not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And that grace life helps us be saved by grace, stand in grace, be strengthened by grace because it's all a work of God's grace in our lives.

We also have the holy life. Be holy for the Lord your God is holy. 1 Peter 2:9. The believers called a holy nation. That is, we have been separated unto God for his purposes. And so the life that you have is a holy life.

It is the indwelt life, 1 Corinthians 6:19. It says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. John 14:23. The Lord says, I and the Father will make our abode in you.

We will live in you. You are indwelt by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Colossians 1:27. Christ in you, the hope of glory. So Christ says, or John says, in him is life. What kind of life? The abundant life, the blessed life, the converted life, the directed life, the eternal life, forgiven life, grace life, holy life, indwelt life, the joy-filled life.

You have a joy-filled life. John 15, verse 11. I have spoken these things, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

That's the joy-filled life. That's why we can't be bored. That's why we can't be dull.

We have a joy-filled life. Christ's joy is in us. We have the kept life.

1 Peter 1, verse number 5. You are kept by the power of God.

You have the light life. Matthew chapter 5, verse number 14. You are the light of the world.

You have a meaningful life. John 20, verse number 21. As the Father has sent me, so send I you. That's meaning, that's purpose, and you have a meaningful life.

You have new life. 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

You have the ordained life. Psalm 139, that all your days are ordained before there was even yet one of them.

You have the purchased life. 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 18 and 19. You have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb.

You have the quiet life. Isaiah 30, verse number 15. In quietness and trust is your strength. Psalm 62, five. My soul waits in silence for thee, O God.

You have the resurrected life. John 11, verse number 25.

You have the salted life. Matthew chapter 5, verse number 13. You're the salt of the earth.

You have the tried life. James chapter 1, verses 2 to 4.

You have the upright life. Proverbs 20, verse number 7.

You have the victorious life. John 16, 33.

Romans 8:37. We are overwhelmingly conquerors through him who loved us.

We have the wounded life. John 15:18 to 20.

You have the Christos life. Christ's life. Galatians 2:20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me.

You have the yielded life. Zechariah chapter 4, verse number 6, which says, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.

And then you have the zealous life. That's Titus 2, verse number 14. That we are redeemed. That we might live zealously. For Christ.

So let me ask you a question.

What kind of life do you live? Those are the character qualities of the life of Christ that should be in you. You can test yourself. You can examine yourself. And look at your life and ask, what kind of life am I living? Is Christ living in me?

John says, I wanna introduce, I wanna present to you Jesus. Not just his eternality. Not just his personality. Not just his deity. Not just his creativity. I wanna introduce to you his vitality. His vibrancy. Because you're gonna come to meet the one who actually is life. And he's gonna take your dead soul and raise it to life that you might walk in newness of life.

Do you have that kind of life? You can. All you have to do is give your life, which is dark and dead, to the life of Christ who is life and light. You do that, you'll experience the life of the living God. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for today and the opportunity you give us to be together. And our prayer, Father, is that there would be no one in the room who does not know the life of Christ.

They'd recognize that your life is in them, that they are forgiven. They are blessed. Their lives are abundant.

Their lives are directed. Their lives are Christ-centered. Their lives are zealously working for you.

Their lives are truly salted. They preserve the corruption around them. Their lives are truly light and love because of the God who is light and love.

Lord, our prayer is that no one would leave today without knowing for certain that Jesus Christ is the life and light of their souls. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.