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John
Chapter 20. This is where we are going to begin. In terms of reviewing last
week, in the morning lesson, we talked about the fact that there are those who
have not obeyed the gospel of Christ, because they feel that they cannot do good
enough, they feel that they cannot change enough in their life in order to live
the life of a Christian. We addressed the fact that there are many good people
that live good, moral lives, who would need to change very little in order to
live the life as a Christian. But unfortunately, there are some who
misunderstand the life as a Christian and think that it is the life of
perfection, that in order to live the life, you have to live perfectly. And
they realize that they cannot live perfectly, and for that reason, they do not
become a Christian through obedience to the gospel of Christ.
We addressed that last week and said that none of us are perfect, and God does
not expect us to be perfect. The fact is, we all do fall short, we make
mistakes. But last week in the lesson, I alluded to the fact that Jesus
was perfect... because we are not perfect. Jesus lived perfectly so
that we would not have to live perfectly. And Jesus went to that cross of
Calvary, then, as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, to provide us an
opportunity, a way in which we can have our sins forgiven and our shortcomings
forgiven, so that we can receive the grace and the mercy of God and look forward
to a home in heaven for all of eternity.
What I’d like to do this morning is focus more on the perfection of Christ.
Let’s look at that a little closer. Here in John Chapter 20, in verse 30,
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which
are not written in this book:
“(31) 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.”
Here we see reference to signs that are in verse 30, “...many other signs truly
did Jesus....” That word ‘sign’ comes from the Greek word, which literally
does mean a sign or a mark, an indication or a token. These signs were
tokens, they were signs, they were indications of Jesus’ divine authority and
his power.
In Mark Chapter 16, we find, following the death, burial and the resurrection of
Jesus, that he is together with his apostles, and he gives them what we refer to
as the ‘great commission.’ And in Mark 16, in verse 15, “And he” — Jesus —
“said unto them” — unto the apostles — “Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature.
“(16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned.
“(17) And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast
out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
“(18) They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall
not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
This, obviously, being in reference to the miraculous abilities of the spirit,
those
abilities that existed in the early church but have since ceased. As a matter
of fact, we see, in verse 19, “So then after the Lord has spoken unto them, he
was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
“(20) And they went forth” — the apostles went forth — “and preached
every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with
signs following.”
See, the signs that they were able to perform, those miraculous abilities
through the gift of the spirit, the purpose of that was to confirm the Word.
We must realize that at this time frame, they did not have the completed
scriptures as we have now, the written Word and its completion. But they
were speaking the Word, it was the spoken Word, the new testament, the new
covenant was through the words of the apostles, and then those that they taught
continued to teach others also. But we’re used to being able to open up
the scriptures and point out a passage to support the teachings. They
couldn’t do that, because they didn’t have it in writing at that time.
So how would folks know if the things being taught were true or not? Well,
the apostles, then, could confirm the Word, show that it was true, give a sign
or a token, an indication, that the message they were teaching wasn’t just the
word of men, but that it was the Word of God, and they could prove it through
the power of God exhibited through those miraculous gifts of the spirit.
Those gifts were the signs that provided the evidence that what was being spoken
was, indeed, true. Now we no longer need those miraculous abilities,
because we have the completed Word, and so now we can direct people’s attention
to the Word and point out in the passages what the Word is saying.
So we know that Jesus did perform signs, he performed miracles, and it had an
impact on those around him. As John wrote back there in John Chapter 20,
those things were recorded that we might believe in Jesus. That’s why we
have them recorded now; the purpose remains the same, that we will believe in
Jesus.
In John Chapter 3, “...Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
“(2) ...came to Jesus by night, and [he] said ... Rabbi, we know that thou art a
teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except
God be with him.”
So you see, those signs were having their proper effect: folks were seeing these
and knowing that, indeed, Jesus was not just another man, but indeed, he was
just as he claimed to be, the Son of God.
But when it comes down to it, Jesus did not necessarily have to have these signs
to prove that he was the Son of God. The fact that Jesus lived perfectly,
the fact that he always exercised power over sin, the fact that he always did
what was right and never did that which was wrong, living that life of
perfection, proves without a doubt that he was who he claimed to be... and is
who he claimed to be, the Son of God.
If you turn to II Corinthians, Chapter 5 — II Corinthians, Chapter 5, in verse
21, it says, “For he hath made him” — God the Father hath made Jesus — “to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him.” Jesus knew no sin.
Over in I Peter, Chapter 2, when Peter is talked about the fact that Jesus left
us an example that we can follow, he said in I Peter, Chapter 2, in verse 21,
“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” And we know that example of
Jesus is the ideal, the perfect example, because he never sinned.
That’s what he goes on to say, in verse 22, “Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth:
“(23) Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered,
he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
“(24) Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
“(25) For [you are] sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd
and Bishop of your souls.”
Yes, we do make mistakes. We are to strive to overcome those, or avoid
them in the first place, but the fact is, we still do make mistakes. But
thanks to Jesus, his sacrifice and his perfect life, we then have the grace and
mercy of God made available to us.
Can you imagine that? Always doing that which is right? Never doing that
which is wrong? Realizing, in Jesus’ life, that he never fell short, that
every single time, without exception, he overcame temptation; he was victorious,
one hundred percent, completely, over sin. No man can do that. (Romans 3:
23, “For all have sinned, and [fallen] short of the glory of God.”)
One wonderful aspect of God’s Word is that we have, recorded for us, information
regarding some great people of faith down through the history of mankind.
But the wonderful thing about the scriptures is that it records their good
moments, but also it includes some of their weak moments, moments in which they
too made mistakes. I think that is comforting for us, because we can look
at these great men and women of faith, and we can find cases in which, yes, they
did make mistakes too.
For example, let’s think about Noah, who lived in evil times in which the people
did all that which was evil continually, even the thoughts of their hearts were
evil continually. Noah was given instructions to build an ark at a time in
which he would build it on dry land. That took some faith and trust in
God, to build an ark, a boat of that magnitude, in that day, upon dry land.
Think of the scorn and teasing that Noah would have had to endure during that
building project. But yet he did it. And he showed great faith and
trust and obedience to God. And we know that the rains did come and the
earth was flooded and mankind was destroyed, except for Noah and his family.
Noah was a great man of faith. But remember how the scriptures closed with
information about Noah, that he was found drunk and naked in his tent. So
yes, Noah made mistakes.
Think about Father Abraham, as he is referred to, as he was considered, to the
Jewish nation in particular, the person that they descended from, Abraham.
We are the seed of Abraham today also, not his physical seed but his spiritual
seed. Galatians 3:26-29, it tells how we’re baptized into Christ and when
we are obedient to the gospel in that way, we become the seed of Abraham. And
since we’re Abraham’s seed, we’re heirs according to the promise that God had
given him back there in the book of Genesis, that all nations would be blessed
through his seed. And we become the seed of Abraham, blessed through Jesus
Christ, as we’ve already mentioned, and we look forward to a home in heaven.
Abraham, a very, very important person in the scriptures. Yet we find
information, of when he was traveling down in Egypt, how he was not completely
truthful regarding his wife, Sarah. So yes, Abraham also made mistakes.
Think about Kind David, described as a man after God's own heart. But yet,
he saw Bathsheba and had desire for her, but she was married to Uriah, one of
the men in David's armies. And so David had Uriah placed in the front
lines of battle, and that they were to progress out toward the battle and
withdraw quickly. Yet Uriah didn't know that, and that would leave him
stranded, without a chance. And that's exactly what happened, so David had
Uriah killed in order to have Bathsheba. And so we see that David, a man
after God's heart, was not perfect. He made mistakes.
We find Peter, the Apostle Peter, who was very ambitious, who was
the one that normally reacted the quickest, sometimes that wasn't such a good
idea. Sometimes it got him into some difficult situations, but at other times,
in cases when the apostles were the Jewish councils, Peter would be the one to
speak up on behalf of the apostles in a manner such as to say, "We ought to obey
God, rather than men." It was Peter who just objected strongly to the idea that
he would ever deny his Lord. Jesus told him that he would; Peter said, I'd
rather die instead. But we know that the night that Jesus was betrayed,
Peter denied Jesus three times. Peter was not a perfect man. Yes, he was an
apostle, but was not perfect. Only Jesus was perfect.
Think about Paul. Paul, when he was known as Saul, was a severe persecutor
of the Christians. Oh, what a change he made in his life, but he did not
live a perfect life. In I Timothy Chapter 1, in verse 15, Paul refers to
himself as the 'chief of sinners,' and no doubt, in reference to his severe
persecution of the Christians prior to realizing the truth and being a strong
Christian and fighting for the truth of the gospel himself. Yes, Paul made
some mistakes.
In Romans Chapter 7, Paul wrote regarding the ongoing struggle between the
physical, the fleshly part of man, and the spiritual side. And in that
passage he says that there were things that he knew that he should do that he
didn't do, and there were things that he knew he shouldn't do, but he did them
anyway. And it was an ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit.
But notice how he ends that information. (Romans 7:24)
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
And he gives us the answer in verse 25.
"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
And so we see that Paul had some ongoing struggles also.
The fact is, and these examples show, that there was only one who is perfect,
ever was perfect, and that was Jesus the Son of God. And the fact that He
lived that perfect life shows that He is, indeed, divine, deity, the Son of God,
our Lord and our Savior.
But some might say, "Well, of course, Jesus didn't sin. He's the Son of
God; he couldn't sin. He's God on earth, and God would not sin. But
I pose the question this morning, "Could Jesus have sinned?" Yes, absolutely,
he could have. He had the choice. He could have sinned, but think
about what would have happened. What would the consequences have been had
he sinned? God's plan of salvation would have been ruined. Because
God's plan of redemption for mankind required a perfect sacrifice, that being
Jesus. Had he sinned, he could not have been the sacrifice for sin,
because he himself would have needed a sacrifice for his sin. So we see
that Jesus was perfect. The perfect being sacrificed for the imperfect.
The sinless being sacrificed for the sinful. The Creator being sacrificed
for the created. And there we see the great love that God has revealed to
us.
But one thing that we must remember when we are talking about Jesus and his
perfect life, is that he lived that life as a man; Jesus put on flesh. In
John Chapter 1,
"(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
"(2) The same was in the beginning with God.
"(3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that
was made.
"(4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
Now, if we go down to verse 14, "And the Word was made flesh...." See,
Jesus has his fleshly characteristics, and with that, there were temptations
that came.
In Galatians Chapter 4, in verse 4, "But when the fullness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," so yes, Jesus did
have a fleshly aspect, as Paul wrote about in Romans 7, then: the battle
between the flesh and the spirit. Jesus faced that, but he overcame it.
In Philippians Chapter 2, in verse 8 — Philippians Chapter 2 verse 8 — here
we're talking about the mind that was in Jesus, the fact that he humbled
himself. And notice in verse 5,
"(5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
"(6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God."
And it wasn't. It wasn't robbery, because He was equal to
God. He was there in the beginning. He was part of the creation, in terms of
His creating things. As we saw in John Chapter 1, there wasn't anything made
without Him. But notice what He did.
"(7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men:
"(8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
If you go back to Romans Chapter 8, something that also is very important to
remember here (Romans Chapter 8), Paul making a comparison between the law of
Moses and the law of faith through Christ Jesus, in verse 2.
"(2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death.
"(3) For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh."
So yes, Jesus took upon Himself flesh, lived His life as a man, being both the
Son of God and man. But yet, since He lived His life in the flesh and as a
man, he faced the temptations that we face today. He faced the temptations
of the flesh.
And there's information in the book of Hebrews, if you'll turn to Hebrews
Chapter 4, in verse 14.
"(14) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession."
Now, notice this in verse 15.
"(15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin.
Could Jesus have sinned? Yes. But He made the proper choices and
He overcame the temptations every time. Notice, it says that He was in all
points tempted. That 'all points tempted,' according to Strong's
Concordance, comes from a word meaning 'all,' 'every,' and 'whole';
according to Vine's Dictionary, 'according to all things' — he was
tempted according to all things. The New American Standard says, "Has
been tempted in all things"; the NIV, "Has been tempted in every way.''
Yet Jesus never sinned. The temptation was there... but Jesus overcame it. And
because He lived that perfect life, He went to the cross of Calvary as the
perfect sacrifice.
And since we are not perfect, we need that sacrifice. Because we do sin,
we need that sacrifice. We need forgiveness and the grace and the mercy of
God. And we should be thankful every day that Jesus served as that perfect
sacrifice, living the perfect life, dying for us. The question is, are you
willing, then, to respond in obedience in order to receive that forgiveness and
that grace and that mercy, realizing that Jesus did live perfect... for you and
for me.
The scriptures tells us, in John 3:16, that we must believe in Jesus as the Son
of God. In Romans 10:9, we must be willing to confess that belief.
We must repent of our sins. That was the message that Jesus went out
preaching in Matthew 4:17, "...Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
We find that we are to be baptized for the remission of sins in Acts 2:38,
"...Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy [Spirit]."
As we mentioned earlier, Galatians 3:26 through 29, we become children of God by
faith in Christ Jesus. When we are baptized into Him, we become His
children. We have an inheritance that awaits us. That inheritance is
a home in heaven. We can have that hope and we can look forward to that
home, thanks to the perfect life of Christ and the fact that He was willing to
sacrifice Himself for us.
Are you willing to
obey the gospel and receive forgiveness? Perhaps you've obeyed the gospel
but have not remained faithful. You, perhaps, have made some mistakes and
allowed sin back into your lives. God gives us an opportunity to correct
that. I John 1:7-9 tells us that if we confess our sins and pray to God,
He is just and faithful and He will forgive us of those sins. Why?
Because the blood of Christ continues to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
That wouldn't be the case if Jesus had not lived perfectly. Jesus, the
perfect one, died for us, the imperfect. Won't you be willing to respond
in obedience and receive His forgiveness... as we stand and sing?
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