A Life Pointing To Christ

Because all of us really are living for some purpose. Everyone in this room has a purpose in life Whether you know it or not you do you live for some purpose for some ambition some overall aim in your life For some of us today it might be fame popularity to be recognized for some it might be fortune possessions wealth things in life for some it may be power Like the position like to be Promoted looked up to people to know you're in charge for some people it may be family for some of you It may be your occupation and there are any other number of Auctions that we could use to fill in the blank as to what your life purpose or aim is Even those who seem to be aimless in life and seem to live with no purpose do have a purpose It may be ease it may be self But everybody has a life purpose everybody has an aim you're shooting for whether you recognize it or not This morning we are going to look at an individual who had what I believe to be life's highest purpose and that is a life pointing to Christ His name is John the Baptist and the record of his Life and his testimony of Christ is found in John chapter 1 We are journeying through the gospel of John we just begun that journey in the first 14 verses and today we look at verses 15 through 34 where we find this gentleman introduced John the Baptist It is clear just from a quick observation of these verses that the passage centers around John But it really focuses on Christ as seen in the life and ministry of John John is introduced here unlike the other gospels the other gospels focus on what he wore a robe of candles here and a leather belt they focus on what he ate locust and wild honey they focus on his strong Call to repentance and his message that the kingdom is near and those are all true and important facets of John's life and ministry But the apostle John does not focus on those things he focuses on something which is in in line with his Focus in this book He's already told us as we saw last time that his focus is To communicate those things about the life of Jesus which will help us to understand who he is and Then knowing that he is the son of God that we might believe in his name So to know and believe to believe and have a life that is what this gospel is all about And so it is no surprise that John would introduce John the Baptist as one who pointed to Christ one who pointed to the one who can give us life one who is The son of God without a doubt John the Baptist is one of the most remarkable persons in the word of God He was foretold in the Old Testament His birth is due to the miraculous intervention of God He is filled with the spirit even in his mother's womb He was sent by God to proclaim and prepare the way for the Messiah to come certainly as Jesus said There is none born among women greater than John the Baptist He was a great man and yet his life was not about himself His life was all about another all about Jesus all about Christ So this morning we're going to take a close look we're gonna look closely at John the Baptist and See what it means to have a life pointing to Christ What does it mean to have a life lived that way that points to Christ? John is a great example of that. We're gonna look at him in three lights this morning as This text unfolds and describes for us John There are three ways that we find he points to Christ the first of which is in his testimony His testimony is given to us in verses 15 through 18 actually his testimony verse 15 Then the apostle John expands on that but notice in verse 15 John testifies concerning him concerning whom The one who's just been introduced to us in the first 14 verses the word the one who was With God in the beginning was God who came to manifest God who came into his own obviously the Lord Jesus Christ This is the one that John is testify concerning but I want you to notice the manner of his testimony What you notice how he testifies about Christ verse 15 says he cries out saying I Love the fact that John uses the present tense John testifies concerning him. He cries out saying You see John the Apostle wrote his gospel some 60 years after the ministry of John the Baptist and Yet those powerful words that testimony about Christ is still ringing in his ears So much so that he can literally say John is still crying out. He's still testifying It's still ringing in my ears and throughout this country and throughout the world But the fact that that term is used he cries out Indicates that his testimony is confident He was assured of the truth himself about who Jesus was and his testimony is confident It's also public he wants other people to know he wants everybody to know so he cries out The message that's its manner. It's also bold the fact that he cries it out indicates that it's bold It's not afraid of man and so John in his testimony about Christ is very public very confident of the truth Very bold about his testimony for Jesus It makes me want to take stock of my own life my own words The things I talk about through the week Now I hope it will you as well That we examine our own lives to see whether or not we ever boldly proclaim Jesus Christ to others Or whether or not we are ashamed of him John cried out Unashamed publicly boldly As to who Jesus was His our testimony as bold is it is bright is it as confident as John's But I'm impressed not only with the manner of his testimony, but also its subject Because the subject of his testimony is Christ. It is very clear He came to testify of him verse 15 says and this is what he said This was he of whom I said he who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me Now that's what John says John the Baptist says about Jesus and then John the Apostle who is writing this book Will expand on that and say some other things taken together Their testimony about Jesus is a fivefold testimony what they have to say about Christ First of all has to do with his pre existence Did you catch that in verse 15 what John says about Jesus? This was he of whom I said he who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me Now John is saying basically I'm talking about Christ. He is the one that I've been telling you about He's the one that will come I've been preaching that message that the kingdom is at hand and the king is ready to make his appearance known This is him this is he of whom I said he who comes after me He's coming after John in his ministry John's ministry began first Jesus comes after him But John says the one who comes after me the one I'm pointing toward has surpassed me In other words, he has a higher position than me. He's more important than me Why because John says he was before me? Now if you know anything about the gospel record if you know for instance Luke's account of the birth of Christ You know that John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus was born And so how is it that John who is six months older than Jesus can say he was before me? Well, obviously it's a clear testimony to the pre existence of Christ Meaning that he existed pre birth Before he came to this world as a baby. It's a clear Witness and testimony to the fact that Jesus is God who has existed in eternity past as John has introduced him in the beginning Was the word and the word was with God and the word was God It's a clear statement of his deity his pre existence John says the one who's coming after me actually existed before me Even though I was born six months before him His pre existence and then John the Apostle picks up on this theme this subject of this great testimony about Christ And he fills in other details about who Jesus is and what our testimony should include about Jesus Not only his pre existence, but also his fullness verse 16 from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another And so it is his fullness which is also spotlighted here and here John pulls a word from the Apostle Paul John actually although his book comes before Paul's writings in our New Testament chronologically John wrote about 30 years after Paul had written his epistles And so no doubt John was familiar with Colossians In fact the Colossian letter was circulated among the churches in the region of Ephesus and Colossi and other towns in that area John was a pastor in Ephesus for many years and so no doubt he was He was familiar with Paul's letter to the Colossians and no doubt he had read these words in Colossians chapter 1 On the screen you'll find this verse for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him God's fullness dwelling in Christ Christ is the one being referred to in the passage and Paul would go on to say in chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 for in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form And in Christ you have been brought to fullness He is the head over every power and authority So three times Paul uses that word and John references it here Jesus is the fullness out of his fullness we have everything we need and the fullness of Christ represents the fact that he is God in human flesh He has in bodily form All of theity in him. He is all that God is that's the fullness of God in him the deity in him And because of that we have all that we need in him So John stresses not only his pre-existence but his fullness, but thirdly he stresses his grace You see it in verse 16 from the fullness of his grace. We have all received one blessing after another Actually the last part of that verse one blessing after another is literally grace upon grace Out of his grace we've received grace upon grace upon grace upon grace Now you see my friend grace is the outflow of the love of God freely giving us what we don't deserve Without expecting us to earn it without expecting us to work for it or deserve it God freely offers us salvation and that salvation is through his son Jesus as we'll see as this testimony develops But it's freely offered God does not say you do so much work you do so much give so much effort Give me so much time and I'll see whether or not that's enough to let you into heaven No heaven and salvation is a free gift given to us when we trust Christ as our Savior, but grace doesn't stop there Grace upon grace upon grace upon grace comes our way It literally is like the waves of the ocean hitting the shore One hits the shore and then another comes right after it and then another and another and another and on it goes and it just keeps on coming Grace upon grace upon grace one blessing after another is available to us through Christ So John spotlights his pre-existence his fullness his grace and he contrasts that grace with the law You see it in verse 17 he says for the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ Contrast with the law that's not that the law is bad The law is good Paul says so in Romans 7 the law is good it accomplishes a good purpose But the law is exacting The law basically says you obey or pay the consequences And because we cannot fully keep the law we are condemned by the law The Bible makes it clear that the reason Moses law was given The reason the law itself is given is to first of all make us aware of our sin And as Paul says the exceeding sinfulness of sin How much we sin the purpose of the law is to shut our mouths Paul says in Romans 3 It is to to cause us to have no defense To recognize that we cannot meet up to God's standards the law says Obey fully or be condemned and we can't obey completely and fully and perfectly and so we stand condemned and the law shows us that none of us Can can reach the standard that is needed to get into heaven That's the purpose of the law the purpose of the law was never to save people You can't be saved you can't get to heaven by keeping the law a lot of people try A lot of people think well, you know, I'm pretty good when it comes to the 10 commandments. You haven't read them lately have you I mean you really begin to think of all the things they cover and all the different aspects of those commandments And the sins of the heart that they expose not just the sins of our actions When you realize all of that we we must admit if we're honest none of us can measure up and so the law basically shuts our mouths The law basically communicates to us. You're a failure. You're condemned. You cannot live up to God's standards But that's where grace comes in the law was given by Moses but grace and truth comes through Christ God gives us his grace the free gift because we can't earn it. We're not good enough to do that And since we can't earn it God offers it freely And so the plan of salvation is one of a free gift A gift that is given to us With no expectation that we will earn it or deserve it It is by grace But John highlights not only the grace of Christ. He also highlights his truth First 17 the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ Does that mean the law was untrue? Of course not What it means is that the law just pointed towards something as all the Old Testament did All the Old Testament sacrifices all the Old Testament prophecies all pointed toward the true fulfillment of all of that They were just pictures The book of Hebrews caused them shadows The real substance the real truth the reality is Christ because he fulfills all of that And so Jesus is the truth not in contradiction or contrast to falsehood He's the truth in contrast to the shadows that simply pointed toward him He is the fulfillment is the truth So Jesus is seen in this testimony in his truth But he's also seen in his revelation of God Notice it in verse 18 no one has ever seen God You know, that's true No one has ever seen God you say wait a second. I thought Moses saw him. I thought Isaiah saw him. I thought John This apostle saw him Well, if I could say this reverently they saw scaled-down versions Okay, they saw God manifesting himself in a form that humans could take Because when Moses asked to see the glory of God in Exodus 32 God told him no one can look on my face and live no one can see my glory and live What I'll do is I'll pass by and kind of the afterglow. I'll let you see that You'll see That you can't see me full on No one has ever seen God in all of his glory So how do we know about him? Well, look at this But God the one and only that speaking of Christ and it's it is the best translation of that phrase some translations have the only begotten son But it really is a reference to God the one and only which is a tremendous declaration of the deity of Christ No one has seen God father, but God the one and only Christ who is at the father side has made him known So how do we know who God is Christ has made him known Christ has shown us who he is and what he's like Christ has explained to us in his person and his work who God is So he is the very revelation of God himself And when I look at this testimony of John the Baptist and also John the Apostle about Jesus when I think of his Preexistence and his fullness and his grace and his truth and the fact that he reveals God I'm I'm forced to ask myself the question. What is my testimony like? Do people see Jesus in me? Is my testimony allowed bold public? Confident unashamed testimony of who Jesus is So what John's was like He was not ashamed to proclaim who Jesus was and what he had done And we all need to ask ourselves that question. What does my life speak most loudly about? What's the most obvious thing about my life? What is it that other people see in my life? Is it Christ? A life pointing to Christ John pointed to Christ in his testimony But let's move on the text also tells us that John pointed to Christ in his attitude For in the in the following verses verses 19 through 28 John has a confrontation if you will from religious leaders in Israel First 19 calls them the Jews That's an expression used 70 times in the gospel of John and John uses it not just of Jewish people by race He uses it of the Jewish authorities the religious authorities that were opposed to Christ And so they're already active They've heard about John John's ministry has raised quite a stir and so the Jews Come after him and basically they're going to ask him two questions And in both cases as John answers those two questions his humility is seen They're going to ask him and the tone of their questions obvious as we read through the text and what they're getting at And if you know the the background and history of the the religious leaders The tone of their question is basically demeaning and condescending and arrogant and prideful They're basically saying to John in verse 19. Who do you think you are? And then in verse 24 they're going to say what do you think you're doing? So who do you think you are and what do you think you're doing? Those are the two questions they will ask him Now let's see how they ask the question and most of all how he answers them Verse 19 now this was John's testimony When the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was interesting They would send priests and Levites who served in the temple remember John's father Zacharias was one of them He was a priest who served in the temple Some of these guys probably knew John's father It's interesting they would come and be the ones to questioning ask him who he was Well notice his first response and I it kind of sounds like to me that John offers this answer before the question really gets asked He knows why they're coming His ministry has caused quite a stir. He knows that he's preparing the way for the Messiah and that he might be confused with the Messiah And they're coming to him because of all the stir and excitement Mark chapter 1 verse 5 says that all the Judean countryside and all Jerusalem went out to John To hear him preach and to hear him to seem baptized people So quite a stir has been raised and these religious leaders are out there to check him out Which by the way they interpreted from the book of Deuteronomy was their responsibility every prophet was to be tested Deuteronomy 13 Deuteronomy 18 all the prophets were to be tested and the religious leaders felt that was their responsibility So they were doing what they thought was right. They're going out to test this prophet So their first question who do you think you are? And John's answer in verse 20 is he did not fail to confess but confess freely. I am not the Christ Notice he does not say I'm not Christ. We use the word Christ as a proper name actually it was a title The Christ the Messiah the promised one from the Old Testament who was to come be Israel's king and to deliver them from their sins and deliver the world die for us that's the Christ the Messiah and John readily and quickly admits I am not the Messiah Why did he feel like you needed to say that Because there were lots of prophets that showed up in Jesus time and before and after who claimed to be the Christ Sometimes we because we're only familiar with the gospels We think Jesus was the only one who said that He is the only one who was the Christ but there were lots of other people who claimed to be the Messiah There was one guy in 54 AD who gathered a crowd of 30,000 people on the amount of olives and said I'm the Messiah And the walls of Jerusalem will fall down and will conquer the Romans nothing happened the Romans scattered his group and he was done But there were constantly every three or four years somebody would show up claiming to be the Messiah and gathering a following So that's the reason they asked the question Who do you say you are are you the Messiah John makes it very clear. I am not the Christ. I want you to know that right up front I'm not the Christ So they ask him in verse 21 They asked him then who are you are you Elijah Now why would they ask that? Well in the prophets in the book of Malachi The prophets say that Elijah will come before the coming of the Messiah Now the way Jews interpreted that in the first century was that they interpreted that to be literally the person Elijah That the same prophet who never died by the way in the Old Testament was translated to heaven without dying that same prophet would come back Literally Elijah the same one who prophesied in the Old Testament And so that's the way they're asking the question John understood where they were coming from and John says no no No, I'm not Elijah. I'm John Not Elijah now Jesus later would say that John fulfilled the role of Elijah In proclaiming the coming of Christ and preparing the way for him But John is simply responding to the Jewish expectation that the literally Elijah would come back No, no, I'm not Elijah Okay, they're not done yet Middle of verse 21. Are you the prophet? What is that about? He is a prophet But they're asking something more specific are you the prophet? They're talking about the well-known prophet the prophet which was Indicated by Moses would come look at this verse on the screen In Deuteronomy chapter 18 in verse 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you From your fellow Israelites you must listen to him Moses said there will come a prophet after me. He's like me and isn't it interesting here that John says the law came by Moses Grace and truth by Christ Christ is the prophet That was prophesied by Moses that would come after him And so he's asked all these questions John is are you the Christ? No, not the Christ Are Elijah? I'm not are you the prophet? No, I kind of get the impression he's getting a little perturbed with these guys Notice how his answers get shorter every time He freely confesses I am not the Christ and then he says I'm not and he says no Quit talking about me. That's not what we're here for. It's not what I'm here for John is going to answer their question by saying I am just a voice and His attitude if I were to summarize it in one word in both of these responses his attitude as humility When asked who he is He's going to say I'm just a voice I noticed verse 22 Find you they said who are you Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us what do you say about yourself? And John's whole point is I don't want to talk about myself. That's not what I'm here for I'm not the Christ. I am not Elijah. I am not the prophet Well then who are you and John answers in verse 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet quoting Isaiah 40 verse 8 I am the voice of one calling in the desert make straight the way for the Lord In other words, I'm just fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah that before the Messiah comes before the Lord Himself comes there will come one who prepares the way for him and that one is a voice just a voice Think about it Jesus has already been called the word Three times in the first 14 verses The word is the substance of the message the voice is just the vehicle to communicate the message the voice is heard it is not seen The attention is not on the voice the attention is on the message that the voice communicates The word will remain long after the voice is silent Many of you recall the words of parents and grandparents. They still like John says after 60 years. They still ring in your ears The word remains long after the voice is silent the voice is just a vehicle for the word to present itself And it is the word which is the focus of attention That's what John is saying here. I'm just a voice I'm not the one that you should be asking about ask about the one that I'm talking about the Christ the Messiah the Son of God the Lamb of God as he will describe him in a moment He's the one the focus should be I'm just the voice. He's the word. He's the message He's the substance That's humility A John could have said honestly about himself all the things I said before in the introduction about him All of those amazing things about he could have said that honestly about himself, but he chose not to he's not even talking about himself at all his his focus his attitude Is to be a voice that presents Jesus Christ So he says I'm just a voice Well, they're not satisfied with that So they're going to ask him another question which basically is well then what do you think you're doing and he's going to answer with this statement I'm just a servant I'm just a voice, but I'm also just a servant Notice how this comes out verse 24 now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet? Interesting that the Pharisees who were kind of a subset of the Jews the religious leaders They were a part of the religious leaders the most conservative branch of the religious leaders But they were also the ones that did most of the baptizing in Israel in the first century They would baptize Gentile converts to the Jewish religion And what they would do is they would baptize Gentile converts basically as a way to tell them you unclean Gentiles Need to become clean to become Jews and as a symbol of that you need to be baptized to wash away your filth and unclean This is Gentiles so that you can become part of the Jewish religion Well, you know what John was doing John was baptizing everybody including the Pharisees telling them you need it too You remember he told them in Matthew chapter 3 you brute of vipers who do you think you are coming out here and asking about my baptism You need to be baptized too Because John was preparing the way for the Messiah preparing the heart of the nation And his baptism was a baptism of righteousness which indicated and a baptism of repentance which indicated people were turning from their sin And from their hearts Preparing themselves for the Messiah who was coming So that they would recognize him and embrace him as the Messiah They would prepare their hearts and baptism which is the symbol of the repentance from sin And of the cleansing they needed for their hearts to be ready for the Messiah That was John's baptism and John basically said you Pharisees need that baptism Well the Pharisees didn't like that And so basically they're saying who do you think you are and what do you think you're doing? You're not you didn't go to our schools. You're not part of our group. You don't have our credentials What do you think you're doing out here baptizing anyway? We're the ones who are supposed to baptize I can just see the pride all over their faces John's answer is classic verse 26 Hi baptize with water or in water John replied but among you stands one you do not know Basically say hadn't been introduced yet. You don't know who he is yet He is the one who comes after me The thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie Now the force of that misses us because we don't live in that culture Untying the thongs on someone's sandals was considered the most menial low-down task of a servant Even a disciple of a rabbi or a teacher was not expected to do that Now disciples of rabbis or teachers Those who followed and learned from teachers of the day would do many things for them to serve them They would get them food Much like Jesus disciples offered to get him food in John 4 when he was at the well They would they would offer to get drink they would prepare a table for them They would serve them at the table Disciples that were expected to do those kinds of things but it was below the rank of a disciple to untie Someone's sandal thongs That was considered the job of a slave a servant and the most menial task that a servant would do Would be that And John says I don't even measure up to that I don't I'm not even worthy to untie the thongs of his sandals That's powerful powerful It speaks volumes about his attitude An attitude of humility which we need in this day and age We live in A day that is So well known for What the church of layout of see it was known for lukewarmness and boasting Just kind of coasting spiritually and not really fervent and concerned about spiritual things lukewarmness But also boasting John Jesus said to the church at layout of see in John 3 You think you have great wealth you don't understand your poor you think you're clothed with fine clothing you don't realize your naked You know we talk so much today about ourselves And our ministries and our buildings and our budgets and our numbers We have very clever Ways of drawing attention to ourselves Even in the Lord's work that's so common We need more of this attitude that John had It's not about us It's all about Jesus Christ and we are unworthy to even Unlose the thongs of his sandals That's the attitude that John had an attitude of humility But quickly Jesus is also seen John points to him in his message and his message is so powerful look at verse 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said look the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world? This is the one I meant when I said a man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me He's identifying him now. This is the one I've been telling you about Verse 31 I myself did not know him but the reason I came bad paving with water was that he might be revealed to Israel It's not that I don't really know John is saying that he didn't know who Jesus was They were related remember Mary and Elizabeth were close relatives and Mary went to Elizabeth's house when she found out she was expecting the Messiah And so you know families would travel together to Jerusalem to the feast days and so forth probably John and Jesus knew each other's children That's not what John's talking about what he is talking about is I did not recognize that he was the Messiah I did not know that he was the one I'd been talking about but God gave me a sign a signal Notice he describes in verse 32 John gave this testimony I saw the spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him I would not have known him except that the one who sent me to bad ties with water told me the man on whom you see the spirit come down And remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit The word you're dealing with water is a symbol He will actually immerse people in the realm of the Holy Spirit begin the church I have seen and I testify John says in verse 34 that this is the Son of God So I didn't know who the Messiah was until that Signal which God had given me came true and as I was baptizing Then Jesus comes and he asked to be baptized by me And I have enough respect for his character to say I'm not worried to do that But then I see the dove coming down the Holy Spirit coming down like a dove Remaining on him and I know that's the sign that's the clue. He is the Messiah So I'm testifying to you. This is the Son of God But I want to focus for just a few moments back on his message in verse 29 Where he says look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world He is introducing Jesus. He is pointing to Jesus as the Savior The Lamb of God and that figure of speech that term is so All of meaning because it signifies first of all that he is the sinless Savior The Lamb and the Old Testament to be offered for sacrifice had to be without blimished without spot It could not have any defect in it at all. It had to be the best of the flock That represents Jesus as the sinless Savior Perfect in character no moral blimish at all He is the sinless Savior but the Lamb also presents him as the suffering Savior He is the one who suffered for us the Lamb and the Old Testament is always a sacrificial animal From the time that Abel brought from his flock to sacrifice for the Lord In Genesis 4 from the time that Abraham and Genesis 22 on Mount Moriah would say to his son Isaac who asked him Dad we've got the wood in the fire. Where's the Lamb? For the offering and Abraham said God himself will provide a lamb From the Exodus Exodus 12 where the Israelites kill a lamb And smear its blood over top of their doors and on the door posts on the side So that when the angel comes to take the life of the firstborn of every Egyptian that angel will pass over The Jewish homes who have applied the blood of the Lamb the Lamb is consistently a suffering animal a sacrifice for us And Jesus is the fulfillment of all of those lambs He is the suffering Savior he offers a sacrifice for us Some people focus upon many things about Jesus. Oh, he came to give us abundant life. Yes, he did Oh, he came to take care of my problems and to give me peace and to give me joy. Yes, he did Jesus has done miracles in my life. Yes, he may do that But all those are the benefits of the gospel. They are not the essence of the gospel The essence of the gospel is that Jesus is a suffering Savior that he came to die lay down his life as a lamb to die for you and me a substitute for us But he's not only the suffering Savior is also the selfless Savior. There's no better picture of one who is Selfless in giving himself than than the Lamb Isaiah 53 Isaiah calls attention to this He was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth And notice the symbolism here. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter And as a sheep before it shares his silent So he did not open his mouth that selflessness Jesus never one time opened his mouth in his defense on the cross He took all the abuse that was heaped upon him because he was a selfless Savior He was there to do a work for you and me. It was not about him It was about us He is also The Lamb of God in the sense that he's a satisfactory Savior He fulfills what all those Old Testament lambs could never do He offers the one perfect satisfactory sacrifice in God's sight let the writer of Hebrews tells us he tells us so much better than I can He brings ten day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties again And again notice the repetition it has to be done over and over again He offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins But when this priest speaking of Christ when this priest had offered for all time One sacrifice for sins. He sat down at the right hand of God And since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his foot stool And I love the summary verse here For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever Those who are being made holy those who are being set apart by God for salvation Jesus is making them perfect through his one perfect eternal sacrifice So he was the satisfactory Savior he was the one that made the sacrifice that ended all other sacrifices But the lamb also points to him as a sufficient Savior notice John introduces him the lamb of God who takes away The sin of the world and that's not just talking about Gentiles In addition to Jews It's talking about everybody God so loved the world Jesus came to die for the world And there is a particular sense In which Jesus death covers the sins of the whole world in this sense second Corinthians 5 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself reconciliation basically is the breaking down of the barrier between God and man mankind as a whole So that God can now offer freely salvation to man That barrier was broken down for everybody So that God might turn toward us in his grace and mercy and offer us salvation There's no more hostility between man and God because Christ has broken down that wall Has broken down that barrier and he has reconciled the world to God Now it doesn't mean everybody's saved Doesn't mean everybody's gonna be saved That's why Paul goes on in second Corinthians 5 to say then now we are ambassadors We besiege you in Christ's dead be reconciled He's reconciled the world but now you need to be reconciled He's made the provision now you need to trust Christ And so he is the sufficient savior Jesus has given a sufficient payment for your sin And you need to trust him as your savior to be saved That is the savior of the Bible That is the savior that John so boldly proclaimed and testified about that's the savior for whom John said I'm a servant and I'm just a voice that's the savior that was the center of his message And this is the savior we offer you today That savior The one who died for you the Lamb of God who died to take away your sin Do you know him? I'm not asking if you're a church member. I'm not asking you for a decent person I'm not asking how good you are. I'm asking do you know Jesus? Has there ever been a time in your life when you recognize that as a sinner? You could not get to heaven on your own and you trusted Jesus as your savior have you done that Now with me in prayer, please Father, thank you for the sufficient satisfactory death of Christ for us our Lamb of God who is Given for the sins of the world You father, I pray for anyone here this morning that may not know Jesus that today They would recognize that need turn to Christ in faith and trust him It's in his name. We pray amen