Jesus-Just Who Is He?

Well, in the first 17 years of my ministry before I came here to Johnston Chapel and even in the first few years I was here before I delegated much of the business oversight of the church to pastor and off-singer, I used to get phone calls from salesmen. And I'm thankful for wonderful secretaries that screen those kind of calls, but I remember getting a lot of those calls in the early years. And usually the salesman would kind of mumble his name and company real quick and then launch into a sales pitch and sometimes could be very deceptive, making you think that you were just reordering something that you've been ordering all along from that company. It might be an entirely new product or an entirely new deal or someone you've never even done business with. And so I learned a hard way that I needed to interrupt that. And so usually when he stopped long enough to draw his first breath about five minutes into the conversation, I would usually say, hold on just a second, give me your name again. I need to write that down. And the company that you represent, I want to make sure I get it spelled right. How does that, let me write that down. Your address, give me your phone number. I want to see if we have done business with you before. I don't remember. I want to make sure that I recall whether or not we've done business with you before. Exactly what have we ordered from you before. Usually by that time there was either a click on the other part of the line or that they were totally frustrated by that point. The reason is you don't just buy something without knowing the credentials of the person from whom you're purchasing that item. Not knowing that it's legitimate, without knowing that it's not just a scam. This morning we begin a series of messages in the gospel of John. And I'm planning 42 messages on this book. So I doubt that we'll finish it this year. We will spend time talking about Jesus Christ. He is the focus of this book. In fact, John tells us the reason why he wrote his book in chapter 20 verse 30. He said, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written. In other words, I put what I put in this gospel. These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. So John tells us I'm giving you the reason for writing this book. It's so that you might believe and have life. You might believe in who Jesus is and what he's done. And that believing you might have life. So believe and have life is really the subject of this series of messages on the gospel of John. You might think that in starting to describe the coming of Jesus and what he did in his miracles, that John might begin like Matthew did and like Luke did with the birth story of Jesus. But he doesn't. You might think that well, he'd begin at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, like Mark does, but he doesn't. Because John is answering the question, Jesus, just who is he? And what he's going to do before he puts down the credentials of his miracles and his works and his teachings, he's going to give us the credentials as to who he is. In other words, his name, phone number, address, who, just who are you? That's how John begins his gospel. And what he will do is give us the credentials of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is he? Is he just a good man? Is he a teacher? Is he a prophet? Is he an example for us to live by? Or is he much more? Just who is he anyway? So John will introduce Jesus to us with four identifying roles. Now that's the way we sometimes introduce ourselves to people that we don't know, or we may introduce someone else. Often to describe who we are, we choose some of the roles that really identify us in life. If someone who did not know me were to say, just who is John King, I might say, well, I'm the son of Jack and Beth King. I'm the husband of Jeanne King. I'm the father of Amy and Ruth and Melissa. I'm the grandfather and I'd spend a little time on that one. I'm the grandfather of six wonderful grandchildren. I might say I'm the senior pastor at Johnson Chapel. I would give you several identifying roles that define or describe who I am. And that's exactly what John does when he introduces Jesus. He's going to identify four roles that will help describe and help us understand who Jesus is. So in the first 14 verses of his gospel, let's look and see what he says about who Jesus really is. First of all, John describes him in verses one and two and 14 as the God man. Now I mean by that expression the fact that Jesus unites deity and humanity perfectly in one person. He is God, fully God. He is fully man and they are perfectly united in one person, Jesus Christ. He is the God man. And that really describes his person who he is. Let's see how John introduces him. First of all, he focuses upon the fact that Jesus is God in verses one and two. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. So he's going to focus first of all upon the deity side of his person. He is God. And he uses an interesting term to introduce Jesus to us. He doesn't give us his name, his given name, Jesus, or other names by which he is called in the New Testament. He uses this word, Word. And it's a talusized, the Word. Three times he uses that expression, that term. He'll use it again in verse 14. So four times he describes Jesus with that term, the Word. It is an interesting Word. It was a term used in New Testament times of the Word, not just as a spoken Word, but the Word as an expression of the thought and heart of a person. What someone really means, how you are really manifested to others, your heart, your mind described in words is what's used by this term or meant by this term. And Jesus does that for God the Father. He is the one who describes who God is, who manifests who God is, who shows us and communicates to us, the love of God, the grace of God, the faithfulness, the righteousness, all of the characteristics of God are seen and communicated in the Word, the one who speaks the heart and mind of God, the one who manifests who he is. In fact, John really describes that, then in verse 18, if you skip down to verse 18 for just a moment, he says, no one has ever seen God, but the one and only son who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father has made him known. God is invisible to us. God the Father is someone we cannot see with our eyes. And yet Jesus manifests who God is. He declares him, he makes him known, he is the Word that speaks both in life and in speech, the very heart and mind of God. There are other passages that describe this eloquently. There's a passage in the New Testament in Revelation chapter 22 where we're about to close out the New Testament in that great book of the revelation of Christ. And Christ himself is speaking at the end of the book of Revelation. He says this in verse 13. He says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Now if you're not aware of what Alpha and Omega are, they're like our A and Z. They were the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The New Testament was written in the Greek language. So that was the language that was spoken by most people in the world in the first century. So what Jesus is saying is I'm everything from A to Z. In fact, everything you can use the alphabet to put in words, I communicate about God. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I communicate, I reveal, I manifest everything there is to know about God. The writer of Hebrews said it this way and was interested to hear Carolyn reference Hebrews earlier. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1. In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed air of all things and through whom He made the universe. That has spoken in many ways to mankind in the past. But the writer of Hebrews is saying in these days, in these days that inaugurate the last days, in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son, in His Son. Jesus is the Word that communicates the heart and mind of God that manifests, that demonstrates everything that God is. But don't misunderstand that, Jesus is not just some uniquely qualified person who is chosen to exhibit who God is, He is God Himself. He is the Word, He is the manifestation of God, but He is also God Himself. Notice how John says that in verse 1, 3 proofs that Jesus is God in the beginning was the Word, that's the first proof. Again Gene spoke of Genesis 1, the other in the beginning in the Bible, two in the beginnings. In Genesis 1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Moses says in the beginning and then takes a step forward into time, in the beginning God created and we step into time. John goes the other direction. In the beginning and he takes a step backward into eternity past. In the beginning the Word already existed. He was there when the creation started. So in the beginning was the Word, the only person in existence at that time was God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the one triune God. And so Jesus is God because He was in the beginning and then the second proof John gives us is the Word was with God, literally face to face with, in fellowship with, in communion with, indicating an equality before there was another being, before there was ever an angel, before there was ever a human being created, God the father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoyed face to face fellowship in eternity past. And Jesus was there, Jesus Christ the Word was with the father, face to face with him, showing an equality. He is God. And then in case we don't get it, John just comes right out and says it. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Some misunderstand that to mean the Word was a God. Jehovah's Witnesses interpreted it that way. But that's not what John meant. John said the Word was God in the sense that he has a divine nature. He is the very essence of God. That's who he is. So he is God in verse two, he repeats, he was with God in the beginning. So Jesus is God. There is a movement today and has been all really through church history. It's manifested itself in different forms. But a movement today once again to humanize Jesus and to make him simply a man, a model and example, a teacher, a good one at that, but nothing more than a man. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus Christ is God. But he is not only God, he is also man. And John gives us that other dynamic of his person in verse 14. He is man. Look at verse 14. The Word, the one we've mentioned three times in verse one, the Word, the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father full of grace and truth. This Word, this one who was in the beginning and was face to face in an equal fellowship and partnership with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The one who was God himself, this Word became flesh. That's his humanity. Notice the contrasts in these two verses. In verse one, he's in the beginning in verse 14, he became. In verse one, he is with God in verse 14, he's with us. In verse one, he is God in verse 14, he is flesh, he is human. So both parts of God's, of Christ's indivisible nature are referenced here. He is both God and man. Without setting aside his deity, he became man. He simply robed it in a body of human flesh and became one of us. He never ceased to be God. In fact, John makes that clear in verse 14 when he says he dwelled among us. We have seen his glory. The glory of the one and only son who came from the Father full of grace and truth. He maintained his deity, but he simply wrapped it in a robe of human flesh. And the outward glory that he demonstrated in heaven is now veiled by a human body. He is still fully God, fully man, hard to grasp, hard to understand, but he is the God man. That's his person. You say, well, what does that mean for you and me? Is that really have any bearing on my life? You bet it does. Without Jesus being both God and man, there would be no possibility we could be saved. You see, Jesus had to become a man so that he could die. And he died for us. He died in our place for our sins. That will become clear later. But he had to become a man to die. God can't die. He had to have a human body to die. But he also had to still be God in order for that death to have infinite worth and value and be big enough, powerful enough to take our place and to pay for our sins. He had to maintain his deity. And so you and I could not be saved unless those two natures are wedded together, the God man, in one person in Jesus Christ. Jotori, one of the best baseball managers in the history of the game. He's most well known for his years with the New York Yankees and all the world championships they won while he was the manager. He also managed the St. Louis Cardinals and another team or two. He was a wonderful player back in his day, a catcher and a third baseman. He was a great player. When he was named the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, the announcer for the New York Yankees at that time was a former Yankees shortstop by the name of Phil Resuto. Phil Resuto made this comment. He said, you know, I think probably managing could be best done from up here in the announcer's box. And when Tori heard that, he said, well, there may be some truth to that, but you can't look them in the eye from up there. Now, what he was saying is I want to look my players in the eye. I want to be able to see what they're thinking and what they're feeling and be able to tell them what they're supposed to do. I to I face to face. You know, my friend, I'm so glad that God didn't say I'm just going to save you from way up here in heaven. And I'll reach down and save you, but I'm not going to come down there and get dirty with you. No, Jesus came down and looked us in the eye. He came down on field level so that he could become one of us, the God, become man. God man, that's his person. And it's because of that that we can be saved. He is the God man. But John's not done. He's going to describe him further. What are his credentials? Just who is he? Well, he's not only the God man. He's also the creator. Look at verse three. Through him all things were made without him. Nothing was made that has been made in him was life. And that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. In verse three he introduces the fact that Jesus is the creator of life. He is the one who created all things. Through him all things were made. God is the designer of this universe. The one who plans it all out. Jesus is the one who speaks it into existence. The Holy Spirit also has a part in forming things. The whole Trinity is involved in the creation. This passage focuses upon the role of Jesus. Through him all things were made without him. Nothing was made that has been made. That speaks of his power. If the God man speaks of his person, this speaks of his power. Can you imagine speaking and things come into existence? Let there be light. Boom, there's light. He speaks and the universe is flung into existence. He speaks and trees appear. Animals appear. He says let it be done and it is done. That is amazing power, awesome power. That is God's power. So he is able to create life and all that there is in this universe. But he's also able to recreate life. He has the power to recreate life too. That's what verses 4 and 5 are really talking about. In him was the life. That could be understood in a general sense that because he's the creator of all things, all life originates with him. John goes on to make sure that we understand it a little bit more specifically than that. In him was life not just general terms of being the creator but spiritual life, new life. He says that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. The darkness cannot overcome it. So the contrast between light and darkness which was there in Genesis 1 and creation is also true in the spiritual life. The life that Jesus came to give, his recreating us, making us new, giving us new birth and new life, that life also dispels darkness. But the darkness that this new life dispels, life in Christ is the darkness of sin, the darkness of rebellion, the darkness of bondage, the darkness of despair, the darkness of death. And none of that can overcome the life that is our light in Christ. Jesus obliterates all darkness through the life that he gives in him because that life also carries with it light that darkness cannot overcome. Darkness cannot dispel. Did you know that in the Roman Empire there was a real emphasis on putting lights, candles and so forth in tombs to provide light because one of the most scary things about going out into the afterlife for the Roman mind was the darkness. We're going out into darkness. And so we want something to illuminate that. So in oftentimes gigantic candles or oil lamps would be constructed with a fuel reserve that would last for centuries and light up the tomb. Recorded that 1,500 years after the death of Tullia who was Cicero's daughter, 1,500 years after her death, her tomb was opened and a tiny lamp was still found burning, 1,500 years after she was placed in that tomb. Caruso, the great Italian tenor, put in his will that he wanted a giant candle that would be placed in his tomb that would burn for 150 years. People are afraid of the darkness. When this life ends, I go where? It's a great unknown. It's darkness. Well, Jesus obliterates that darkness. His life is light and that light dispels the darkness and there is now no fear in death or the darkness that may appear to come with death because Jesus has brought us life. And that life is now light. And so for the believer, you know what death is? It's a door that opens into the dazzling brilliance of the glory of God in heaven, that bright shining light of the presence of God. There is no darkness in death for the believer. There's only light because we have life in Christ. He's the creator, he has the power to create life and to recreate life in his image, to give us new life in Christ. And since he's mentioned that theme of that life giving us light, John proceeds with that a little further. Into his third identifying role for Jesus, Jesus is not only the God man, Jesus is not only the creator, Jesus is the true light. And he establishes this fact that Jesus is the true light, the real light, the genuine light, the only light by contrasting him with another great character in this book. And that's John. And informing this contrast, what we will highlight by seeing that Jesus is the true light is we will see his preeminent. The fact that he is preeminent, he is the one to be exalted above all others. In verse 6, verses 6 through 9, we find this description of Jesus as the true light. And in verse 6 he introduces this other character, John. It's not himself, he's not the writer of the book, it's John the Baptist, as we'll see later in the chapter. Verse 6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all might believe. He himself, John, was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light, the true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. Who is the true light? Was it John? No. Is it any other preacher or any other believer? No. It's Christ. He is the true light. He is the one who gives light. And he is the true light. But John was a tremendous individual, a bold and fearless godly proclaimer of the truth. And the one who introduced Christ as the Messiah to the nation of Israel, great man, a man sent from God, but he's not the light. He's just come to point people to the light. See John is like the moon. Jesus is the sun. I love seeing the moon at night. No matter what stage it's in, I love seeing the moon. So beautiful. But a full moon on a dark night which casts its light upon this dark earth is an amazing sight. But you know the moon doesn't create any light, does it? You know that? The moon simply reflects the light of the sun. The sun is the only true light. It is the moon just reflecting the light of the sun. The moon is simply the moon. He is reflecting the light, witnessing of the light, testifying to the light. The true light is Jesus. And you know what? John's role is similar to what all of ours should be. We are simply moons that reflect the light of the sun. We are simply witnesses who testify to the true light Jesus Christ. And that causes us, should cause us to really take a good heart and look at our lives. Are we trying to be the sun? Are we trying to draw attention to us? Are we trying to be the light? Or is life really for me just centered around me and my stuff and what I need to do in my agenda and my future? Is it all about me? Is it really revolving around me? Am I the sun? Or am I just the moon that reflects the true light Jesus Christ? One of the words is he preeminent. Is he the one that gets the attention through my life? Or am I calling attention to myself? That's the question all of us should ask. John gives us the right example. Verse 7 describes, first of all, John's ministry. Verse 7, he came as a witness to testify concerning that light. His ministry was to testify to be a witness. Do you understand those terms? In a court of law, a witness is someone who has seen, heard or experienced something that can shed light on the case in question. So the case before the judge and jury, if you are a witness, you have experienced something, you've seen or heard something that can shed light on that case and help make a conclusion as to guilt or innocence. That's exactly what the Bible says we are. We are witnesses. We're not the light. We're not the center of the solar system. Jesus is that. We're simply witnesses. We've seen something. We've heard something. We've experienced something about the true light. We've seen Jesus and who he is. We've heard his word. We've experienced new life in him. And so now we're on the witness stand and we're testifying to other people about who Jesus is and what he's done. That's our ministry. It's to be a testimony of Jesus Christ. We are witnesses testifying about the light. That's our ministry. But notice our theme. John's theme, verse seven, he came as a witness to testify concerning that light. Don't ever forget that our theme, the theme of our lives, the theme of our testimony, our witness, the theme of our ministries ought to be Jesus Christ. He ought to be focused and centered around him. He is the theme about which we sing and talk and preach and teach and live. We are the moon testifying to that light. So he's the focal point. That's our theme. But then notice John's purpose. What's the purpose of the theme of this ministry? He came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all might believe. The purpose is that people might believe that he is the light, that he came into this world to save us and to give us new life. That's our purpose. That's our purpose for living. So often when we talk about purpose for living, we talk about ourselves. It's all centered around us and what we're going to accomplish. This is my vision, my purpose, my mission, my whatever. And really our purpose for being here is to tell other people and show them the light, the point other people to Jesus Christ. That's our purpose so that they might believe in him. They might trust him as savior. Our purpose is not just to do our job, wash our hands up and say we're done. Our purpose is to lead people to Christ so that they might believe in him and be saved. That is our purpose. I want to ask you this morning, is he preeminent in your life? Is he the real light and you recognize that the way you live, the way you speak, everything you do say, think ought to be a reflection of Jesus to other people? You see, you're not really a teacher or a welder or a lawyer or a business owner or a homemaker. It's not really who you are. That may be the vocation and role that God has graciously granted you to fulfill, but who you are is a witness to testify of the light so that as you do your job as a welder, a teacher, a lawyer or a homemaker, whatever it may be, people can see how Jesus would live if he were doing that. People can see the compassion, the care of Jesus. They can see it in your speech. They can hear it in the way you address them. They can see it in the way you treat them. So even in your vocation, your main vocation is to draw attention to Jesus Christ and to be a good reflection of that light. Is he really preeminent in your life? A few years ago, one company for Christmas had a Jesus doll and it was a baby Jesus and a little manger, little satin and little hay and you know, Jesus doll. It didn't sell very well. And so one store was seen at the display after Christmas saying Jesus marked down 50%. And I understand the merchandising side of that, but isn't that a telling commentary on the lives of many of us as believers? Jesus is marked down. He's not really the one to whom the attention goes. It's all about us. In our lives, what is the center of attention? What is the sun? What's the real true light? It's Jesus. It should be Jesus. He is the preeminent one. So he is the true light. But John's not quite done. He's leading up to something. And this is what he's leading up to. Jesus is the Savior. And that highlights his provision. Yes, he is the God-man. He is the Creator. He is the true light. But all of that leads up to the fact that he is the Savior. He's the one who came to give his life for us, to make provision for us, for our salvation. Notice verse 10 describes the purpose for his coming. He was in the world. Just stop right there. He was in the world. Those are astounding words. The Creator, the God-man who was with God in eternity past in the beginning, he was. And he was with God. And he was God. He's now in the world. The one who created all things is now in the world. The one who is the sun, the light is now in the world. Why would the God-man, why would the Creator, why would the true light lower himself to come to this little planet? Why would he be in the world? There's only one purpose for him coming. Ultimately, lots of offshoots of that, but only ultimately one purpose. And that is to be our Savior. He came to this earth so that he might lay down his life as a sacrifice for our sins, that he might die on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin in mind. Because the wages of sin, the Bible tells us, is death. The wages, what we earn, what we deserve because of death, or because of sin, is death. Eternal separation from God. Jesus came to pay that penalty so that we might have life through him. That's the purpose for his coming. But not everybody recognizes that. There are any number of responses that you can give to his coming. John mentions three of them. Three responses to his coming. The first is what I'm going to call indifference. Verse 10, he was in the world. And though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. It's like they walked right by him. Didn't notice. Didn't care. Didn't know who he was. In difference, all caught up in life and busyness and work and family and hobbies and all the stuff there is to do. And so just walk right by him. Don't even take the time to listen, to hear, to recognize who he is. They did not recognize. It's not talking about that they pondered him very closely and turned away. It's kind of the idea they walked right by him. They didn't even recognize who he was. Because their minds were preoccupied with so many other things. So true of us today. We get so busy with life. Maybe you're here this morning and coming to church is a part of your life and something you do because it's something you feel like you're supposed to do. Or maybe you even want to do and that's great. But it's just another one of those responsibilities of life and life is so busy and it's so packed and so stressful and you're walking right by Jesus and don't even realize who he is. You've never really taken the time to understand that he came for you to be your savior. That's the response of indifference. But there's a second response, the response of rejection in verse 11. He came to that which was his own but his own did not receive him. Probably speaking of the nation of Israel, he came to his own people, the nation of Israel. They rejected him. Their ignorance of him is totally unwarranted. It's inexcusable, much less their rejection of him. For centuries their prophets had told them he was coming and they had told him what he would be like. They had told him what his character would be. They had told him the kind of miracles he would do. Isaiah 35 lays out a number of the very miracles he would perform. They said where he would be born. They said lots of things about what he would be like. They even prophesied and foretold how he would come into Jerusalem before he died. They prophesied he would die. There was plenty of information in the Old Testament about who Jesus was and what he would do, who the Messiah would be. But they rejected him. He came unto his own but his own did not receive him. They rejected him. Isaiah even sent John the Baptist to proclaim who Jesus was and introduce him to the nation. They didn't receive it. And then Jesus himself performs incredible miracles and his teachings clearly indicate who he was and why he came. They rejected him. Rejected him. And there may be some like that here this morning. You've heard about Jesus plenty of times, maybe even in this building. You've heard the stories. You've heard him in Sunday school from the time you were a kid. You know that the stories of Jesus and the birth and the manger and the miracles and the cross and the tomb. You've heard all those stories. And yet you've never received him as your Savior. You've rejected him. You know why he came to know who he was and why he came and not receiving. Is the same as rejecting him. Is the same as just saying no. I don't want anything to do with you. There are lots of people in churches even, religious people, good moral people, law-abiding, family-providing people who refuse to receive Jesus. And that leads me to the third response to his coming and that is reception. To receive Jesus, look at verse 12, yet to all who did receive him. My friend is that simple. Receive him. We've just come through the Christmas season and I expect most if not everyone in this room got a gift. Let's say you're opening a gift from your family and you open it up and this is one it's beautiful. It's just just what I was hoping to receive. How much do I owe you for it? While your family member or friend would be horrified at the suggestion, would be offended that you would try to pay for the gift. A gift is designed to come from the heart of the giver, to indicate their love and that nothing is expected to pay for that gift. It's given freely for you to enjoy and that comes out of the joy of the giver. So to imply that you can earn it or pay for it is an offense. God is no less offended when you try to pay him to get into heaven. When you try to earn your way into heaven. When you try to say, well I'm a good enough person or I've lived a good enough life. I've done this or this or this. You know at heart I'm really a decent person. You're trying to earn your way into heaven. You're trying to pay with your good life or your good works. There is nothing you can do to pay. God offers it as a gift. It's given freely from his joyful loving heart. So you just simply receive a gift. You don't do anything to pay for it. Earn it. Merit it. You receive it. It's okay. All right. How do I receive Christ? I mean I can't take him like I would open a gift and see it there in front of me. So how do I receive Christ? Well thankfully John tells us. Yet to all who did receive him and then he explains what that means to those who believed in his name. In Bible times the name of someone referred to their person to who they were and maybe a characteristic of something they did. Many of our English names come from that. Names come from occupations that people in the Middle Ages had. In Bible times the name communicated the person and their work and so to believe in Jesus name is to understand who he is that he's the son of God who came to this earth to die for your sins to understand what he did for you. That's believing and believing in his name believing in his name is not just understanding the facts that he came that he died. Okay. I believe that. No. It's believing in his name which indicates a confidence in a trust in a reliance upon. So what John is saying is that we place all of our trust, our confidence of getting to heaven in him and who he is and what he did for us on the cross. It means we're not relying on our good works, our church membership, our baptism, anything we have done. We're relying totally upon Jesus Christ. That's believing in his name. Nothing is added to that. Nothing is tacked onto the end of that. It's simply believing in what he is, who he is and what he's done for you. And it is to those people, John says he gave the right to become children of God. You do not become a child of God through any other means. You become a child of God through faith, confidence, total reliance upon Jesus Christ as your savior, the one who died for you on the cross. But that is the proper response to his coming. Everyone here is faced with the question of who Christ is. John has answered that question for us. Clearly he is the God man, he is the creator, he's the true light, he is the savior, but a much more pressing question faces us today. And that is what will our response be. How will we respond to knowing who he is and what he's done for us? Will you respond within difference just walking on by, just walking on out, going about your own life, not giving him another thought? Will you respond with rejection? Where once again you turn your back on him and walk away from him? Will you today respond with reception, just receive him as God's free gift to you, a savior, one who died for your sins? We should do that today, let's pray together. Father thank you that a savior came from heaven, your own son, the one who was with you from eternity past. Thank you that he came to be our savior. And Lord I pray this morning for anyone here who's never placed their faith in Christ as savior, although they may be a good person, may even be a church member, but they've never trusted Jesus as their savior. I pray that today might be the day when they will put their faith in Christ and trust him as savior. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.