An Invitation To Life

The text that I want to look at this morning is verses 35-39 of the first chapter of the gospel of John. In order to preface the chosen text I also read verses 1-18. I chose these scriptures as a preface for one reason. For the message I have prepared for you this morning, it is important for you to know that Jesus is God in the flesh. Many a times I have had discussions with people where I have made a similar statement and they have said, “No, he is the Son of God” and I say, “Yes, but he is also God.” Now I don’t claim to fully understand how this is, I only claim that the bible teaches it. So lets take a look:

(If you have your bible with you, I want to encourage you read along with me because I will be jumping around a little bit. If you don’t have a bible with you, follow along and I think that you will arrive at the same conclusion.)

V.1 claims that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” V.14 tells us that “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Now if the Word was God and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, then it logically follows that God became flesh and made his dwelling among us. These scriptures alone testify that Jesus was God. But so that we will have another leg to stand on, lets look a little bit deeper.

The rest of V. 14 reads, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” We know that Jesus is the Son of God, and we know that the Son comes from the Father. So we see that in this passage the phrase, “the One and Only,” refers to Jesus because it reads “. . . the One and Only, who came from the Father.” If we skip down to V.18 we see the same phrase used again. It reads, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Fathers side, has made Him known.” So if we know that the phrase, “The One and Only” refers to Jesus, and we know that God is the One and only, then once again it logically follows that Jesus is God.

The scriptures teach that Jesus was God. Knowing this truth is important to this morning’s message because by definition God is omniscient, or he knows all things. And if he knows all things, then he knows the deepest desires of our heart.

So let’s take a look at the text for this morning.

(READ JOHN 1:35-39)

I find it interesting that the first time we hear Jesus speak in the book of John he gives us these words,

“What do you seek?”

Since creation mankind has always been in pursuit of fulfillment and purpose. Whether we are aware of it or not, we all live our lives in search of meaning. I want to challenge everyone here this morning to take an honest look at yourself and answer the question that Jesus is asking you. “What do you seek? What is it that you are looking for? What is that one thing that would make you feel whole? What would complete you as a person?” At some point we have all entertained theses questions. In fact, we invest a large portion of our lives seeking to answer them:

We say to ourselves:

“If I was better at sports . . .”

“If I was only smarter, then . . .”

“If I could just get into that college that I wanted to go to, then . . .”

“When I get out of my parents house, then. . .”

“. . . My life would have more meaning.”

As we grow older the search continues:

“If I could only graduate College, then . . .”

“If only I could get that job that I want, then . . .”

“When I get that promotion and start making more money, then . . .”

“When I get married . . .”

“When I buy my own house . . .”

“ . . . Then my life would be better, then it would have more meaning.”

And the list goes on and on, and we walk through life looking for meaning and purpose in things that, at best, can only offer temporary satisfaction.

Maybe you can identify. Maybe in your search for meaning and purpose you have run into some dead ends.

“You train hard and become a better athlete.”

“You study hard and become a better student.”

“You finally get out of your parents house.”