God’s Offer Of Life-2 Series

GOD’s OFFER Of LIFE-II—John 1:5-13

Attention:

Winslow the ‘rescued’ Greyhound—Very skittish, We only had Winslow(former racing Greyhound) for a few weeks. A great leash dog but absolutely no street smarts. Very skittish. We loved on him practically to embarrassment! One night in winter of early 2013, as I was just getting ready to take Winslow for his usual last walk of the night before going to bed. I was about to attach his leash, when my wife(cleaning the carpet w/ a 'Rug Doctor') opened the door to dump the used water, & Winslow headed out the door & walked down the hill into the road! As I headed for Winslow who was standing there, I had to lean back a little & tread slowly & carefully because it had rained & the red-clay hill was slippery. But just as I got to the bottom of the hill I lost my footing, fell, & got mud all over my pants coat & shoes! I stood up immediately & threw the leash down in anger, getting it all muddy too! Winslow was standing just outside of reach but I didn’t want to put the muddy leash on him, so I calmly started walking up the road to our driveway. He followed along right behind me until we got about ⅔ of the way up the driveway, when Winslow decided to go thru the woods in the opposite direction of the house! We called & called & drove around the neighborhood but no Winslow!

Many days passed & then Jacob, the neighbor’s son, said he had seen a dog like Winslow on the railroad tracks.

We searched for Winslow but to no avail.

One of the neighbors said they had seen a large dog come out of the patch of woods in front of his house. I found the trail thru the woods & it took me out onto the RR tracks. As I looked around for Winslow, there he stood about 100 ft. away on the opposite side of the tracks in some brambles! he had been spending his nights in a cold wet brierpatch. I mustered all the calming compassion I could as I tenderly called for him. But as soon as he saw & heard me, he bolted. He ran in a semi-circle to another part of the tracks, where I cautiously met him. Again as soon as he saw me he ran onto the tracks heading in the opposite direction precisely without stumbling on the RR ties & unflinchingly away from me. I couldn’t possibly keep up.

Winslow never did come home. And he never survived the winter that year in central NC. Because on the way to work one morning, my wife, saw his body, having been run over, laying in the middle of US Hwy 52 near Church Creek which ran under the RR tracks & skirted our neighborhood.

Winslow’s offer of life stood continuously. It was available at every moment. Warmth, Food & Love, Belonging were all waiting.

Likewise, God’s Offer of Life is waiting for you.

The apostle John revealed God’s offer of legitimate Life to mankind.

God offers Life to mankind.

How can Life be procured/had?

God’s offer of Life comes to you thru...

Last time, we discovered that God’s offer of Life comes to you thru...

1. Its CONTRAST(:5)

2—God’s offer of Life comes to you thru...

Its WITNESS(:6-8)

Explanation:(:6-8)

:6—“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

:7—“This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.”

In relation to this Light, there was a person(John) who was sent as “a witness” to/of the Light &/or its presence. The Light needed a witness to its(His) presence. The witness was provided by God because He loved us & wanted men to have the life(:4) & to be drawn to its light.

This means that the life present in the Word can be misunderstood/unappreciated/unseen/incomprehensible/unapprehended/discounted by those in its very presence & influence.

Much as a blindfolded man can stand in a well lighted room & still remain in darkness. He has the capacity to observe the light & so must first be made aware of the presence of the light in order to form a desire to experience it. Once the desire is established, then he may make attempts/efforts to understand it better & make an effort to correct what is preventing him from experiencing it fully. Or he may decide that experiencing the light is not worth his best efforts & remain blindfolded.

JTB baptized people in preparation for Jesus. Though being baptized & anticipating the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit & fire, one still must center their allegiance in Jesus personally.

Mat. 3:11-12—““I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit & fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, & He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, & gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.””