The Superiority Of The Savior Series

The Savior’s Superiority John 3:31-36

One the first things people seem to ask when they meet someone for the first time is: Where do you come from? We don’t mean which hospital or heritage (not thinking of your family tree) or which planet or universe did you come from because we are ALL from the earth. Today’s verses in John 3:31-36 testify to five reasons for the Superiority of Lord Jesus Christ over ALL THINGS, and why His testimony can be trusted and experienced by His Creation.

31 "He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

1.Christ alone has His origin in the infinite providence of Heaven. (vs. 31,32a)

“He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies.” Christ alone has His origin in the infinite providence of Heaven. He alone is infinitely superior to any created thing and superior to ALL mankind. John the Baptist was of the earth as was John the disciple. All mankind is earthly, limited and finite and Jesus is absolutely preeminent, and infinite; what makes Him above all is that He originates in an unlimited sphere of existence, and the NEW BIRTH from God originates from where? FROM ABOVE- A birth that originates in God’s existence, not an earthly existence.

2. Christ alone knew Truth by His OWN experience. (32)

Secondly, 32 “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.” If you want to learn something and learn it well, it’s best if you do so by firsthand experience. Christ alone knew Truth by His OWN experience. He did not have to learn about the truth because He IS the truth. Jesus does not present a hypothesis as a basis for us to discuss whether we agree with Him or if what He teaches is plausible; Jesus teaches what He knows to be true because He has heard it and experienced it in the Heavenly Sphere from whence He came. Everything He says is supremely reliable and trustworthy and yet most of humanity will not receive the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ! “He brings the reality of the heavenly sphere of existence, of His intimate fellowship with Father God to earth-bound humanity.” (G. Boesenecker, Exegetical notes on John.)

Most of humanity will not truly believe the message of the Lord Jesus, because they CANNOT; Natural man cannot accept Christ’s witness because the natural man, without a birth from above, without God’s Spirit of enlightenment, will not accept or understand the deep things that belong to God. The new birth from above must precede the reception of Christ’s witness of the Word, because men in and of themselves will never receive and believe the witness of Jesus.

3. Christ’s Testimony ALWAYS agrees with the Father’s.

Continuing to verse 33: “He (the one) who has received (having received-a decisive act) His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. (the very essence and character of God Himself: reliable, faithful, full of grace and truth.) 34a For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God.” Receiving the testimony of the Lord Jesus is a decisive act whereby a person accepts the entirety of Jesus’ Witness, recognizing His Heavenly origin, His Divine Nature, and the Truth of God as revealed in His Word and in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. In the Eastern tradition, when you placed your seal on a document, you attested to the truth of that document. If it was your last will and testament, you were surrendering everything that belonged to you to someone else. So it is when you receive God’s testimony and you set your seal to it. You surrender all to God, body, soul, and spirit and possessions to Him for His use, believing Him alone to be the one and only True God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that He alone is able to save. The man that does not do this - that is not willing to pledge this kind of faith and belief, that God is entirely true, says that God is a liar and unworthy of his confidence.