John Chapter 1:13-19

I am not trying to be a Christian. I am a Christian.

Guys, you've got to realize that. A Christian is who you are if you've received Him. It's not something you're trying to be, that if you're good enough for long enough, you become one. You are identified with Jesus Christ if you've received Him, and you believe in Him, and you trust in His name. You are a Christian, and because I'm a Christian, I live for the Lord. I walk out my faith, but don't ever get those backwards. You don't do works to become a Christian.

You become a Christian, and you do works. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is a senior pastor of the Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina, and we're glad to have one of David McGee's associate pastors, D.A.

Brown, here with us as Pastor David continues through the book of John. Bob, no matter how you feel, if you've received Jesus, you've been adopted into a new family. You know, D.A., when I was born into my current family, I don't remember feeling much. I just kind of grew up with them and learned what they were like over time, and some things were wonderful, and some things were a little strange, but we were always part of the family.

Yeah, Bob, it's not all about our feelings. When we know that we've heard from God through His Word, we can trust in what He says, and we can expect that what He says is going to come to pass. That's good, D.A., and let's find out what this family is all about today as David McGee continues in the Gospel of John. Turn with me to the Gospel of John chapter 1, verse 13. Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Born of God. John chapter 3, verse 3 tells us very plainly, Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

It can't be any plainer than that. Unless you've been born again, you can't see the kingdom of God. You must be born again. Jesus didn't say, if you don't do this, and you don't do that, and if you, you know, you do this, and you do that, and if you dress a certain way, and you wear your hair a certain way, and you don't have any earrings, or any other rings, or if you don't have any tattoos, or, you know, He didn't say any of those things. He said, if you haven't been born again, you don't get to see the kingdom of God. It doesn't matter how long you've been a member of which church. These are the words of Jesus, and I've had people, you know, we went and ministered to a group of kids, this is 10 years ago or something, group of kids, and led them in a prayer to receive the Lord, and I had one of them call me and say, hey, you know, I was talking to my youth leader, and, you know, he told me that this whole born again thing is just an emotional experience.

It's not necessary. I said, let me send you some stuff, and I quoted this verse to him. I said, that's not what Jesus said. Verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now, family, the Trinity is everywhere in this earth.

It's spiritually and physically. It's interesting that even science itself bears out the Trinity, because the universe is divided into what? Time and space and matter. Those three things, time, space, and matter. What's time divided into? Well, you see Trinity again, past, present, future. All the fingerprints of God, all over the place, and the more you dig, the more you see. Space into what?

Height, depth, width. It's amazing how these things keep being defined by the number three, matter into energy, motion, and phenomena. And incidentally, the New Testament is not the place where Jesus first came to the earth. There's a bunch of places where He came to the earth.

Abraham in Genesis 18, Jacob in Genesis 23, Joshua in Joshua 5, Gideon in the book of Judges. And we know he's referred to as an angel of the Lord, but if you look, those people worshiped the angel of the Lord, and the angel accepted their worship. Well, that tells you it's not an angel. You see, because when you look into the book of Revelation, when John tries to fall at the foot of an angel, angel says, get up, stand up, don't do that. He rejected John's worship. Why? Because he was an angel.

Let me ask you a question. Why would an angel be sensitive about anybody worshipping him? Because he saw a third of his friends get cast down from heaven over this matter. So when you see an angel of the Lord being worshipped, that tells you that that angel of the Lord is what we refer to as a Christophany, Jesus Christ appearing in the flesh to mankind.

Now, the difference is those were appearances. In the New Testament, He sets up a residence on the earth. What an amazing thing. God living among us. God became a man to win man to Himself. And you know what? I don't think we can have a hold of that.

It's an amazing fact. Jesus Christ left heaven by choice to come down here. Now, sometimes I travel, and when you travel, you don't have your things. You know what I'm saying? You get to a hotel, and you don't have your coffee maker.

You don't have your hairdryer, or the towels are different. And how these things affect us. Think of what Jesus did.

Comparing your house to a hotel, it's nothing. Comparing heaven to earth, He left the worship of angels to come down here to be accused of blasphemy. What an amazing thing. And no other religion has that. No other religion has God becoming a man to save man from his sins. It's unique to Christianity. And that's the good news.

That is the good news. And it says, He dwelt. The word in the Greek is skino. It means to temporarily inhabit a human body. That doesn't make him any less human, because guess what? You know what we're doing? We are temporarily inhabiting a human body. What you're living in today is not what you're going to be living in in eternity. Praise God. Now, I believe in taking care of the tent.

I try to eat well as much as I can and take care of myself. But not to worship the tent so I'm able to minister and have long hours and stuff. And it is a tent. We talked about this Thursday night.

And guys, don't be surprised. Don't be surprised as you grow older that your tent sags a little bit. Sometimes leaks and you got to patch it. And then gravity comes in and sometimes the whole tent just gets blown over. It's just a tent. It's going to be okay. Because one day you're done with the tent. You're finished with the tent. And every day that you live in this tent brings you one day closer to not living in this tent, to where you won't have the same concerns that you have today. This is the word was made flesh.

It's interesting. John, right here in the beginning, deals with two heresies that started back then and still exist today. And that's one downplaying the humanity of Jesus.

And the other thing is downplaying the deity of Jesus. Jesus was fully man, Jesus was fully God. He wasn't half man and half God. He was fully man and fully God. And it was important that he be fully man. Look how many people tried to destroy that lineage that Jesus came through. Pharaoh, Haman, Herod, just to name a few, tried to destroy the humanity of Jesus.

Why was that? Because there's an important concept. We'll learn about it more in the Hebrew scriptures of a goel. A goel is a Hebrew word for kinsman redeemer. See, there's a picture of Jesus Christ in that.

You can read the book of Ruth and you'll see some of it. But in order to be a goel, a kinsman redeemer, number one, you had to be willing. Number two, you had to be related to the person in order to redeem them. And so Jesus qualified in both those.

He was related to us and he was willing. Now verse 15, John bore witness of him and cried out saying, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me. Now this is interesting because you're remembering, I think it's either in Luke or Matthew that we're told John was six months older than Jesus physically. So right here, John is saying Jesus existed spiritually before I did.

Again, the deity of Jesus Christ. Verse 16, and of his fullness, we have all received and grace for grace for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Remember it was not Moses who led the children of Israel to the promised land.

And maybe you've thought, well, you know, how tragic, but there's a picture there. See Moses was a picture of the law. He was the law giver. And it was not the law that took the people into the promised land. It was Joshua. What's Joshua's Hebrew name? Yeshua.

The same as Jesus. It was Yeshua that took the people into the promised land, not the law, but the grace. So you can't get in through the law.

You can't get in through the law. Now, if you didn't exit polling a bunch of churches around the community, you'd have people argue that. You say, are you going to heaven? Oh, sure. How are you going to get there? Well, I'll be the best I can.

Try to obey the 10 commandments, come to church, do the right thing. It has nothing to do with it. Got your attention now, don't it? Nothing to do with it. It all boils down to whether you accept Jesus as your savior or you reject him as your savior.

Now don't get me wrong. I believe faith leads to works. That as you believe Jesus as your savior, you begin to do things.

Your life begins to change, but it starts from the recognition of Jesus as your savior. And through the law, you recognize your sinfulness, you recognize your need for a savior. Jesus said in John chapter five, verse 45, do not think that I shall accuse you to the father.

There is one who accuses you Moses in whom you trust. Now, a lot of times we make the mistake of going, okay, well, in the Hebrew scriptures, in the Old Testament, you know, God was all about law and punishment and he was angry. And then he changed in the New Testament.

No, he didn't. We recognize the price that Jesus paid and dined for our sins. But you know, far too often we downplay the price that was paid by his father. Read the crucifixion account. Notice how the sky grew black and the earth shook because a father was in mourning. Father God did that for us as well as Jesus.

So to paint him as an angry father judging us is highly inappropriate. We could go through dozens of scriptures, but Exodus chapter 34, verse seven says, speaking of God the father, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Understand, it talks about grace here. Grace is the unearned favor and kindness of God on those who don't deserve it. It's the basis of salvation. It's the basis of justification. It's the basis of spiritual gifts. It's the basis of blessings is God's grace. God's grace. That's interesting because it says grace and truth.

Those are two awesome powerful things. What is truth? Truth is God's word. What is grace? God's grace. What have you had truth with no grace? Some of us have been given that. It doesn't give you much hope. But what if you get grace without truth? Then you're so easily deceived that you won't walk with the Lord for very long.

You need truth. And I think right here is a little picture that John gives us in the first chapter. He's saying, you know what, everything is getting ready to change.

The whole system of sacrificing animals and the temple and all these things, it's all getting ready to change in the fulfillment of Jesus Christ. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, Bob, we want to take a minute to pray for some listeners in these cities. In California, we have Fort Bragg, Garberville, Grass Valley, Happy Camp, Hay Fork, Indio, and Johnstonville. God, we thank you for the people tuning in today in these cities. Lord, we pray that they're encouraged in what you're laying on their heart to do. We pray that they would put their trust in you and get plugged in a Bible teaching church. We pray for the pastors, Lord, that they would have wisdom and discernment how to encourage the people to come to hear the word.

Lord, we ask you, bless these cities. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. Now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 18 says, No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. It says no one has seen God at any time.

He said, Well, wait a minute, you just said that Jesus appeared as a Christophany, not in the fullness of His glory. No man has seen God that is still living and seen God in His fullness of His glory. Now, I've heard some people go, Well, if only I could see God, I would believe. Well, yeah, but do you realize that if you could see God, it's over. You're done.

You're dead. I mean, that's kind of too late. And I know that's going to happen. We see it in Scripture. People are going to stand before the Lord and they're going to say, Now that I'm dead, I'm ready to live for you, Lord. I'm just going to say, You know, it's too late. I never knew you.

I never knew you. And we get glimpses every now and again in our heart or through the Word of God or perhaps in worship of Jesus in His glory. But our sin and our humanity right now kind of keep us from really seeing Him. But one day, one day we will see Him in His fullness and His glory.

We'll throw off this mortal body and we'll behold Him face to face as He is and we will fall to our knees in worship. Now, it says only begotten Son. Understand what begotten means. Begotten doesn't mean born. If you use born for begotten, that's a bad definition because then you have Father God creating Jesus Christ.

And that's one of the things that Jehovah's Witnesses play on. Actually, going back to verse 1, they say then the word was a God, not was God. And there is no scriptural evidence for that going back to the original Greek.

And you will never find a Greek scholar that agrees with that definition, by the way. Let's get one more verse in. Verse 19, Now this is a testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask Him, Who are you? I love that question. Who are you? That's a great question.

Let me ask it of you this morning. Who are you? Who are you? So many of us find our identities in what we do or the sports we love or that sort of thing. That's not who you are.

That's what you do. Who you are is different than that. And what we do doesn't answer who we are.

The opposite is. Life lesson number 4, who we are should answer what we do. Who we are should answer what we do. Family, we're Christians and we are identified in that name as being followers of Jesus Christ, as being identified with Jesus.

If we're identified with Jesus in name, we should be identified with Jesus in our actions as well. There's an old story and I shared it before about Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great had somebody that was running out of the battle and he took the sword and he drew it and he put it in his neck and he said, you know, before I kill you, what's your name? The young man said, Alexander. Alexander looked at him, drew the sword back and said, you know what, from this moment forward, you will either change your behavior or you will change your name. It's probably a good thing for us to consider as Christians.

Change your name or change your actions. See, we are part of the body of Christ. You are part of the body of Christ. You are part of the family of God. How is that for finding your identity?

You don't need to look for it anymore. You don't need to go find yourself. This is who you are. If you believe in Jesus, you are part of the family of God. You are identified with Jesus Christ. That's your identity. That is who you are. You know, I've never had my hand look at me and go, you know, I just don't know who I am anymore.

I'm just trying to figure it all out. I've never, well, my hands never looked at me anyway. Let's use it, let's use an eye.

My eye has never, this is getting weird. You understand what I'm, my body is part of my body. It recognizes that it's part of my body and the Lord forbid at any time it doesn't recognize that it's part of my body because then I've got serious problems, right? We're going to leave here in a few minutes. You're going to go eat lunch. Do you realize when you go to eat lunch, you take a deadly weapon in your hand and point it at your face. You take a fork. Hopefully your hand never gets in rebellion and your hand thinks, you know, I think I could run the body. If only I could take the brain out. And so you go to eat, you go, you're thinking you're putting the fork in your mouth, but your hand rebels and hits you right in the brain, man.

You got a real problem, don't you? Thankfully, your hand is part of the body. It recognizes it's part of the body. Recognize your identity in Him. Recognize your identity in Jesus Christ. That's who you are.

If you've received Him, that's who you are. You're part of the body. Now, I think people should be an active part of the body, but even if you're not an active part of the body, that doesn't make you not part of the body. That just means somebody else is pulling your load, quite honestly. You're still part of the body. And there's times when you know what, quite honestly, you need that.

You need somebody else to pull your load for you. And that's what being a family about being brothers and sisters in the Lord is about. And being identified in Christ, that's His doing. If you've received Him, you are identified. You are sealed.

Now, we hear that word and that one's been misappropriated. We think, oh yeah, we're sealed. I've read that in the book of Ephesians that we're sealed. Yeah, kind of like an envelope. No, not kind of like an envelope.

Ephesians 1 13 says, in Him whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory. It's not being sealed like an envelope, guys. The Greek word for seal is suffragidzo. And what that means, it means to stamp with a signet or a private mark for security or preservation. See, if you were a king, you wore a ring with your seal on it.

That way, when anybody saw that seal, they knew who you belong to. You've been sealed with the mark of the king. You have His mark upon you. Now later, others will take a different mark, but you have received the mark of the living God. And there's another interesting thing in here. It says the guarantee of our inheritance.

Again, we lose a little bit of this. That's arabon. The Greek word for guarantee is arabon.

It's of Hebrew origin, and it means a pledge or a part of the purchase money or property given in advance and security for the rest, a deposit or a down payment. Are you beginning to realize who you are? You've been sealed with the mark of the king. As a matter of fact, He's made a down payment. He's made a deposit towards you. And guess what?

When you put down a deposit, you come back. God, this is so important. I am a Caucasian male. That's something I am. I'm not trying to be that. That's something that I am. And some of you need to get this.

This is really, really important. I am not trying to be a Christian. I am a Christian. God, you've got to realize that. A Christian is who you are if you've received Him.

It's not something you're trying to be, that if you're good enough for long enough, you become one. You are identified with Jesus Christ. If you've received Him and you believe in Him and you trust in His name, you are a Christian. And because I'm a Christian, I live for the Lord. I walk out my faith, but don't ever get those backwards. You don't do works to become a Christian.

You become a Christian and you do works. And a lot of people struggle with this. I'm not trying to be in the family. I am in the family. You're not trying to be in the family.

If you've trusted Him, you're in the family. Either you are identified with Christ or you are wondering who you are. You're identified with yourself. You're identified with the world.

In either case, at the very best, you're identified with something that's always changing, moving, and at worst, something that's very selfish or evil. Who do you want to be identified with this morning? Do you want to be identified with Jesus?

Then you can be. You can take this opportunity to be identified with Jesus Christ. Now, maybe you've never asked Him to forgive you of your sins, and I want to give you the opportunity to do that this morning. But perhaps there's some people in here who have been struggling with what I've been sharing this morning.

They've been thinking, well, I want to be in the family. I want to be a Christian, and I'm really trying hard to be a Christian. You need to realize that you are a Christian if you've accepted Jesus as your Savior. And from that place of rest, the rest and trust in the works of Jesus Christ, then you begin to walk out your faith. But it has to be from that place of rest and recognition that Jesus has adopted you.

So who do you want to be identified with? Jesus or something else? For some, that means trusting in Jesus Christ for the first time. Others, it may mean to stop striving and to rest in Him as you realize you've been adopted.

You are family. A Christian is not something you're trying to become. It's something that you are the moment you believe and you receive Him. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God, with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee.

That sounds good, Pastor D.A., and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There, you'll experience a live service from David's Home Church to help you get to know the service from David's Home Church, The Bridge in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.