Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 2
October 9, 2022
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: Without "John", there
can be
no "believing".
Introduction: In our study last week we saw that "John" was the name of a man whom God had sent from His own presence as an additional "creature", created miraculously, specifically, and critically. His "creation" was miraculous as it stands with
1:3 as the statement that not one thing came into being without Jesus' creation activities (and is detailed by the Gospel of Luke as "miraculous" because of its "impossibility" in regard to both Elizabeth and Zacharias). His "having been sent from the face of God" was particularly "specific" because the phrase "from [the face of] God" indicates, at a minimum, that "John" was "foreordained" by the Father (as is declared by John's own testimony that he was prophesied by Isaiah in
1:23). His being name "John" was on the basis of a divine imperative so that he was to introduce "Grace" to his generation and all that have come afterwards (as declared by Luke's record of Zacharias' inability to speak until the miraculous and specific "son" was
named "John").
This morning we are going to look further into the declaration of God's purpose for "John" as a miraculous, specific, and critical intention.
- I. The Missing Ingredient In The First Century Theology Of The Jews.
- A. That there was "a missing ingredient" is indisputable in that they put to death the Lord of Glory.
- B. The first aspect of this "missing ingredient" is its specific content.
- 1. The name, "John", gives that "specific content" in a single phrase: Yahweh is gracious.
- a. This is not an undeclared mystery of God before the coming of "John".
- b. This is, rather, a "brushed aside" factor of God's long term dealings with Israel throughout the history of the nation beginning with Abraham, highlighted by Jacob, and practiced by God throughout the 2,000 year history from Abraham to Christ.
- 1) That God was regularly "gracious" in His dealings with Israel is recorded by all the prophets.
- 2) That His practice was "brushed aside" was according to the principle of "bottom line focus" (hurting a second place to take away the focus upon the hurting of the first).
- c. The primary reason that "Grace" was "brushed aside" is the very nature of "Grace" itself.
- 1) "Grace" completely ignores the behavior of the recipient (Romans 4:1-8 and Psalm 130:3).
- 2) "Grace" brings a measure of benefit that is beyond the comprehension of the recipient, unsullied by that recipient's demerits (1 Corinthians 2:9).
- 3) "Grace" is rooted in divine activity with His purposes in view (1 Timothy 1:15-16).
- 2. The intention of God for "John" was to bring the "focus" to "Grace".
- C. The second aspect of this "missing ingredient" is its most fundamental requirement.
- 1. This "requirement" is what the Bible calls "faith".
- a. It is a "requirement" because "unbelief" totally frustrates "Grace" in view of God's intention in extending "Grace".
- b. At some point, men must realize that "faith" in what God says is "the" effective agency of "the experience of Grace".
- 2. While men are alive, God extends "Grace" to all, all the time, but no one experiences the outcomes of "Grace" if there is no "faith".
- a. Those "outcomes" are fundamentally internal and relational.
- b. Fundamental and relational outcomes are absolutely determined by the presence or absence of "faith".
- D. This ingredient was not missing because it was not present; it was missing because it was both unrecognized and not trusted.
- II. John's (The Author Of This Gospel) Record Declares That It Is "Through" John (The Baptizer) That All Believe.
- A. This declaration indicates that "John" was an absolutely critical element for any/every man's capacity to "believe".
- 1. The text says that "all men believe through him".
- a. This does not mean that "all" men "believe".
- b. It means that any man who does "believe" does so because of God's use of "John".
- c. Thus, we should understand that the text means "all of those who believe, do so on the foundation laid by God through John: no "John", no "believing".
- 2. The meaning of this text.
- a. Is not that "John" must be preached before "Jesus" can be effectively preached.
- b. Is that the "essence" of "John" must be a part of the preaching regarding Jesus.
- B. This Gospel reveals this "essence of John" by telling us of his "purpose" and its "fulfillment".
- 1. John was sent in view of a "witness" that he would give.
- a. 1:7 says "This one came with a view toward a "witness".
- b. This verse goes on to say that "he should bear witness".
- c. Thus, the "claim" of the verse is that John not only came with God's intention in mind, but that he fulfilled that intention.
- 2. Therefore, wherever this "witness" exists, "John" is "essentially" present, though not physically present.
- a. John is "the agent of the faith of all who believe".
- b. But it is not the man who is the agent of faith; it is his "witness".
- c. There is no legitimate "belief" if that "witness" has not first been received.
- III. The Missing Ingredient In The Theology Of The Twenty-first Century "Church".
- A. "John" is ignorantly dismissed by much of the preaching of the so-called "Gospel" in the so-called churches of this century.
- B. But, the "message" proclaimed today is not "The Gospel" if it does not have "the witness of John" in its "prologue".
