Tuesday, Dec. 16th

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Tuesday, December 16

John 1:10-12
 
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

My Mom grew up in the hills of eastern Kentucky and was the first person in her family to make a personal commitment to Christ. She was 19 years old and heard the gospel in a tiny church led by a missionary preacher who happened to be a woman. I think there were something like 9 people in church the night my Mom heard the gospel and decided to follow Jesus. 

She immediately started to try to share the gospel with her family and, in particular, with her grandfather; a crusty mountain man the family affectionately called “Grandpa Joe.” From the stories my Mom tells, Grandpa Joe was a former coal miner and a bingeing alcoholic who would disappear for weeks at a time when he would start drinking. Then he would sober up and come home and then it would happen all over again. 

Some time after my Mom came to faith in Jesus Grandpa Joe had to be hospitalized. He was dying of “Black Lung disease” from all his years in the coal mines; his condition probably complicated even further by cirrhosis of the liver.

My Mom loved her Grandpa and went to visit him in the hospital. She did her best to share the gospel with him and urged him to confess his sins and receive the grace and forgiveness of Christ. 

But Grandpa Joe was a tough old bird, and he argued back with her, saying, “But daughter, I can’t think of anything I’ve done wrong!” He was just joking with her, of course, because he knew he was a scoundrel. Finally he looked at her from his deathbed and said with all seriousness, “I’d be a coward to ask for forgiveness now; I gotta take what’s comin’ to me.”

John writes: 

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

John is telling us there are two kinds of people in the world; those who receive him and those who refuse him.

Who is “him?”

“Him” is Jesus, the one John has been talking about for the first 14 verses of his gospel! Jesus is the eternal Word of God; the true light that enlightens everyone; Jesus is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us.

John is saying that the central question every human being must answer; and the central question of all human history is, “Who is Jesus and what do I decide about him?”


Notice that John says that Jesus came into the world but that the world did not know him. Then John says Jesus came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

I think John is saying there are two primary ways that people fail to acknowledge Jesus.

First, there are those who fail to understand, to grasp, who Jesus is and what he has come to offer them. This past week President Obama gave a speech during the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. Among other things he said:

“It’s the story of hope--the birth of a singular child into the simplest of circumstances--a child who would grow up to live a life of humility, and kindness, and compassion...who taught us to care for the poor, and the marginalized, and those who are different from ourselves,” “And more than two millennia later, the way he lived still compels us to do our best to build a more just and tolerant and decent world.

All that sounds good, but that’s not the primary reason Jesus came, not according to the Bible.

I think John is saying that the world generally misunderstands who Jesus is.

Second, there are those to whom Jesus has come personally, who have heard the gospel clearly yet have chosen to reject Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and salvation. This would be Grandpa Joe, after hearing my mother explain the gospel to him, saying, “I gotta take what’s comin’ to me.” This is a direct rejection of Jesus.

But whether through chosen ignorance or direct rejection,
the Bible is very clear; God has revealed himself to all so all have to make a choice.

Scripture says that God has revealed himself most clearly through Jesus. In Hebrews 1 we read:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son... (Hebrews 1:1)

But scripture also teaches that God has revealed himself through the world that he made. In Romans 1 we read:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Romans 1:20)

Therefore the Bible teaches that every human being makes a choice, a fundamentally spiritual choice that can be framed in a number of different ways.

People can choose to believe that the universe was created by a transcendent and eternal God, or that it happened by accident.

People can choose to believe that there is a God or there is not a God. If there is no God then there are no further choices to make. Live however you want because all of life is simply survival of the fittest.

But if I decide there is a God who created all things, including me, then I must make a whole series of decisions. What is this God like? What does he expect of me? How do I know him? How do I live in relationship with this God?

We must make a decision about Jesus. John says to make that decision we must “receive and believe.”

Back to the story of Grandpa Joe. The truth is, of course, that Grandpa Joe was indeed a coward, but not for the reason he thought. He was a coward not because he was willing to pay the price for his many sins, but rather because he was unwilling to accept the invitation to confess, repent and receive Christ’s offer of grace and forgiveness.

Sadly, Grandpa Joe made his decision about Jesus.

Have you?

Pastor Brian Coffey