8/22/11

I Was a Christian, Now I'm an Atheist - Say What?

If you are like me and you find enjoyment listening to debates between Christian and atheist scholars, then you no doubt have heard on multiple occasions something like the following:

"Yes, Mr. Moderator, I was a Christian until the age of 24. And then I slowly came to the conclusion that faith was not reasonable, the Bible was full of contradictions, the God of the Old Testament committed genocide, and the problem of evil was bigger than God. So the only intellectually honest thing for me to do was to reject my faith and become an atheist."

Upon hearing such proclamations, the obvious question is if its actually possible for an atheist to have once been a Christian.

Here is the Problem:
Salvation is more than a work of man. It is not just our belief in Jesus, our intellectual assent to the propositions of the Bible, and certainly not just our feelings. Salvation is, at a fundamental level, a supernatural act. An act of grace by God, on our behalf, that literally changes our heart (whether this happens before belief or right after is not the issue here).

For example, in Ezekiel 36:26 we see that God changes the heart of "stone" to a heart of "flesh". And we see in John 3 Jesus teach on the necessity of the born again heart (regeneration). Both of these examples, and there are many more, reveal to us that salvation is more than just a work of man. We can't "born" our hearts again; we can't change our hearts from "stone" to "flesh". A work of God is necessary.

Therefore, for one to claim that they were a Christian is to acknowledge that they were the recipient of a supernatural work of God in their heart. It is to acknowledge that they had a heart transformed from "stone" to "flesh"; that their heart was born again.

This can be clearly understood as follows:
  • Salvation involves a work of God.
  • I was saved.
  • Therefore, I was the recipient of a work of God -  a new heart.

Now, if they later decide that they aren't a Christian, but an atheist, they are left with a serious philosophical problem. How do they account for their regenerated heart?

Since God doesn't exist for them any longer, they certainly can't claim that God regenerated their heart; replaced their heart of stone with one of flesh.

The only tenable solution they have is to explain away their Christianity as merely an experience, a feeling, decision, or a cultural relic from which they finally escaped. But this is not Biblical Christianity.

Foundationally, Biblical Christianity isn't an experience, a feeling, a decision or a cultural relic. As we said, it is a supernatural work of God on one's heart.

So whatever the atheist may have been, it certainly wasn't a Christian in any Biblical sense.

Finally, if God does not exist, Biblical Christianity does not exist. It is an illusion; a scam.

It is absurd, then, to ever claim to have been a Christian while now denying the very existence of the Being needed for the Biblical Christianity to exist in the first place.


8/15/11

John 9:1-3 – Born Blind By Design

Last week Jesus taught that His ministry was not about glorifying Himself but the Father.
• We looked at all of the bold claims He made about Himself and His relationship to the Father in John 8 and asked how He could make such a claim.
• We then discovered that both the incarnation and the crucifixion vindicated His claim.
• But, His ministry of self-sacrifice and seeking to glorify the Father instead of Himself left us with another problem.
• He set a very difficult example for us to follow.

In this week’s lesson, Jesus sets another example for us to follow.
• Specifically, how we are to see human suffering.
• And although He is dealing with a deformity from birth in our text today, the principle He teaches has broader applications.

John 9:1–3 (ESV) — 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

BTW – “As he passed by” what? (Let’s begin with a very small rabbit trail)
• Because later in the text Jesus sends the blind man to wash in the pool of Siloam, we know Jesus was still in Jerusalem.
• And from texts like John 5:1-2 and Acts 3:1-2, we know that typically the needy congregated around the entrance gates to the city.
• So in all likelihood Jesus and His disciples were departing Jerusalem after the Feast of Booths and came upon this blind man at one of Jerusalem’s gates.



1) THE FIRST & SECOND CHOICE - FALSE DILEMMA

John 9:1–2 (ESV) — 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

One wonders what the disciples were after with their question.
• They were certainly confident enough in their knowledge to narrow down the options to two.

And because of their misplaced confidence, they committed the logical fallacy called false dilemma – blindness “B” is either due to sin of “X” or sin of “Y”.
• In other words, they were certain sin was the cause.
• The only uncertainty was whose sin was the cause.
• This was nothing new.
• Jewish tradition generally taught that there existed “a direct cause-and-effect relationship between suffering and sin” – Kostenberger.
• Therefore, they asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

Let’s talk about the false dilemma fallacy briefly.

Typical of the false dilemma fallacy, the disciples assumed they knew the answer before they even asked Jesus the question.
• This makes sense of course because the false dilemma is designed to corral the hearer to the conclusion the questioner has already made.
• In this case, the conclusion desired was that sin caused the man’s blindness.
• But importantly, with sin as the cause, God would also be logically excluded from the equation.
    o “Underlying the disciples’ statement is the concern not to charge God with perpetrating evil on innocent people” – Kostenberger.
• We’ll see, however, that Jesus had something to say about the disciples’ conclusion.

BTW – We need to be aware of the current danger of false dilemmas.
• You can see that the false dilemma can be used a clever trap to beat up on the Christian worldview.
• And let’s also keep in mind that there are certainly times where there is no third choice – Jesus is God or He isn’t, e.g.

False Dilemma - a favorite of the New Atheists:
• In debate after debate, they routinely demand that the listener decide that life is best understood via the reasoned, empirical knowledge of science or the mythology of religion.
• Richard Dawkins, for example, quoting Douglas Adams’ A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy asks us, "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
What is the defeater to this false dilemma?
• As John Lennox points out, Dawkins can reject the fairies but he can’t reject the gardener or there’s no garden.

And a second example, which has a direct bearing on our lesson today, can be found in the conclusion of the following syllogism.
• If God is all loving and good, he would prefer a world in which evil does not exist.
• If God is all powerful, He would create a world without evil.
• But, evil exists.
• Therefore either God is not all powerful or not all loving and good (the false dilemma).

The problem with this conclusion is that it tries to force us to say that God is not really God.
• This is the false dilemma.
• But there is a choice that Jesus shows us in our text today, a third choice, that refutes the conclusion of this syllogism.
What is the defeater, the third choice, to this false dilemma?
• William Lane Craig, puts it as follows, “God has morally sufficient reasons for permitting the evil that exists”.

As we look at Jesus’ own words, we will see one of these “morally sufficient reasons”.

2) THE THIRD CHOICE – PURPOSE

John 9:3 (ESV) — 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

We notice right away that the disciples’ conclusion was wholly false.
• Jesus shot it down entirely, at least in this specific instance.
• This does not mean, however, that sin can’t cause and contribute to physical suffering.
• Numbers 12:10–11 (ESV) — 10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.
• John 5:14 (ESV) — 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
• 1 Corinthians 11:27, 30 (ESV) — 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord…. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

We also notice something else that seems very difficult to comprehend about Jesus’ words.
• It appears that God caused the man’s blindness.

The Bible itself seems to explicitly endorse this.
• Exodus 4:11 (ESV) — 11 Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
• Psalm 139:13 (ESV) — 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

We need to dig into this just a little bit.
• Some fear, like F.F. Bruce, that taking this stance would “be an aspersion on the character of God”.
• Wiersbe agrees with Bruce and says that God did not deliberately make the man blind.
    o They fear that doing so puts God too close to being the cause of evil.
• Others, like James Boice, say about Jesus’ words “…—let us state it frankly—God allowed the man to be born blind so that at this particular moment in his earthly life Jesus might come upon him and cure him and that, as a result, God might receive glory” – James Boice.

How do you see it?
Did the man happen to be born blind because of a birth defect and then Jesus happened to come along and use the man to bring glory to God (F.F. Bruce)?
Or, did God ordain from the very beginning that the man suffer with blindness from the very beginning of His life (Boice)?
Or, is this a false dilemma and is there something else going on we can’t quite understand?
• Whatever the answer, these are the types of questions where we need to be very careful to not assert our feelings and thoughts above the Bible’s revelation.


Something to Consider – Explanation in Purpose not Cause:
John Piper suggests that the text clearly states that the man was born blind by design.
• In suggesting this, He argues that we look at the man’s blindness from another perspective.
• He says Jesus sets the example for the proper perspective from which to address God’s participation in the man’s blindness.

…but that the works of God might be displayed in him
• Jesus’ words reveal that the REAL EXPLANATION of the man’s blindness is to be found not in CAUSES but in the PURPOSES of God.
• The disciples asked about cause and Jesus answered that the cause is purpose.
• Piper paraphrases Jesus’ words to the disciples in this way, “The explanation of the blindness lies not in the past causes but the future purposes” – John Piper.

Jesus didn’t dodge the question.
• He answered it and in so doing showed us how we must seek to reorient our thinking to His thinking.
• Jesus “is saying turn away from your fixation on causality as the decisive explanation of suffering. And [in so doing you will] turn away from any surrender to futility, or absurdity, or chaos, or meaninglessness…and turn to the purposes and plans of God. There is no child and no suffering outside God’s purposes” – John Piper.


Why is this so important to do?
• To speak of purpose as explanation, is to speak of the intents and desires of God for His creation.
• But to speak of cause as explanation, is to reduce the man’s blindness down to nothing more than an unfortunate birth defect.
• This really is no more useful in explaining the man’s blindness than suggesting that natural selection acting on random mutations explains why we are here.
• Both are wrong, and more than that, they are a slight on the sovereignty of God.


Jesus’ teaching in our text is extremely liberating!
• Think about it philosophically for a moment.
• The man’s health was not relative to whatever malfunction happened to his eyes while in the womb.
• And the purpose of his blindness was not relative to what he happened to make of it during the circumstances of his life.
• His health and purpose were grounded securely in the sovereignty and purposes of God!

In fact, even finding the purpose Jesus spoke of requires that we speak of and look to God.
• God has to be part of the equation.
• It requires us to look forward with hope to the fulfillment of His kingdom on earth.
• And it requires that God “be supremely valuable to us. More valuable than health and life” – Piper.
• For if God is not part of the equation and not our “supreme value”, then there is no purpose and hope – only misery, death and random, purposeless mutation.


Let’s look at one more “Explanation in Cause” vs. “Explanation in Purpose” example to help us flesh this out even more.


Going Hungry:
Exodus 16:2–3 (ESV) — 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
• The Israelites used the disciples’ “Explanation Found in Cause” view and came off as ungrateful for God’s salvation from Pharaoh.
• And it led them to look backwards and long for their enslaved past.

– BUT –

Deuteronomy 8:2–3 (ESV) — 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
• But when we take Jesus’ “Explanation Found in Purpose” view, we see that God sought to humble them for their long term good, teach them to depend on God for life, and ultimately point to Jesus Christ!
• God has them looking forward to His grand purposes which are completely grounded in His sovereignty.
• There is no more “morally sufficient” reason for suffering than to point people to dependence on God and to Jesus Christ.


Lessons for us:
• We need to realize that healing is not always God’s purpose for suffering.
• Paul continually prayed for healing from the “thorn in his side” but never got it.
• And God’s purpose for suffering may not be known to us this side of heaven.
• But Jesus wants us to know that suffering’s purpose is not dependent on us.
• We don’t have to try and find purpose in it.
• It is fully secured, grounded and founded in the sovereign purposes of God.

8/8/11

John 8:48-59 – The Father’s Glory and Abraham’s Jesus

We finally reach the end of Jesus’ conversation with the Jews in chapter 8.
• In our previous lesson, Jesus explained how the Jews, by rejecting Him, rejected the Father.
• He also revealed to us yet another reason for unbelief, which was that they could not hear the “words of God” (John 8:47) because they were “not of God” (John 8:47).
• Jesus also accused the Jews who rejected Him as doing the will of their real spiritual father, the devil.

Jesus’ reasoning for this startling judgment seemed to go as follows:
• If one believes in Jesus and His testimony about Himself then one is in agreement with God the Father (and Abraham for that matter).
• On the other hand, unbelief, as we know, is rebellion against the claims of Jesus and the Father; a rebellion against the truth.
• And so whatever is done in rebellion to God, done in unbelief, is a rejection of the truth and an embracing of a lie.
• So this life glorifies the devil the “father of lies” (vs. 44) who has “no truth in him” (vs. 44) whether or not this glorification is implicit or explicit.

As we finish up John 8, we come to restatements of truths that Jesus has already revealed earlier in John 8.
• However, there are a couple of interesting comments He makes that we will explore a little deeper.
    o Jesus’ talk about His glory
    o Jesus’ suggestion that Abraham knew Him

John 8:48–59 (ESV) — 48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.


1) JESUS – THE GLORY IS NOT HIS

John 8:48–51 (ESV) — 48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

In response to Jesus’ accusation that their spiritual father is the devil and that they are unable to hear the word of God, they respond, not to the merits of Jesus’ words but by attacking him.
• They have already insinuated that He was an illegitimate child, conceived out of wedlock (vs. 41).
• Now they proceed to call him:
    o Demon Possessed
    o A Samaritan

Why?
Nobody knows for sure, but the smart guys suggest the following:
• “It may simply be that Jesus’ accusers thought that for a Jew to question the paternity of other Jews was so despicable that only demon-possession could explain it” – D.A. Carson.
• Kostenberger suggests that, in the battle of paternity that has just ensued – God the Father/Abraham vs. the devil – that the Jews want to slander His paternity and so suggest that he was “birthed by a Samaritan!
• John MacArthur thinks that, “the reference to Jesus as a "Samaritan" probably centers in the fact that the Samaritans, like Jesus, questioned the Jews’ exclusive right to be called Abraham’s children (vs. 33; vs. 39).

Whatever the reason, their intent was certainly to imply that Jesus’ was the one doing the will of the devil and he wasn’t even a pure Jew.
• Jesus, of course, rejects this and simply states that He seeks to honor the Father.
• Jesus’ every word, every work and every action is about honoring the Father.
• The implication, of course, is that they can’t honor the Father because they dishonor Jesus and His Father-ordained ministry.

This point is exactly the one we discussed last week we when covered at least (9) ways that unbelievers suppress the truth in their thinking and “willing” (heart).
• The result of this incorrect thinking and “willing” is the dishonoring of God Jesus speaks of today.
• Romans 1:21 (ESV) — 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Jesus goes on to remind them of the stakes of “hearing” the word of God that he speaks – eternal life!
• James Boice suggests that this “hearing” (a work of God) encompasses both a “believing” and an “obeying”.
• “Indeed, no one can actually believe the truth about [Jesus] without trusting him by intending to obey him. It is a mental impossibility. To think otherwise is to indulge a widespread illusion that now smothers spiritual formation in Christlikeness among professing Christians and prevents it from naturally spreading worldwide” – Dallas Willard.


Jesus and His Glory:
As mentioned earlier, one of the things I want to explore more is the notion about Jesus not seeking His own glory.
We have seen throughout Jesus’ conversation with the Jews, very bold claims by Jesus about Himself and His relationship with the Father.
• John 8:18–19 (ESV) — 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
• John 8:23–24 (ESV) — 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
• John 8:38 (ESV) — 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
• John 8:40 (ESV) — 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
• John 8:42 (ESV) — 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

And yet, in spite of making all these bold claims, Jesus says, “Yet I do not seek my own glory”.
How is this possible and what can we learn from this?

First, we need to see what it is that Jesus is not seeking.
Glory in our text means, “honor as enhancement or recognition of status or performance, fame, recognition, renown, honor, prestige” – BDAG.
• So knowing this, here is what this text is telling us.
• In spite of His identity, the incredible relationship He shared with the Father, and the powerful words of truth and life He possessed, Jesus never saw any of this as a reason to elevate Himself in a worldly way.
• As we have seen, His “renown” and “prestige” came when He was “lifted up” on the cross.
• And on the cross this “renown” and “prestige” came in the form of nakedness, injury, pain, humility!
• The cross vindicated not only His ministry generally, but even His claim of not seeking His own glory.


Jesus’ Example – Our Problem:
Now here is the real problem with this example of Jesus.
• He set it for us to follow.

Paul puts it like this:
• Colossians 3:1–10 (ESV) — 1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Unfortunately, to follow Jesus’ example and not seek our own glory, is completely at odds with our natural, fallen, intuitions.
• “You need no help from supernatural sources to engage in fornication…indulgences in passions and desires for what is evil, or greed to possess what belongs to others. Just follow the inclinations now built into your bodily existence and they will all just happen” – Dallas Willard.
• Humanity’s “time and energy is almost wholly, if not entirely, devoted to how their body looks, smells, and feels, and to how it can be secured and used to meet ego needs such as admiration, sexual gratification, and power over others” – Dallas Willard.
• In other words, we seek our own glory and it is the natural, fallen thing to do.

But as Jesus demonstrated, and as Paul taught, believers can combat these natural, fallen inclinations.
• “seek the things that are above
• “set you minds on things that are above
• “put to death therefore what is earthly in you
• “put on the new self…renewed in knowledge…of its creator

And praise God that Scripture tells us that this combat is funded and directed by the very glory of the Father that Jesus was trying to point the Jews to.
• Romans 6:4-6 (ESV) — 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.


2) JESUS – ABRAHAM’S PROMISED OFFSPRING

John 8:52–59 (ESV) — 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.


What is going on here?
It appears the Jews were saying:
• Abraham and the prophets certainly received and then “kept” God’s word.
• However, they died.
• So their “keeping” what everyone knows is God’s word did not keep them from death.
• So you, Jesus, have lost your demon-possessed, Samaritan mind.
• Do you seriously think you are somehow “greater than our father Abraham, who died (vs. 53)?”
There is no way your words are better than the words received by Abraham and the prophets.
• And yet you say those who keep your words shall not die!

Typically, the Jews miss Jesus’ point entirely, further evidence they “do not hear” (vs. 47) the words of God.
• Jesus is obviously speaking of spiritual death and life.
• Jesus then, again, articulates the unique nature of his relationship with the Father that does in fact make Him “greater than our father Abraham” both in identity and quality.
    o (1) The Father glorifies Jesus (vs. 54)
    o (2) Jesus knows the Father (vs. 55)
    o (3) Jesus keeps the Father’s word (vs. 55)

The first (3) reasons are significant, but then Jesus drops two more J-Bomb’s that seal the deal:
• (4) Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. (vs. 56)
• (5) Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. (vs. 58)

The fifth we discussed in our lesson on John 8:21-29 – All Will Know.
So what on earth does the fourth mean?
• Whatever it means, it was the ultimate setup for His “I Am” (vs. 59) proclamation.

Nobody really knows for sure what the 4th means, but the smart people speculate as follows:
• Genesis 15:17-21 was traditionally seen by Jewish teachers as the time when God “revealed to Abraham the mysteries of the coming [messianic] age” – Kostenberger.
• So, “to say that Abraham saw the Messiah was neither new nor offensive to Jewish teachers; it was its application to Jesus that was unbelievable” – Kostenberger.
• Jesus was teaching, incredibly, that “the ultimate fulfillment of all Abraham’s hopes and joys” culminate in the “person and work” of Jesus – D.A. Carson.
• What this meant for Jesus’ Jewish audience was “since Jesus fulfills what is written of and announced in the OT, for [them] to be true children of Abraham would have meant for them to share in his attitude of joyful expectation” of the coming Messiah, the promised offspring, Jesus – Kostenberger.

So when Jesus says “I Am” and “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day” He is identifying Himself not only as the Sovereign Creator Yahweh but also as the eschatological fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham.
Not the least of which is Abraham’s promised offspring.
• Galatians 3:15–16 (ESV) — 15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

And Scripture agrees with John’s revelation of Jesus concerning Abraham’s knowledge of Him.
• Galatians 3:7–9 (ESV) — 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
• Hebrews 11:13 (ESV) — 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
• 1 Peter 1:10–12 (ESV) — 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Is it any wonder, then, that the Jews responded to Jesus’ word with death threats.
• To those who cannot “hear” Jesus’ words, His words come off as blasphemous (as in our text), intolerant, crazy, idiotic, deluded, or even better, not even Jesus’ words but John’s fabrication.


Lessons for Us:
So was Jesus’ discussion with the Jews in John 8 a success?
Is it our job to make Jesus’ words not appear to be blasphemous, intolerant, crazy, idiotic or deluded?
Does our motivation to do so find its impetus in our need bring “glory” to ourselves or to the truth of God’s words?

8/2/11

John 8:41-47 – What They Do and No Spiritual Orphans

Having gone into detail about what Abraham did, we can now examine what Jesus says of the Jews actions.

John 8:41–47 (ESV) — 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”


1) CHILDREN DO THE WORK OF THEIR FATHER

John 8:41–42 (ESV) — 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

Works of their Father:
Jesus contrasts the work Abraham did, the work of his Father Yahweh, with the works the Jews are doing, “you seek to kill me” (vs. 37).
• He then suggests that they do this because this is what their “father did”.
• When speaking of what their “father did”, Jesus, among other things, is certainly referring at the very least to His encounter with Satan in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-11).
• Matthew 4:3–11 (ESV) — 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
What was Satan’s intent?
• Clearly he sought to “kill” the ministry of Jesus and subjugate Jesus to his dominion.

Are the Jews in our text really seeking to do Satan’s work?
• This teaching of Jesus is incredibly profound and significant.
• The Jews certainly did not wake up that morning and consider all the ways they could embrace and further the kingdom of Satan.
• They believed their service was to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
• More on this shortly.

So what is the implication here?
• One implication of this has to do with one’s worldview.
• “A worldview functions as a set of habits, forming background beliefs that direct our acts of noticing or failing to notice various features of reality” – J.P. Moreland.
• The worldview of the Bible is asking us to understand that what we think we know from the 5 senses (empiricism) is not the only or even the primary source of truth and knowledge about reality.
• There is in fact a spiritual reality and truth behind all that we encounter with our senses.
• And this reality and truth is as real, valid and even primary.

What is sad here is that the Jews embraced the truth of a spiritual reality without hesitation.
• This is in stark contrast to the current western worldview of scientific naturalism.
• But they nevertheless rejected Jesus.
• As Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me…” (vs. 42).
• And as Jesus said elsewhere:
o John 5:23 (ESV) — 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
o John 15:23 (ESV) — 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
• Whatever was right with their beliefs and worldview, one glaring problem was that it failed “to notice various features of reality”.
• Specifically, Jesus relationship to the God of Israel and Abraham.

They certainly thought they noticed the truth of Jesus.
• After Jesus’ words, the Jews insult Jesus.
    o “The Jews’ rebuttal may imply the illegitimacy of Jesus’ birth” – Kostenberger.
• They then argue that their father is God (vs. 41).
• As such, they are perfectly qualified to make judgments about those who claim to speak on God’s behalf.
• They are not failing to notice anything – Jesus is a bastard and a blasphemer worthy of death.
• Jesus responds to their charge with the following logic:
    o (1) Trusting in the revelation of God the Father about Jesus leads to a love of Jesus
    o (2) You do not love Jesus
    o (3) Therefore you do not trust in God the Father’s revelation
    o (4) So God the Father is not your father and your trust is in someone else

Why did they fail to notice?
• Jesus has answered this question already on a number of occasions, e.g., in John 6.
• And in answering the question in today’s text He uncovers another facet of unbelief for us.
• Unbelievers, by default, are in service of the devil.

2) CHILDREN HEAR THEIR FATHER

John 8:43–44 (ESV) — 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

They don’t believe because they cannot bear (aren’t able) to hear Jesus’ Words:
A fallen heart produces a fallen worldview.
• As we have seen this worldview fails to notice various aspects of reality, namely the truth of Jesus.
• And in fact, Jesus now tells us that people who live in this realm (John 8:21-29) cannot even “bear to hear my word”, Jesus says.
    o By “cannot bear to hear” Jesus means that they don’t receive or accept what He is saying.
• As usual the Bible is its own best commentary:
    o Jeremiah 6:10 (ESV) — 10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.
    o 1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV) — 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

It gets worse:
• Jesus doesn’t ease up.
• As we have seen before, he is concerned with authenticity not numbers.
• He goes on to argue that they “are of the devil” (vs. 44) and their will is to do the bidding of the devil.
• In other words, they do what their father the devil does just as a little child naturally does what his father does.
    o I have a great example of this from my childhood with the burner.

The implications of this correspond to the rest of what the Gospel of John teaches on this subject.
• There is no neutral ground of belief, heart and mind, works, truth or knowledge.
• As alluded to earlier, this does not mean that those that reject Jesus are explicitly seeking to do the will of the devil.
• These people can often be kinder and more selfless than many believers.
• However, the truth of the matter revealed by Jesus here is that if you don’t believe He is who He and the Father say He is, then you are in service, even if only implicitly, of the devil in the spiritual realm.

Why is this so?
• If one believes in Jesus and His testimony about Himself then one is in agreement with God the Father (and Abraham for that matter).
• On the other hand, unbelief, as we know, is rebellion against the claims of Jesus and the Father; a rebellion against the truth.
• And so whatever is done in rebellion to God, done in unbelief, is a rejection of the truth and an embracing of a lie.
• So this life glorifies the devil the “father of lies” (vs. 44) who has “no truth in him” (vs. 44) whether or not this glorification is implicit or explicit.
• This is an incredibly divisive teaching and the world thinks we are “wacked out” for even suggesting it.


So why can’t unbelievers, who reject the testimony of Jesus and implicitly serve the devil, hear the truth of Jesus’ words?


3) CHILDREN ARE DECIEVED BY THEIR FATHER

John 8:45–47 (ESV) — 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Jesus has (2) reasons in our text for this.
• (1) The truth of Jesus is rejected by unbelievers because as THE truth it is rejected by their father the devil.
    o And children do what their father do, as we just discussed above.
• (2) They are not of God.

Kostenberger sums Jesus’ explanation this way:
• “This undercuts Jewish presumption of their election by God and their own righteousness on account of keeping the law. Like Nicodemus, they must be born from above (3:3, 5, 7) with a birth that is not predicated upon human factors but is of God (1:13). Though in one sense they were God’s children, in another, all-important sense, they first must “become” God’s children by faith in Jesus (1:12).

BTW – Jesus’ words in verse 46 are best explained as follows:
• “Jesus does not ask whether anyone thinks he is guilty of sin. Clearly, many did (e.g. 5:18, where some thought he was guilty not only of breaking the Sabbath, but also of blasphemy by making himself equal with God). The question, rather, is whether anyone can prove him guilty of sin” – D.A. Carson.
• If Jesus has no sin this means, contrary to the devil, He will not and cannot lie.
    o Isaiah 53:9 (ESV) — 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
    o 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) — 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
• If they cannot find Him guilty of sin and thus incapable of lying, His testimony should be believed.

But as we have seen throughout this entire lesson, an explanation for why the truth is not believed by seemingly intelligent people even with a sympathetic spiritual worldview is because their father is a liar.
• 2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV) — 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• These people cannot see or hear the truth, and in fact see it as nonsense.
• And “by rejecting the truth incarnate [one has] marked themselves out as children of Satan” – MacArthur.


Lessons for Us:
2 Corinthians 2:11 (ESV) — 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
• The devil is real and is personal and has an agenda to obfuscate the truth.
• The truth is found in God’s word and it is in His word that we gain knowledge to defeat his “designs”.
• And there are no spiritual orphans.
• One’s spiritual father is either God or the devil.
• If Jesus believes this then we need to.