REJECTED BY MANY
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John 1:1-18
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” These were the famous words by Friedrich Nietzsche when he wrote his book “The Gay Science” What I find disturbing and sad is that these words still echo in the streets of our communities and cites around the globe today! To this present world, God is dead and they are quite content in that ignorance.
Sigmund Freud wrote, “When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life.”
Voltaire wrote, “God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.”
Woody Allen said, “If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever.”
To know that there are people out there who think God is a joke, a fake, a liar, and a made-up story to help the weak, feeble people, is really sad. But also, despite these and so many rebellious sinners; God came to this earth anyways to demonstrate the love of the Godhead towards His creation. We come to a section of John’s letter that grieves my heart; reason being is that I was one of those haters for nearly 30 years! Look what John wrote here in John 1:9-13
John pens that “Jesus came into the world; He came into His creation” and we read “the world did not know Him.” (v10) Think about was John is saying here…Considering the numerous warnings and comforts throughout the Scriptures of His appearing, His closeness, His love, His grace, and forgiveness of sins through His atoning Son. Great news has come! And Jesus is greeted by the physical world with “yet the world did not know Him. This physical world that didn’t know Him, in other words they failed to receive Him. Again, this reveals the unregenerate heart, the rebel, and covenant breaker of God’s law and His grace. In (v11) it continues, we read these painful words, “He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him.”
Its one thing to be refused by people in this world, but its another to be refused and unaccepted by your own. This reminds me of a story I came across this week. ”A poor family was farming some land during the depression. There was one son in the family and the parents wanted the best for him. They scrimped and saved so they could send him to college. After he has gone for a year or so, his parents, who loved him very much longed to see him again. They sold some things, saved their meager income and went to visit their boy. When they arrived on campus, poorly dressed in their simple and plain farm clothes they spotted their son with some other boys. The father ran to him and called out, “Son, son it’s your father.” The boy looked at his dad with no sign of recognition. The father repeated his words. “Son, it’s your father and mother. We’ve come to see you.” The boy no doubt embarrassed by his parents’ poverty turned to the other students and said, “I don’t know who this is. He must be crazy.”
The Jews have been waiting for the coming Messiah since the Abrahamic Covenant, since Daivd was king, and the temple being built. And yet John writes “He came to His own, and they did not receive Him.” Jesus, Himself spoke of this rejection He experienced saying, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” John 3:18. This reveals to us the world is exposed to the condemnation of God because people prefer the darkness to the Light. This rejection didn’t end with the generation that was present in Jesus’ time, or the Jews. What John pens here is that the world is charged with ignorance, and the Jews with unbelief. Instead of creation welcoming Him for His visitation, they drove Him away from their doors and banished Him from the earth.
Jesus Christ is continually rejected
on
a daily basis by this physical world and the Jews.
I read this passage and I’m reminded of what Jesus said in Mark’s gospel! “And he began to speak to them in parables." A man (the owner was God) planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant (the prophets) to the tenants (the people of God) to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son (Jesus Christ).' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture: " The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" Mark 12:1-11
This parable that Jesus spoke borrowed from Isaiah 5:1-7, a prophecy referring to God’s judgement because in the end their fruit was worthless, like rotten grapes. The tenants were corrupt in nature and didn’t care about the Owner’s staff, and most of all His Son, which is a picture of Jesus. Can you image the faces of the pharisees’, the scribes, and the other religions leaders? This was a clear sign of judgment against them as Isaiah wrote to corrupt leaders who had been placed in charge over the people, or in today terms the church…… to nurture it, feed it, and tend to it. R C Sproul wrote, “When the Son of God walked the earth, from the time of His birth until the time of execution, there was never a moment when His life was safe among human beings. Our fallen nature is such that we are not simply indifferent to God, we hate God. God is our mortal enemy, and fallen human beings will stop at nothing in their attempt to throw off the sovereignty of their Creator. We should not believe that the world is truly indifferent towards God, as it professes to be. If God Himself came to earth today; and people were given power to destroy Him, He would surely be put to death.” We know this parable came to life shortly after. Because after Jesus spoke these words in this parable, they seized the Son, abused the Him, and killed Him outside the city, outside the vineyard of God. Sadly, this is continuing to happen by this physical world and the Jews, even after what Jesus did and accomplished in His death, burial and resurrection. What do I mean by that!
Where has God been rejected today? Public and private sectors, our government leaders, our local magistrates; but not just in our civil institutions. How about our homes, the family? Are our homes obeying the commands given in Deut 5 & 6? How about our own personal lives? How about when things are going well or were comfortable? How about when finances are good? How about when were in good health? How about when our marriage is relatively peaceful and happy? How about when our children are growing and living good lives? We tend to put God into the background when things are going well. When we are financially security. When our health is of good report. When our marriage is doing fine. When our children are growing and making right decisions. Sadly, the only time we don’t reject God is when all these things are falling apart and our lives are a mess. This should never be in happening, but it does; and when this happens, we’re no different than the people that John writes about.
Why
was Jesus rejected in His time and
continues to be rejected today?
When you look at the cults of this world, they all have one major thing in common. They reject Jesus for who He claimed to be and that was “God incarnate deity” Rejection is a harsh word, it almost has the same feel or meaning as hate. Rejection by definition is “The act of throwing away; the act of casting off or forsaking; refusal to accept or grant.” What’s amazing is that Jesus knew in eternity past that this physical world and His own the Jews, would reject Him. Jesus was despised in that He was hated by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and others in the Jewish ruling class.
The “rejection” of Christ was not limited to those who did not believe in Him. The callous Romans despised Jesus as a common criminal, mocking, battering, spitting on, and flogging Him. “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” Matt 27:27-31
At times, Jesus had large followings, but most of them eventually turned away. “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.” John 6:66-71
When we read the birth of Christ, don’t you find it amazing that angels went to common men, to proclaim the good news and not the high priests, the religious leaders, or the ruling government?” Why? He knew their hearts and their rejection of the coming Messiah. This why you get mixed emotions about this passage. Why wouldn’t the world embrace the Son of God? Why didn’t the Jews embrace the Messiah who was promised to Abraham?
We read over and over again in the Old Testament about their rejection, despite the clear testimony of those who proclaimed this promise. We read in Deut 10:16 “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” We read in 2 Kings 17:14 “But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God.” Nehemiah who wasn’t a prophet said, “And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.” Neh 9:29
“Stiffened neck” is to be obstinate and difficult to lead. The Bible often uses this figure of speech when describing the attitude of Israel toward God. One theologian wrote, “The Israelites were familiar with the term stiff-necked, so when the Lord used it to describe them, they got the message. Every farmer well understood the frustration of trying to plow a field or transport a cart when an ox was being stiff-necked. An ox that refused to be guided was useless for any real work. A stiff-necked ox was a disappointment in that it was not performing the task it was intended to perform. When God’s chosen people refused to love Him, honor Him, and obey Him, they were not living the purpose for which God chose them as His own (see Isaiah 41:8–9; Jeremiah 7:23–24; Exodus 19:5–6). God made His will clear to the Israelites, and their disobedience was rightly referred to as being stiff-necked and hard-hearted. As Israel rebelled against God, they ignored the “goads” that God used to try to redirect them.” We read in Jeremiah 7:26 “Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.” Sadly, we continue see this progression throughout the Old and into the New Testament.
Stephen the first Christian martyr, used the term stiff-necked when he told the Jews they had murdered their Messiah. ”You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Acts 7:51-53. This is a rebellious and a complete disregard or rejection of the Incarnate Christ. The same thing is happening today! Families, marriages, children, churches, nations are rejecting the true God of the Bible, for a substitutes to appease their own conscience. Or worse, they love their sin, and do not want it to be exposed by the light, because they are too comfortable in their sin. We call this willful blindness and complete ignorance to their need of saving grace as Christ came into this physical world to save sinners.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTING GOD?
THIS LEADS MEN TO FOLLOW THEIR OWN DEVICES. “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jer 2:13
THIS LEADS PEOPLE TO BE PUTTING THEIR TRUST IN MAN. “Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Jer 17:5
THIS PROVOKES GOD TO FORSAKE MEN. “Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.” Judges 10:13
THE END PUNISHMENT WILL BE SEVERE. “For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Heb 10:30-31
THIS ONLY ENDS IN ETERNAL
SEPARATION FROM HIS GRACE AND MERCY. “in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on
those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” 2 Thess 1:8-9
This world is heading into the path of despair and sorrow for all eternity all because they would not recognize the One who created them. But there still hope for the lost, even those who first rejected Christ I once did! (v12-v13) This is the good news of the gospel that John wants his readers to know. Jesus, is the one who calls you out of darkness, from the dead, and your ignorance. Jesus, is the one who displayed the love of the Godhead by coming in His humiliation taking on the form of a man. Jesus, is the one who gives life eternal to whom He choses.
Think about it…. If receiving eternal life required our performance, none of us would make it, as God’s standard is perfection. No matter how hard we try to be good enough, each of us has sinned and fall short when measured by God’s standard of perfection… “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23. (v13) reveals this, “who were born, not of blood [racial or ethnic heritage] nor of the will of the flesh [personal desire] nor of the will of man [man-made systems], but of God. These three negatives’ statements stress the fact that salvation is not obtainable through any racial or ethnic heritage, personal desire or man-made system. It’s only by the sovereign grace of God anyone of us is saved at all.
See there is nothing that we can do to in order to find, or attain salvation!
It’s not about working our way
to earn favor with God in order to get into Heaven.
It’s not about serving in a church
outwardly to please a holy God.
It’s not about growing up in a
Christian home that guarantees salvation.
It’s not about your ability to
attain salvation in your time or strength.
It’s only by the overflowing grace of God unto sinners
that anyone of us is saved.
Jonathan Edwards wrote, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
But, don’t overlook this promise with contempt or ignorance as the Jewish nation, or as the Pharisee’s, or the world did, and still does day. Acknowledge who His is and never reject that wonderful truth that is being proclaimed to you this morning. God came to this earth as a man to save men and women from their sin. PERIOD! How? By placing their sin and shame upon His perfect sacrifice by dying on a cross and defeating the grave! What keeps men from coming into the light? Their love for sin and rebellion to acknowledge who Jesus truly is….they reject Him as John writes here. I want you to truly believe, and rest in Him alone, not just for the forgiveness of sins; but also, as Lord of your life today and forever. John does what Paul did so many times in his writings, “But God” or “But of God” What John says is that “This reveals that salvation, that is, receiving and believing in Jesus is impossible for any sinner.” Until when? Until God must grant the power supernaturally for us to respond in repentance and faith. “He gave” the right to be called His children, we are saved entirely by grace. He gave them the privilege of adoption, into God’s family. This is what the gospel produces in darkness and in a world that rejects the Son of God. There is no sonship to God without living faith in Christ. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.” 1 John 5:1
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