Video
“Believe It or Not”
John 1:6-13
Pastor Ryan J. McKeen
02/02/2025
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Transcript
Well, turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. We are continuing our study in this gospel. We finished the first paragraph last week, the thesis statement, if you will, the introduction of the introduction. And now we are into the second section of John’s prologue.
And in the opening section, John focused on the identity of Jesus, who Jesus is. He is the word. He always was. He was face to face with God. He was God. He’s the creator. He has life in himself. And lastly, John closed that section by telling us that he is the true light. And that theme will continue into this section. But as John focused on the identity of Jesus in that first section, all of those things that I just mentioned, all of that is packed into that first few lines of this gospel. Now John shifts the focus to the response. How people respond to the truths that are revealed about who Jesus is.
And the reality is that everyone has a response to who Jesus is. You either believe the testimony recorded for us in scripture, and you receive him, or you reject him. And there are a lot of different types of rejection, but really there’s only two responses. Receiving him or rejecting him. The reason John includes this here in the introduction to his gospel is because the response to Jesus is the whole purpose why he wrote his gospel. We’ve seen this several times. In chapter 20, verse 31, John tells us specifically that these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you will have life in his name.
That is John’s goal for his writing this gospel. That is his goal for us. That we would believe in who Jesus is and that by believing we would have life in his name. But John also records for us a variety of responses in the gospel. Not everybody received him. Later, in chapter seven, he says that some were saying of Jesus that he’s a good man. Others acknowledged he was a religious leader. Some even said he was a prophet. In fact, in Matthew’s gospel, we see that some said that he was John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, and that’s Matthew 16. And when Jesus fed the 5,000 in John chapter six, The crowd decided that he was the king and they wanted to make him king by force.
And then famously as he comes into Jerusalem before his crucifixion, you have the crowd crying out, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. That’s in Matthew’s gospel. But there was another crowd. A few days later, a crowd that cried out, away with him, crucify him. Then there were some who were drawn to Jesus, but not enough to commit to him as their Lord.
In the gospel of John chapter 12, verse 42, it says, nevertheless, even many of the rulers believed in him. Because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing him for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. There were others who hated him, who sought with everything they could to destroy him. Jesus is what you would call a polarizing figure. While there were all sorts of different types of responses, they really fall into two categories. receiving him, believing in him, or rejecting him. You either love him or you hate him. In fact, a couple polarizing reactions are recorded in John’s gospel.
In John chapter 7, you see one. In verses 11 through 13, he says, so the Jews were seeking him at the feast and saying, where is he? And there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning him, and some were saying, he is a good man. while others were saying, no, on the contrary, he leads the crowd astray. Yet no one was speaking openly about him for fear of the Jews.
Another polarizing response is found in John chapter 10, verses 19 through 21, where it says, a division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. And many of them were saying, he has a demon and he is insane. Why do you listen to him? Others were saying, these are not the words of someone demon possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Belief or unbelief? Those are the two responses to Jesus. And it’s clear from Jesus’ own words. that belief is the only correct response to Him.
And so often we think of this as it’s like an invitation, like an invitation to like a birthday party or something, that you’re invited that if you want to or if you feel like it or if you have nothing better to do, then you can come. Friends, we are not invited. to believe in Jesus. We are commanded to believe in Jesus. In the gospel of Mark, the very first words we see Jesus speak in that gospel, as in Mark chapter 1 verses 14 and 15, the very first words he speaks is, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel. And a couple of verses later, the next thing he says is, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Repent, believe, follow me. That isn’t just an invitation. Those are commands from the Lord of the universe.
And we know their commands to be obeyed because throughout the gospel of John, Jesus rebukes the people for not believing, for disobedience in unbelief. A few examples, John 3, 18, which I read earlier, he who believes in him is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Chapter five, verse 43, I have come in my father’s name and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you’ll receive him.
Chapter six, verse 36, I said that you have seen me and yet you do not believe.
Chapter eight, verse 45, I speak the truth and you do not believe in me.
And chapter 10, verse 25 and 26, I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep.
Unbelief is the greatest sin of them all. Unbelief in who Jesus is and what he has done, not believing that will leave you in your sin. And you will owe the full payment for that penalty. But John writes this book so that you will believe. By believing, have life in his name. Because it’s not just unbelief that is a repeated theme in this gospel, but so is belief.
I read John 3, 15 to 17 earlier, where it says, whoever believes in him will have eternal life. God said his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish. God didn’t send his son into the world to judge the world, but the world might be saved through him.
In John 3:36, a few verses later, he who believes in the son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the son will not see life. The wrath of God abides on him.
Chapter five, verse 24, he who hears my word and believes in me, in him who sent me, has eternal life.
Chapter six, verse 40. Everyone who sees the son and believes in him has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day.
John wants you to believe. To believe that Jesus is the word made flesh. That he was in the beginning with God. That he’s the life and the light. that he is God himself. And after establishing those facts in the first five verses, in this passage we’ll study today, John shows us two possible responses, belief or unbelief. And what we’ll see in our text is really three divisions.
First, we see a witness. to Jesus. In verses 6 through 8, John speaks of one who witnessed to who Jesus was. And then, secondly, we’ll see the first response, verses 9 to 11, and that is the rejection of Jesus. And then lastly, number 3, we’ll see the reception of Jesus, verses 12 and 13. So I will read our passage this morning, John chapter one, verses six through 13.
This is the word of the Lord. There was a man, having been sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but He came to bear witness about the light. There was the true light, which coming into the world enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right. to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
This is the word of the Lord. You see here, John begins with the witness, the witness of John. He says, there was a man. It’s almost like John resets here and starts with another introduction. There was a man, having been sent from God, whose name was John. And there’s an intentional contrast here. The word was, he always was, because he was God. But this man, he was sent from God. There was a moment in time in which God sent this witness.
Verse 3 of this chapter tells us that everything came into being through him. And here, that includes this man, John. He was created. He came from God. And this man, John, is John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer, if you will. Or if you want the literal meaning of the name, John the Immerser. But here, the apostle John just names him John. The other gospels tell us that he is the baptizer. John just refers to him as John throughout the book. So we know when he mentions John here, he’s talking about someone else, because John never uses his own name.
And verse seven clarifies exactly which John he means. Because he says, he came as a witness, to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. This John that he’s talking about, his purpose was to come and bear witness to the light that was coming. The light we saw in verses four and five is the Word, Jesus Christ. And this John was sent by God to bear witness. And John was prophesied about in the Old Testament. This John was expected. Before he actually was, he was told about. He was prophesied of. He was told that he was coming. In Isaiah 40, verse three, a voice is calling, prepare the way for Yahweh in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. He was the voice in the wilderness, preparing the way for God. And then, as the Old Testament comes to a close, the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, the prophet, before 400 years of silence from God, the prophet tells the people of Israel what to expect next.
In chapter 3, verse 1, Malachi says, Speaking for God here. Behold, I am going to send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come into his temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says Yahweh of hosts. Then again, in case we missed it, in chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, Malachi also says, behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet. This was speaking of John, actually, but continues, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction. John the Baptist was foretold. He would come to prepare the way of the Messiah. And again, it had been 400 years of silence since that last Old Testament prophecy. And then John arrives, doing exactly what God said he would do.
The birth of John is told in the Gospel of Luke, and as the first prophet. For 400 years, John was getting some attention. In Mark 1, we see a lot of the words of John the Baptist, and it says in Mark 1 verse 5, all the region of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. He came for a purpose. God sent him to accomplish a task and that was to make the way ready for the Messiah. And that’s what he did. In Matthew chapter three, we see that he was saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And later in chapter three, we see that Herod, he locked up John in prison. because of his brother’s wife Herodias. And in Mark, we see that John had been saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.
John the Baptist was not one to mince words. He said what needed to be said. That was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light so that all might believe through him. And the apostle John makes it clear in verse eight that he was not the light, but he came to bear witness about the light. He came to tell people the light is coming. And he came that all might believe through him, not in him, but through him. Because of his ministry, they would believe in the one that was coming. And we read more about the witness from John later in John 1, and we’ll get there in a few weeks.
The Pharisees come to figure out what this guy’s all about, and he says, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord. So that is the witness of John the Baptist. That’s what he came for, to bear witness about the light. And that is our first division here, a witness for Jesus. And John here introduces John the Baptist, but then he almost pauses the John the Baptist discussion till verse 19, and he goes back to talking about who Jesus is and what he came for.
And secondly, we see our first response to Jesus, and that is the rejection of Jesus. Verses nine through 11. There was the true light, which coming into the world enlightens everyone. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to what was his own and those who were his own did not receive him. Again, it’s like John takes a break in his discussion of John the Baptist and says, this light that came, it was the true light. And he enlightens everyone. Jesus is the true light. Everyone can see when the true light comes to them. And this statement highlights the fact that the world is in the dark. The world needs the light to come. And through his coming into the world, Jesus enlightens every man.
He is the light, he is the only light. Every man, in order to be enlightened, must come through him. And as the light of the world, Jesus is exactly what he was prophesied to be. We see in Isaiah 49, the Lord tells us, the one who was coming, and he says, it’s too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to cause the preserved ones of Israel to return. I will also give you as a light to the nations so that my salvation will reach the end of the earth.
He was the light for Israel, but that was not enough. God says it’s too small of a thing that you’ll only come to Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations so that my salvation will reach the end of the earth. Jesus is God’s self-revelation in the most glorious way for anyone who’s ever seen him or heard about him, or read about him. And that word, the self-revelation of God, has come in the flesh. And even those who never become children of God are accountable for their knowledge of God, and the light that was revealed in Christ. Because even though all men are spiritually dead, They were dead in their trespasses and sins and blind. All people are accountable for the knowledge of God revealed in creation and in our own conscience. Romans chapter 2 tells us that. And that’s what verse 10 here says.
John chapter 1 verse 10. He was in the world. The world was made through him. And the world did not know Him. The world ought to have known Him because He made them. His imprint is on them. But the world did not know Him. They suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. The rejection of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the very Creator of the world. That is the damnation of this world. Earlier I read John chapter three up till verse 18, but verse 19 continues and says, and this is the judgment, that the light has come. The light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, unless his deeds be exposed. He was the light and men loved the darkness.
They hated the light and we all hated the light until we were made new, until the light shone on us and the light came to us. And he tore out our heart of stone and gave us a heart of flesh. until he gave us new eyes to see him for who he is. But one of the realities of who Jesus is, and the first one that John mentions here, is that he is rejected by those who love their sin. Verse 11, he came to what was his own, and those who were his own did not receive him.
The Jews had waited all those centuries for the Messiah, for their Savior to come. And the most tragic thing of all is that the sad reality of when He did come, His own people did not receive Him. He was coming to the Jews. But that was not enough, he was coming for the nations too. But first of all, to the Jews, and his own received him not.” The Israelites of Jesus’ day stiffened their neck, and they rejected him, despite what their own scriptures said.
In John chapter 5, Jesus rebukes their unbelief. And he says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It’s those that bear witness about me. You think your knowledge of the scriptures is what’s gonna save you. If you knew the scriptures, you’d know me. Instead of repenting of their sin, and accepting Him as their Messiah, they screamed, crucify Him. Crucify Him.
Matthew 27, they say, His blood shall be on us and our children. Imagine that. His blood shall be upon us and our children. And guess what? It is. The Jews today still hate their Messiah. They are still in unbelief. They are still stiff-necked, rebellious people. Israel’s rejection and participation in the murder of the Messiah, their own Messiah, it was a common theme in the early preaching of the church.
In the very first Christian sermon ever preached, the Apostle Peter, in Acts chapter 2, says this. Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know this man. Delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to the cross by the hands of lawless men to put him to death. And later in verse 36, he says, therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus who you crucified. He came to what was his own. And those who were his own did not receive him. That is the rejection of Jesus. That’s our second division this morning. The rejection of Jesus.
Which brings us finally to the reception of Jesus. The reception of Jesus. Verses 12 and 13. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe on his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. He came to what was his own, the Jews. They rejected him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to be the children of God. You see, the Jews believed they were the children of God because of who they were. But John says, no, you rejected him. But to the ones who did receive him, to those ones, He gave them the right to be the children of God. You see, the world’s hatred of God and rejection of Christ in no way overrules or frustrates the plan of God. There will be some who receive Him. There will be. Those whom God chose for salvation before the foundation of the world. They will, in faith, embrace and receive their Messiah.
This is what Jesus says in John 6. All the Father gives me will come to me. Every one of them. And the one who comes to me I will never cast out. It is certainly true that people cannot be saved until they receive and believe. Belief is essential. Faith is how we come to Christ. But how do we have faith? Salvation is the sovereign work of God on the dead and blind sinner. because He gave them the right to be the children of God. He gave them the right. It was not their own doing. It was not because of their good decision or that they were smart enough to believe.
Ephesians 2:8-9, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves. It’s a gift of God. not of works, so that no one may boast.” No one can boast in being a child of God because He gives you the right. If it was any of your own doing, you could boast. There would be something to boast about. But there’s absolutely nothing for us to boast about because there’s absolutely nothing that we have done.
He gave us the right, even to those who believe in His name. To believe in His name is not just to acknowledge that His name was Jesus. That terminology, to believe in His name, is to believe in everything that He is. To believe in who Jesus is, who He says He is. And to believe in what Jesus says He has done. And to believe in what Jesus says He will do. That’s what it means to believe in His name. And it takes no less than that to be a Christian. And He is the one that makes that happen for any one of us.
Because as John explains in our last verse this morning, verse 13, verse 12 he says, he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe on his name. Verse 13, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The ones who were given the right to be the children of God. The ones who believe in His name, they were born. Those who believe, why do they believe? Because they were born. It doesn’t say they believe and then they were born. They believe who were born. The ones who were born believe. because regeneration comes before faith. He makes us new so that we can believe.
They were born again by the Spirit of God, just as Jesus explains to Nicodemus. And then John makes three negative statements to clarify to us how it is that we become the children of God, those who believe, He starts with they were born, but how were they born? He says they were born not of blood, not of blood. It has nothing to do with your heritage, nothing to do with your ethnicity, nothing to do with your nationality, nothing to do with your race, nothing to do with your family. You cannot be born into a Christian family. There’s no such thing as children of the covenant. Your parents may be Christians, but that counts for nothing for you. You must be born again. You must believe. Your parents’ belief gets you nowhere. It has nothing to do with your blood and where you come from. It’s not of the blood.
Then he says, nor, so first of all, not of the blood, secondly, nor of the will of the flesh. It wasn’t because we had the right desires. It wasn’t because we willed it. It wasn’t because it’s what we wanted. Free will, yeah, that’s out the window. It’s not because of that. It has nothing to do with our will or our desires. And it’s not the will of the flesh. And then just for good measure, he says, nor the will of man. It was not the doing of any man. It was not because of any system. It was not because of any revival meeting. It was not because of any Sunday school. It wasn’t because the preacher was especially convincing that day. It wasn’t because of any of that. It was not by the will of man. It was by one thing and one thing only, but of God. It’s of God. It is all of God. It is only of God.
And you may not even realize it, but you don’t have anything to do with your salvation. It was God. Yes, you must believe. Yes, you must come to Christ. But that’s of God. He did it. It’s like Jonathan Edwards said, the only thing you contribute to your salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. You were born not of the blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. If you’re not a Calvinist yet, buckle up, because we’re only 13 verses in. We haven’t gotten to chapter 3, or chapter 5, or chapter 6, or chapter 10, or chapter 15, or chapter 17.
I remember about 15 years ago, I heard John Piper preach through the book of John, and I couldn’t believe it. You mean to tell me that I didn’t do this? That God did it? Yeah, buddy. And the beautiful truth of God’s election, His predestination, His sovereign grace, is right here in the very beginning of John’s Gospel. At the very first mention of our salvation. It’s of God. You can’t get around it.
Because every sinner bears the guilt of unbelief and rejection, the phrase, but of God, means that salvation, receiving and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, which, yes, are necessary, but that’s impossible for any of us on our own. God must grant us the power and give us the life and the light to lifeless and blind and dead sinners.
If you are here today and you have not yet come to Christ, but you can feel God drawing you to himself, that’s how it happens. Listen to that call. Come to him. There is no sweeter name than the name of Jesus Christ. Come to Him and cry out to Him to save you from your sins. He came to save sinners just like you. He came to die on the cross. He came to hang there in your place so that you could trust Him to be saved. And if you come and put your trust in Him, then you prove that he died for you. And if you are a believer already, praise and worship the God of heaven because he gave you the right to be the children of God who were born not of the blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer. Our God in heaven, we love you. We praise you for the mystery of your salvation. You created the world. And then you sent your son into the world that you through him created. And he came to his own and his own received him not. But there were those who you had chosen to believe in him and to give the right to become your children. God, we thank you. We are humbled by such a great salvation. And we pray that even today that we would just be even more in awe of what a great God you are. We pray that as we come to the table that we would once again be reminded of what it took to make us your children. We thank you for your salvation. We thank you for who you are and what you’re doing in each one of us. And we pray this in Christ’s name, amen.