<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Previously we saw how Jesus is the light that shines into the darkness, and mentioned how we are going to see in these verses that the light that shines is also a dividing light. It is not a light of universal salvation to every single person. It is a light that overcomes the darkness. It is a light that darkness does not understand. It is a light that is hated by the darkness, and calls out its own from the darkness, into marvelous light.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus Christ distinguishes and divides people into two categories: those who believe and those who do not – those who receive him and those who do not receive him. Much of unbelieving society today has one of two incorrect views of Jesus. Either 1) that he is a hateful bigot, or 2) that he is nothing but love and inclusion. Neither of those assessments are true. We see that just by nature of being the true light, he divides people: those who hate the late, and those who love the light and come to the light.<\/span><\/p>\n Think of the two criminals Jesus was crucified between. Jesus divided them – one who received Him, one who did not. Jesus is both a loving and willing Savior, and a firm judge of righteousness. Later on in John we\u2019re going to see that Jesus calls himself the good shepherd. Think of the nature of shepherding. You must be able to distinguish between the sheep and the goats, or the sheep and the wolves in order to be a good shepherd. And so today we will look at the two groups of people that are divided at Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n In our text today it talks about how Christ was in the world, and the world rejected him, and how He came to His own people, and they rejected Him. Most people, at least that I have read, tend to see this as post incarnation – Jesus literally walking the earth, teaching and healing during his earthly ministry and was rejected by the world, and His own people. I certainly see an element of that here. Other theologians, such as John Gill, who pastored the church that would become Charles Spurgeon\u2019s Metropolitan Tabernacle, just over 100 years before Spurgeon, see these verses as not a reference to the incarnation, but the pre-incarnate Christ. His reasoning is that verse 14, where the Word becomes Flesh, is a distinct idea from anything before it, and that we haven\u2019t been formally introduced to the incarnation yet. Seeing it in that light is very persuasive for me, so I tend to agree with Gill here. However, the theological principles given in verse 10-11 ring true through the incarnation as Jesus walked the earth. So as we look more closely at these verses I think there is great benefit to seeing both sides to what is really the same coin. We have two main points today, 1) Christ Rejected, and 2) Christ Received.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Christ Rejected, v. 10-11<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our first point in verse 10-11 is that Christ is rejected; and our first sub-point in verse 10 is that Christ is rejected by the world.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rejected by the World, v. 10<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before we go further into His rejection, verse 10 begins by saying, \u201cHe was in the world\u2026\u201d Now, remember, I said there are two understandings to this, pre-incarnation, or as a reference to the incarnation. We will consider both.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ways Christ was in the World, v. 10<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n John Gill says that Christ was in the world, \u201cwhen first made, and since, by his essence, by which he fills the whole world; and by his power, upholding and preserving it; and by his providence, ordering and managing all the affairs of it, and influencing and governing all things in it: he was in it as the light and life of it, giving natural life and light to creatures in it, and filling it, and them, with various blessings of goodness; and he was in the promise and type before, as well as after the Jews were distinguished from other nations, as his peculiar people; and he was frequently visible in the world, in an human form, before his incarnation, as in Eden’s garden to our first parents, to Abraham, Jacob, Manoah, and his wife, and others.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In this sense, ever since creation, as John 1 hints at, Jesus Christ has been in the world, giving it it\u2019s life and light, sustaining it, holding it all together by the word of His power, shedding natural light on mankind, and governing it by his providence. He was there in the beginning, and He has been here ever since. This is His World.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet, despite His hand clearly seen in all things, the world did not know him. Now this is not be taken as simply an innocent ignorance. What is plainly seen about God in creation, is rejected and sinned against. After the fall, rejection of God had become so intense that by the time of Noah, God destroyed the world by flood, and started over, so to speak. After that, evil and sin began to work its way out in the world again, and you have a pagan world. Israel was surrounded by pagan nations who rejected the creator for man made objects and idols. He was in the world, and the world did not know him.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another reason we know it was not an innocent ignorance is because when Jesus came in flesh to this earth and walked among us, who was it that put him to death? Certainly the Jews were guilty, as we will get to in a moment, but it was also Pilot, representing the world. The Apostle\u2019s Creed, one of the earliest Christian Creeds, has Pilot forever ingrained as putting Christ to death, though he washed his hands.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.\u201d Herman Ridderbos says this,<\/span> \u201c<\/span><\/em>The world to which the logos came was his own creation. The world did not know him, not because he was a stranger but because it was estranged from him, from its origin.\u201d<\/em> Sin is the reason that the world is estranged from him. Sin entered the world in the garden, Adam and Eve are kicked out of the garden – estranged. As sin ravaged its way through humanity, and humanity grew farther and farther away from the garden, the world became more and more estranged from their creator.<\/span> The good news is that the curse is being reversed. When Christ came, lived, died, and rose again, He set the spread of the gospel in motion that all the nations, who were once estranged from Him, might come to Him and be reached with the gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n Except for the Jews, the world was pagan during the Old Testament era up to the time of Christ. But what happened with the apostles after Christ\u2019s resurrection and ascension? The gospel began to spread like wildfire throughout the world. While the kings of the earth continue to rage against the Lord\u2019s anointed today, the gospel has advanced like crazy throughout the world. With imperfections, America has a rich Christian heritage. The same is true with Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and others. Today Christianity is booming in South America, Asia, and Africa – despite what the media says, Muslims are coming to Christ like never before in world history. The world that once did not know him, is coming to know him.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rejected By His Own, v. 11<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not only was Christ rejected the world, He was rejected by His own.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Who are “His own”?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I think it\u2019s very obvious, and most commentators agree, that this is a reference to the Jewish people. While Jesus Christ came into the world, he came specifically and uniquely to his own people.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ways He came to His own<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just as Jesus was in the world before His incarnation, so He came to His own before He walked the earth among them. He came to Israel through the types, shadows, signs, symbols, prophets, law, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n Again, hear what John Gill says on this: \u201c<\/em><\/span>Now Christ, the word, came to the Jews before his incarnation, not only in types, personal and real, and in promises and prophecies, and in the word and ordinances, but in person; as to Moses in the bush, and gave orders to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt: he came and redeemed them himself with a mighty hand, and a outstretched arm; in his love and pity he led them through the Red Sea as on dry ground; and through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night; and he appeared to them at Mount Sinai, who gave unto them the lively oracles of God\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Israel had the covenants, the laws, the prophets, the promises, the sacrifices, the temple, the promised seed, the Scripture, and on and on, and yet they did not receive him. The Old Testament is just filled with Israel\u2019s continued rebellion and rejection of God.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course it was not only in the signs and shadows that Christ came to His people, but He came in the flesh, born of the virgin Mary, from the line of David, a Jew, from Nazareth. He did so much ministry specifically toward the Jews and dealt directly with the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees; He taught from the Scripture.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus not only came to His people in pre-incarnate form, and post-incarnation, but He also came in love, with the intent to save. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. He came to heal the sick, feed the poor, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, and forgive sins. John 3:17, \u201cFor God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.\u201d<\/em> This was Christ\u2019s demeanor and mission.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite this, His own people did not receive him. When Jesus went to his own hometown of Nazareth, the people despised and rejected him. In Luke\u2019s account of this in Luke chapter 4 it says that when they heard Jesus preach, \u201call in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you compare verse 10 with verse 11 in John 1, it says that the world did not \u201cknow\u201d him, while it says that his own people did not \u201creceive\u201d him. That\u2019s a little bit harsher of language. Israel had so much more light than the gentile world, they were expecting and awaiting the Messiah to come. Yet when He came, He was not received. The Jews could not plead ignorance.<\/span><\/p>\n How could his own people, who were waiting expectantly for a Messiah reject Him? Because it was foretold by the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 53:3.\u00a0<\/span>Despite the rejection of Christ, Christ nevertheless went to the cross – because he came to save. What love is that!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Christ Received, v. 12<\/b><\/p>\n In verse 10, it references the world. In verse 11 it references “his own people.” In verse 12 it says “to all who believed.” This indicates to us that it is some of both Jews and Gentiles that did believe in Christ.<\/p>\n What does it mean to receive Him?<\/em><\/p>\n In context, to receive Him, is to believe in His name. This is not a mere acknowledgement of the name of Christ, but it is a receiving of what all His name encompasses: the Christ, the Son of God. It is a receiving of Him as Messiah, Savior of the World, truly God, truly man.<\/p>\n \u201cHe gave the right\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse twelve tells us that \u201che gave the right\u2026\u201d not that man earned the right. It is sovereign grace. Man doesn\u2019t coerce grace out of God. God gives freely of His grace to man.\u00a0<\/span>You don\u2019t earn anything by believing, v. 13 quickly refutes that (it is not a cause and effect statement, just simply stating that those who believe and those who are born again are the same person).\u00a0<\/span>Being a Child of God is a gift given.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yet how is it a right?\u00a0By the Promises of God: Romans 10:9-13, John 6:35-40, and Acts 16:30-31.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is the promise of God that all who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation will be saved! Anyone who, by the Grace of God, comes to Jesus Christ in true repentance and faith, will not be turned away for God has promised to save those that truly come to Jesus Christ – in this sense it is the right of those who believe to become children of God. Not in a proud way that exalts the decision of man, but in a way that exalts the decision of God, for it is on the basis of His promises that we have that right. For those who come to the Lord Jesus Christ in true faith are those who have been born of God, a totally monergistic work of God to save and glorify Himself. Our believing is not the earner of the right to become children of God, but rather it is God\u2019s promise to save all those that come to Him. And that right to being God\u2019s child cannot ever be taken away<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction Previously we saw how Jesus is the light that shines into the darkness, and mentioned how we are going to see in these verses that the light that shines is also a dividing light. It is not a light of universal salvation to every single person. It is a light that overcomes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":3732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,25,32],"tags":[33,47,173,205,249,274,278,557,562,619,678,679,687,699,867,1014,1027,1031,1038,1056,1105,1114,1226],"class_list":{"0":"post-3731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-faith","9":"category-theology","10":"tag-33","11":"tag-110-12","12":"tag-baptist","13":"tag-bible","14":"tag-calvinism","15":"tag-christ","16":"tag-christianity","17":"tag-god","18":"tag-gospel","19":"tag-hope","20":"tag-jenkins","21":"tag-jesus","22":"tag-john","23":"tag-joshua","24":"tag-new","25":"tag-rags","26":"tag-received","27":"tag-reformed","28":"tag-rejected","29":"tag-riches","30":"tag-scripture","31":"tag-sermon","32":"tag-testament","33":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/03\/0357edb73feafe6.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3725,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-light-shines-in-the-darkness-john-14-9\/","url_meta":{"origin":3731,"position":0},"title":"The Light Shines in the Darkness: John 1:4-9","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"March 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 In him was life,[a]\u00a0and\u00a0the life was the light of men.\u00a05\u00a0The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6\u00a0There was a man\u00a0sent from God, whose name was\u00a0John.\u00a07\u00a0He came as a\u00a0witness, to bear witness about the light,\u00a0that all might believe through him.\u00a08\u00a0He was not the light,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/03\/light-in-darkness.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4224,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/sons-of-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":3731,"position":1},"title":"Sons of Light","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"October 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"34\u00a0So the crowd answered him, \u201cWe have heard from the Law that\u00a0the Christ remains forever. How can you say that\u00a0the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?\u201d\u00a035\u00a0So Jesus said to them,\u00a0\u201cThe light is among you\u00a0for a little while longer.\u00a0Walk while you have the light,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/10\/sonsoflight.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3820,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/you-cant-hide-john-319-21\/","url_meta":{"origin":3731,"position":2},"title":"You Can’t Hide: John 3:19-21","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"July 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 19\u00a0And this is the judgment:\u00a0the light has come into the world, and\u00a0people loved the darkness rather than the light because\u00a0their works were evil.\u00a020\u00a0For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,\u00a0lest his works should be exposed.\u00a021\u00a0But whoever\u00a0does what is true\u00a0comes to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/07\/16-10-18-michael-berg-light-and-darkness-always-coexist-within-us.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/07\/16-10-18-michael-berg-light-and-darkness-always-coexist-within-us.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/07\/16-10-18-michael-berg-light-and-darkness-always-coexist-within-us.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3601,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/light-and-darkness-commentary-on-1-john-1v5-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":3731,"position":3},"title":"Light and Darkness: Commentary on 1 John 1v5-7","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Verse 5 begins as a link to the previous 4 verses where the apostle John laid a foundation of the person and work of Christ as the foundation upon which what we read here today is built upon. In the opening verses we were also introduced to the theme of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/08\/office-wood-table-with-blank-notepad-pencil-glasses-and-cup-of-coffee_1627-105.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/08\/office-wood-table-with-blank-notepad-pencil-glasses-and-cup-of-coffee_1627-105.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/08\/office-wood-table-with-blank-notepad-pencil-glasses-and-cup-of-coffee_1627-105.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3618,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-true-light-is-already-shining-commentary-on-1-john-2v7-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":3731,"position":4},"title":"The True Light is Already Shining: Commentary on 1 John 2v7-11","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"September 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 As we examined the previous verses last week, we saw the moral test for our assurance \u2013 that we can know that we have come to know God if we obey his commandments. Because those that love God obey Him, and walk as the Lord Jesus Christ walked. As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/09\/1490894-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/09\/1490894-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/09\/1490894-7.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/09\/1490894-7.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4284,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-image-of-the-invisible-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":3731,"position":5},"title":"The Image of the Invisible God","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"December 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Colossians 1:11-15 reads, \u201cMay you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/12\/mountains-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}