Sorrow and Despair

There is a difference between sorrow and despair. Sorrow is pain for which there are sources of consolation. Sorrow comes from losing one good thing among others, so that, if you experience a career reversal, you can find comfort in your family to get you through it. Despair, however, is inconsolable, because it comes from losing an ultimate thing. When you lose the ultimate source of your meaning or hope, there are no alternative sources to turn to. It breaks your spirit. -- Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

I AM

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. -- Exodus 3:14-15

Before Moses was MOSES, he was a lowly shepherd of no reputation. Sure, he was once a somebody. He grew up in the royal court of Pharaoh, raised and educated in Egypt, he was a man of great privilege. But that all changed when he killed an Egyptian for striking a fellow Hebrew. When Pharaoh learned of this, Moses fled to Midian where he lived in exile for forty years as a shepherd. Then, one day while tending to his father-in-law's flock, an eighty-year-old Moses saw a strange sight; a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire.

It is a familiar story; God called to Moses from the burning bush and gave him a charge to lead the Jewish people from their bondage in Egypt. A task for which Moses felt completely overwhelmed and inadequate. But God reassured Moses that He would be with him, and He instructed Moses to, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" In other words, God gave Moses the awesome privilege to speak as His envoy, and carry His very own name like a signet ring.

*****

Who Created I AM?

When contemplating the nature of existence, inevitably someone will ask the question, "If God created everything, who created God?" That is not an unreasonable question when asked by a child or the uninitiated; but I was surprised when Richard Dawkins, a noted evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist, asked that same question. I was surprised because Dawkins has authored many books including The God Delusion and The Blind Watchmaker. He has also debated notable Christian thinkers and has been at the forefront of what is called New Atheism. This is a very strident form of atheism in that they seek to marginalize Christians with public scorn and ridicule. Gone is the thin veneer of civility and respectful dialogue. That being the case, one would expect that Dawkins had done his homework on the Christian faith, if for no other reason than to understand what he is ridiculing and rejecting. But the fact that he posed such a question betrays his ignorance of the Christian faith on a very basic level.

Our opening passage addresses the question, "Who created God?" The answer: no one. God was not created, nor did He create Himself, and there was never a time when He came into being, because He has no beginning and no end. God simply IS. He has always been and will always be. God is I AM, the self-existent eternal One. And yes, that does boggle the mind.

Though it boggles the mind, we generally recognize that something must be eternal, otherwise we are faced with an infinite regression. Because if the universe had a beginning, the next logical question is, "What came before the universe?" Then, "What was before that?" And so we are faced with an infinite regression until we reach that which is eternal.

Everlasting and Unchanging

It was once believed that the universe was eternal and had no beginning. One theory held that we lived in an oscillating universe that expanded and contracted in an infinite loop. But today, most cosmologists believe that the universe had a definite beginning. So we're back to square one asking the question, "What came before the universe?" The Bible answers that question in no uncertain terms: The eternal God Whose name is I AM.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. -- Psalms 90:2

Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. -- Isaiah 41:4

Not only has God always existed, He is and has always been perfect in all of His attributes as well. Therefore He is unchanging. To change would mean to become less than what He already is.

"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. -- Malachi 3:6

 From these brief passages of Scripture we quickly learn that God is identified as:

• I AM 
• Eternal 
• The First and the Last 
• Unchanging 

God is the fixed, unmovable, unchanging, absolute, eternal reality. By comparison, everything else is mere smoke and shadow.

God’s absolute being means that God is constant. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot be improved. He is not becoming anything. He is who he is. There is no development in God. No progress. Absolute perfection cannot be improved. -- John Piper

Before Abraham was I AM

That brings us to our text this week in John 8. Jesus is having another heated confrontation with the religious leaders, and He makes another shocking claim:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. -- John 8:56-59 NKJV

Jesus claimed to be I AM, the very God Who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. And notice, the Jews clearly understood what He meant, because they attempted to stone Him for blasphemy. Despite this very clear passage, and others like it, there are still those who persistently claim that the Bible does not teach the divinity of Christ. But in reality, there are many explicit passages, as well as implicit allusions to the deity of Christ. For example:

Jesus is eternal:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” -- Micah 5:2

Jesus is the first and the last:

"Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." -- Revelation 22:12-13

Jesus does not change:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. -- Hebrews 13:8

From these brief passages we learn that Jesus is identified as:

• I AM 
• Eternal 
• The First and the Last 
• Unchanging 

In other words, Jesus has the name of God and the attributes of God. What are we to conclude from that? We are to conclude what the Bible explicitly states, that Jesus is God in the flesh, and that He dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14). The deity of Christ is not a flimsy doctrine that rests on one inscrutable passage of Scripture. It is writ large throughout the Bible.

*****

We began our story with Moses, who acted as God's representative, and we conclude with Jesus, Who was God incarnate. Roughly 1400 years after the time of Moses, I AM Himself came, not through a representative, but in the flesh. The God Who, in times past, spoke through His prophets and a burning bush, had finally come in the person of Christ to speak face to face (Heb 1:1-3).

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. -- John 1:14

Considering Culture: We Are "Gods"

It seems to be all the rage these days among the "spiritual" to claim some form of divinity, or at the very least, claim to have god-like powers. This form of spirituality comes in many forms, shapes and sizes (there's even a "Christian" version), but at base, they are all the same.

However, it is not only the supposedly "spiritual" people that covet god-like power, thoroughgoing secularists do the same from a decidedly naturalist worldview. Whether it's done in the name of spirituality or secularism, the desire to usurp God's throne is universal, and it's nothing new. It is a very old lie that dates back to the Garden.

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." -- Genesis 3:4-5

At base, man is a rebel. We have rebelled against our rightful God and King in an effort to put ourselves at the center of all things. In the words of R. C. Sproul, we are guilty of "cosmic treason"; and much of our entertainment is dedicated to this philosophy of self-worship. We see it in books, movies, music and television in which we are told that the greatest good is to seek our own fulfillment, and to do so at any cost. Pop culture is like a modern day Tower of Babel as we seek to reach up to heaven and claim our own glory and autonomy. I offer here just a few notable examples, ranging from the secular to the "spiritual".

John Steinbeck - Author

Best known for writing East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature. The following is an excerpt from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. 

We have usurped many of the powers we once ascribed to God. Fearful and unprepared, we have assumed lordship over the life or death of the whole world — of all living things.

The danger and the glory and the choice rest finally in man. The test of his perfectibility is at hand.

Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have.

Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope.

So that today, St. John the apostle may well be paraphrased: In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man — and the Word is with Men. [ref. John 1:1]

As this speech indicates, Steinbeck represents the only secularist in our group. It seems apparent that his hopes (and fears) for mankind rested not in some vague form of spirituality, but in scientism.

Shirley Maclaine - Actress

Back in the 80's when Shirley Maclaine authored her book Out On a Limb (and starred in a subsequent movie by the same name), it caused a bit of a stir. What Maclaine believed at that time was still considered rather strange and bizarre by the larger culture. But that is no longer true. Below is a brief excerpt from the movie which was based on her book. In this scene, she stands at the edge of the ocean and boldly proclaims that she is God.

Eat, Pray, Love - Book, Movie 

"God dwells within you, as you… God dwells within me, as me."

That quote is just one of the many nuggets of "wisdom" offered in Eat, Pray, Love, another cinematic offering from Hollywood starring Julia Roberts. It was based on the book of the same name authored by Elizabeth Gilbert. 

As a memoir, Eat, Pray, Love has become an international best seller. It has sold over 10 million copies and has been translated into over thirty languages. And it seems that Gilbert has become quite a mover and shaker in her own right. In addition to being invited to speak at the prestigious TED conference, in 2008 Gilbert made Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people. She has also accumulated a long list of literary awards as well.

In the movie, Julia Roberts portrays the aforementioned author as a woman who is perpetually discontent and unhappy with her tragic upper middle-class life. One night, after a few moments of agonizing prayer, she decides to leave her marriage and job to travel the globe in search of culinary delights, casual relationships, and self-absorption actualization. Conveniently, Liz discovered that "God" wanted her to do all the things that she already wanted to do in the first place. But it gets even better, on her path to enlightenment, Liz discovered that she is divine. Shirley Maclaine must be very proud, her brand of New Age spirtuality is now considered mainstream.

Oprah Winfrey - Talk Show Host, Media Mogul

Although a professing Christian, Oprah Winfrey has been one of the highest profile celebrities to endorse New Age spirituality. She has also been a big promoter of New Age gurus such as Marianne Williamson and Eckhart Tolle, among others.

In 2008, Winfrey hosted a series of international web classes with Eckhart Tolle, based on his book, A NewEarth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. More than 700,000 people worldwide registered to view this webinar.

Their brand of spirituality does not recognize Jesus as Savior. In their view, Christ did not come to atone for sin, but rather, He is only a guru who came to teach us how to awaken our "Christ consciousness" within.

The following is a brief transcript from their web class*:

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): And you know, it’s been a journey to get to the place where I understand, as I said on the pre-show here, that what I believe is that Jesus came to show us Christ consciousness.

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): That Jesus came to show us the way of the heart and that what Jesus was saying that to show us the higher consciousness that we’re all talking about here. Jesus came to say, “Look I’m going to live in the body, in the human body and I’m going to show you how it’s done.” These are some principles and some laws that you can use to live by to know that way. And when I started to recognize that, that Jesus didn’t come in my belief, even as a Christian, I don’t believe that Jesus came to start Christianity…

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): Well, I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): I’m a free-thinking Christian who believes that, who believes in my way, but I don’t believe that it’s the only way, with six billion people here on the planet.

Joel Osteen - Televangelist, Author

Oprah's brand of spirituality is far more accepted today than it was when Shirley Maclaine first proclaimed her divinity. I offer as further evidence, the alliance between Oprah Winfrey and Joel Osteen. Osteen preached a sermon, titled The Power of I Am, that so impressed Winfrey that she decided to feature it on Oprah's Lifeclass. Given the Biblical meaning of the words I AM, Osteen's use of these words is careless at best, and blasphemous at worst.

It was said of Charles Spurgeon that, if you cut him, he would bleed Scripture. I suspect that if you were to cut Joel Osteen, he would bleed the self-help section at your local Barnes & Noble. His is a Christless Christianity. There is no talk of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). Osteen speaks only of peace and safety to itching ears (Ezk 13:10, 2 Tim 4:3). This indicates a tragic lack of discernment among professing Christians considering the fact that Osteen pastors the largest "church" in America, with over 43,000 attendees every week.

*****

At bottom, what all of these philosophies have in common is a me-centered / man-centered worldview that is completely foreign to the Gospel of Christ. These philosophies, whether secular or "spiritual", are antithetical to the God-centered worldview of Scripture. There is only one true God, and we are not Him. Most disturbing is how New Age spirituality has been repackaged with Christian sounding terms and language.  

Unfortunately, these powerful voices are coming from every direction in our culture; from the secularist, to the "spiritual", to mainline evangelical churches. But in reality, this is nothing short of evil disguised as light. We have been repeatedly warned about false teachers in Scripture, but somehow we have failed to listen.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
-- 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

*H/T Apprising Ministries

Neither Do I Condemn You

We are moving at light speed through the book of John. It has been my hope during this 21-week study to emphasize the big picture of Scripture and look at some of the major themes in John's Gospel, but we are in no way exhausting our rich subject. There is always so much more that can be said.

With that said, I have attempted to structure our weekly lessons in a way that they can be completed in roughly two-hours per week. But this week I must make an exception with this additional sermon by John Piper as he examines the story of the woman caught in adultery. I think Piper's treatment of the subject is excellent, as well as how he handles the textual issues involved with this passage of Scripture. I highly recommend a listen. You can view the sermon below, or download it here.

Considering Culture: The Water Faucet

We live on a little blue dot hanging out in space called Earth. Astronomers tell us that, in all the known universe, our planet is unique in very important ways -- ways that sustain life as we know it. Sure, that notion has come under fire in recent years but, as of this moment in history, we have yet to discover a planet like ours. One of the most unique features about Earth is that it contains a vast supply of a life sustaining liquid known as water. That is also the reason our planet is a lovely blue. Over seventy-percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, and our bodies are roughly sixty-percent water. Because water is essential for life as we know it, the equation is very simple: no water = no life.

So we are fortunate (to put it mildly) to live on this rare planet that can sustain life. Those of us who live in a developed country are doubly fortunate in that we have easy access to potable water. For much of human history the acquisition of safe drinking water was a formidable challenge, and it continues to be a challenge in underdeveloped regions of the world. According to the World Health Organization, eleven percent of the world’s population still lack reliable sources of safe drinking water. In terms of numbers, that represents almost 800 million people, a population more than double that of the United States. It also must be remembered that water is vital for our food supply and sanitation as well. When there is a crisis in the water supply, malnutrition and disease are sure to follow.

If you're reading this, chances are you have never experienced life-threatening thirst and dehydration due to a lack of potable water. Those of us in the developed world have a constant, abundant, and convenient supply of water at our fingertips. We turn a couple of knobs and temperature adjusted water comes gushing from a faucet (Even my parents didn't enjoy this level of luxury during their childhood.) Furthermore, if the bottled water industry is any indication, we've also become water connoisseurs. Because if tap water is not to our liking, we will pay a premium for our favorite "brand" of bottled drinking water. People who are desperate for water are not concerned with such things. As modern people, we have no idea what it is like to live under conditions in which water is hard to come by. Due to our effortless access to water, we hardly give it a thought.

By comparison, ancient cities were usually built around natural water sources. Although parts of the ancient world had impressive aqueduct systems and a network of wells, it was still a lot of work for the average family to retrieve enough water for their daily needs. The acquisition of water occupied a great deal of their time, and it meant carrying heavy water jars to and from a well, or some other source of water. It was also common to mix water with wine as a disinfectant because, more often than not, water was unsafe to drink by itself. How many hours of your day are occupied with retrieving and disinfecting water? I'm guessing none. To live in a modern culture, is to live in a state of comfort and luxury that would have been completely foreign to the ancient commoner.

So what does this have to do with Bible study, and why am I going through such pains to point this out? This is why: Because of modernity and our easy access to water, to a large degree, the evocative power of a biblical phrase like living water is lost on us. But to a people group that lived in an ancient desert (people like the woman at the well), it would have had a far more powerful impact due to their keen awareness of their dependence on water. Because of modernity and the water faucet, we lack that awareness, even though we are just as needy. In other words, we take water for granted. But if something were to happen to our water supply, in less than a day, we would become very desperate very quickly.

When Jesus offered living water, He was making a powerful statement to people who were desperate for water. He was drawing an analogy between our physical need for water, and our spiritual need for Him. In the same way that our bodies are dependent on water for physical life, we are dependent on Christ for spiritual life. Jesus is claiming that we are spiritually dead without Him. He is also claiming that, in the same way we are physically cleansed, refreshed and sustained by water, we are spiritually cleansed, refreshed and sustained by Him. Water is both a necessity and a deeply satisfying joy; there is no substitute. The same is true of Christ. Furthermore, Jesus didn’t only promise to give us living water, He promised to give us the very source of living water, the Holy Spirit.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. -- John 7:37-39

*****

Once again, I must borrow from C.S. Lewis with an excerpt from The Silver Chair (book #4 in the Narnia series). A little girl named Jill Pole had gotten herself into a bit of trouble, and she decided to run from Aslan who is a Christ figure in the land of Narnia. Jill is lost and thirsty, and despite her best efforts to avoid Aslan, she finds him waiting for her by a stream of water, his stream of water.

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

"I’m dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.  

"May I -- could I -- would you mind going away while I drink?" said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. As Jill gazed at this momentous bulk, she realized she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to do anything to me if I do come?" said Jill. 

“I make no promise," said the Lion.  

Jill was so thirsty that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. "Do you eat girls?" she asked.  

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings, emperors, cities, and realms," said the Lion. He didn’t say it as if he were boasting or as if he were sorry or as if he were angry. He just said it. 

"I dare not come and drink," said Jill. 

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion. 

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer." I suppose I must go look for another stream then." 

“There is no other stream," said the Lion. 

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion -- no one who had ever seen his stern face could ever do that -- and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up the water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she ever tasted. You didn't need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once. 

*****

There is another profound truth that is waiting to be discovered and it is this: The very reason water exists is to point us to Christ. Why do I believe that? Because Christ was slain from before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). When Christ used water as analogy for Himself, it was not an afterthought; it was according to the foreordained will of God. Nothing God does is an afterthought -- and all of creation, including water, sings to His glory. So the next time you enjoy your water faucet, a refreshing glass of ice water, or a swim in a lake, you would do well to remember -- what water is to the body, Christ is to the soul. The equation is very simple: know Jesus = know Life.

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. -- 1 John 5:12

What is the Bible Basically About?

Biblical Motifs: Living Water

(Note: This is part of an ongoing series that is best read in order. If you haven't already done so, you can read the previous posts here.)

*****

Last time during our Biblical Motifs series, we talked about how the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years after they left Egypt. During that time God supernaturally sustained them with manna, or bread, from heaven. And we saw that the manna was a type and shadow of Christ. This time, we are going to look at how God supernaturally provided Israel with water in the desert. And this provision is a recurring theme in Scripture that, once again, points us to Christ.

As you will recall, God delivered the Jews from their bondage in Egypt with a mighty display of power. Despite God's faithfulness, Israel had a stubborn tendency of rebellion, complaining and distrust toward God. Instead of trusting in the faithfulness of God, somehow they would come to resent the mercies of God and long for their days of slavery in Egypt. It came to the point that Moses would actually fear for his life.

Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.”

So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?”

And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” -- Exodus 17:1-7 

God instructed Moses to strike the rock once, and water came gushing out of it -- water that would provide life for the people of Israel. We see a familiar foreshadow here -- once again, in the same way that the people grumbled and complained before Moses, they grumbled and complained against Christ, even as provision was being made for them.

Now let's take a look at what the Apostle Paul said about this same passage.

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. -- 1 Corinthians 10:1-4

Here we learn that the rock Moses struck was another picture of Christ. When Moses struck the rock and water came gushing out, it was a picture of Christ's sacrificial death that gives life. Christ was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities -- in His death we have life. This theme of living water that Christ provides by His death is a frequent refrain in Scripture, both Old and New Testament. Here is a sample:

He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. -- Psalms 78:15-16

Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, 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. -- Jeremiah 2:12-13

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. -- Isaiah 12:3

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. -- Isaiah 55:1

And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. -- Isaiah 58:11

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." -- John 4:10

And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. -- Revelation 21:6 

That brings us to our text this week in John 7.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" -- John 7:37-38

Even as officers stood ready to arrest Him, Jesus made a public spectacle of Himself with a loud and earnest cry for the thirsty to come and drink. No doubt, some stopped and listened, and some became angry, while others glibly passed by with complete indifference. The same is true today. The words of Christ have continued to ring in our ears for over two-thousand years, and they still elicit the same reaction.

Jesus made this proclamation during the Feast of Tabernacles in which water played a central role. This is how John MacArthur describes this event:

A tradition grew up in the few centuries before Jesus that on the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, a golden container filled with water from the pool of Siloam was carried in procession by the High-Priest back to the temple. As the procession came to the Watergate on the S side of the inner temple court, 3 trumpet blasts were made to mark the joy of the occasion and the people recited Is. 12:3, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." At the temple, while onlookers watched, the priests would march around the altar with the water container while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Pss. 113–118). The water was offered in sacrifice to God at the time of the morning sacrifice. The use of the water symbolized the blessing of adequate rainfall for crops. Jesus used this event as an object lesson and opportunity to make a very public invitation on the last day of the feast for His people to accept Him as the living water...

The significance of Jesus’ invitation centers in the fact that He was the fulfillment of all the Feast of Tabernacles anticipated, i.e., He was the One who provided the living water that gives eternal life to man.* 

What an amazing picture of how Christ beautifully fulfills the types and shadows in Scripture. I will close with one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It is a beautiful picture of a new heaven and a new earth, and the water of life that flows from God's throne. -- Selah

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. -- Revelation 22:1-2

__________

*The MacArthur Study Bible

Review: The Big Picture (John 1-6)

(Note: This week we are going to review the first six chapters of John. It will also be a good time to catch up if you've fallen behind. The easiest way to do that is by clicking the Lesson Index tab at the top of the page. With that said, we will also cover some new ground in an effort to give more context to our study thus far.)

Progressive Revelation
In our on-going effort to understand the grand narrative of Scripture, it is important to remember that the original manuscripts of the Bible did not contain the chapter and verse divisions that we have in our modern translations. They were added by translators to aid our study of Scripture. And they are very useful to that end. But if we're not careful, one unintentional side effect is that we may come to see the Bible as a series of disconnected verses that have little to do with each other, kind of like an assortment of fortune cookies. It can be all too easy to lose context. As a result, even Christians who have a solid grounding in doctrine may have lost the overarching narrative of Scripture along the way. One thing I hope to accomplish here is to highlight the narrative of John's Gospel, as well as give it some context within the "big picture" of Scripture.

It is also important to bear in mind that the Bible is a progressive revelation. That is to say, what was once a partial revelation, became more clear as God continued to speak through His prophets over time. In one sense, the progressive revelation of Scripture was very much like a seed that was planted in the ground and grew over time, according to God's predetermined will.

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— (Romans 16:25-26)

The Seed of the Woman
For example, we find the first mention of a Savior in Genesis 3:15. But it is somewhat cryptic, and offers just a glimmer of what is to come:

And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.” -- Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)

As we continue reading through Scripture, we come to passages like Genesis 22, where another curious thing happens. God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his "only son" (Gen 22:2, John 3:16). But just as Abraham raises his hand to slaughter Isaac, God stops him, and provides the sacrifice himself.

In Exodus we read about the first Passover, and the sacrificial lamb. We also learn that the blood of the lamb is a covering from God's wrath.

As we continue to journey through Scripture, the revelation of the Messiah becomes increasingly vivid as we read more prophetic announcements about the Son of David, Emmanuel, and the Suffering Servant. Then, at long last, a virgin conceived, and Christ was born in a manger. The One Israel was waiting for had been revealed. When John the Baptist finally saw Christ, he proclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

In the final book of the Bible, Christ is revealed in His full glory as the Alpha and Omega, the Lamb Who was slain, and the conquering King who sits upon God's throne. So here we see a progression of revelation over a period of several thousand years. We move from a cryptic mention of a Savior, to the full revelation of Christ. The "Seed of the woman" in Genesis, is revealed as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" in Revelation.

While we have the benefit of hindsight and a closed canon of Scripture, to the ancient Jew, they were looking forward into the unfolding mystery of Christ as God spoke through His prophets at various times and in various ways (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Prologue
With that in mind, let's take a look at the opening of John's Gospel. It opens in eternity past with, "In the beginning". Notice how the opening verses of John and the opening verses of Genesis parallel each other. But also notice how John's Gospel gives us more insight about God, and more insight about the beginning.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.   -- Genesis 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. -- John 1:1-4

In the first chapter of John, we discover the full revelation of the Word, the Second Person of the Trinity, who was with God, and who was God. We learn that the Word became flesh and dwelt (or "tabernacled") among us (John 1:14). The Tabernacle, built during the time of Moses, dwelt in the midst of Israel as a visible sign of God's presence among His people. Now, the true Tabernacle, Emmanuel (God with us), had come in the person of Christ. He was the true light that dwelled among men. In other words, Jesus the Creator, had just walked into His creation. The opening prologue of John not only gives context to the rest of John's Gospel, but it illuminates the whole of Scripture as well.

The Confrontations
In chapter two we come to the first miracle Jesus performed by turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. Shortly after that peaceful and idyllic scene, the confrontations begin -- the age old clash between the light and darkness. Jesus, the light of the world, confronts the darkness of man.

The first confrontation takes place in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Jerusalem was the "Big City"; a place of high architecture, high society, and refined culture. Just like big cities today, this is where you would find the elites -- the rich, the educated, the leaders and politicians. Jerusalem was their town. Into this setting walked Jesus, an "uneducated" carpenter from a small town named Nazareth. If Jerusalem was a big city full of big people, Nazareth occupied the other end of the spectrum; a place of low esteem populated by people of low regard. Nathanael famously quipped, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46).

Jesus started His confrontations by making a whip to drive the money changers from the temple and denouncing the leaders as corrupt. On the surface, the scene was one of pure chaos as Jesus tossed-over money tables and put merchants on the run along with their livestock. This long needed public rebuke caught the attention of everyone, including a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. No doubt intrigued by these events, Nicodemus, himself an elite, sought a private audience with the Carpenter from Nazareth. During their private meeting, Jesus said things that amazed and perplexed Nicodemus.

Jesus would continue to seek specific individuals to speak with privately. He sought out the woman at the well, confronted her sin, and offered her living water. He went looking for a paralytic at the pool of Bethesda and healed him on the Sabbath day, causing yet another confrontation with the religious leaders.

Not only did Jesus minister to people through a series of personal encounters, but He ministered to large crowds as well. He would declare His divinity, miraculously feed thousands of people, and reveal Himself to be the true bread from heaven. At this point, the confrontations also begin to grow in intensity. The hostilities that were simmering beneath the surface begin to boil over.

Truly Man and Truly God
We also saw the humanity of Jesus on full display when He became tired and weary at the well in Samaria. This is an amazing paradox; that the Creator of the universe would live as a man and be tempted at all points, yet without sin, to become the perfect High Priest and Savior.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. -- Hebrews 4:15-16

John's Gospel reveals how the powerful imagery of the Old Testament points us to Christ. So far we have seen that Jesus is:

• God and Creator (John 1:1-3, 14)
• The true Lamb of God (John 1:29)
• Jacobs ladder (Gen 28:12, John 1:51)
• The true temple (John 2:19-21)
• Salvation in the wilderness (Num 21:7-9, John 3:14)
• The Light of Truth (Psalm 119:105, Prov 6:23, John 1:4-9, 3:19)
• Living Water (Jeremiah 2:12-13, John 4:10)
• The true Bread from Heaven (John 6:33-35)

So, can any thing good come from Nazareth? John's Gospel answers Nathanael's question with a resounding YES! Not only can good come from Nazareth, the greatest good came from Nazareth, Christ the Lord. Even though we have just scratched the surface with this brief survey of John, we've seen enough glorious truth about the person and work of Christ to fill the heart with a lifetime of awe and wonder, if we but have the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the heart to believe.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! -- Romans 11:33

Biblical Motifs: Bread from Heaven

(Note: We will be taking a look at several Biblical Motifs during our study in John. If you haven't already done so, please read the introductory information on this subject before continuing.)

Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. -- Psalm 78:25

Do you remember The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston? I probably watched it just about every Easter Sunday as a child. As the story goes, the Jewish people labored under the oppression of the Egyptians until God sent them a deliverer. There were plagues and miracles that culminated with the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian Army. At the end of the movie, Moses was an old man and the Jewish people were set to enter the Promised Land -- and so the movie ended on a high note.

The Ten Commandments was loosely based on the second book of the Bible called Exodus, which means departure. Exodus is about the departure of the Jews from Egypt that took place roughly 1400 years before Christ. Obviously, you can't squeeze everything into a single movie, so they missed some key events from Scripture. What we didn't see depicted in the movie were the years that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Because of sin and unbelief, God did not allow the older generation to enter the Promised Land. Consequently, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years until that generation died off.

So how did Israel survive as a nation in the harsh environment of a Middle Eastern desert for that length of time? Because God sustained and nourished them supernaturally with manna every morning. Manna was also known as bread from heaven (Exodus 16:4). Eventually, Israel would grow tired of manna and they would start to grumble and complain against God because of it (Numbers 11:4-6).

In addition to manna, bread is a recurring theme in Scripture, and it also played a central role in the Passover and Temple ceremonies. During the time of Christ, every good Jew would have been very familiar with these things.

It is into that setting Jesus came and claimed to be the true Bread from Heaven that gives eternal life (John 6:32-35). In fact, the very reason God gave the children of Israel manna in the first place was to foreshadow the coming of Jesus their Messiah, who would deliver them from their sins (John 6:47-51).

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." -- John 6:27 ESV

Manna serves as a type and shadow. Simply put, a type and shadow is anything from the Old Testament that points us to Christ. It might come in the form of a person, a thing, a ceremony or even an event. And God has given us many types and shadows (or "pictures") that point us to Christ.

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Even though they are separated by roughly 1400 years, notice how closely the events surrounding the manna in the Old Testament, and the events from John 6 in the New testament parallel each other. For example, in the Old Testament, when God miraculously provided manna for Israel, they grumbled and complained. Likewise, in John 6, Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people with the loaves and fishes, declared Himself to be the true bread from heaven, and they grumbled and complained once again (John 6:60-66). They grumbled against God's provision in the Old Testament, and they grumbled against Christ, the true bread from heaven, in the New Testament -- thus fulfilling the type and shadow.

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And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." -- Luke 22:19

Jesus told us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread". Even today, bread is a type and shadow for a far greater spiritual reality that is intended to point us to Christ. Just as bread will sustain and nourish our physical bodies, Jesus is the true and only bread from heaven that can give us spiritual life and nourish our souls. If bread for the body is important, bread for the soul is of ultimate importance. Without bread or sustenance, the body will die; and apart from Christ, there is no life for the soul. In Christ we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:27-28). Not only are we dependent upon God for our daily physical sustenance, but for our daily spiritual sustenance as well. Christ pictured as the bread of life, is a recurring theme throughout Scripture.

 

Recovering the Awe

Although this conversation is directed toward pastors and leaders, it is a conversation about recovering an awe of God that we can all benefit from.

The Loss of Wonder

"He who is a stranger to wonder is a stranger to God, for God is wonderful everyway, and everywhere, and everyhow." -- C.H. Spurgeon 

Many years ago, my favorite television show was The Wonder Years. It was about the life and times of a young boy named Kevin Arnold and his journey to manhood. It told the bitter-sweet tale about coming of age and leaving childhood behind. Implicit in the show's title is the notion that childhood is a time full of wonder, but the day will inevitably come when that sense of wonder is lost forever. Although the story was fiction, it did what all good fiction does, it resonated with real life.

Bertrand Russell, near the end of his life, lamented his loss of wonder when he said, "There is darkness without and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing."*

Bertrand Russell was a brilliant and accomplished man. He was an intellectual of the highest caliber who wore many hats. He was a highly regarded historian, philosopher, logician and mathematician. It should also be noted that Bertrand Russell was an atheist as well.

There was another brilliant man by the name of Charles Darwin who wrote about a similar loss of wonder in his autobiography. He wrote:

"Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry of many kinds... gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I took intense delight in Shakespeare, especially in the historical plays… formerly pictures gave me considerable, and music very great delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry: I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost my taste for pictures or music… I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me the exquisite delight which it formerly did… The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature."*

It should be noted that Charles Darwin, who popularized the theory of evolution, also was an atheist.

But would it surprise you to learn that we find similar sentiments expressed in Scripture? They were written by King Solomon who was one of the wisest men who ever lived. In the book of Ecclesiastes, it is evident that Solomon had experienced a loss of wonder as well:

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity [meaningless].-- Ecclesiastes 1:2

All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. -- Ecclesiastes 1:8-9

For what does a person receive for all his toil and in the longing of his heart with which he toils under the sun? All his days are painful, his labor brings grief, and his heart cannot rest at night. This also is vanity! -- Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

I share here only a brief portion of Ecclesiastes. But there is much cynicism and angst expressed throughout its twelve chapters. It should also be noted that, for a long period of time, Solomon lived in open rebellion against God.

Certainly, these noteworthy men are not alone in their loss of wonder. We all feel that same loss, to one degree or another. People have disappointed us, we have disappointed ourselves and others, and life has disappointed us. We tend to become more cynical and jaded with each passing year. In fact, this is sometimes considered a mark of sophistication. We buy the t-shirt that says, "Been there, done that" and grow old. There is nothing left to impress, nothing left to move the heart. We've seen it all, done it all, and we are often left with despair in the quiet hours of the night. But the truth of the matter is this; even though the world is fallen, and even though we are fallen, creation is still full of wonder. God, in His common grace, has seen to it.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. --Psalms 19:1b-4a

Jesus taught that we can learn something about God by considering His creation. He told us to consider the lilies (Luke 12:27), to consider the sparrows (Matthew 6:26, 10:29), to consider the grass of the field (Luke 12:28), and even to consider each other (Matthew 7:9-11). Creation is crying out to us about the glory of God, if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. But if we lose our sense of wonder, we will be blind to God's glory.

So how do we lose our sense of wonder? It is because we are fallen creatures. Our hearts grow increasingly hard and dull because of sin. Over time, like an atrophied muscle, it loses the ability for wonder. A hard heart loses its sensitivity to God and man. Sin causes us to lose a sense of awe and wonder before the God who gave us life and holds our breath in His hand this very moment.

The common joys of life should draw our hearts to God, but somehow we lose the ability to even notice them. If we were stripped of the things we take for granted, we would do anything to get them back. How often do we take our loved ones for granted? What price could you put on the beauty of a sunset or the glory of a sunrise? What would you pay to feel a cool breeze on your skin? When was the last time you stared up at the nighttime sky with wide-eyed wonder? Like the universe, the list is literally endless. All of these things are wonderful gifts from God, but how often do we delight in them? How often do we thank God for them? So much has been given to us, but we act like spoiled children. We ignore what we have been given because we are always looking for something else. We treat the priceless gifts of God as though they are worthless.

The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. - C. S. Lewis

When we lose our delight in God, eventually our capacity to delight in anything is diminished. As we saw in the lives of Bertrand Russell, Charles Darwin and King Solomon, their lives were devoid of meaning, joy and wonder. Whether we deny God's existence altogether like Russell and Darwin, or claim to believe in God but take no delight in him like Solomon, the end result is the same -- despair. If we do not delight in God, only two options remain; despair, or distraction from despair. Because ultimately, life without God is a vanity of vanities.

There is an interesting paradox in our cynicism and loss of wonder. Because even as we lose our sense of true wonder, we still crave it to the core of our souls, and we will look for it to the point of exhaustion. That is one reason entertainment is such big business. When we lose our God given wonder, we will seek it in the artificial. We will look for it in amusement, sex, drugs, drink, food, you name it. We will gorge ourselves on things with diminishing returns in a futile attempt to fill our longing for wonder and delight. On some level, our pursuit of these things is a pursuit of joy. But if we do not find our ultimate joy and delight in God, we will look for it in trifles, and fill-up on junk food for the soul.

"… it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

-- C.S. Lewis

In our text this week (John 6), once again, we see that the people in Scripture are very much like us. Notice how quickly the crowd turned on Jesus. They had just witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fishes, they heard the words of Christ, and God incarnate walked among them. Glory and wonder was right before their eyes, but they turned away unimpressed. They left the Bread of Life to go fill up on trifles. How often have we done the same? How often have we turned away from the Bread of life for mud pies in the slums? No one is immune, even believers can lose their sense of wonder and turn to lesser things.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with this question: What is the chief end of man? The Answer: To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is why we were created. To glorify God and find our deepest joy in Him. All lesser joys are not an end in themselves, they are just signposts that point us to the fountainhead of all Joy, God Himself.

So what can we do about a stony heart that has lost its sensitivity to God? We can repent and turn to the mercies of God. The Great Physician is willing and able to give us a tender heart of flesh if we acknowledge that we are sick and in desperate need.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. -- Psalms 51:7-12

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. -- Ezekiel 11:19-20

(*h/t John Piper)