Click here to view listing below for Rev 21:24
"THIS IS THE MESSAGE"
Intro. The eternal true and living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the God who transcends time and space. He is infinite in power, wisdom and glory. This infinite God desired to reveal Himself to finite man. For this purpose He sent His Son Jesus the Messiah who is the express image of the Father and the outshining or effulgence of His glory. You might say that no man has ever seen the sun. We see the bright shining light that comes forth from the sun. No man has seen the Father at any time, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. Jesus is that bright shining light that comes from the Father.
I. THE MESSENGER:
A. In verse 1 John tells us that He was from the beginning.
1. In the gospel of John we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God."
2. John went on to say that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
B. So the messenger was none other than God Himself, as John said, "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not."
1. In verse one John said we heard Him, we saw Him, we looked on Him with a steadfast gaze, and we touched Him.
2. The awesome awareness came to them that as they were listening to Jesus talk, that God was speaking to them.
3. As they were looking at Jesus, they were looking at God.
4. As they touched Jesus, they were touching God.
5. As they embraced Jesus, they were embracing God.
II. THE MESSAGE.
A. God is light.
1. This means that God is pure. From a moral standpoint light stands for purity.
2. God is knowledge and truth. To speak of light in a philosophical sense you are speaking of knowledge and truth.
a. A man may say, "I have been enlightened."
b. Let's put some light on the subject.
c. The time of history when men lived in ignorance and superstition were known as the dark ages.
3. Light is a revealer. Jesus said, For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
4. In Proverbs we read, of the evil man
PRO 2:13 Who leaves the path of uprightness, to walk in the way of darkness;
5. And again we read,
PRO 4:18 But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
6. The Lord took the prophet Ezekiel into the minds of the leaders of the nation, he showed him how polluted they were then He said,
EZE 8:12 You have seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the secret chambers of his imagination, for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
7. It is interesting that on the first day of creation in Genesis, God created the light.
8. God is light. Paul told Timothy that God dwells in a light that no man can approach.
9.
Psalm 104 says that God covers Himself with light as a garment. 10. In
Revelation 21 we read of heaven that
REV 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.
B. There is no darkness at all in God.
1. Light and darkness are mutually exclusive. You either walk in the light, or you are walking in darkness.
2. Paul asked, "What fellowship has light with darkness?
3. Isaiah prophesied of a day when
ISA 9:2 The people that walked in darkness would see a great light: and they that dwelled in the land of the shadow of death, upon them would the light shine.
4. Zacharias the father of John the Baptist prophesied of Jesus saying, Whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and [in] the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
5. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
6. Jesus called Paul to go to the Gentiles
Act 26:18 To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in Jesus.
III. THE PURPOSE OF THE MESSAGE. TO BRING YOU INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
A. Man was created by God for fellowship with God.
1. In
Revelation 4, as John is in heaven observing the worship of God by the angels, he watches and hears the response of the 24 elders as they fall on their faces and cast their golden crowns before the throne saying. "You are worthy Oh Lord to receive glory and honor, for You have created all things and for Your pleasure they are and were created."
a. That's it, that is the reason you exist.
b. When you live to please God, you are responding to the basic reason for your existence, and you will find real peace and contentment.
c. If you live to please yourself, you will find emptiness, strife, turmoil, frustration, and ultimate misery.
2. We read in Genesis that Adam heard God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. God had come down to fellowship with Adam and Eve. As long as Adam walked with God he was fulfilling the basic purpose of his existence.
a. But something has gone wrong, we see Adam trying to hide from God.
b. Adam has entered the kingdom of darkness, He has disobeyed God and followed the lust of his flesh, thus leaving the kingdom of light to live in the kingdom of darkness.
c. There will follow disastrous consequences because of this foolish choice.
d. The worst of all the death of his spirit which means that He will be alienated from the life of God.
e. Sin always separates a man from God. The prophet Isaiah cried, "God's hand is not short that He cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that He cannot hear, but your sins have separated you from God."
B. God loves you and desires to fellowship with you.
1. Be not deceived, it is impossible for a man to walk in darkness and have fellowship with God, for God is light.
2. If you will walk in the light as He is in the light, you can live as God intended you to live, in fellowship with Him.
3. For John tells us that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
a. Sin the very thing that killed or fellowship with God has been removed by Jesus Christ.
b. By His death, He brought us life.
IV. THE RESULT OF BELIEVING THE MESSAGE IS RESTORED FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
A. Fellowship with God brings:
1. Fullness of joy. Or as Peter said, joy unspeakable and full of glory.
2. Peace that passes human understanding.
3. Love divine all loves excelling.
4. Fulfillment.
5. Contentment.
B. I guess the question is, do you want to live in darkness or light?
1. Do you want to live in misery or joy?
2. Do you want turmoil or peace?
3. Do you want to be mastered by hatred or love?
4. Do you want fulfillment or emptiness?
C. That is the message that Jesus brought, you can believe it or not, God leaves that choice up to you, you see, He does not want to force you to fellowship with Him, that is not true fellowship.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
