Message: God the Son
I.
Introduction
a.
We are talking
about God as a trinity for two more weeks.
Each week we will cover one of the persons of the trinity, this week we
will be talking about God the Son.
b.
We know God the
Son by a different name, usually we refer to him as Jesus. He came to earth and lived a life, fully
human and fully divine. He lived a life
but didn’t sin, he died and then rose from the dead. He then ascended to heaven, where he sits in
heaven until the point when he comes back to the earth to defeat evil and
reward the faithful.
c.
But tonight I
want to look at a title he gives himself, so that we can understand a little
bit about who He is and even a little about His mission on earth.
II.
Body
a.
John 8:12 – “When
Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life.”
b.
John 3:16-21 – “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him. Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because he has not believe din the name of God’s on and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and
will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the
light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done
through God.”
c.
Ephesians 5:1-14
– “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of
love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering
and sacrifice to God. But among you
there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity,
or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk
or coarse joking which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person –such a
man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of such things. God’s wrath
comes on those who are disobedient.
Therefore do not be partners with them.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light in the
Lord. Live as children of light (for the
fruit of light consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out
what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to
do with the fruitlessness deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient
do in secret. But everything exposed by
the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”
7:??-7:30 – Table Time #1 – Go
through scriptures read and come up with what we learn about light and darkness
d.
Share what each
table learned from these passages about light and darkness
e.
Too often we live
our lives in darkness (sin), which ultimately is just a slow, meaningless march
to death. We are blinded to the reality
of our lives and what is really important.
We are hopeless and purposeless, yet we still cling to the darkness.
a.
Why? We are afraid what God or others will think
of us if they really knew what our lives were like, how sinful and bad we
really are. The things we think about,
and the things we do that we think no one knows about, or at least not the
people that will judge you.
b.
We are used to
the darkness, we think it is normal
c.
We don’t want to
stand out as different.
d.
We don’t want to
change the things we are doing because we are enjoying them, though they aren’t
really brining us anything more than a small taste of true peace, contentment,
and joy.
f.
But darkness
isn’t good, it doesn’t satisfy, it only shields us from the truth, that we are
completely lost and alone.
g.
But there is good
news, Jesus came, and he brought light into this world, and is even willing to
bring light into your life. But this can
bring up fear. What if he is angry, what
if he abandons me, what if he sees how dark I am, what if someone else finds
out?
a.
John 3:17 – “For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him.”
b.
You see, Jesus
doesn’t want to bring you into the light in order to mock you, or so he can
judge you, or so he can condemn you, or so that he can show his anger about it
to you. He wants to shine his light on
you so that you can be saved. Saved from
the hopelessness, saved from the fear, saved from being lost, saved from
meaninglessness, saved from sin.
III.
Conclusion
a.
There is good
news, Jesus came, and he brought light into this world, and is even willing to
bring light into your life. But his
light will only go as far as you will allow it in.
a.
Illus: The Lion
King Light Scene
i.
Jesus is king of
all areas of our life that has his light in it, meaning any area we allow him
to take control of, to forgive, to change
ii.
But there might
be areas that we hold back and hold on to, but he wants to be able to bring his
light and freedom into those areas as well.
b.
Are you willing
to let his light in tonight?
