Final Destination | John 8:21-30

good morning city light Church my name is Phil I'm one of the pastor's here on staff and it's so fun to have all the families in the room today and the babies dedicated I'm celebrating because these are real lives that we want to see changed and transformed in Jesus through Jesus Christ and parents that want to model and demonstrate the love of Jesus to their kids now I'm a father I me and my wife have four daughters four girls and I live in a sorority that's what we always say live in a sorority but it's an incredible blessing and these dedications just serve as a reminder for me to diligently raise my kids to know love and worship Jesus well go ahead and open your Bibles to John chapter eight verses 21 through 30 either otherwise the words will be on the screen as I preach through the text that was just read and as you open up your Bibles I want to begin by asking a question have you ever thought you knew where you were going only to discover that you were completely lost have you ever thought you knew where you were going only to discover that you were completely lost I know the feeling I've done it all too often I remember going mountain biking for the very first time with my uncle and brother it was in Colorado it's 15 years old and we started down this trail and it's you know sort of a after it's me just being me I'm accident-prone and I come up on some rocks I flip over the handlebars I've wreck I hit my knee on a rock it's bleeding I'm bruised I'm lying there in pain and my brother and uncle are further down down the trail I can't even see them they're off in the distance and I have to yell help oh come back and I'm yelling over and over and finally they come back and my uncle you know he makes sure that I'm okay and he just says you know me and me and your brother are going to finish the bike ride and you take your bike and hike down the main path and it'll lead you to the parking lot you give me clear instructions to stay on the main path wait at the car for us and we're done with our ride and so I thought for some reason he said just take the first trail that you see and so I'm hiking along and I see this trail off to the right and so I take it and I realize that I'm I start to climb like I'm literally climbing a mountain but I'm convinced I'm convinced that I'm going the right way but then it starts getting dark and I've hiked for miles like miles and miles and it's dark and I'm starting to realize like I have no idea where I'm at like I'm lost but I'm so far into this and I'm I I don't know what to do I see a narrow valley with some buildings in it so I had to come to bike and ride toward it long story short I found some people a payphone not everybody had cell phones and I called my aunt well they had sent out like a search-and-rescue team for me because I was lost in the mountains and so my uncle and brother were freaking out and so they came the police came but anyway I was exhausted and I was scared and it was a home it was humbling at the same time you know I'm sitting underneath the payphone in a mountain valley in the dark and I was lost I was on the wrong path and in many ways this is what Jesus wants to see us to see in this text today Jesus is talking to the religious leaders and he's saying look you think you're on the right path but the path you're on really leads to a dead end you think your religiosity is going to get you into heaven you think I'm the enemy and you're insisting that I'm wrong and that you're right but in the end it's going to cost you listen I think there are a lot of people who think like this you know I'm I'm a good person I'm moral I go to church I listen to Kayla right I'm a good parent a generous boss I'm active in my community and while all these things are good what Jesus is doing here is he's simplifying the scorecard and he's saying listen what I'm saying is if you have me if you believe in me you have eternal life and if you don't believe in me then you're headed down the wrong path and it's not going to end well for you so today as we jump into our text I have three points that I want to address as we work through it if you have your bulletins or programs I want to take notes the first point is this number one our destination our destination listen we're all headed somewhere to some location I want to ask you this question where are you going where are you going the reality is we are all going somewhere all the time every day you woke up this morning and said I'm going to church today and then afterwards you're going to go to lunch or go to a party or go to the gym or go watch Netflix or go somewhere and do this or do that whatever it is and for maybe for some of you moms that are in the room you just want to get some time for yourself today maybe you were gifted a spa treatment or a coffee well Jesus says where I am going you cannot come so if you want to get home and look your kids in the eye say for the next two hours where I'm going you cannot come go do that go go do your thing today it's your time it's Mother's go celebrate that but in all seriousness the question I'm asking has much greater implications really the question is where is your final destination where are you headed look at verse 21 Jesus says so he said to them again I am going away and you will seek me and you will die in your sin where I am going you cannot come and so church remember who Jesus is talking to here he's talking to the religious leaders that are in Jerusalem in the city the center where people would worship God the religious leaders they're not fans of Jesus he doesn't meet up to their ideas idea deals or more their standards or expectations Jesus didn't come from a prestigious area he didn't get and he wasn't educated at the Harvard of the Midwest Wayne State College he didn't obey all the traditions and the rules and he kept claiming to be God he kept claiming to be God and we see this played out over and over and over again Jesus goes into the temple he stands up and begins to teach and the religious leaders are there they're observing him and many times they're trying to trap him with hard questions so you know in its sense they're seeking Him but they're seeking the wrong Jesus they're trying to define Jesus themselves making Jesus who they want him to be and they keep looking in all the wrong places and Jesus says where I'm going you cannot come you know Jesus is not talking about finding a new hiding place or going to hang out with their enemies what are you saying is I'm going to heaven I'm going to heaven I'm going to be sitting down at the right hand of my father and you're not he's saying their destination is not going to be with God and then Jesus makes this striking statement you will die in your sin you know imagine being in the crowd I mean you would have been shocked whose it's Jesus he's talking to the religious leaders I mean they're the ones that do all the work to put on these religious services they're the ones that know their Bible they're the ones that give generously and these guys are the religious all-stars but Jesus is simply saying you know you may look spiritual but your religious activity has no power to make you spiritually alive and you will die in your sin so listen Church this is clearer all throughout the Bible that our sinful condition separates us from a holy God and we see this from the very beginning from Genesis and Adam and Eve in the garden God said don't eat of the tree in the ate of the tree and when they did that through their disobedience sin entered into the world and this is so clear in the Bible they all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God there's not one not one who is pure not one who is righteous not one who is without sin and so this includes the religious religious leaders of that day you know they they may have held a religious position with authority and power but they're just like the rest of us like all of us sinners in need of a savior and here's the issue the religious leaders continue to reject Jesus they continue to deny that Jesus is the Christ he's the Messiah he's actually the one that came to rescue them and save him from their sin and listen to their response in verse 22 so the Jew said will he kill himself since he says where I am going you cannot come and they didn't understand what Jesus was saying here Jesus is saying I'm going to heaven I'm going to heaven and you're not listen if Jesus if you're having a conversation with Jesus and he tells you listen if you don't believe in me you're going to die in your sin if you don't believe in me that means you're going to die without experiencing grace without experiencing forgiveness you're going to miss out on heaven forever and you're going to die under the wrath of God you know I would think that you would want to lean in to that conversation that you would perk up with your ear attendants you'd want to listen but that's not what the religious leaders do they completely missed the point and this the whole thing and say wait wait where are you going and they even think that Jesus is going to commit suicide they think he is the one that's headed for destruction and death and hell and they're the ones that are headed to heaven and they thought they were on the right path but they're ignorant of the fact that they are completely lost they're not picking up on what Jesus is putting down and so Jesus has to explain why they're still deaf to the things of God look at verse 23 he said to them you are from below I am from above you are of this world I am not of this world and so the root issue is their own sinful condition the reality of their disbelief they are created beings unable to recognize their creator and God in the flesh is standing right in front of them and they are blind to his divinity they're blind to the fact that he is God send it sin has blinded them to the glory and the beauty of Christ's death in their ears and will ultimately to their separation from God forever now let me tell you what this means listen you can be a church attender you can be religious you can do a lot of nice things for people and you can still die in your sin in other words even the religiously active the theologically trained and the ones of high moral reputation will die in sin they will die in their self-righteousness thinking that they're good enough to get to God on their own good works in our own selves here's the warning even the best people even the best people are spiritually dead and headed in the wrong direction apart from faith in Jesus Christ and you know these leaders they wanted to play religious games but they didn't see their need for a savior listen I want to continue to press this question in this morning where are you going where are you going do you know are you going to be with Jesus listen most of us walk through this life unmindful of where we're going when it comes to eternity we're so focused on the here and then now the momentary things of this life today what's going on in my life today and we often don't think about eternity and what we do it literally blows our minds because we can hardly understand or comprehend or fathom what forever means and what it will look like but listen there is a clear reality of heaven and hell eternal life with God or eternal separation without him so city light here's where this gets practical for the Christian listen you can know that you have the light of life inside of you he is with you and this should cause you to worship to rejoice in that fact and to be in awe of what God has done for you you can know where you're going with confidence that your destination is set and that's humbling knowing that you were once a dead in sin but God made you alive and you didn't deserve it listen Jesus died in your sin so you didn't have to die in your sin Jesus died in your sin so you didn't have to die in your sin and you can know that your destination is heaven with God and this should produce inside of you a grateful heart rivers of living water a posture of worship and a desire to be with him forever and for the non-christian I would simply ask you to continue to wrestle with this question this morning are you like the religious leaders who are blinded to the truth are you actually on a path that is moving away from God to a destination that leads to destruction and death to a destination that is under the curse of sin listen there's only one there's only one who can remove this curse and it's Jesus so point number one was our destination Jesus talks about where he's headed in these verses and following he talks about how we can join him there he talks about the solution to our sin he isn't going to tell the religious leaders to figure out a new Bible study program or figure out a new way to impress him he's going to call him to simply believe in him so this is point two number two his identity his identity verses 24 and 25 Jesus says this I told you that you would die in your sins for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins so they said to him who are you so they continued to question his identity even though he's been telling them all along and you can see how Jesus responds he said just what I've been telling you from the beginning so in the Gospel of John we see that Jesus has already identified himself as the bread of life the living water and in the beginning of chapter 8 he says I'm the light of the world he says I'm God I am God I'm equal with the Father and this is why the Jews were so angry and were seeking his life and Jesus says unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins what are you saying is less you believe that I am the bread of life that I am the light of the world that I am God that I'm divined I'm the one who offers eternal life and forgiveness you'll die and what the next question seems to be more sarcastic and walking that a real question they're saying who are you you're going to tell us that we're dead in our sin come on who are you and Jesus had already explained these things to them over and over again and now he's point him to a future reality and he turns their attention to the cross and he says when the Son of Man is lifted up then you'll know who I am look at verses 26 through 28 I have much to say about you and much to judge but he who sent me is true and I declared in the world what I have heard from him they did not understand he had been speaking to them about the father so he said to them when you when you have lifted up the Son of man you will know that I am he and they're sitting there like ok wait wait who are you Jesus you you think that you're the one that you're the one that can tell me about my sin and then Jesus says look listen you're going to understand it when it all goes down notice the language here he says when you have lifted up the Son of man what he's pointing to is the fact that they're going to be the ones that take him to the cross they're going to be the ones that put the nails in his hands they're going to be the ones that crucify him on the cross and this is the second time he uses this language lifted up in the Gospel of John the first time is in John chapter 3 verses 14 and 15 Jesus says this as Moses and his Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life and see they would know this reference to Moses they're the ones that had studied the Old Testament books and the prophets and they are at the feast of booths still celebrating God's provision in his protection for the 40 years that the Israelites were in the wilderness and in the desert they're basically at this huge party remembering these things celebrating and actually looking forward to the coming Messiah it would be like having a graduation party if you're a parent you have a graduation party for your son or your daughter the celebration is for them but at the party they're ignored they are not recognized and they're slandered that's what is happening here Jesus is on the scene and yet they fail to recognize him they fail to listen to him they fail to acknowledge him for who he says he is and they still didn't get it Jesus is telling them I'm going to be lifted up to the cross I'm the one to look to and just like the Israelites in the desert look to the serpent that Moses lifted up and lived Jesus is saying look to me and live and city like this matters Jesus does not ask the religious leaders to go figure out something new to impress God he simply says in verse 24 believe believe in me and the works that I do and live don't walk in darkness anymore believe in the light and unless you believe that I am who I claim to be you are in darkness and your reality is death and so he points to the reality of the cross that he is the Messiah he is the one that came to save them from their sin and he's pointing to this future reality where he will bear the weight of God's wrath and punishment that was meant for us and take it upon himself so that we can have eternal life the forgiveness of sin so that we can be in the light and that we can know where we were going and city light that's what he did for you and for me this is the good news the fact that we can look back on this reality that this is history and rejoice that Jesus was lifted up on the cross and he died the death that we deserved and he was lifted up from the grave and he's lifted up into heaven and he's seated at the right hand of the Father and he is preparing a place for you and for me for those that believe in his name that's amazing amen listen this is the simplicity of the gospel believing in Jesus and the religious leaders were so uptight about what they had to do for God that they missed the very one who could give them eternal life and how many of us try to make it more than just believing in Jesus we try to say Jesus plus this or Jesus plus that it's a simple concept but for many it's hard to trust that it's by faith alone and if I'm honest I'm guilty of this myself all too often because for so long my entire life to the point I was 18 I believe that I had to work my way to God I had to clean up my life I had to get better before God who loved me and accept me and I always added okay I know I need to believe and acknowledge Jesus but I also need to do this I also need to have good works then I can have salvation and it's in those moments where I'm tempted to think like that I got to turn away from this performance vent allottee that think it's that when I think it's about my good works and simply believe the gospel of Jesus Christ to simply believe in the finished work of the cross this is important Jesus identifies himself as the only one who can save sinners and our faith faith must be in him and in him alone this leads to the final point number three our response how do we respond to this let's look at verses 28 through 30 Jesus continues to speak about who he is and his union with the father verses 28 through 30 Jesus says I think nothing on my own authority but speak as the father taught me and he who sent me is with me he has not left me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to him as he was saying these things and many believed in him and so it's clear here that Jesus Jesus's authority is not the human authority of a good moral teacher or a leader but it's from above it's divine his authority is from above because he's from above he was there in the beginning at creation and He is God and there's also this beautiful picture of the union of Jesus Christ and the father that points us to the fact that we have a triune God and the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit existing eternally in three persons the Father has sent the son which was his plan from the very beginning to rescue and redeem his people to rescue them from their sin and bring them from death into life so they could experience God and have fellowship with him and we see that Jesus was sent from him and it he he was obedient to him even to the point of death on a cross and Jesus says this I always do the things that are pleasing to him and he willingly laid down his life for us so that we could be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God transfer from death to life so that we could experience heaven forever I want to share a story a few weeks ago I attended a funeral fariña Erin she was 98 years old when she passed away a life well-lived and her obituary in the Omaha world-herald read this marinas love for Jesus was the focus of her life and demonstrated that by caring for others and this funeral was probably the most most beautiful celebration of home going that I've ever experienced and I say that because Riina's life was marked by her faith in Jesus Christ and she modeled that to her kids to her six kids to her 17 grandkids and to her 42 great grandkids and everybody else that she came in contact with and I was blown away and literally brought to tears seeing the slideshows hearing the stories of the lives that have been impacted and changed through her life that she lived for Jesus it was a celebration of her life in the reality that she was going home to be with Jesus she believed in Jesus she worshiped him and led many others to faith in Jesus and into the family of God and I simply walked away from that just filled with faith and a desire that my life would also look like that and I would be able to leave a legacy as she had Serina lived a life was pleasing to God one marked by faith obedience and a love and affection for Jesus and others and she knew where she was going and she wanted to take as many people with her as she could and so what does that mean for us today what would it what would mean when we die a physical death what is our response to believing this gospel a civil I just as Rina lived a life pleasing to the Father that should be our same desire our response should be obedience obedience to God listened pleasing God is not an obedience that's done out of duty out of obligation or fear but rather it's done out of gratitude and love and a desire to please our Creator and our Heavenly Father by saying here's the truth that I want to want to close with today and listen this is significant the reality of heaven and hell are real and there are lost people who are dying in their sin and they don't know where they're going Christian this should cause each of us to have a sense of urgency to share the good news with those around us city light most of you have family and friends and co-workers and neighbors that you know they need to be rescued from their sin and if you don't you need to get around some of those people listen to me this matters you cannot take any material possessions when you when you pass it through this life your house your bullets your cars your retirement packages they all fade away listen what matters is the souls of men and women God His Word and the souls of men and women are all that are going to matter in eternity are you following me I want to give you four practical ways that you can start doing this today number one is pray we pray for your lost friends and co-workers a neighbor's family number to initiate don't avoid your neighbors move toward them get to know their story number three invite invite them help bring them into the family of God to come and see what God is doing number four is share your story share how God has changed your life how he has rescued you from your sin that can be so powerful so four things pray initiate invite and share your story for some of you this morning if you're honest with yourself you don't know where you're going maybe you're asking questions and maybe you feel hopeless and you're uncertain of your final destination and I was just asking will you put your faith in Jesus Christ and some of you've been coming to church for a long time you played the religious games but you've never actually surrendered your life to Jesus Christ you've never actually received the free gift of God's grace and that was my story I didn't genuinely give my life to Jesus until I was a freshman in college and it completely changed my life every area and I grew up in the church my whole life 18 years and I didn't get it I was ignorant I was stubborn I was prideful I was just like the religious leader and so God opened my eyes to the truth of Jesus that I wasn't saved by my good works I wasn't saved by trying hard I was simply saved by God's grace his free gift of salvation and that simply needed to be received by faith and maybe you're coming in here with a friend today or just visiting or just checking this out regardless of how you got here or where you're at if you've never placed your faith in Jesus you can today that's why the Gospel of John is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing you might have life in his name listening this is the message that we will unapologetically proclaim to you week after week at City Light it's about Jesus the innocent one dies for the guilty as he was lifted to the cross the perfect one was lifted up from the grave conquering sin and death and the Son of God was lifted up to heaven he is continually pursuing us so that we can have life in him jesus said I came to seek and save the Lost to make the dead alive and Jesus makes it very plain and simple in this passage unless you believe in me you will die in your sin listen if you've never put your faith in Jesus will you respond in faith today I want to give you an opportunity to do that right now would you bow your head with me and pray father God we thank you we rejoice in the fact that you have given us life in your son Jesus God is simply by believing and having faith and the finished work of the cross that it's not by trying harder or striving or good works but it's simply by the free gift of grace and we rejoice in that sack and for the Christian I pray that it our hearts would be sir just to worship you just to be in awe of who you are and understand what you've done for us and how amazing that is we just worship you today God and I pray not for the non-christian got it and I want to address you if that's you right now you know where you're at and I would simply ask you to respond in faith by simply praying this prayer in your heart after me God knows your heart and just simply say Jesus I recognize that I'm a sinner in need of a savior God I want to experience eternal life I don't want to die in my sin would you come into my life I trust you as my Lord and Savior would you come in and make me new would you give me life so that I could have the assurance of eternal life so that I can know that my destination is set with you Jesus God and I just pray that as we continue to worship you our hearts would be filled with joy and worshipped and awe of who you are we probably these things in Jesus name Amen you

Channel: Citylight Omaha

Views: 872

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: citylight church, gospel, omaha, nebraska, christian, missionary alliance

Id: QsYQgCZvj-M

Length: 29min 59sec (1799 seconds)

Published: Sun May 14 2017