Turn in your Bibles this morning
to 1 John and the first chapter. 1 John chapter 1, and I want to
read those first two verses. Because my subject this morning
is the manifestation of life. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word
of life. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto
us. Who was this man, John? This is not John the Baptist,
but rather this is John the Apostle. And he is the one that is used
of God to write the gospel of John, which we just read from. And he is also the one who is
used to write this epistle or letter along with two others,
2 and 3 John. And he is also that one who was
exiled to the Isle of Patmos, and there used of God to write
the revelation of Jesus Christ. And as an apostle, as he says
here, he was an eyewitness to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he speaks here of that life,
that one who is described here in verse 1 as the Word of life,
he speaks of this life eternal life as being manifested. What does that mean? Well, when
something is manifested, that means it is displayed, or revealed,
or shown, or exhibited. And not only that, but it indicates
also that whatever it was existed or was purposed previously. It says here, John using the
very language he uses in his gospel, that which was from the
beginning. And so we know here that this
life, manifestation of life, eternal life, is none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ. We'd do all well if we would
study what it says in this book about what God did, or what was,
from the beginning. I'll read you some verses in
Proverbs chapter 8, wherein the Lord Jesus says, even before
He came into this world, the Lord possessed me in the beginning
of His way before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting
from the beginning, or ever the earth was." In other words, the
one that John is talking about, the one that he has now seen,
and not only seen, but heard, and looked upon, and handled,
or touched, is the one who was from the beginning. It is none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto
us. And that is exactly the language
that we find all throughout the New Testament speaking of the
revelation of Jesus Christ and the purpose of God's grace to
His people that is in Christ. Paul speaks of it very often
in Colossians 1. He says this, What he's talking
about, this Christ that he's preaching, he says, is the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now
is made manifest to his saints. Who is it that this one is truly
made manifest to, he says, made manifest to his saints, to those
separated by God unto his grace and covenant in Jesus Christ
in the beginning. And then he writes Paul, writes
Timothy rather, saying this, And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. The eternal God, God the Son,
was manifest, displayed, exhibited, revealed in the flesh. That's what we just read in our
reading. The Word, the same Word that
John is speaking about here that was in the beginning, and that
was with God, and at the same time was God, was made flesh
and dwelt among us. And then Peter expresses it like
this. He is the one who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you." He is the one foreordained of
God to be what God would send him to be, and he says, now,
in these last times, He is manifest for you. And then again, Paul
saying to Timothy, and then on to Titus, he says, Who hath saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given
us in Christ Jesus, before the world began, but is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel." It is manifested, this life,
This one sin of God is manifested. Jesus Christ, who is Himself
eternal life, is now made manifest to His people. But look just
a little bit farther and listen to Titus. As Paul writes to Titus,
it says that he hath in due times manifested His Word through preaching,
which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our
Savior. Not only is the Lord Jesus Christ
the one that is manifested, and the one who is the manifestation
of God, of eternal life, and of all God's grace. But he himself,
and that which he has done, Paul says, is manifested at times
to his people through preaching, through the preaching of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. But in truth, the real reason
and the real question, I should say, because this is the difference
between truth and error, between that which is right and that
which is wrong, And the difference between whether or not it is
of God and not of God is this, why was he manifested? In simply stating it, I guess
we would simply ask this question, why did Jesus Christ come into
this world? And the amazing thing is, to
find out an answer to that thought and to those questions, all we
have to do is just stick with this one letter that John was
used of God to write. And in this one epistle, in various
ways and in various verses, in five places at least here in
I John, he tells us why this One who is life was manifested. Why was He made known? Why did He come into this world
and reveal Himself? Why was He set on display between
heaven and earth? If you'll turn over to I John
chapter 3 and look down with me in that fifth verse, here
is the first of those reasons that John gives. I John 3 and
verse 5, he tells us that Jesus Christ came into this world to
be the substitute and sin-bearer. Verse 5, and you know that He
was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. Now, we don't have to wonder
on this first part as to why he came into this world, nor
do we have to wonder what he accomplished when he came. He
came to bear the sins of his people, and he bore them every
one away. And you don't have to wonder
as to why or for who He came to do it for. John says He came
to take away our sins. In other words, those that Jesus
Christ came into this world, every one of them that He came
to save were unmistakably and undeniably and will be brought
to confess that they are sinners. Everywhere you look in this book,
that's the message. He came into this world. He was manifested or revealed
in order to take away our sins. And so we see, not only here,
but everywhere in the Word of God, that He came to do this. But what's necessary? to take
away our sins. I know how we think about it.
We'll do something and we'll take away our sins. Or we'll
simply take them away by forgetting them. But if He has manifested
to take away our sins, what's necessary to really take away
our sins? There has to be a legal satisfaction. In other words, all through this
book, it is pictured time and time again, and stated time and
time again, that that which is necessary to take away our sin
is a sacrifice of blood. It is a death that must be died
by one that God will accept. If God doesn't accept it, if
God doesn't honor the sacrifice, if God is not pleased with that
work which is done, then whatever is done will not take away our
sins. Listen in the book of Hebrews
in chapter 9. If he had been like every other
priest in that Old Testament economy, if his sacrifice had
been just like every one of them, the Apostle says, then must he
often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once. in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself." You see, that which determines whether or not it
is true or not true, and whether or not it is of God or not of
God, And whether or not it will actually save us from our sins
or not is in who He is and what He actually did. He was manifested to take away
our sins. He appeared to put away our sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. not by a sacrifice of example,
not by a sacrifice of everything else but Himself, but by the
sacrifice of Himself. Sometimes I get to thinking about
it, and it makes me so very ashamed that I am so lacking in gratitude. I'm so lacking in a constant
thinking of this One who is God, manifest in the flesh, who actually
came into this world in order to die for me. But He took away our sins, John
said, by the sacrifice of Himself. Isaiah says, he was wounded for
our transgressions, and he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. God says, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Peter, he says, who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead
to sins, should live unto righteousness, and again, by whose stripes ye
were healed. He was manifested to take away
our sins, and then John says, and in Him is no sin. In other words, regardless of
what any man says, regardless of what any new movie or program
or whatever it is or preacher, whoever it is, implies some kind
of sinfulness that might have been found in him, John says,
and in him is no sin. Why? Because in order to be the
sacrifice for sin, In order to die the death necessary to take
away our sin, in order to be that Lamb of God which takes
away sin, He had to be without sin. So Paul writes to those
Corinthians and he says, for He hath made Him to be sin for
us who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. But not only does that mean that
in Him is no sin personally, but it means likewise if He came
and He took away our sins, every person who is in Him now has
no sin. How many times does the Bible
speak of us being in Christ Jesus? So that it says that when He
appears the second time, it says when He appears that second time,
it will be without sin, Because all the sins of his people that
were laid on him and imputed to him in his death, he put them
all away, and so now in him is no sin. All right, I've got to her. But
turn over or look down just a little farther at verse 8. Why was he
manifested? Why was this life manifested? Well, verse 8 says, He that committeth
sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. And for this purpose the Son
of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the
devil. Why was he manifested? That he
might not only take away our sin, but he was manifested that
he might destroy the works of the devil. Now, I know that that's a very
broad area. But from the very beginning,
from the very first statements made by God after the fall, It
was declared by God that this would take place. If you look in Genesis, when
the Lord is speaking to Adam and Eve, and especially that
relationship between Eve and the devil, or that serpent, He
says, and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, And between
thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel." What's he talking about there? He's talking about
Christ. And he says to the devil, he
says to the serpent, though you will bruise the heel, of the
woman's seed, He'll crush your head." I listen to people sometimes
thumbing through the channels and picking up all these television
preachers who are always talking sometimes more about the devil
than they do the Lord Jesus. And they make Him to be so fearful
and great and strong and all that which He is, more than they
realize. But the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world to destroy the works of the devil. What are those works? Well, you know, I know the mark
that sin and Satan has left on every society in this world from
the hour of the fall right down to this day, there are many. But I'll tell you this, the works
of the devil in the greatest sense are those works that his
people imagine would make them acceptable in the sight of God. That's right. When they stand, as they're shown
in Matthew 7, talking about all these good works that they've
done, and Christ says, depart from Me, you that work iniquity,
I never knew you. when those who he describes as
being of their father the devil, and they present as Cain did
their works before God as the ground of his accepting them,
and he refuses them. Christ destroyed the works of
the devil. Hebrews says, For as much then
as the children, the children of God, are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself, that is God manifest in the flesh,
took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil. And so all the evidence of that
sin that was brought in by him, all the sorrow, all the sickness,
all the murders, all the wars, all the things that are the result
of sin which entered in in the temptation, he's going to put an end of it
all. Everything. fingerprint, if you want to say
that. Every blemish, every Satan-touched
thing, every fingerprint that he has left on this earth, on
mankind, Christ removed it. In Colossians it says, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His
cross. Was that a time of defeat? No. Listen. And having spoiled principalities
and power, who is at everything that is against God. And most
especially at the head of that column is Satan, the adversary. And it says, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it. That is, in his cross. He came
to destroy the works of the devil. And when we read in Revelation,
it says, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And so sure is the victory of
Christ in his life and death over the devil that Paul says
in that last chapter of Romans, and the God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly. Why? Because he is a defeated
foe. And his works were destroyed
in the suffering and death and righteousness of Jesus Christ. All right? Here's the third one.
Look over in 1 John 4 and verse 9. 1 John 4 and verse 9. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through him. Why did he come? Why was He manifested? He was manifested to be and to
give eternal life. Isn't that what it says? He was
manifested in a clear demonstration of the love of God toward His
people and sent into this world that we might live through Him. That's why He is life. You know, it's so hard for finite
creatures like we are to talk about or to seek to explain eternal
life. That word eternal itself is so
far above us and so far out of the range of our faculties that
when we read like we read there in I John 1 and verses 1 and
2, it seems like on the one hand there is something that is talked
about and then at the same time someone that is talked about. Which is it? They are one and
the same. He tells us that this is the
record that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. He says, He that hath life has
the Son. He that hath the Son hath life. And if we don't have the Son,
we don't have life. But this eternal life He gives
in His Son, and it is in His Son that we are enabled to know
God in His grace and salvation. Listen to what he says. In John
17, these are the words that Jesus spoke and lifted up his
eyes to heaven and said, "'Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him." But now listen carefully to this
next statement that follows that. And this is life eternal. Do you want to know what it is
to live? Do you want to know what it is
that he gives as an evidence of anyone having life, this eternal
life? Well, he says, and this is life
eternal. that they might know thee the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Do you think that we could ever
go on to anything more important than seeking to distinguish from
this book who Jesus Christ is and what He actually did? You see, eternal life, he says,
is to know the one true living God. And it is to know Him in
the person and through the work of Jesus Christ. I thought about it yesterday,
I believe it was, how much preaching there is on how to live. When in truth there is not a
single one of us who could live and by our living know the one
true living God. Somebody says, well, you ought
to live right. Is there any doubt of that? Well, you ought to do what the
Bible says. I absolutely believe that for
sure. But eternal life is a gift. And it is in Jesus Christ. And it is to know God, as I said,
through Jesus Christ in His glorious person and through what He actually
did. If you think that Jesus Christ
did something to make something available or possible or to simply
help a sinner, then you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, and
therefore you do not know the true and living God, and therefore
you do not have eternal life. Death came by sin in the garden,
and eternal separation will result in that which is called the second
death apart from life. He came to give eternal life
to His people. And He gives it in every sense.
He gives them this eternal life as a gift. He gives them this
spiritual life by which He quickens them and enables them to see
and to know the gospel and to receive this life in Christ. And then fourthly, look down
in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 10. Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Now, He came. He was manifested, the propitiation
for our sins. I know in our day, any possibility
of God being a God angry, a God that's against sin, is just not
very socially acceptable. But if that was not the case,
if God is not angry against the sinner outside of Christ, then
there would never be any need for a word like propitiation. Because propitiation means to
take away or appease the wrath of God, and in the place of it, bring the favor of God. John says, herein is love. In other words, irregardless
of what men may say, there is no love from God without or apart
from this propitiation. In other words, He entirely vindicated
the holy and righteous character of God and satisfied all the
demands of His holy justice and enabled Him to be merciful to
us as a just God and a Savior. And God is not angry. Listen
now. God is not angry. Furthermore, He has never been
angry with those who are in Christ Jesus. How could He not have been angry
at us? How could it be said that He was never angry at us? That's
a little bit too much for some people to swallow, you know that? But he said, in him is no sin. And the thing that God is angry
against is sin. And so Christ was our propitiation
before God, long before either he or I or you came into this
world, because it says that we were chosen in him before the
world began. I don't think there's a lot of
people who stop to think about how could a holy God love us? How could a holy God bless us
with all spiritual blessings? How could a holy God take us
for His children and family except He already be propitiated
toward us in His Son, who had pledged Himself to come and die
in our room instead, and put away our sin. He came, He was
manifest as the propitiation for our sin. And He's not angry. God's not angry with anybody
who's in Christ. All right, here's the last one.
I'll try to hush. Look down at verse 14. John says, And we have seen and
do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world. You know, actually, in this verse
and the one that we read prior to this, the 2B is added by the
translators. so that Jesus Christ was not
sent or manifested to be, but as the propitiation for our sin,
and He was manifested the Savior of the world. What does that mean? For there are those who are so
bent on being proponents of a notion
that Jesus Christ died for everybody, and that God loves everybody,
and that He's trying to save everybody. They're so bent on
that, that they don't have any regard to what the Scriptures
really say. And so when that word world comes
up, the first thing that they say is this, we believe John
3, 16, that God so loved the world. And that means every person
in the world. So that means that Christ died
for every person in the world. And that means that God's trying
to save every person in the world. That's a faulty, faulty view
of Scripture. Jesus Christ is the Savior of
the world. First of all, that means He is
the only Savior there is for this world. Secondly, it means that rather
than just being as was set forth in the Old Testament, a God to
the Israelites, to the Jews, but He is the Savior of both
Jew and Gentile. And He is a Savior of the world
in the sense that His people are a people out from among every
kindred and tribe and nation and tongue. And He is the Savior of the world. What's that? That's that world that was in
Him before the foundation of this world. He says of his people,
you're not of this world, even as I'm not of this world. The
world that is spoken of is that new creation that Paul talked
about. He came. to be the Savior of the world. He came, and He is the One that
was spoken of to Mary and to Joseph as the Son that she would
bring forth, and they would call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. Now, think about this. Is the name or the title Savior
just, is it good just if it's pinned on somebody? Or is not this the case? That
in order to be the Savior of someone, you have to actually
save them. And that means that every person
that dies and goes out into eternity and perishes in their sin, He
didn't save them. Because salvation, as I said,
is not making something available or possible. To be the Savior,
you actually have to save them. And so He'll save all His people
from their sins. He'll save all His elect. He'll
save all those that the Father gave Him. He'll save all of these
who in time He brings to hear His gospel and believe on Him. He'll save all these who are
made manifest to love Him. And that's the world He saves. That's the world that's going
to go on throughout all eternity. And every one of them will shine
in the glory of God's grace and be the trophies of the Lord Jesus
Christ who saved them from their sins, who saved them
from this world, who saved them from the wicked one, who saved
them, as He often has to do me, from themselves. He's the Savior,
the real Savior, and He hasn't ever lost one of His own. Paul says, for therefore we both
labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who
is the Savior of all men. Not every person, but of all
men, all types of men. And then he identifies them.
He says, specially. of those that believe. In speaking of that, I'm speaking
of those that believe. One of my most favorite verses
of Scripture is when Paul writes to Timothy
in that first chapter of the first epistle. And he says, this
is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. When you come down to this last
chapter of 1 John, In that twentieth verse, John
speaks not only for himself and not only for those that he wrote
this letter to in the beginning, particularly, but to all the
Lord's little children as he describes them. This is what he says, And we
know that the Son of God is come. and hath given us an understanding,
that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that
is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God. and eternal life. This is the
life that was manifested, and this is the manifestation of
life. He's the manifestation of God's
love, the manifestation of God's person, the manifestation of
God's gift and God's purpose and God's life. And when he brings his people
to believe, To know Him that is true. To believe on Him that
is true. That life is manifested in them. Displayed. Revealed. Then he closes it by saying,
little children, keep yourself from idols. That means every
other one other than this Christ, who is distinguished by these
things that He did, and every other is an idol. He says, little children, keep
yourselves from idols. Amen. John says, by God's grace
we know Him. And by God's grace, we are in
Him. And in Him is no sin. And in Him is life. Our Father, this morning we give
You thanks and praise and pray that You might make
manifest in our hearts and in our minds all that Jesus Christ is and
all that he was manifested to do. Lord, grant to us that in him
we might possess this eternal life and know you in truth, that
we might worship you in spirit and in truth. that we might rejoice
in the Lord Jesus Christ and have no confidence in the flesh. Help us, we pray. Give us faith. Give us grace and strength that as we live in this world
we might be enabled by your Spirit and through your Word, to discern
the difference, and to believe on Christ rather
than another Jesus. Help us as we go out into this
week. Bless, Lord, in all things as
it pleases you. We bear before you our sick ones,
our loved ones, our loved ones and friends, Lord, that are yet
lost in trespasses and sin. May you be pleased to mightily
and effectually call them, to give them that birth that
is from above, to reveal Christ in them. that we might gather,
Lord, for as long as you give us in this place. Gather around
the truth of your gospel. Rejoice in your salvation. Sing praises to your name. For we pray and we ask all things
in Christ's name. Amen.