John chapter 6 and verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing. but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the sun and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. The Jews then murmured at him
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know? How is it then that he saith,
I came down from heaven? Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. I'm always amazed when I come
to the Scriptures to read the casual way, the almost matter-of-fact
way in which the Lord Jesus Christ says the most extraordinary and
profound things. and I have a confession to make.
For years, I've been suspicious, even critical, of what are called
red letter Bibles. And I've thought these are Bibles
where the words of the Lord are written in red ink. And I always
felt that they gave greater prominence to certain parts of Scripture
over other parts, and that by highlighting certain parts with
a different colour and emphasising that, that in some way that detracted
from other parts of Scripture. There is, as it were, one was
being given a greater status, one part over another. when obviously
we know that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God the
Holy Spirit and all Scripture is equally important for our
instruction for doctrine. And yet, I think I have recently
found this little printing device to be useful. So I apologize
if I have been critical of your Bibles in the past, and I know
I have been of others, because I'm realizing that it's not inappropriate
for us to have the words of the Lord identified to us, particularly
when we're reading through Scripture. And in a sense, it's been a useful
reminder to me But I really should have known that never man spake
like this man. And when we're coming together
to think about the Lord Jesus Christ, it is appropriate that
we have a particular awareness of the words of the Saviour.
Because never man spake like this man. And while there are
many who have testified, while there are many who by the power
of the Holy Spirit have looked into deep and extraordinary and
profound things and been able to relate that to us as God's
mouthpieces, this is God himself come from heaven who is speaking
in the hearing of men and women and saying, the most tremendous,
amazing and wonderful things. And this is an example here in
John 6. This is an example of something that the Lord says
and you just have to pause and think to yourself, wait a minute,
what is he actually saying here? What has he just said? And I
looked at this passage and I thought to myself, could there be words,
language, vocabulary that is any more simple and straightforward
than for someone to say, I am the bread of life that has come down from heaven
to do the will of my Father. That's not a profound philosophical,
theological, doctrinal statement. And yet it is so full of meaning
and wonder that it behoves us to just pause and remind ourselves
that God came to earth. That God came and took our flesh. that God came in the person of
the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, down from heaven to be one of
us. And the Jews clearly thought
it was extraordinary when they were hearing the words of the
Lord. They said to one another, how
is it he says, I came down from heaven? What does that mean? What is he talking about when
he says, I came down from heaven? Undoubtedly, they would have
an aspiration of being with God someday, of sharing fellowship
with God as religious Jews, especially those who believed in the resurrection. But what was this? He came down
from heaven. Who can do that? Who says that? Who uses words like that? That I have come down from heaven. And today I want to think a little
bit about that simple statement that the Lord made. And I want
to think about it with you in the context of just three headings
that the Lord uses with reference to his coming down from heaven. And these three words are a cause,
a purpose, and an end. And we find that the Lord often
uses these words when he is speaking about the fact that he has come
from heaven to do the will of his Father. And I don't want to condemn in
any way the world as it celebrates the birth of Christ. I'm all for it. if it brings
a little bit of happiness and joy into people's lives. Most people don't have too much
of that in this world. But I can't and I won't be preoccupied
with the process of the Lord's birth and forget the purpose
of His birth. I can't and I won't be absorbed
in the celebration of the Lord's birth without remembering the
cause that brought him here. You know, the Lord never spoke
about the circumstances of his birth, amazing as they were. but he often spoke of the end
for which he came. In John chapter 18 and verse
37, he is speaking to Pilate, his judge at the time of his
interrogation. And this is what he says. To
this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,
that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of
the truth heareth my voice. So I want to think about these
three aspects of the Lord's coming down from heaven. The cause,
the purpose, and the end of the Lord's incarnation. There was a cause for the Lord
Jesus Christ coming into this world. There was a reason for
the coming of Christ Something provoked that. Something initiated the coming
of Christ into this world. The entrance into the world as
a man at such a time as he came and in such a way. The circumstances,
the place, the location, the nation that was there as part
of the arrangements of the Lord's incarnation, all purposefully
designed. And we don't need to guess what
that cause was, because the scriptures clearly tell us what caused the
Lord Jesus Christ to come into this world. And it was this. the love of God for his people. That was the great cause for
the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. The love of God is
what we might call the moving cause of Christ coming into the
world. In Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse
3, We read these words. It says, The Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. The Lord has appeared of old
unto me, saying, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. That's an amazing statement as
well. God declaring to man that he
has loved with an everlasting love. And not only that, but
this is a love which has caused, which has moved God to do certain
things. With loving kindness, I have
drawn thee. God took upon himself that role,
that initiative to bring a people to himself. And in order to draw
us to himself as a result of the love that he had for us,
an everlasting love, because how could it be any different? He is an everlasting God. He
is an unchangeable God. And so in his immutability, in
his unchangeableness, he had a love for a people. And he went
about that process of securing the union and communion of that
people with himself, though that which had to be done to accomplish
it was so difficult and so impossible. so insuperable that he had to
come into this world himself as a man. This love of God is unique. There isn't another love like
it. It is an eternal love. It is a love which has no beginning
and has no end. It is unconditional love. God said, of old, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Such a love is not based upon
reciprocation. It is not based upon merit. It is not based upon something
that we have done to achieve and accomplish and deserve it.
It is a love without condition, a love that existed before we
ever knew of it or could do anything about it. It asked no favours. It sought no payment. It simply existed in the heart
and the mind of God towards us. And it's personal love. He said,
I have loved you. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. It's personal. This transcends
some sort of general benevolent good feeling or goodwill towards
individuals. This is a love which cuts through
everything and lays hold upon named individuals. It is distinguishing
love because it distinguishes between one and another. Jacob
have I loved, Esau have I hated. It is definite. It is certain. It is accomplishing. It is securing love. With loving
kindness, I have drawn you. And it rests upon a particular
people. The Lord Jesus Christ says, it
rests upon the men that thou hast given me, those people that
had been committed into the care of Christ in the eternal purpose
of God. John 17 verse 23 says, that the
world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as
thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world. So in the testimony of
John, and these verses in the main are coming from John's gospel
this morning, in the testimony of God, here is a people, a people
that God loved, a people that had been committed into the hand
of Christ, into the care of Christ, into the oversight of Christ. He was given responsibility for
their well-being. for their deliverance, for their
liberty from the entrapment and ensnarement of sin and guilt,
and for the salvation and reconciliation of them, those sinners separated
from God in Adam. Yet through the second Adam,
the Lord Jesus Christ being brought into union with God. This was
the task that Christ had been given. And it was all flowing
from the love, the everlasting love that God had for those people. So I say, go ahead and celebrate. Share and enjoy. But amid the
fun of the season, let us remember the moving cause for the Lord
Jesus Christ coming down from heaven to earth. God's love for
his elect. You don't have the hymn in, we
don't have this hymn in our hymn book. But there's a lovely hymn
that we used to sing by a gentleman called Frank Houghton, who became
a missionary to China, I believe. And he wrote this hymn about
Christ's coming for the sake of God's love. And this is what
it says. Thou who wast rich beyond all
splendour, all for love's sake becamest poor. Thrones for a
manger didst surrender, sapphire paved courts for stable floor. Thou who was rich beyond all
splendour, all for love's sake becamest poor. Thou who art God,
beyond all praising, all for love's sake becamest man. Stooping so low, but sinners
raising, heavenwards by thine eternal plan, thou who art God
beyond all praising, all for love's sake becamest man. Thou who art love beyond all
telling, Saviour and King, we worship Thee. Emmanuel, within
us dwelling, make us what Thou wouldst have us be. Thou who
art love beyond all telling, Saviour and King, we worship
Thee. There was a cause which brought
the Lord Jesus Christ to this world, and it was the love of
God for His people. and there was a purpose in the
coming of Christ into the world. It was love that sent the Saviour,
but it sent him with a task to perform. There was a covenant,
there was a contract, there was an agreement between the persons
of the Godhead, the Father and the Son, an agreement which resulted
in the saving and recovery of a lost wayward people. A people that had been brought
into a place of judgment and condemnation. A people that had
been brought by Adam's sin and by their own rebellion into that
place of antagonism towards God. rejection of God, thoughtlessness
with regard to any overtures of grace and love, who would
go in the opposite direction rather than face God. And Christ
was given that people into his hand. And he was told to redeem
that people from their sins, to save that people from judgment,
to bring that people into union with God and reconcile us there
by his work, by his task that he was given. These were given
into the hands of Christ that he might redeem them. So in verse 37 we see these people
spoken of. John chapter 6 in verse 37. He says there, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. This is a statement about election. This is a statement about a people
that have been set apart by God, given into Christ. Not universally
every person, but a distinguished people, a particular people,
a called out people, a people upon whom the everlasting love
of God is settled. and a people that God himself has
undertaken to call and draw to himself. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Again in verse 39, And this is
the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. John chapter 10, a few chapters
further on, speaks about these people with the name of the sheep
or the flock. Verse 27, we read, my sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto
them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. This was the great purpose for
the Lord Jesus Christ's coming, that he would save this people
and gather this people, redeem this people, and secure their
eternal well-being, to raise them up in that last day as a
trophy of grace and mercy, as the very people of God and the
bride of Christ himself. And there is nothing clearer
in the pages of the Gospels, in the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ, nay, in the very words that Jesus Christ himself spoke, than that our Saviour was driven
in his life by a passion and a purpose and a relentless determination
to go all the way to the accomplishment of this great purpose that had
been laid upon his shoulders. In John chapter four, verse 34,
we read, Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish the work. That was why he came. That's what preoccupied him.
That's what he thought about. That's what he pursued. To do the will of him that sent
me and to finish the work. 6 verse 38, John again, 6 verse
38. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. John 12, 27. Now is my heart
troubled as the Lord anticipated the crucifixion and what it was
to entail. He says, now is my soul troubled,
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
but for this cause came I unto this hour. And 1 John chapter
3 verse 8, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that
he might destroy the works of the devil. Even the very name that was announced
by the angel and given to the baby in the manger looked forward
to the purpose for which he came. She shall bring forth a son and
thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. It was love that brought the
Lord Jesus Christ into the world that he might save his people
from their sins. There was a cause There was a
purpose and there was an end. There was a conclusion. There
was a successful achievement to the work of Christ that he
came to do. Almighty God does not fail in
the things that he sets his purpose and his heart to accomplish.
That which he wills to do, he will do. He's not God if his
will is not satisfied, if he is not delighted in the achievement
and accomplishments of his own divine, eternal purpose. What kind of concept, what kind
of God do you have who is a frustrated God, an inadequate God, an unable
God to do those things that he wants to do? Goodness, man, you
do what you want to do yourself, and you retain that right as
a free man of the country, and yet you deny that God has the
right to achieve and do and accomplish what He wants, what He wills.
See, men set themselves up as God, and that's exactly what
they're doing when they deny God His sovereignty and His glory. Here is God accomplishing exactly
what he said he would do. The cause that brought the Lord
into this world was the eternal everlasting love that he had
for his people. The purpose for which the Lord
Jesus Christ came was to redeem that people that God loved and
bring them to himself for all eternity that they might be united
in glory for eternal ages to come. And the end was that the
Lord Jesus Christ did everything that was needful, everything
that was required to ensure and satisfy the demands of the Holy
God. The Almighty doesn't fail in
that which is his will to do, nor is he disappointed in that
which moves his heart. and causes him to act in the
way that he does. And this end was in view from
the announcement of Christ's birth, as it was communicated
by the angels. In Luke chapter two, verse 14,
we read there, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men. You think that was just a throwaway
phrase that the angels happened to come up with when they arrived
at the scene of the angels? You think they hadn't been told
what to say? You think they hadn't been rehearsing
it all the way to that place, to that moment when they declared
this coming of God himself into the world? What was the aim? What was the
objective? What was it all about? What was
the end? Glory to God in the highest. The glory of God is at stake
in this matter. It's God's glory that brought
the Lord Jesus Christ to earth. The love of God, the purpose
of God and the glory of God is what we have before us here in
the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. Glory to God in the
highest is what the angels said. This is the end of the whole
plan of salvation is God's glory. God's glory. He will have what
He desires, what pleases Him, what satisfies Him. And that
everlasting love that He declared in the Old Testament, in the
book of Jeremiah, that has in its view that elect people upon
whom He is pleased to lay His grace and His mercy and His everlasting
love, withdrawing power The Lord Jesus Christ fully and completely
accomplished the deliverance and salvation of that people.
And here is the end that God may be glorified and that peace
would be discovered on earth. Peace on earth. What is that? Adam was at enmity with God. And all Adam's children and grandchildren
and great-grandchildren for a thousand generations were at enmity with
God. That is the heart of man. But
what is this declared by the angels? That the enmity has been
removed and that peace has been established, reconciliation. And this is the goodwill of God
towards his elect people, his chosen people whom he loves.
It's a beautiful little phrase that the angel spoke, but it
is pregnant with meaning to those who have eyes to see. This is
the end for which the love of God, the everlasting love of
God was purposed and directed towards. This was the end of
Christ's redemptive work. This was the end of grace and
mercy towards his people. The end was God's glory and the
reconciliation of sinners. And the Lord Jesus Christ never
gave up. He never relented. He never succumbed
to all the trials and all the difficulties and all the temptations
that were set before him. He pursued his purpose of saving
his people to the end. And he won. And he won. Our Saviour was successful in
his death to redeem his people from their sin. John 17, verse
four. The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking
and he says, I have glorified thee on earth. He is speaking
to his father who had sent him. He came down from heaven and
he says in his prayer to God in John 17, I have glorified
thee on the earth. I've done everything that you
told me to do, everything that you required of me. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. John 6, 40, and this is
the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the
Son and believeth in Him may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day. For the love of His people, Christ
came down from heaven to accomplish their salvation and redemption
and union and reconciliation That was the purpose for which
he came and he finished and he ended and he accomplished the
work that he was given to do. In conclusion, I love the confidence
and the certainty and the assurance that is expressed by the Apostle
Paul when he says to Timothy, This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of man. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. Amen.