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Jun 24, 2012

Your Life As A Steeple

Passage: John 1:19-34

Series: Life to the Full

Keywords: steeple, john the baptist, pointing to god

Summary:

This message looks at the ministry of John the Baptist as one who pointed people to Jesus and the implications of that kind of lifestyle for believers today.

Detail:

Title – The Steeple of Your Life

Passage:  John 1:19-34

Introduction:

Do you know how the early church communities in the earliest parts of American history and settlement set up their communities?

  • Well, first they built a church, then they built houses and businesses surrounding this church building. 
    • This building was at the center of the early Puritan’s lives; they did their fellowship, their prayer, their time in the Word, and in general it was the place to learn and grow in the town, it was their school as well.
  • However, do you want to know what the most important thing about this church building was? 
    • Aside from being at the center of the community, it had a steeple on top.
    • This steeple was to point people to where the church at the center of things was to point people – God. 
  • Brothers and Sisters, we need to think about the ramifications of this more than we do as Follows of Jesus.

Big Idea: 

  • Our lives should be as steeples, pointing people to Jesus.

Interrogative Question: 

  • What ways do you see your life right now as being a steeple pointing people to Jesus?

Transitional Sentence: 

  • Turn with me in your Bibles to John 1:19-34 and we will see a primary example of steeple living. 

Main Divisions:

1:19-28 – The Testimony of a Life Lived as a Steeple

The religious elite come to ask John something based on what was being seen by his lifestyle he lived out – he lived out what he said, rather than merely stopping there. 

  • 3 Questions asked of him
    • Christ (Messiah)? No!
    • Elijah?  No!
    • The Prophet (see Deut 18:15, 18 – Moses foretold of this)?  No!
  • Final question is yet again, “Who are you?” 
    • Responds with Isaiah 40:3
    • He tells them that he is merely the preparer and forerunner for YHWH God Himself. 
  • In verses 24-28 they get a little more “personal”.
    • They ask him why then or how then he can do these things, in other words, on what basis and for what purpose did he do these things….ie., baptizing with water. 
    • John then point again away from Himself to “The One who stands among you whom you do not know” and “the On whose sandal I am unworthy to stoop to tie”
      • John reminds them and reveals to them his proper place in relation to Messiah.
    • John continues baptizing into the next day, and quite possibly all the while having folks like this ragging on him and constantly asking for his testimony and for some sign of who he really is.  Little do they suspect that such a sign is right around the corner.
    1:29-34 – The Revealing of Who the Steeple Points To
  • Jesus comes to John, rather interesting. 
    • It is interesting here that nobody “came to Jesus” at that time, but rather, Jesus came to them, indicating God as initiator of relationship and fellowship, not us.
  • Lamb of God
    • Jesus is the perfect long awaited spotless innocent sacrifice that,
    • Takes away the sin of the world (see Romans 3:21-25) -- this was a sign of foretelling of the atoning (saving) work on the cross for those who would believe
    • In the Jewish tradition, and in the Levitical law, there was something called the scape goat, this scape goat was asymbolic ritual that was to symbolized the casting a far off the sins of God’s people. 
      • Thus, from this and other contexts in scripture, Jesus can safely be called the scapegoat for anyone who believes.
  • God the Father then, sends down His “Ruach” His Holy Spirit (here is a reference to the Trinity) and publically announces Jesus as His beloved Son.  Jesus has just gone public as God begotten.  Kinda for anyone to neglect this if they are touting that Jesus is not God…..just a thought for ya there.
  • John saw this, and despite growing up with Jesus (John was Jesus’ cousin) and despite supposing something about Jesus, John prior to this public revelation of Jesus as God, only walked by “blind faith” therefore using his life like a steeple pointing toward a great someone or something.  In this case, John was pointing to Jesus. 

Concluding remarks, take-away, and other such things –

  • Verse 34 is the key verse I want you to pay heed to here. 
  • John the Baptist in the same sentence where he is describing what is going on says that he sees and testifies.  How are we testifying to what God has done???
  • Are we at all? 
  • Let us look back at this steeple thing.
  • Where and to whom are we pointing with our lives? 
  • Is the way we live our lives honoring and drawing attention to ourselves? Or to God who saved us? 
  • We must be living in much the same way as John here, and we must be able to quote Isaiah 40:3 with just as much passion as John the Baptist did. 
  • We must be able to say, “God must increase and I must decrease.” 
  • Christian, are people who see your life being lived asking you who you are and who you serve?  Or are you just going through the motions living a non-dangerous life in a non – radical way??
  • What will your testimony be when they ask you these things? 

My brothers and sisters, can I pray for us that we be able to live like He is our Lord and Savior, and not merely some dude who died?