Gospel of John Series - Putting the Hammer Down

         

Putting the Hammer Down: an Invasion of Light

Matt.11:12; Jn.1:5,9; 3:19-20

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it...The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people 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 their deeds will be exposed.

I have a friend who referred back to Jesus’ words about John the Baptist in Matt. 11:12. He gave me an interpretation I didn’t think about. The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing (the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence), and violent and rapacious forces are attacking it (and violent people have been raiding it). 

Jesus came at a time of cultural denial of God in the gentile world, in fact they had a pantheon of gods and gave little heed to the one true God, and the religious leaders in Israel had capitulated, adulterated, and colluded with the powers of the day to the point that many forces (spiritual and physical) were attacking the kingdom of heaven.(i.e.John’s beheading, Jesus’ crucifiction)

Application - We are definitely under attack from within and without. The kingdom of heaven for centuries has been advancing forcefully. The gospel is being preached to all the world, the written Word of God is in almost every language, and the use of media, music, and internet have made the gospel available to literally almost everyone. It has been a forceful campaign, a battle against darkness and all its strongholds and forces. The enemy of God and all that are possessed by him have been attacking with rapaciousness and voracity the kingdom of heaven and of God. This brings me to the heart of the lesson: the invasion of Light into darkness.

When I was a child, I liked to read comics. The hero always defeats the villain. I had watched the Thor movie and how he used Mjollnir, the hammer, the power of thunder or light. He was invincible when he put the hammer down. 

In our text, Jesus is the true Light, and he came to earth and the enemy (darkness) fought against him. Let’s look at the text, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people 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 their deeds will be exposed.” 

John in the gospel writes of the light (the revelation) he has seen and heard. Light also illuminates the right path to walk, and the Light also came in response to the raging kingdom of darkness. The Light came into the world at a time of great darkness, “the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Matt. 4:16) 

Mankind had given themselves over to darkness. They made for themselves idols of wood, metal, and stone, the creations of their hands, minds, and fears to worship and placate their gods. They had given themselves over to immorality and sensual pleasure, it was to fulfill the lustful appetite of the carnal nature. They had given themselves over to knowledge, but not of God, but of man’s experiences and finite wisdom and philosophies, and used it to make and mandate laws and to educate and indoctrinate the masses in darkness. They had given themselves over to violence, even in the name of their gods, to do the most heinous acts of barbarity upon other humans. This darkness had encapsulated the world. 

But God had a purpose and a plan. The Light of the World would forcibly pierce the darkness with the unquenchable light of truth, purity, and power.

Jesus came into the world to shine, “The light shines in the darkness.” He came to dispel the darkness, to gleam with love not hate, to radiate with truth not deception and lies, to reflect the true nature of God. Jesus came to shine the light into the darkness,and the darkness could not overcome (grasp, seize) it.  

Application - It is interesting how history has shown us evil, yet we haven’t learned from it. Today, we still are steeped in a battle between light and darkness. Mankind is still giving themselves over to darkness. The world is still serving idols of their own creation, made for themselves idols of wood, metal, and stone, the creations of their hands, minds, and fears to worship and placate their gods. They are still giving themselves over to immorality and sensual pleasure, to fulfill the lustful appetite of their carnal nature. They are giving themselves over to the increase of knowledge, but not of God, but of man’s experiences and finite wisdom and philosophies, and using it to make and mandate laws and to educate and indoctrinate the masses in evil darkness (i.e. government mandated school curriculum). They are giving themselves over to violence, even in the killing of innocent unborn babies (i.e. It is constitutionally right to murder unborn babies), they are doing the most heinous acts of barbarity upon humans by wanting to depopulate the world. This darkness is encapsulating the world. But God is working His perfect plan and purpose through His Son Jesus Christ who put the hammer down on death and Hell, and one day soon with God the Father’s consent, He will lay the hammer down again against sin and all darkness.

 

Second, John wrote in his gospel about a verdict. Let’s look at the text. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people 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 their deeds will be exposed.” Somewhere in the kingdom of heaven, God pronounced a verdict against darkness. (i.e the garden (Gen.3), the banning of Satan from heaven ( Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-18). The word verdict is the condemnation and judgment on those who shun the Light. John understood Jesus’ words that the obstentant people of verse 18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 

The Light came with force in order to disperse the darkness and condemnation was part of the force. John saw that mankind around him loved the kingdom of darkness or were afraid to confront the darkness. From the ruling government of Rome, to the assimilation into the Greek Helenistic culture, to the legalistic hypocrisy of the Oral law of Talmud and Mishnah, darkness had encapsulated and manipulated mankind into denying God in almost every area of truth, purity, justice, and righteousness.

Jesus and his disciples saw this daily. The people who were afraid of the darkness, some looked to the light, others slinked back into greater darkness. The demon possession of people during the time of Jesus seemed great. Many would be brought to Jesus to be delivered from possession and oppression.

But there were many large evil strongholds of darkness working through the rulers and law-makers of the world, who did not want any part of the light, and they fought to keep the darkness they so loved because they loved evil, and they didn’t want the shame and fear of their deeds to be exposed by the Light.

 

Application - God is about to bring the final verdict against Satan and sin. He will put the hammer down in worldwide tribulation and judgments. Those who have shunned Jesus, who have desired the darkness, who are blinded by Satan to the light of the Word. These will face the wrath of Almighty God, who is holy and just.

But God who is also loving and compassionate desires for all mankind to seek his face, receive his Son as Lord and Savior, repent and turn from their evil wicked ways, and he will save them and restore them to fellowship with him forever in His kingdom in Heaven. 

Please, God’s Word has spoken to us through the prophets. The light is shining, let’s wake up!

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1                                                                      “Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up …” Isaiah 51:17               “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14                                                                          “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” Romans 13:11

  I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation (JD Farag). Please, Jesus, God the Son, came to this world as the Light to save all who would believe and trust in him. He is Life and that eternal, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis