He Stands Alone

Sermon Outline

Life with Jesus #1 Outline – He Stands Alone                  

Scripture: John 1:1-28

Introduction:

– Author: John the Apostle, brother of James, son of Zebedee (close disciple and eyewitness)

– Date: late 1st century, around 90AD

– Genre: Gospel (a historical and theological account of Jesus written to reveal who He is and call us to faith in Him)

– Purpose: John 20:30-31

– Distinctives: more theological reflection, unique signs and conversations, extended teaching from Jesus, and detailed attention to His final week

Book Outline:

– John 1: Introduction

– John 2-12: Book of Signs

– John 13-20: Book of Glory

– John 21: Commissioning

This book’s big question: who is Jesus and why does it matter?

Who Jesus Is

The One and Only Son of God (He Stands Alone)

– Eternal God (v 1)

– Creator (v 3)

– God in the Flesh (v 14)

Why Jesus Came

To OVERCOME Darkness (v 5)

To BRING us into God’s Family (vv 12-13)

To REVEAL God Perfectly (v 18)

What We Must Answer

Will we recognize Him? (v 10)

Will we receive Him? (vv 11-12)

Will we worship Him? (vv 23, 27)

Sermon Manuscript

Life with Jesus #1 – He Stands Alone

Opening Illustration

I love watching Antiques Roadshow because it is basically a television show built around one question: “Is this

old thing in my house actually worth anything?”

And the best part is watching people’s faces.

Someone walks in carrying a vase they have been using to hold golf balls, or a painting that has been hanging

in the guest bathroom for thirty years, and they say something like, “My grandmother gave this to me. We

always thought it was kind of ugly, but we figured we would bring it in.”

Then the expert starts talking.

“Well, this is actually a very rare piece. It was made in 1887. There are only six known examples in the world.”

And suddenly the owner stops smiling.

Then comes the moment everybody is waiting for.

“At auction today, I would estimate this at somewhere between $80,000 and $100,000.”

And the person says, “That was sitting next to the cat food.”

What changed? The object did not change. It was worth exactly the same amount when it was sitting in the

garage as it was when the expert identified it.

What changed was the owner’s understanding of what they had.

I think there is something like that happening in the Gospel of John.

Many people are familiar with Jesus. They know His name. They know a few stories. They have heard some of

His teachings. Some of us have been around Jesus our entire lives.

But familiarity is not the same thing as understanding who He really is.

John writes this Gospel because he wants us to look again.

He wants us to see Jesus clearly.

And over the next several months, that is exactly what we are going to do.

Subject

Today we begin a new ministry year together, and we’ll spend a significant part of this year walking through

the Gospel of John.At Cityview, our normal pattern is to preach through books of the Bible because we believe that God’s Word,

rather than our ideas, is what people most need. We want to work through Scripture in context and allow God

to set the agenda for what we believe, how we live, and where we need to grow.

This year, that means we are going to spend a lot of time looking at Jesus. I cannot think of anything our

church needs more, anything our city needs more, or anything I personally need more than to see Jesus more

clearly, know Him more deeply, and follow Him more faithfully.

We are calling this series Life with Jesus, because that is ultimately what Christianity is. Christianity is not

merely believing certain doctrines or adopting a moral code. Christianity is life with Jesus.

Let me give you just a few facts about the book before we begin.

AUTHOR: John the Apostle, brother of James, son of Zebedee — a close disciple and eyewitness.

John knew Jesus personally. He listened to Him teach, watched His miracles, stood near the cross, saw the

empty tomb, and encountered the risen Jesus.

DATE: Late first century, probably around AD 90.

GENRE: Gospel — a historical and theological account of Jesus written to reveal who He is and call us to

faith in Him.

John is the fourth and final gospel which tells the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Most importantly, John tells us exactly why he wrote the book.

PURPOSE: JOHN 20:30–31

“These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing

you may have life in his name.”

John is selective. He could have told us many other stories about Jesus, but he chose these stories, signs, and

conversations because he wants us to believe.

That is my prayer for this series. If you already follow Jesus, I pray that your faith will deepen. If you have

drifted from Him, I pray that you will come back. If you have questions, I pray that John will help you see Jesus

clearly. And if you have never personally trusted Jesus Christ, I am praying that during this series you will

believe in Him and receive life in His name.

John has several important distinctives compared to the other three gospels:

– more theological reflection

– unique signs and conversations

– extended teaching from Jesus,

– and detailed attention to His final week

Here’s how to think about the layout of the 21 chapters of this gospel.

The book divides fairly simply:

JOHN 1: INTRODUCTION

JOHN 2–12: BOOK OF SIGNS

JOHN 13–20: BOOK OF GLORYJOHN 21: COMMISSIONING

And underneath the entire Gospel is one big question:

Who is Jesus, and why does it matter?

This morning, we will start with the first 28 verses of the book.

Can you open your Bibles, your Scripture Notebooks, and stand for the reading of God’s Word?

TEXT: John 1:1-28

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in

the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has

been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet

the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so

that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave

them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural

descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and

only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was

the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”)

16 Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, 17 for the law was given through Moses;

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is

himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.

19 This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are

you?”

20 He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?”

“I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered.

22 “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us

about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the

Lord,

—just as Isaiah the prophet said.”

24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t

the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands

among you, but you don’t know him. 27 He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to

untie.” 28 All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Preview:Who Jesus Is

Why Jesus Came

What We Must Answer

Sermon:

WHO JESUS IS

THE ONE AND ONLY SON OF GOD — HE STANDS ALONE

John wants us to understand immediately that Jesus cannot be placed into the same category as anyone else

who has ever lived.

In verses 14 and 18, John describes Jesus as the “one and only Son.” The Greek word is monogenēs, which

carries the idea of someone unique, one of a kind, in a category by Himself.

That distinction matters. Verse 12 says that those who receive Jesus become children of God by grace, but

Jesus is the Son in a way that no one else is. His relationship with the Father is unique and eternal.

There has never been anyone like Jesus.

He stands alone.

John gives us three enormous truths about Him. Jesus has always been and always will be…

ETERNAL GOD — v. 1

John begins:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John deliberately takes us back to Genesis. Genesis says, “In the beginning God created.” John says, “In the

beginning was the Word.”

He does not say that Jesus began to exist at the beginning. When the beginning began, Jesus already was.

His human life began in the womb of Mary, but the Son of God did not begin in Bethlehem. Go back as far as

your mind can go, before the earth, before the stars, before human history, and Jesus already existed.

Then John says that the Word was with God. The Son is distinct from the Father. Jesus is not the Father, and

the Father is not the Son.

Then John makes the claim unmistakable:

“the Word was God.”

Jesus is not merely close to God, sent by God, or somehow similar to God. Jesus is God.

This is one of the truths that has always separated historic Christianity from distortions of Christianity.

Throughout church history, people have tried to make Jesus less than John teaches here. Some ancient

heresies taught that Jesus was created or somehow less divine than the Father. Those same kinds of errors still

appear today.When Christians use the word heresy, we do not mean every theological disagreement. Christians can

disagree about many secondary issues. Heresy is a teaching that denies or seriously distorts a truth that is

essential to the Christian faith, especially a truth about who God is, who Jesus is, or how God saves us.

Jehovah’s Witness theology denies that Jesus is the eternal Almighty God in the historic Christian

understanding and instead treats Him as a created heavenly being. Mormon theology also radically redefines

the historic Christian doctrine of God and the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son.

Those are not small denominational differences. They concern the identity of Jesus Himself.

John gives us no category in which Jesus is somewhere between God and creation. Verse 3 says that

everything that was created was created through Him.

There is the Creator, and there is creation.

Jesus belongs on the Creator side of that line.

Our culture may prefer a smaller Jesus.

Jesus the wise teacher is comfortable. Jesus the inspirational example is easy to admire.

But John will not let us shrink Him.

Jesus is eternal God, and He stands alone.

Second, He is…

CREATOR — v. 3

John says:

“All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.”

Everything ultimately owes its existence to Jesus.

Every mountain, ocean, star, tree, cell in your body, and distant galaxy came into existence through Him.

Jesus did not enter somebody else’s universe. He entered the universe He made.

Then verse 4 says:

“In him was life.”

That introduces one of the major themes of John’s Gospel. Real life is found in Jesus.

Later Jesus will offer living water, call Himself the Bread of Life, and stand outside Lazarus’ tomb saying, “I am

the resurrection and the life.”

That matters because we are constantly tempted to look for life somewhere else. We tell ourselves that when

we finally make enough money, get the relationship right, see our children succeed, reach the next goal, or

arrive at some future stage of life, then we will finally be satisfied.

Those things may be good gifts, but they cannot carry the weight of your soul.

You can get the thing you thought would finally satisfy you and discover that the deepest part of you is still

hungry.

John tells us why.

We were created through Jesus, and the deepest life we were created for is found in relationship with Jesus.He is our Creator, and He stands alone. Third, Jesus is…

GOD IN THE FLESH — v. 14

Then John gives us one of the most remarkable sentences ever written:

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

The God who created humanity became human.

Jesus did not stop being God, and He did not merely appear human. The eternal Son truly took on human

flesh. He is now and forevermore fully and truly human.

He became tired and hungry. He experienced grief, rejection, and physical pain. He could be touched, He could

bleed, and eventually He could die.

John says He “dwelt among us.” The word carries the idea of tabernacling among us. In the Old Testament, the

tabernacle was the place where God’s presence dwelled with His people.

Now God has come even closer.

God has come to us in Jesus.

John says:

“We observed his glory.”

Remember who is speaking. John knew Him. He walked with Him, listened to Him, and watched Him.

And John says Jesus was “full of grace and truth.”

Some people want a Jesus who is all grace and no truth, who never confronts our sin or calls us to repentance.

Others imagine a Jesus who is all truth and no grace, who is cold and eager to condemn.

John knew neither version.

Jesus tells us the truth about our sin, and He offers us grace we could never earn.

He is eternal God.

He is our Creator.

He is God in the flesh.

He stands alone.

John tells us who Jesus is and…

WHY JESUS CAME

John not only tells us who Jesus is; he begins to explain why the eternal Son entered His creation. First…

TO OVERCOME DARKNESS — v. 5

Verse 5 says:

“The light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.”

Darkness represents everything that has gone wrong with our world and everything that has gone wrong

inside of us: sin, evil, shame, suffering, rebellion, and death.We do not have to look far to see darkness around us, but Christianity also requires us to admit that darkness

exists in us. There are words we wish we could take back, decisions we regret, motives we would rather keep

hidden, and patterns of sin we struggle to change.

The Christian message is not that the darkness is imaginary.

The Christian message is that Light entered the darkness.

Jesus did not remain at a safe distance from broken people. He entered our world, experienced our suffering,

and ultimately allowed sinful people to nail Him to a cross.

For a moment, it looked as if darkness had won.

Then Jesus rose from the dead.

The darkness could not overcome the Light.

That means your sin does not have the final word. Your shame does not have the final word. Your grief does

not have the final word, and even death does not have the final word.

Jesus does.

Second, Jesus came to…

TO BRING US INTO GOD’S FAMILY — vv. 12–13

Verse 12 gives us the invitation:

“But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God.”

Notice how wide that is.

“To all.”

You do not need a perfect past, a religious pedigree, or a cleaned-up life before you come to Christ.

But you do have to receive Him.

You cannot inherit Christianity from your parents. You do not become a Christian because you grew up in

church, know Christian vocabulary, or generally try to be a good person.

There is a difference between being around Jesus and actually receiving Jesus.

Faith has to become personal.

Through Jesus, God offers us something we could never earn: He brings us into His family.

Third, Jesus came to…

TO REVEAL GOD PERFECTLY — v. 18

Verse 18 says:

“No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son… he has revealed him.”

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

All of us carry some picture of God. Some imagine Him as distant, angry, uninterested, or perpetually

disappointed. Sometimes those pictures come from our family, a painful church experience, or our own

imagination.John says we do not have to guess.

Look at Jesus.

Watch Him touch people everyone else avoided. Watch Him speak with people others judged. Watch Him

weep with grieving friends, confront hypocrisy, welcome repentant sinners, wash His disciples’ feet, and

ultimately lay down His life on the cross.

Jesus does not merely tell us what God is like.

Jesus reveals God perfectly.

This teaching about the identity and mission of Jesus can feel a little heady.

Why is this so important to understand for our lives today?

WHAT WE MUST ANSWER

John did not write this simply to increase our information.

He wrote so that we would believe.

Everything John tells us eventually demands a response.

I want you to answer three questions found in the text. First…

WILL WE RECOGNIZE HIM? — v. 10

The world did not recognize Him.

They stood in front of their Creator and did not know who He was.

We still find ways to make Jesus smaller than He really is. We can reduce Him to a teacher, a political symbol,

a spiritual therapist, or someone we call when life becomes difficult.

John says we need to see Him for who He actually is.

He is eternal God.

He is our Creator.

He is God in the flesh.

Have you personally recognized Him as Lord of all? Second…

WILL WE RECEIVE HIM? — vv. 11–12

Some people rejected Him.

Others received Him.

Those are still the basic responses to Jesus.

Some reject Jesus loudly, while others reject Him very politely. They admire Him, respect His teaching, attend

church, and intend to deal seriously with Him someday.

But they never receive Him.

Maybe that describes someone here today.

John is inviting you to believe.

You do not have to fix yourself first or answer every question first. You need to entrust yourself to Jesus.

Receive Him.

Believe in His name.Third…

WILL WE WORSHIP HIM? — vv. 23, 27

Finally, religious leaders come to John the Baptist and ask:

“Who are you?”

John has influence and crowds are gathering, but instead of making himself important, he points away from

himself.

“I am a voice…”

Then he says that the One coming after him is so great that John is not even worthy to untie the strap of His

sandal.

That was the work of a servant.

John sees Jesus clearly enough to understand his proper place before Him.

That is worship.

Worship begins when we see Jesus clearly enough that we stop making ourselves the center of everything.

So let me ask you:

Does Jesus stand alone in your life?

I am not merely asking whether you believe He exists or whether you attend church.

Is there any voice that carries more authority in your life than His?

Is there anything you are unwilling to surrender to Him?

If John is right about Jesus, casual Christianity makes no sense.

If He is eternal God, He deserves our worship.

If He created us, He has the right to lead us.

If life is found in Him, we should stop expecting lesser things to satisfy our souls.

If He brings us into God’s family, we should receive Him.

If He reveals God perfectly, we should listen to Him.

Jesus does not merely deserve a place somewhere in your life.

He stands alone.

So John’s questions become our questions:

WILL WE RECOGNIZE HIM?

WILL WE RECEIVE HIM?

WILL WE WORSHIP HIM?

Some of you may be ready today to do exactly what John wrote this Gospel to help you do: believe.

You cannot rescue yourself from your sin, but Jesus came for sinners like us. He died for our sins, rose from

the dead, and offers us life in His name.You can receive Him today.

You can tell Him, “Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God. I know that I have sinned and cannot save myself. I

believe You died for me and rose again. Forgive me, bring me into Your family, and lead my life.”

Those words are not a formula that saves us. We are saved by genuinely trusting Jesus Christ.

John wrote so that we would believe, and my prayer as we begin this journey is that all of us would see Jesus

more clearly than we ever have before.

There has never been anyone like Him. There never will be.

He stands alone.