Unbelief and Departing Light - What have They In Common?

The Sin of Unbelief

In the town of Hanover, in Germany, I am told that there is buried a German countess who denied the existence of God and ridiculed the idea of the resurrection. To show her contempt for Christianity she ordered that on her death her grave should be built of solid masonry and covered by large stones bound together by iron clamps. On this tomb was engraved her defiant challenge, that through eternity this tomb should never be disturbed.

One day a seed from some tree, either blown by the wind or carried by a bird, became lodged in a small crevice of the tomb, where soon it sprouted and began to grow. And then Nature, as if she mocked the haughty infidel, quietly extended the delicate roots of that seedling under the massive blocks of stone, and slowly raised them from their place. Although scarce four generations have passed since the tomb was sealed, that most insignificant seedling has done what God Himself was challenged to accomplish at the resurrection.

Christ gives fair warning here to the careless unbelieving Jews. He told them to consider what would be the consequence of their unbelief, so that they might prevent it before it was too late. Christ Jesus spoke words of terror as well as words of grace.

John 8:21-30
21 Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." 22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, "Where I am going, you cannot come'?" 23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." 25 So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 26 "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world." 27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." 30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.

1. The Departure of the Light (vs. 21-22)

Christ Jesus was going away! Leaving this world, returning to the Father by way of the Cross and the Resurrection. 

Verse 21 should sound a bit familiar. Listen to John 7:34, 36 - "You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come... What is this statement that He said, "You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come'?" 

In John 7:37, the Jewish leaders thought that Jesus was going to live among the Gentiles. Now here in vs. 21 they think He is going to kill Himself. Most Jewish leaders diapproved of suicide; they did not see Jesus as a particuarly virtuous person here. What they did not know or could no grasp at the time was, yes Jesus was going to die; not by His hand instead it would be theirs and ours. 

Heb 7:26-27- For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 

Jesus said, “I go my way,” that is, "It will not be long before I go; you have to gone through so much trouble to drive me from you, when I will go myself." They said to Him, leave us, we do not desire to know of your ways; and Jesus took them at their word. Woe to those who reject Christ Jesus and He them. When the Light, that is Christ Jesus; is gone the glory is gone, and your defence against the darkness is gone. Christ Jesus frequently warned them of His departure before He left them: He spoke often of His leaving, like one reluctant to leave, wanting to stir them up so that they would believe on Him and find true salvation. 

He is doing the same for you this morning. The Father is delaying Christ Jesus' return to give everyone a chance to experience His grace and mercy. 2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Won't you come to Him this morning?

2. Destiny of the Light (vs. 23-24)

Physical death seperates the spirit from the body; spirituial death seperates the spirit from God. The contrast between the realm above (God's realm) and the realm below (where mortals live) was common in Jewish apocalyptic literature. When Christ Jesus spoke of the world above and the world below the Jewish leaders should have known exactly what He was talking about. 

Yet while God, in heaven, sees all accurately. Man, corrupted by sin, has distorted vision and the Jewish leaders did not understand what Christ Jesus was talking about. It is still the same today, many corruped by sin do not see the grace and mercy offered by Christ Jesus. All through His earthly ministry Christ Jesus had sought to penetrate the Jewish leaders' darkened, unbelieving world, longing to kindle faith that would bring them to where He was. 

Here Christ Jesus spoke of Himself as “I am He” (v. 24). But they stubbornly refused to believe, rejecting His every offer of redemption. This is the nature of sin. All their acts of sinning were the expression of their rebellious unbelief just like sweating, chills, and sometimes delirium are signs of a fever. They can only die in their sin. Again when Christ Jesus leaves, the Source of everlasting life is gone. The opportunity has passed. This is the final sorrow of His going. 

The separation between these two realms, Christ Jesus' and theirs, Christ Jesus' and your's becomes final, an infinite chasm fixed between the world above and the world beneath. It is an abyss that cannot be crossed. A man and his family lived in a lovely suburban section of a city with neatly trimmed lawns and well-kept homes. One of their neighbors were such bright, gifted people. No one would have guessed it, but they lived in a world of isolated alcoholism, frequently withdrawing from all, pulling down the shades, waiting for the cab to come every few days with another supply of booze.

It was a world their neighbors could not penetrate, even though on a couple of occasions they called in the law to get them into an alcoholic treatment program at the state mental hospital. But this only deepened their suspicion and hostility toward those who wanted to help. As they moved further and further into a hazy, twilight world of semi-consciousness they finally died tragically and hopelessly!

Here was a chasm, an abyss, which their non-alcoholic neighbors simply could not cross!

So there is the separation between heaven above and this world below, and there is also the separation between heaven above and hell below. It is interesting that Americans believe in hell, two to one over Europeans. But the percentage of people who believe in hell here in the U.S. is much greater than the percentage of people who think there is a possibility they will end up there. Most people seem to think hell is just for “really bad” people like Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, and ISIS. Regular people who merely lie, cheat, abuse their kids can't possibly be that bad. 

They think that somehow God will work out a plan or turn a blind eye or to sneak them into heaven in spite of a life time of sin. Sorry, there are no loopholes, there is no slipping in, sneaking in. There is no way in to heaven unless you except the “Light,” that is Christ Jesus. Those who don't except the Light will spend eternity in the darkness of hell and there is no excape. 

So how are you planning, hoping to get into heaven? If Christ Jesus is not the center of your plan, then you need to re-think it and ask Him to be the center of your life this morning. 

Acts 4:10-12 - “then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "`the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." 

3.  Identity of the Light (vs. 25-30)

Starting in verse 13, the Pharisees uttered several distinct challenges to the Lord's claims:

• “Your testimony is not valid” (vs. 13)
• Where is your father?” (vs. 19)
• “Will he kill himself?” (vs. 22)
• “Who are you?” (vs. 25)

In each case, their remarks called forth statements about Light. In verses 21-22 you learn about the departure of the Light. In verses 23-24, you learn about the destiny of the Light, and now here in verses 25-30 you learn about the idenity of the Light. 

When the Jews ask Jesus, “Who are You?” there is no way He can give them a satisfactory answer. Christ Jesus had already told them about heavenly light, but they had no understanding of Jehovah as Father. 

I am the same that I said to you from the beginning of time in the scriptures of the Old-Testament, the same that from the beginning was said to be the Seed of the woman, that should break the serpent's head, the same that in all the ages of the church was the Mediator of the covenant, and the faith of the patriarchs.

From the beginning of my public ministry. The account he had already given of himself he resolved to abide by; he had declared himself to be the Son of God (John 5:17), to be the Christ (John 4:26), and the bread of life, and had proposed himself as the object of that faith which is necessary to salvation, and to this he refers them for an answer to their question. Christ is one with himself; what he had said from the beginning, he saith still. His is an everlasting gospel. - (Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

They ask, not as honest seekers, but as angry, prejudiced nonbelievers. How could He overcome their rejection with another explanation when they did not understood or accepted His ministry over these months? It wasn't like Christ Jesus was holding back, He spoke directly and plainly the truth. He had spoken only what He has heard from the One who sent Him, which at times had meant painful exposure and judgment.

When you have lifted up the Son of man, that is when they lifted Him up on the cross, as the brazen serpent upon the pole (John 3:14), so Christ Jesus, your life saving cure from sin was lifted up. 

Also “lifted up” denotes that Christ Jesus' death was His exaltation. Those who put Him to death thought they had forever silenced Him and His message. But it proved to be just the opposite. When the Son of man was crucified, the Son of man was glorified.

Christ Jesus had called His dying His going away. Here Christ Jesus calls it

His being lifted up. So to is the death of the saints, as it is their departure out of this world, and it is their liftying up to a better world. When you depart from this world will you be lifted up, where there is the “Eternal Light? Or will you be dragged down into the pit of eternal darkness and eternal seperation from God?

Conclusion: The Departure of the Light, some day Christ Jesus is coming back for His people and takeing them home. When He does this the Light will depart with Him. Will you be in the Light?

Destiny of the Light – Christ Jesus came to seek that wich was lost and to save you from the penalty of sin which is death. Won't you come to the Light?

Identity of the Light – Christ Jesus is the Light, He is God/man, the Lamb that was sacrificed so that you could have a restored relationship with God. Will you ask the Light into your life this morning?