Series :The Wonder Of His First Coming

"The Rejection When Jesus Came"

John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Luke 19:11-14

11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying," We will not have this man to reign over us."

As we look into the Gospel of John, we need to realize as someone has said, "It is like a pool in which a child can wade and an elephant can swim."

The main emphasis of John’s Gospel is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Matthew underscores that He is King, Mark highlights the fact He is Servant, Luke concludes that He is the Son of Man, but John clearly as a very well versed trial lawyer, gives evidence that Jesus is the Son of God.

Every believer becomes a son or child of God when he or she takes Christ as Lord and Savior, but we are not "Sons" in the sense Jesus is. The Bible calls Jesus the "only begotten Son of God" (Jn.1:18; 3:18; 1 Jn. 4:9). Christ is the only one of His kind who is both God and man–He is unmistakably unique. This could never be true of anyone else in the universe except the Lord Jesus Christ.

What a tragedy that they rejected Him. Even in light of clear evidence, they turn down the truth light from God.

The Bible tells us there was no room for Him in the inn (Luke 2:7). As I look across the world today, there are many who will not give the Lord Jesus room in their hearts.

The bottom line is this, if He does not have room in your heart now, He is not going to have room for you in heaven. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.

Think about it a minute–what if someone who had the authority and the resources to offer you all you would ever need came to you and offered to you all he had? It does not make good sense to turn down that kind of offer.

How senseless to turn down the offer of free and full salvation from sin.

2. It is far-reaching.

If you reject the Lord Jesus as your Savior, it also encourages others to say, "no" to Him. More that likely someone is looking to you and following you to some degree as a "role model." When you do wrong it encourages others to do the same wrong in which you are involved. Is it wrong to reject Christ? Sure it is and it can even eventually mean the loss of your soul forever.

Your rejection goes beyond yourself and gives a message to others that the claims and demands of Christ are not important, but they surely are.

3. It can be forgiven.

What sin will keep you out of heaven? Is it cursing, immortality, alcohol consumption, and on and on our list could go? No, we should not participate in those things, but it is "unbelief" that keeps us from being saved and accepted of God.

1- To refuse to have, take, or recognize.

2- To refuse to accept.

3- To discard as useless or unsatisfactory.

4- It can mean to have a reaction against.

Note:

Today they can graft skin but the catch is the skin tissues must match properly. If not the present flesh will reject the skin graft.

5- To regard something as imperfect- not up to standard.

Jesus certainly does not fit that kind of thing, for He is perfect in His attitudes and perfect in His actions. There are NO flaws in the Lord Jesus.

I believe the Lord would have you today to look with me at into three different areas. First, the identity of the rejected will be studied. Secondly, the reasons for the rejection we will considered. Thirdly, the consequences of the rejected will be pondered.

Dr. Warren Wiersbe gives us a great deal of light on this matter.

A. He Is The Word of God (Jn. 1:1-3)

A word is made up of letters. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Jesus is everything from A - Z for those who trust in Him.

The Bible is the written word, but Christ is the incarnate, living word of God.

Words reveal our hearts and minds. As well, Christ as the Eternal Word reveals the heart and mind of God to mankind.

B. He Is Light (Jn. 1:4-13)

The first thing God created in Genesis 1 was light. Whether you have thought about it or not, light brings life.

Plants must have light to live.

John in his Gospel shows a conflict between light and darkness.

Jesus is the True Light, from which all light, both physical and spiritual proceed.

The Bible pictures salvation as the entrance of light into the dark heart of a sinner.

C. He Is The Son Of God (Jn. 1: 15-18)

Some folks say Jesus never "claimed" to be the Son of God, but, He certainly did so. That claim was what brought about the persecution of the people so heavily and strongly upon Him.

John 10:33 clearly tells us the Jews said, "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God."

Seven people in John’s Gospel called Jesus the Son of God.

1. John the Baptist (1:34)

2. Nathaniel (1:49)

3. Peter (6:69)

4. Healed Blind Man (9:35-38)

5. Martha (11:27)

6. Thomas (20:28)

7. Apostle John (20:30,31)

They must have known for they saw Him and were around Him.

D. He Is The Christ (1:19-28)

"Christ" means "Messiah or Anointed One."

The Jews were expecting their Messiah to come at any time. This may be one reason why they questioned Christ so much.

If a Jew did embrace Him as Christ, he was thrown out of the Jewish synagogue.

E. He Is The Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29)

The passover lamb of the Old Testament pointed clearly to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ- God’s Lamb.

The blood of lambs in the Old Testament merely covered sin over for a while, but Christ’s blood permanently and perpetually takes away our sin.

The lambs in the Old Testament were just for the Jews, but Christ Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.

F. He Is King Of Israel (1:43-49).

Israel was tired of the yoke of Roman and desired themselves a king. If you will recall when Christ fed them, some of them wanted to make him king (Jn. 6:15).

Christ offered himself as their king in John 12, but the chief priests said, "We will have no king but Ceasar."

G. He Is The Son Of Man (Jn. 1:50-51).

That title comes from Dan. 7:13-14, which says:

Daniel 7:13-14 says, " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

Christ, as the Son of Man, is the Jacob’s ladder of the Old Testament. He is the ladder between heaven and earth.

He brought God down to men, and takes men to God the Father.

On an on we could go identifying the rejected, but we will stop here and move on to other truths.

I. The Identity Of The Rejected

The big question is this–why would those in darkness rejected the True Light John reveals in his Gospel in Chapter 1.

To the apostle John, to not have Christ in your life is life in the dark.

John 1:5 talks about "the darkness."

Whatever the darkness is it is:

John 3:19-21 says:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

Whatever you love is what you cling to in life. If men love darkness, they refuse light and cling to the dark.

Their deeds are so evil they have no use for light.

Jesus came with His light that men might not abide or remain in darkness (John 12:46).

Without Christ, a person is like someone who is blindfolded, groping and trying to find his or her way around in the dark.

Men have tried to put out Jesus’ light, but it shines on from generation unto generation. As the song our choir sings says, "There’s not enough darkness, to put out the Light."

They did not really understand who He was. If they truly understood, they would have embraced. If they had only realize the pardon Christ could grant and the peace He could have given, they would have received Him.

The Bible says in John 1:5 that the darkness could not comprehend the light. To "comprehend" means "to grasp with the mind or percieve."

The Bible says in John 1:10 that darkness kept the world from "knowing" the Light.

The Greek word for "knew" in John 1:10 is the word that expresses a "personal knowledge of experience." The darkness does not know that when it comes to God, but thank God believers know personally the True Light.

Satan is out to blind the minds of men to the Gospel. He is the Prince of Darkness, so he sees to work with the darkness that already exists in the heart of people.

Corinthians 4:4 says, " In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

To "blind" can mean to "deprive of discernment, reason or judgment."

Satan wants man to be governed by worldly wisdom or by sensual desires. He wants man to center his life around himself, rather than bow in submission to God.

Note:

This all goes back to before there was an earth as we know it today. Satan rose up and rebelled against the authority and throne of God. He seeks to prompt man to do the same thing and refuse light from God.

Satan had rather convince a person to remain lost than anything else in this world, when it comes to human beings.

Darkness
Deception

They had Moses, the law, the temple, and the sacrifices, but did not see those lights pointed to the true light of which Christ was the fulfillment.

Jesus is the fulfillment of all typlified in the law. It was not enough to be born a Jew, they had to be born from above.

They needed more than religion, they needed regeneration.

Dead religion will carry you off to hell and laugh at you on the way there for having anything to do with it.

Religion is man reaching up to God but in Christianity God reaches out and down for man.

There are hundreds of religions all around the world, but there is only one Savior, who is able to save all that come unto him.

In Jn. 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father except by me." There is no way to get to God the Father except through the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks who do not believe Jesus is the only begotten Son of God do not have salvation. Some just think they do. What the Bible says is what really matters.

I. The Identity Of The Rejected

II. The Reasons For Their Rejection

What sensible person would want to wander in darkness when there is something far better?

As God’s people we can walk in the light as He is in the light and now we can have fellowship one with the other and best of all fellowship with God.

If you will look toward the Lord, he will turn the light on in your life.

The Bible speaks of those who were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).

Who wants to stay dead when they can be quickened or made alive in Christ Jesus?

Dead people do not respond favorably when you speak to them. A dead body cannot talk back or communicate.

Eph. 2:1 says, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead."

Illustration:

The grass can turn brown, look dry and dead, but all it takes is a gentle rain to fall, and it seems to change colors and stand up tall.

"Quicken" also means to "become active or sensitive."

One day I did not care but now I have been made sensitive to the things of God and the will of God.

Darkness

Deadness

Some people have the idea that being under condemnation is a future matter.

The Bible teaches the Christ rejector is already under condemnation.

If you are here without Christ, then you are under condemnation now and are doomed and damned for hell.

If you reject Jesus, you stand without one ray or glimmer of hope!

You must flee to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the famous preacher from England said, "I looked at Him, and He looked at me, and we became one forever." Spurgeon was told by a Methodist speaker on the night he was saved, "Look and live, look and live, look and live!" On that cold snowy night Spurgeon looked and lived.

People are hungry but Jesus is the Bread of Life–

People are thirsty but He is the Water of Life–

People are troubled but Jesus is the Haven of Rest—

People are confused but Jesus is the Wisdom of God—

People are in darkness but Jesus is the Light of the World.

People are sin-sick, but Jesus is the Great Physician.

People are depraved but Christ can give deliverance.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus , sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.

II. The Reasons For Their Rejection

III. The Consequences Of Their Rejection

What ever you do, don’t fail to have Christ as your Savior! It will cost you more than you want to pay.

I am going to close with this illustration:

There was a barber who was an atheist. He was talking with a preacher as they role through the slums of the city. The atheist unbeliever said, " If there is a loving God, how can he permit all this poverty, suffering, and violence among these people? Why doesn’t he save them from all this?"

Just then a rough looking bum crossed the street. He had not shaven and was filthy. He had long, scraggly and dirty hair hanging down his neck. The minister pointed to him and said, "You are a barber and say you are a good one. Why do you allow that man to go unkept and unshaven?

The barber said stuttered and said, "Why...Why...Why...he never gave me a chance to fix him up."

The preacher said, " Yes, that’s it. Men are what they are because the have rejected and not asked for God’s help.

God gave me this little poem the other day:

If you are in darkness and need the light,
God in heaven knows your plight.
Let go of your sin and trust him today,
He will light up your soul and show you the way."

Israel may have rejected Him, but don’t you do it.

How must the Lord feel, when He came down from heaven, suffered all the shame and suffering of the cross, and yet you refuse to come unto him?

Look and live!