United in the Father (Ephesians 1:3-5)

[ Preached at a weekend away with a local Chinese Church. Listeners were a combination of Mandarin, Cantonese and English speakers (including young children). The message was translated into Mandarin. ]

Are you Chinese?

I have a serious question for you: Are you… Chinese? How do you know… you are Chinese? Are you sure that you are Chinese?

Number 1: You can cook rice with one finger.

Number 2: Your cupboard has ten types of Chinese tea.

Number 3: You keep frozen drumsticks in ice-cream containers.

Number 4: Everything is wrapped in plastic.

Number 5: Your oven is not an oven.

(Source: Twitter #growingupasian)

It is easy to point to someone and say, “He’s Chinese!” It’s obvious. But can you point to someone and say, “That guy is definitely a Christian”?

For the next few days, we will be trying to answer that question by looking at the book of Ephesians. Why? Because Ephesians is a book about the church, that’s why. Ephesians is all about God’s family. But by the end of this weekend, I hope that we will be able to say, “Ephesians is about my church.” “Ephesians is about my family in Christ.”

Our theme for this weekend is: United to witness. Now, over the next few days, we will learn that the church has to be united in the Son as the body of Christ (that’s tomorrow afternoon). We will learn that the church is united by the Spirit. God gives us his Holy Spirit that lives in each one of us. That’s Sunday.

But tonight, we will see that the church has to be united in the Father. This is the most important lesson because what makes us a family in Christ is our Father in Heaven. The way that God unites us together as a church is by uniting us to himself as our loving Heavenly Father.

Tonight’s talk is short. We have three points from three verses (Chapter 1, verses 3, 4 and 5). Firstly, we learn that God the Father blesses us. Secondly, God chooses us. Thirdly, God loves us.

God blesses us

Firstly, God blesses us as our Father. This is verse 3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Do you know what a funnel is? This is a funnel (see photo). When you have a big bottle of soy sauce (which you buy because it’s cheap) and you want to fill the small bottles you use at the table, you use a funnel. You pour the soy sauce on the top and fill up the small little bottles.

Now Ephesians says that God pours all his blessings into us through a funnel. That is, he pours every blessing from heaven into our lives - in Christ. It’s squeezed into our lives through Jesus Christ. Now why is that important?

Because often times, we look at God’s blessing from the wrong end of the funnel - from the big end. We say, “Where’s my blessing?” Or, we say, “Why is he getting more blessing that me?” We look at God’s blessing from the wrong end of the funnel - we look up to heaven asking God to bless us - when we should be looking at Christ. And we look around us and think that the person who is most blessed by God is the person who has the most blessing - the most money, the best health, the nicest car - and say, “Wah, God really loves that person. Look at all his blessing!”

Who comes to mind when you think of a rich person? For most of us, it’s Bill Gates. (The teens will think, ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ but the aunties won’t know who he is) Did you know that Bill Gates is giving away 99% of his money? Imagine you have a rich dad and he says to you, “I have 100 pounds, but I am only going to give you… one pound!” He gives one pound to this uncle, one pound to that auntie, one pound to your friend. He gives 99% of his money away and give you… one pound. What would you call that? A stingy dad!

Well, actually, Bill Gates is giving away 99% of his money not because he hates his children but because he loves his children. He wants to leave them enough so that they “can do something… but not a lot of money… so that they do nothing.” There is such a thing as too much - too much money. Too much blessing. (And too much, ice-cream!)

That’s Bill Gates. But that’s not God. God gives us 100% of his blessing; it says there, “every spiritual blessing in heaven” but he gives it to us in Christ. What’s the difference? Well, think about it. Christ was God’s son who had all the blessing in heaven… but he gave it up to die on the cross. Christ has all the riches of heaven but the bible says he became poor for our sakes.

It means that the person who is in Christ is not the person who has the most blessing but the one who is most generous with his blessing. He gives it away. He sacrifices for the good of others. In Christ, we have all the blessing of heaven. But that shouldn’t make us envious or greedy or spoilt. It should make us generous, sacrificial, thankful. Because God gave us his most precious possession, his only Son on the cross.

So the first thing we see is the Father blesses us. He blesses us with every spiritual blessing, but in Christ. In Christ. In Christ. In Christ. He’s the funnel. He’s the one we need to hold on to, not the blessing, but Christ.

God chooses us

Verse 4: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” This is a strange one because it says that God chooses us as our Father.

Fathers, how many of you chose your children. How many of you said, “I want my daughter… to be able to play the piano.” “I want a son who can play football.” You had no choice! Your son is your son. Your daughter is your daughter (whether she plays the piano or not!).

But the mums understand. When you were pregnant and you child was still in your tummy, you said, “Whoever you will be - boy or girl; tall or short; smart or simple - I will be your mum. I will love you.” Ephesians says that before we were born, God said, “I will love you.” Before the universe was made, in fact (verse 4: “the creation of the world”), God said, “I choose you to be in my family.”

But the big difference between the pregnant mum and God is: God knows what kind of person you are going to be. He knows you will reject him. He knows you will sin against him. But still he says, “I will love you. I will be your Father. I will send Jesus to die for your sins on the cross.”

Now look at verse 4 again. What does it mean that God chooses us to be “holy and blameless”? Why does it say that we are supposed to be “holy and blameless”? It means that God wants us to be like Jesus.

The words “holy and blameless” are used in the Old Testament to talk about two things: the priests and the sacrifices. The priests were holy - meaning, they were chosen to do a special thing - to serve God at the temple. To be holy means exclusive for God. And the priests spent their whole lives serving God and God alone (in the temple). Now the second thing it refers to are the sacrifices at the temple. The animals that were sacrificed, the vegetables that were sacrifices, were not leftovers or Sainsburys yellow sticker expiring cheapo stuff. No, they were pure and blameless.

So when God chooses you and me to be holy and blameless, what does this mean? It means we live for him. Do you get it? It means I don’t live for my own comfort. My life is a sacrifice for God.

Earlier, we said that God is a God who blesses us. With every spiritual blessing in heaven, he blesses us, like a father who empties out his whole bank account and says to his son, “Nah. For you.” But why does he bless us? So that we can be more and more like Jesus. So that we can generous, yes. But more so that we can reflect God’s generosity. Our lives are to be lived in worship of God, always giving glory to God; always giving thanks to God. Everything that God gives us in Christ is so that we will give him the glory!

A mother was praying for her son who left home. Now most mothers here pray for blessing, don’t you? You pray for God to bless your son or daughter, don’t you? But this mother’s son had left home and rejected his family and rejected God. He lived a sinful and destructive life. So she prayed, “God do everything and anything you can to bring my son to his knees.”

We want our children to be blessed by God. But do we pray for our children to worship God? Dare we say to God, “God do everything and anything you can to bring my son, my daughter, my husband, my wife, my brother, my sister… to their knees and call you their God?” We will if we understand that God has chosen us - not to be happy - but to be… holy. That’s his ultimate purpose for our lives. To be more and more like Jesus.

God loves us

Finally, we see that God loves us. He loves us.

Verse 5: “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.” The important word there is “adoption”. God loves us so much… that he adopted us into his family. None of us were born into Christianity. All of us were outside God’s family but one day he came to us, he said to us, “I will be your Father. You will be my daughter; my son.” He adopted us.

Many years ago I went to an orphanage, which is a home for children who do not have a mother or father. I went there and asked the aunties, “What can I do to help?” They said, “Just be a big brother.”

So I sat down on the couch and read the newspaper. Immediately, two kids sat next to me, on the right and on my left. They didn’t want to talk or disturb me. They just wanted to be near me. I read my paper and put it down… and there were more kids sitting around me, this time, on the floor around my feet. Here were children who were so starved for love; so starved for attention, that even sitting around a stranger reading his newspaper was enough for them.

I distinctly remember a five-year-old boy who ran out the door shouting, “Papa come already! Papa come already!” He ran out to the driveway, shouting, “Papa come already.” I looked outside but there was no one at the gate. The auntie told me, “He does this every day. His Papa never comes.” It was heart-breaking.

I tell you that story for two reasons. Number one: God has come to be our Heavenly Papa. He says to us, “I love you. I choose you. And I was you to live with me forever.”

But number two: The church is not an orphanage. Some of us come to CCCC because people are so loving. Here we find big brothers and big sisters who love us and really pay attention to us. But we have never, ever met God and we have never ever felt God embrace us and say to us, “I love you. I am your Heavenly Papa.” I say to you: CCCC is not an orphanage. It is God’s family. And God is our Heavenly Father. Do you know Him? Do you love Him?

Our theme for this weekend is United to witness. I was talking to XM last week and he said, “When I think of ‘united’, I think, ‘Manchester United’!”. That’s true, isn’t it? We think of a football team like Manchester United that works together and is well-known around the world. And sometimes we want our church to be like Manchester United - a church that works well together and known all around the world.

Do you know why Manchester United is so… united? It’s because of a ‘hair-dryer’. Seriously. Their (former) coach, a man named Alex Ferguson, would shout and scream at his players, “Hey you! Be united! Play better! Work harder!” until they were more united as a team. He shouted at them so often and so loud, the players said, that it was like having a 'hair-dryer' blow in your face! And you see, sometimes we think that’s what God does in the church. He tells us to work harder. He scolds us to fix our problems. Until we get it perfect.

Friends, it is possible to a church that is united to one another but is dis-united from God. It is possible to be a church that loves one another but hates God. And I say to you: That’s not the kind of unity we want for our church.

Before we talk about being united together or being united in mission as the church, tonight I want us to answer one simple question: Am I united to God? Do I know God’s love as my Heavenly Father; my Heavenly Papa?

Conclusion

Three things: God blesses us; God chooses us; God loves us.

God blesses us in Christ. The most important thing is not the blessing, it’s Christ. Not: do I have this blessing or that; but Do I have Jesus Christ?

God chooses us to be holy and blameless before his sight. It means what God wants most for your life and my life is not for me to be happy but to be holy. What God wants for your children is for them to bow their knees before Him and give their lives in worship to Him as God.

Finally, God loves us. We say that a lot of times: “God loves me, of course, he loves me.” But do you know that God loves us? When you pray to him, do you call him, “Papa?” And do you hear him say to you, “My son. My daughter. I love you.”

I pray that tonight, you will.

Big Daddy (Genesis 22)

Muslims, Jews and Christians look to him as the father of their faith. Their scriptures point to him as a man of God - the one who displayed true faith in God. All three claim to be descendants of this one man, children and heirs of the promises first given by God to this same one man. The Qur’an calls him Ibrahim. We know him better as Abraham.

Though, the bible first introduces Abraham with a different name - Abram. For six chapters from Genesis 11 through 16, he is always referred to as Abram - a name which meant “Father”. God changed his name in Chapter 17 to Abraham - “Father of many”, or as I like to call him, “Big Daddy”. God promised Abraham that he would receive tremendous blessing, but they weren’t for him alone. God’s promise of blessing would pass down to his children, and to his children’s children. It was a three-fold promise of (1) land (specifically, the land of Canaan), (2) blessing (he would be successful) and (3) innumerable descendants (hence the name, Big Daddy).

The irony was: Abraham had no kids. His wife, Sarah, was barren (Genesis 11:30) and both of them were very old. He was 75 years-old when God first called him in Genesis 12. It was only 25 years later, when Abraham was a hundred years-old that Isaac was born to him and Sarah. The name Isaac means “he laughs”. Sarah says “God has brought me laughter” (Genesis 21:6). This baby boy meant everything to his elderly parents. Isaac was their joy and laughter.

But now God was about to test Abraham with his son, his highest joy and his truest treasure.

The son whom you love

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Genesis 22:1-2

Notice how God refers to Isaac. “Your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love”. What does God tell Abraham to do with this son whom he loves? “Offer him as a burnt offering.”

Abraham was a wealthy man by this point in his life. But nowhere in the bible does God test Abraham by asking him to give away his money. Neither was God telling Abraham to send his son away, the way he did with Ishmael and his mother Hagar just a few verses earlier in Genesis 21. No, God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. The Hebrew word ‘Ola is the same word used when describing how Noah offered up animals on the altar after the flood in Genesis 8. It was a whole burnt offering - all of Isaac was to be offered up and nothing held back. His life, his body, his blood - sacrificed on an altar to God.

Abraham obeyed.

He cut the wood

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Genesis 22:3

Notice how the focus stays on Abraham. He rose up. He took the young men. He cut the wood. He arose and went.

This was something he had to do alone. He had servants with him but as far as we can tell from these verses, he did everything himself. He got up bright and early and started packing for the three day journey. He didn’t even let them chop the wood. Here was a hundred year-old man, a wealthy businessman with servants paid to wait on him hand and foot - here was Abraham packing the sandwiches, changing the engine oil, doing all the manual labour.

He had to do this. It was his son. Abraham had to do this alone.

It’s like the time when you first got into uni and your mum fusses over your luggage - to the point that she packs the entire suitcase for you. It’s almost like therapy for her: Shopping for the Bee Cheng Hiang bakwa, the ten million packs of curry powder you know you’ll never be able to use up, enough Bak Kut Teh spices to last till Jesus returns. Then goes in the ten jumpers, twenty pairs of underwear and every t-shirt you’ve ever owned since you were six - including the one with the big green “MILO” logo in front. And while you are tempted to say, “Mum, I don’t need all this!” You still let her do it. Because you’re lazy... I mean, because you love her. And you know that this is your mother’s way of saying, “I love you.”

I wonder if Abraham did all this, in part, to take his mind of the terrible situation ahead of him. Perhaps even, to delay it as long as he could. He chopped the wood. He got the donkey ready. But in the end, he obeyed God. He set off for the place God had told him.

The long walk

On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:4-6

It took three days to get to Moriah and verse 4 says at this point, “Abraham… saw the place from afar.” It is so interesting what he does next. It’s still far off. There’s still a fair bit of distance to cover. But what does Abraham do? He gets off the donkey. He leaves his servants behind. And he takes a long walk with his son.

He wanted these last moments to be just him and Isaac. It’s debatable how old Isaac was at this point in the story. He could talk and he was strong enough to carry wood. Yet later on he was weak enough that Abraham could bind him to the wood.

Verse 6 says he laid the wood on Isaac. He made him carry it. Now, the fact that they needed two servants and a donkey to get this far suggests that it was a lot of wood. I wonder, if again, this was Abraham making the most of the journey. Slowing down these last moments of their time together.

What we do know is they talked. Big Daddy and his son, his only son, the son whom he loved most in the entire world. They walked and they talked, as a father with his son.

God will provide

And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:7-8

One of the reasons why I chose this passage today is because of a conversation I had recently with my friend, Wallace, who told me that as a father of two children of his own, he admired Abraham for his example as a father: He always spoke about God. One thing Abraham always did was build altars to God. Now, I need to be clear that this was well before the time of Moses - there was no tabernacle, no priests, no God-prescribed place of worship - and also that Abraham didn’t simply build altars willy-nilly. Rather, these were firstly memorials to God’s appearances to Abraham. When God first appeared to Abraham in Chapter 12, he built an altar. God speaks to him again in Canaan, so he builds another altar at Mamre (Genesis 13). These altars were places where God blessed Abraham and where Abraham, in turn, worshipped God and thanked God.

So here in verse 7, Isaac his son turns to Abraham and asks his father about worship. They are going to worship God on the mountain and they are carrying with them wood and fire (or perhaps rather, tinder for the fire) and he says, “Where is the lamb?” This is Isaac’s first worship; his first altar. But he knows that an important part of worship is missing. A lamb has to be killed and sacrificed.

Abraham answers this very important question by teaching his son about God. God will provide. In fact, look again at verse 8 and you will see that his answer is very strongly focussed on God. God will provide “for himself”, Abraham says. Now I know that some will look at Abraham’s answer and go, “Hmm, this guy isn’t being honest. He is covering up the fact the Isaac is going to be the one sacrificed on the altar.”

But it’s worth asking: Why does Genesis record this conversation at all? I mean, why not record instead what Isaac said when Abraham tied him to the altar: “Noooooo!” That’s the dialogue all of us would be more interested to read about.

Rather, what we have here is a moment spent between a father and son, and what it looks like for a son to trust his father, as his father to trust in God. Isaac is obviously smart enough to figure out there’s something wrong with the picture: where’s the lamb? But he trusts his father. And Abraham responds to that trust by teaching Isaac of his personal trust in God. God himself will provide.

That is what my friend Wallace was talking about. He was concerned not just that he trusted God in times of difficulty and doubt, but that his own kids learned to do the same. Here we see, it’s not just about dragging your rebellious teenagers and dumping them in Sunday School. It’s the drive to church - your own eagerness to worship God. It’s when you yourself are being tested by God. It’s your personal struggles being worked out with God in full view of those you love - your kids, your family, your friends - and pointing to the one who is trustworthy: God. He himself will provide. He has promised. I trust him, so can you.

And notice again how verse 8 repeats the phrase “So they went both of them together”. Abraham’s journey with God was now Isaac’s. His faith was now his son’s.

The sacrifice

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Genesis 22:9-12

Jewish scholars refer to this passage as the “Aqedah”, a word which means, “binding”, referring to the binding of Isaac on the altar. The Qur’an records the events in this chapter without mentioning the name of the son whom God told Abraham to sacrifice. Muslim scholars contend that it was Ishmael, not Isaac, who was bound to the altar. Both emphasise the role played by the son. It was the son of Abraham who displayed true faith and was willing to be sacrificed on the altar of God, as if Isaac were saying to his father, “Do it, Dad. Go ahead!”

But the bible does not record a single word spoken by Isaac.

Earlier on it did. When they were walking together as father and son. But not here. Here the focus is squarely on Abraham. As verse 1 indicates, this was God’s test of Abraham alone. Abraham built the altar. He laid the wood. He bound Isaac on top of the wood. Verse 10: “Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.”

“Abraham, Abraham!”

You could almost hear the urgency in God’s voice. “The angel of the LORD called... from heaven”. This was a direct message, hand-delivered, first class, straight from heaven. “Whoa, Abraham!” The message was to release Isaac. Notice how God refers to Abraham’s son, “Now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

If we are honest, some of us are asking ourselves at this point of the story, “Isn’t this cruel?” Now? Now you know that Abraham fears God? What kind of God would do this? What kind of person would do this?

But you see, the story doesn’t end here. God wasn’t simply daring Abraham in a game of chicken - to see who would dodge first. If so, this would be a cruel game: this would be a story of a creator toying with his creation simply for his amusement. That would be so if the story ended with Abraham simply letting Isaac go and God saying all this was just a ruse.

No, Abraham came with his son to build an altar to worship God. And as Isaac had implied earlier, the worship of God involved sacrifice; the life and blood of a living animal. But it was God, not Abraham, who would provide the sacrifice on the altar.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Genesis 22:13-14

Scholars debate the meaning of the name of this mountain. Abraham calls it “The LORD will provide”, YHWH-Yireh. But it could easily be translated as “The LORD sees”; and verse 14: “On the mount of the LORD he will be seen.”

Abraham lifts his eyes and sees a ram. God had provided this animal as a sacrifice instead of Isaac - as a substitute - “instead of his son”. We know from 2 Chronicles 3 that this mountain of Moriah (Genesis 22:2) would later be the site where the temple was built by Solomon. This was God’s mountain, where God was seen, and where God provided the sacrifice for worship and a substitute for our sin. “Abraham took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.”

God provided a substitute. An animal died instead of - and in place of - Isaac.

Because you have done this

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.

Genesis 22:15-19

So God repeats his promise to Abraham of immense blessing and innumerable descendants. Also through his kids, “all the nations of the earth” will be blessed. Why? “Because you obeyed my voice” (verse 18).

And then something very curious happens in verse 19. Abraham returned to the servants. Singular: as in, Abraham alone, not Abraham and Isaac. In case you think I’m nitpicking, Jewish scholars are so puzzled by this statement that they suggest Isaac really was killed at the altar, and that God had physically raised him from the dead. Now, these are Jewish - not Christian - scholars contending for this view, so I’m not trying to read my own personal view into the text that isn’t there.

In fact, I hold the opposite view. The New Testament goes against this idea of Isaac dying on the altar. Hebrews 11 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Hebrews 11:17a,19). It is saying that Abraham had every confidence that even if Isaac was killed, God could simply raise him again to life. But it also says, “figuratively... he did receive him back.” Meaning: Isaac didn’t die.

Instead a substitute died in the place of Isaac. Christians believe that substitute was Jesus.

Abraham saw my day and rejoiced

Now I could turn to passages like Matthew Chapter 1 that emphasis Jesus as the true “son of Abraham”, tracing back his ancestry back generation by generation through King David, all the way to Father Abraham. Or I could turn to Romans 4 where Paul insists that Christians are the true heirs of the promise to Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

But one of the most puzzling passages, and I think, the coolest text connecting Jesus and Abraham is found in John Chapter 8. Right near the end of the Chapter, Jesus says to a crowd of Jews these words:

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad." So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

John 8:56-58

At this, the Jews picked up stones to throw at Jesus. He had said something deeply offensive, not against Abraham, but against God. Jesus was claiming to be God when we said “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” “I am” was the translation of God’s name (found in Exodus 3:14).

But just before that, Jesus says, “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.” What was that about? What was is that Abraham longed to see, that filled him with so much joy.

We know the answer to that question, don’t we? It was his son. “Isaac” means “joy” and “laughter”: His son, his only son. The son whom he loved.

And Jesus says, “He saw it.” What was it that Abraham looked up on the mountain - and behold - he saw? The substitute for the son whom he loved. And Jesus adds, “He rejoiced.”

Thousands of years later, another son would walk up a mountain in Moriah, called Golgotha. He would carry the wood on his shoulders. He was obedient to God’s word. He was submissive to his Father.

Only he would walk alone.

There was no substitute to take his place. No word from heaven to stop the execution. No words of comfort to reassure him. On this mountain, God’s son - his only son, the son whom he loved - was sacrificed for us. There on the cross, he took our place.

For God so loved the world that he gave - his only Son - that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32

What did Abraham see? Or rather, what do you see when you look at the cross?

Love? Sacrifice? A substitute? All true and all precious.

Jesus says, “He saw my day and rejoiced.” Jesus was his truest joy. His highest treasure. His greatest love.

This is the good news of the gospel. God has given us his son, freely, that he might take our punishment, our sin and our death as our substitute; and by trusting in Jesus we might receive true and eternal life, forgiveness and reconciliation, love from God our Heavenly Father.

And Jesus as our truest and highest joy.

What if Jesus turned up at the Mid-Autumn Festival? (John 8:12-20)

Harvest in the desert

It is one of the biggest festivals in the Chinese calendar. Back in Malaysia we call it Pesta Tanglung, which is Malay for Lantern Festival. But most know it as the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Mooncake Festival, named after the super-sweet lotus paste dessert called mooncakes, commonly enjoyed this time of the year. It is celebrated not just in China and Hong Kong, but also in Vietnam and the Philippines. In Korea, this weekend just happens to coincide with Chuseok, a major holiday marking the celebration of the autumn harvest.

So when I was choosing a passage for this Sunday, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if the bible said something about the autumn festival?”

And you know what? It does.

Way back in Exodus 23 God gives a command to the Israelites that they are to celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when they gathered in the crops from their fields. The reason was thanksgiving. The people of God were to remember all that God had blessed them with in terms of land, food, blessing, wealth and life. It was the time of the year when grapes and olives would be harvested and the Israelites gathered to celebrate and give thanks to God. So there we have it: God actually commands us to celebrate the Autumn Festival!

The thing is: it was a pretty strange thing that God had commanded the Israelites to do - to celebrate this Autumn harvest. You see, back in Exodus 23, the Israelites were in the desert. They had just been rescued from slavery in Egypt and lived in tents. They kept moving from place to place. These guys didn’t have any land. They couldn’t grow any crops. How could they be expected to celebrate a harvest in a desert?

The point was: they couldn’t celebrate this festival. Or at least, not yet. Embedded in this command was a promise. God was going to give them a land where they could grow their crops and where they could build their homes. And when they finally received this blessing from God, they were to remember to be thankful.

But we’re not looking at Exodus today, because what I want to do is fast forward 1,500 years to the temple in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Because here we see the celebration as it’s meant to be. The people are in the land. They are gathering in the crops. They are worshipping God and giving thanks to him for the bountiful harvest.

And also because here in John’s Gospel, we see Jesus turning up at the height of the Autumn Harvest Celebrations.

John 7 refers to this as the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2). It’s the same celebration with a different name, because a tabernacle is basically a fancy word for a tent. And what the Israelites would do was construct a temporary hut out of wood and bamboo; and during the duration of this festival they would live in this hut and eat in this hut and sleep in this hut. Why? To remember the time when the people of God lived in tabernacles, or tents as they wandered through the desert. In fact, Sukkot (the Jewish word for Tabernacle) is still celebrated today.

You see the reverse is now happening. Now that they have plenty, the Israelites remember the time when they had little. When they didn’t have land. When there was no harvest.

Being thankful in plenty and in want

Perhaps it is a helpful reminder for us today as we gather at the Chinese Church for our Mid-Autumn Festival. What are you thankful for? How has God blessed you this year? With that job, or that university place, or that new relationship, or that new baby? Today is an opportunity to recognise God’s goodness in blessing you abundantly and graciously. Maybe like these Israelites you might need to think back to the time when you hadn’t yet received these blessings; when times were lean and tough. Maybe it might be helpful for you to remember how far God has brought you in your walk with him.

Conversely you might not have very much to be thankful for. For you, times are tough right now. Well, like the Israelites in the desert, you are meant to hear God’s promise in these words - he will guide you, he is leading you and he will be true to his promises in Christ.

I am the light of the world

Like us today, the Israelites would have gathered together to give thanks to God. Verse 20 gives us a clue where this happened. It says there that Jesus was teaching “in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put”, and this would have been in what was called the “Women’s Court”. This was one of the largest assembly areas in the temple. The reason why it’s called the Women’s Court is not because only women were allowed in, but that this was the furthest bit in the temple that women could advance in approaching God. Beyond this, only men were allowed; after that, only the priests; and after that, only the High Priest. The Women’s Court was this huge (about 71 squared meters) and up to six thousand men and women would pack the court on a day like this, especially on the night of the Festival of Tabernacles.

Now one further and important reason why they gathered in this court was because situated at each of the four corners of the square were four huge, ginormous lampstands that stretched up 86 feet into the air. That’s almost as high as King’s College Chapel. So you need to imagine six thousand people packed into King’s College Chapel, looking up at the four corners to these tall pillars where there would be four gigantic bowls. And as the sun set in the distance, and darkness began to creep in, these large lamps would then be lit and the night sky would suddenly be ablaze with light!

And it was then, as the thousands of worshippers were watching this spectacle, that they would have heard a voice cry out among them, saying, “I am the light of the world!”

The light of life

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

What did Jesus mean? Why did he choose this moment to draw attention to himself?

Remember: the festival was a commemoration of the Exodus, when God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt. And the Israelites could visibly see God’s presence manifested in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Wherever God led them, they followed. For those forty years, he guided them in safety, he provided for them daily, until he brought them to the Promised Land.

Jesus says, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” At one level, he is using the same imagery. Following Jesus means having that same experience of God’s presence and guidance. He is their light in the midst of darkness.

But Jesus actually says more. Whoever follows him will have the light of life. The contrast between light and darkness is that of life and death. To know Jesus is know life. No Jesus means no life.

It might be worth pointing out what Jesus is not saying. He is not saying that he is author of all life on earth - though that is true (John 1:3). He is not saying that we all owe our life to God - though that too, is true.

No, what Jesus is pointing out is this: We live our lives in darkness. We walk in darkness. By that, Jesus is saying that we are essentially walking in death. But Jesus has come to bring us true life. He has come as a light shining in the darkness.

But as this passage goes on to show, our first instinct is to reject this light.

The light of truth

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

John 8:13

The religious leaders reject Jesus’ statement. You could argue that they had a point: Jesus was making a rather wild claim. Here we are gathered for a nice celebration. We’ve brought our friends from out of town. Everyone is looking forward to the big buffet at the end of the day. We are honouring God as we are meant to. Jesus, what’s your problem? Why do you have to spoil things by stirring up trouble yet again? And what does it even mean that you’re the light of the world?

Yet notice, none of this form the basis of the Pharisees’ challenge to Jesus. They claim that his testimony isn’t true. Why? Because Jesus is appearing as his own witness. Meaning: they need more proof. Meaning: there needs to be something in addition to what Jesus has just said about himself - another witness, another voice, another perspective.

You know what? I think this is one of the most common objections I’ve heard in recent years here in Cambridge. “How can you seriously believe the bible?” And the objection is not just the bible is unreliable, but rather that the bible by itself, is insufficient for anyone to come to any conclusion about who God is or whether Jesus really existed. It is such an ancient document.

Christians are thought of as simpletons for taking the bible as truth: to consider the words written in this book as actually being inspired by God.

When what we really need to do is test it. With science. With reasoning. Perhaps even with personal insight and experience. We need to supplement the claims of the bible - perhaps even challenge them - with other sources of knowledge.

After all, don’t we have talks organised by the Christian Union of the historicity of the bible? Isn’t there important archeological evidence that supports the detailed events, dates and places recorded in books like Acts in the New Testament. Aren’t we inviting one of the foremost apologists in the world, Dr William Lane Craig next month to engage with Professor Hawking’s book, “The Grand Design”?

And yet...

And yet, as Christians we need to be clear that what we are doing is not supplementing the truth of the bible. Rather having confidence in the authenticity and sufficiency of the claims of scripture, we are able to - and even, eager to - engage with every aspect of these claims on the world. That includes science. That includes philosophy. That includes history.

But the source of that certainty and knowledge is God himself. The bible is God’s word. It is God’s self-revealing and self-authenticating word. That means to say: the only reason we can know anything about God is that he has revealed himself to us. And the bible says he has done that supremely in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

What this means practically is: the bible is complete. That’s the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture. Everything that God has to say about salvation is here. Everything that we need to know about Jesus for God to effect saving trust in him is here in this book.

And that’s what Jesus says in verse 14.

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.”

John 8:14

The religious leaders object that Jesus is making statements about himself which cannot be verified and therefore cannot be true. But Jesus says, “Actually, I can.” In a few verses, he will appeal to their reasoning. In verse 17, Jesus will cite the Law which the Pharisees are familiar with to back his claims up. Yet it is so important for us to see that Jesus’ claims are self-authenticating; they are self-sufficient. “My testimony is valid,” Jesus says, “for I know where I came from and where I am going.” By that, Jesus isn’t simply hinting at his origins - where he came from - but pointing forward to the cross. He knows where he is headed - towards his own death. “But you have no idea,” Jesus adds. The religious leaders are clueless as to Jesus’ identity and purpose.

Yet notice how the sentence begins. “Even if,” Jesus says. He doesn’t just make a statement about himself, which in itself would have been true and valid. “Even if,” means: Jesus gives them more. More to go on. He is helping them in their unbelief to see who he truly is. Friends, that ought to amaze us.

And friends, what Jesus says next ought to humble us..

The light of judgement

“You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

John 8:15-18

The picture is that of a law court. Words like “testimony”, “witness”, “judgement”, “truth” and “law” come together to paint a picture of judge, defendant, accuser and witnesses in a law court.

What is happening is this: Jesus is helping the religious leaders and the crowds listening to him to work out and reason through who he is and what he is really saying. He even uses their own arguments and objections to clarify their doubts.

“In your own Law,” Jesus says, referring to the Old Testament which these religious professors would have been experts in, “it is written that the testimony of two men is valid”. You guys know this is what is needed to establish authenticity and truth.

And Jesus goes on to say that he is Witness Number One. But then he calls in another witness to the stand. Jesus calls in God. “My other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Get this: here we are picturing a scene in a law court and Jesus is the accused. God himself steps in as the witness for the accused. Who is missing? The accuser and the judge.

Verse 15 reads: “You judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no-one”. In this scenario, Jesus’ hearers are acting as judge over him and over God.

Friends, I think Jesus would say of us today: “You are making judgements on who I am when you make a judgement what I have said. You are standing in judgement over God using human standards.”

I spoke to a university student recently over the summer break. She wasn’t a stranger to church. She had been coming Sunday after Sunday since she was a little girl. Heard many sermons. Even helped out with children’s church. But God didn’t seem a priority at the moment. Not with the workload. Not with tutorials. Not with job applications after finals.

I said to her, “Every time we hear the bible read; each time the gospel is preached, we are making a judgement. Even when we walk out of the meeting and say to ourselves, ‘Oh how nice for them as Christians, but that’s not for me,’ that too, is a judgement. We are saying to God, ‘You don’t really matter to me that much. I don’t think Jesus is all that important.’”

The Pharisees had made a decision about Jesus. In their minds, he was a liar. Jesus responds by saying their verdict is not just about him. It revealed their judgement on God himself.

In verse 16, Jesus says again, “But if”. “I pass judgement on no-one. But if I do judge, me decisions are right, because I am not alone”. One day, Jesus will return to judge; he will be the Supreme Judge of all the living and the dead; that is, God will hand over all judgements to be carried out by Jesus.

But for now, Jesus stands as the true witness. He is the light of the world. He offers the light of life. He bears the evidence to the truth of his testimony. The Greek word for witness is “martur”, where we get the word “martyr”. God has sent Jesus to bear the sins of the world on the cross. It is on the cross that Jesus bears witness as the true light of salvation.

And the question is: Who do you think Jesus is? Who is he in relation to you - the light of God’s presence and salvation whom you follow wholeheartedly? Or the accused over whom you stand as judge and accuser?

The key to answering that question is to see who Jesus is in relation to God.

The light of salvation

Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

John 8:19

The question the Pharisees pose to Jesus is “Where”. Jesus answers, “Who”.

“Where is the Father, Jesus? Where is this second witness you have been raving about? We don’t see him here, do we?”

It wasn’t really a question, was it? More of an insult actually. They might have even meant to refer to Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, who would have been dead and buried by now.

Still, I wonder if they meant it as a challenge. “Show us your Father, Jesus. Then we will believe.” I don’t think they were talking about Joseph at all. They knew Jesus was referring to God as his heavenly Father. I say this because verse 20 implies they wanted to arrest him on the spot. Something Jesus said caused them so much anger; sounded so much like blasphemy; that John says in verse 20, it was surprising that no-one crucified him then and there!

What was it Jesus said that stirred up so much hate in the religious leaders towards him? Jesus gives a two-fold answer: First, he says they are clueless about who Jesus is or who God is. That’s bad enough.

But secondly, Jesus says: If you knew me, you would know my Father also. What is he saying? To know Jesus is to know God.

Remember where he is standing. It’s the Feast of the Tabernacles. They are in the temple courts. Ask anyone “Where is God?” and they will answer, “Why, God is there, of course - beyond the altar of sacrifice, behind the walls of the Holy Place, behind the curtain.” God is in his temple.

But Jesus didn’t point towards the temple. He pointed to himself. If you knew me, Jesus says, you would know God!

Isn’t that why they wanted to arrest him; why they wanted to kill him? And they eventually did kill him: Wasn’t it because Jesus clearly claimed to be God?

So, when Jesus stands and proclaims, “I am the light of the world!” What is he saying? This celebration of thanksgiving is about me! The pillar of fire in the Exodus - that is me! The light of God’s first act of creation in Genesis when God spoke and said, “Let there be light!” - that’s me! The light of the glory of God which Moses saw on the mountain in Sinai - that’s me! The light of God’s salvation - that’s me! The light of God’s word - that’s me!

If you knew me, Jesus says, you would know the Father; you would know God!
Now if Jesus does that at the Feast of Tabernacles in the temple two thousand years ago, wouldn’t you think he might do that here today? Why have we gathered for this big celebration at the Chinese Church? To eat mooncakes? (Sorry there aren’t any this year!) Might Jesus say to us: this Mid-Autumn Festival should remind us of his light of salvation?

Or might Jesus even dare to say: September 11th is not simply a reminder of the horrors that happened a decade ago - but stands as a reminder of the horrors of humanity two thousand years ago, when the Son of God bore the anger and hatred of our sins on the cross?

Jesus says, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also”. “If,” meaning: we are meant to ask the question - Do you know Jesus? If you did, you would know God.

Light of the world

You stepped down into darkness.

Opened my eyes, let me see.

Beauty that made this heart adore You

Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship,

Here I am to bow down,

Here I am to say that You're my God

(“Light of the world”, Chris Tomlin)