Quote from Forum Archives on January 28, 2008, 3:07 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

 

PUT UP THE ANTENNA

 

January 27, 2008

 

 

Text: 1 John 1:1-2:2

 

 

I’m sure we have all heard the question before, but how would you answer if someone asked, “What is the meaning of life?”  Several years ago, English author Jonathan Gabay published a book containing the answers several people gave to that very question.  One of the individuals included in the book, a leader in his church, took the opportunity to give a thought-provoking testimony.  As a child, he said, he enjoyed watching his family’s black and white TV.  But the picture was often blurred and distorted and difficult to make out.  Still, he was glad that they had even that unsatisfactory television set.  Then his family learned that they needed an outside antenna.  The change in picture quality was immediately noticeable after they put up the antenna.  “Suddenly,” he said, “we found we could get clear and distinct pictures.  Our enjoyment was transformed.”  He then made this comparison: “Life without a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is like the television without the antenna.” (Vernon C. Grounds, “The Needed Antenna,” Our Daily Bread, January 26, 1997)

 

Without knowledge of God’s purpose revealed in Jesus Christ, we finite humans with our sin-darkened minds have at best a blurred image of the holy Creator.  Even those who never learn about God as He reveals Himself in His Word know something about God.  There are Scriptural references which declare that God is known even from nature.  Psalm 19:1-2 tell us, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.”  A branch of theology, known as "natural theology,” is based on the belief that God can be known through the rational study of natural phenomena without the assistance of revelation. (Peter A. Angeles, Dictionary of Christian Theology, Harper & Row Publishers: San Francisco, 1985, p. 195)

 

Clearly, God does make Himself known in the very nature of His creation, but relying on that form of revelation alone results in a blurred image.  To see and know God clearly, we need to put up the antenna.  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.  And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We write this to make our joy complete.”  John knew exactly that when we encounter Jesus through the revealed Word of God, the fuzziness vanishes, and we can then see Him clearly.  Jesus made the declaration that “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)  We can perhaps receive vague images of God as revealed in nature, but when we put up the antenna that is a personal relationship with Jesus, then we get the clear and distinct picture of who God is.

 

In this letter, John goes on to describe the clear picture of God we get when we put up the antenna.  Prior to Jesus, God was known through the testimonies of the prophets and through the sacrificial system of atonement.  But once the testimony of Jesus is known, we are introduced to the light and to the saving mercy of God.  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin…  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7, 9)

 

When we see God clearly, or at least as clearly as the finite can grasp the infinite, we learn that God intends to restore us into fellowship with Him.  This is what Paul meant when he wrote about reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”  The clear message received with our antenna up is that God forgives all who confess their sins, repent – that means turn away – from their sins, and accept Jesus Christ as the Savior who personally paid for those sins.

 

Over the history of Christianity, there have been those who regard the truth of God’s forgiveness as an open invitation to continue to disobey God.  After all, Scripture says we sin: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us…  If we claim to have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”  (1 John 1:8, 10)  So since we sin, and since God forgives our sin, why not sin more?

 

Well, that kind of thinking is like watching that old black and white television without the outside antenna.  We get a picture, but it is a distorted, fuzzy picture.  John is providing here an antidote to those who seek to deny any sin, thus eliminating the need to confess Jesus as Lord.  In other words, it is the response to the one who claims, “I’m a good person.  I haven’t done anything wrong.”  Indeed, there are a lot of good people who have not done anything wrong in relation to our human life and construct.  But the inescapable fact is that we have all done wrong in relation to God’s righteousness.  It is not a matter of fairness or degrees of disobedience or anything of the sort – it just is.  As sure as you’re going to be accelerated toward the pavement at thirty-two feet per second squared by the force of gravity if you should walk off the roof of this church, so it is that each and every one of us here this morning, those who are not here, every one of our neighbors, and every one of their neighbors has sinned against God.  “If we claim to have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”  (1 John 1:10)

 

As I have already shared, God’s clear picture antidote to this is found in verse 9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  And He does this through the sacrificial, but saving, grace of the Son, Jesus Christ.  That’s how much He loves us.

 

In turn, we strive to show God, and others as a testimony and witness, how much we love Him by walking in His light.  Our salvation is secure, and because it is, we are freed to live a life of gratitude to God.  How are we certain that our salvation is secure?  Because with our outside antenna; that is, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we are taught clearly that our salvation is secure.  “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)

 

One commentary tells us, “Thus it is our sincerity rather than our works that brings us toward the light and into fellowship with God, and with one another.” (Amos N. Wilder, “1 John,” The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 12, Abingdon: Nashville, 1957, p. 224).  This is helpful as long as we understand its limitations.  When we witness a person coming to the Lord, we cannot know his or her heart; in other words, sincerity.  The one who comes honestly confessing Jesus as Savior and honestly seeking to serve God in gratitude for forgiveness is sincere.  The results of this sincerity will be seen over time as works that are fruitful for both the kingdom of God and the believer’s life.  The one who comes honestly confessing Jesus as Savior and honestly seeking the Savior’s help with a sinful issue that has yet to be conquered is likewise sincere.  Again, the results of this sincerity will be seen over time as the issue or issues are conquered by the Spirit’s strength and, once more, will be seen as works that are fruitful for both the kingdom of God and the believer’s life.  Jesus “speaks to the Father in our defense.”

 

On the other hand, the one who comes to Jesus dishonestly is not sincere, continues to walk in darkness, and, over time, will show works that are not fruitful for either the kingdom of God or the believer.  How is this possible?  It is possible because such a person fails to accept for whatever the reason the reality that God forgives him or her.  Writing in a 1997 Daily Bread devotional, David C. Egner tells us, “Why can’t some people accept God’s forgiveness?  The cause is often their unbelief.  God has promised to forgive us when we confess our sins (1 John 1:9).  To doubt his forgiveness is to doubt his integrity.  We are forgiven because He declared it, not because we feel it.  We have no reason to let unbelief block the joy and peace and freedom that we have every right to experience.”  (David C. Egner, “Why Can’t I Feel Forgiven?” Our Daily Bread, January 27, 1997).  This is a part of what that church leader meant when he contemplated the impact that putting up the antenna had on the quality of the signal the television set received: “Life without a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is like the television without the antenna.”  It’s fuzzy, distorted, and difficult to comprehend.

 

In contrast, with a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, our life takes on a much clearer purpose.  We see the truth of the love of God in its crystal clear glory, and we, in turn, can commit our lives in trustfully serving the One who loves us enough to make the sacrifice necessary to pay the penalty for our sins.

 

David Egner continues, “Perhaps you are feeling unforgiven.  Ask God to help you accept His forgiveness.  Believe His truth and reject the lies your feelings are telling you.  Your trust will glorify Him, and your inner joy and peace will return.  God keeps His word.  So when we ask Him to forgive us, we can be confident that we are forgiven.”  (David C. Egner, “Why Can’t I Feel Forgiven?” Our Daily Bread, January 27, 1997).

 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

 

 

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com

 

 

 

 

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