The Real Jesus

I John 4:1-6 “The Real Jesus”

We all like stories that have the good guys versus the bad guys. It seems like every classic story or movie has a really bad villain, and, of course, a hero to take out the villain. In fairy tales, you might have the wicked witch versus the good fairy or the noble King. Or you could have the invading aliens versus the unlikely candidate for hero who lives in his parent’s basement. A classic good versus evil movie will have dark theme music for the villain and soaring melodies for the hero. The plot grips you as the villain and the hero vie for the affections of a maiden or for control of the world.

In I John, we’ve seen good versus evil. There is a plot here in this book. The villains are those you have denied the truth about Jesus Christ and have left the church. The good guys are the Apostle John and his readers who have the truth about Jesus Christ sealed on their hearts by the Holy Spirit. According to our text today, the good guys win. They have “overcome” the false teachers. The battle they are fighting is not over hymns versus choruses or the color of the church carpet, but of vital truths about Jesus Christ. Let’s sit back and watch this story unfold.

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The first question we must ask before we go any further is what is a spirit? Verse 1: do not believe every spirit…test the spirits…a spirit that confesses or does not confess Jesus Christ. What is this spirit? The spirit stands for someone who says they speak by the Holy Spirit. A prophet. Verse 1 speaks of the false prophets who have gone out into the world. There will be people who claim to speak by the Holy Spirit. But John’s readers do not have to take their word for it. They have some tests to see what prophets speak is actually true.

Question 1:
Now, since we have the complete revelation of God in the OT and NT, we no longer need prophets. But still, we can evaluate someone’s message on the same tests that John’s readers used to distinguish between true and false prophets. How can we tell if someone is a God-following hero or a devil-following villain?

1. Confess that Jesus has come in the flesh (2-3)
One of the beliefs of the false teachers is that Jesus Christ had NOT come in the flesh. In other words, he was not fully human. We don’t know a whole lot about the beliefs of the false teachers, but they devalued the physical in some way, and had some erroneous beliefs about Jesus Christ who took on our human flesh.

In the centuries after John penned this letter, there developed various false teachings about Jesus Christ. Perhaps these were similar to what John is warning his readers about.

A. Docetism- Jesus Christ only appeared human. He did not have a real human body
B. Adoptionism- Jesus was a normal man, then the divine Christ came down and dwelled in him at his baptism

The Bible teaches us that the second person of the Trinity was united with human flesh when he has conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was one person- 100% God and 100% human. He lived a perfect life and died a physical death on the cross. After his resurrection he permanently has a perfect human body. We will look later at why this is so important. True Christians believe that Jesus Christ had a real human body.

2. Listen to apostolic teaching (5-6)
The false teachers speak like the world which shows that they are from the world. Remember that the world, in I John, is opposed to God. True Christians listen to the teaching of the apostles: “whoever knows God listens to us.” If you don’t listen to the teaching, you have the spirit of error. True Christians listen to the teaching that God, through the apostles, left for us in the NT.

Those are 2 simple tests to see if someone is from God or not. With these tests, we can discern between truth and error. Do they listen to the Scriptures? Do they believe the Bible’s teaching about Jesus Christ?

Question 2:
It seems like John villainizes these false teachers. Look at his description of them:
-False prophets (4:1)
-Not from God, but from the world (4:3, 5)
-Antichrist (4:3; 2:22)
-They have the spirit of error (4:6)
-Liar (2:22)
-Deny the Father and the Son (2:22)
-Deceivers (2:26)

Are they really that bad? Is this even nice to say? If you study logic or rhetoric, you have heard of ad hominin attacks. You attack the person, instead of addressing the issue at hand. That never happens today, especially in politics. Is John doing that here? We do not want to unnecessarily villainize people who we disagree with. Are these false teachers really that bad?

Yes. Because evil is revealed through false teaching. Yes. Because the where there is false teaching, the devil is behind it. I John 2:22- “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” Beware of false teaching. It is the spirit of the Antichrist.

In our culture, we are unashamedly pragmatic. Don’t automatically think “practical” when I say pragmatic. Pragmatics is a way to understand truth. Pragmatics says- it’s true because it’s helpful. Pragmatics says- it’s untrue because it is unhelpful. Really, pragmatics dispenses with any objective truth claims. In our culture, we can see pragmatics in this statement- well, that works for you (it’s true for you). Or, that must not true, because that is damaging. Christian teaching has been dispensed with because it offends people or because it doesn’t “work.”
At the beginning of the 20th century, theological liberals dispensed with the supernatural elements of Christianity because they didn’t work for modern humanity. Unfortunately, today’s false teachers get rid of anything that offends, and teach what draws a crowd.

We must realize that this is the cultural water that we as Christians swim in. Truth is what works…for you. If your truth claim is damaging or unhelpful, I dispense with it. That is not the biblical view of truth. For John, Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is true because:

1. It is history
1:1-3. It really happened. John was an eyewitness testimony that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. He touched Jesus.

2. God said so
In chapter 5, John tells us that Jesus came by water and by blood- came through his baptism and his actual physical death. In verse 10: “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” The Christian truth claims begins like this: God said so.

We don’t first believe Christianity because it works, or because it palatable, and because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. We first believe it because God said it is true, and because it is actual historical fact.

Question 3:
Perhaps Jesus coming in the flesh sounds like something that theologians debate in stuffy rooms full of books. Or understanding that he is 100% God and 100% man sound like something that pastors talk about in huddles around a dimly-lit carry-in dinner. Why does John make such a fuss about Jesus coming in the flesh? Why draw a line in the sand over THIS teaching in the Bible?

Perhaps this story, with the false teacher villains, and the true Christian good guys doesn’t make a lot of sense to you. Your story is one of getting up in the morning, going to work, taking care of your family, mowing the lawn, and going to bed. Completely different kind of story!

The story of Jesus coming in the flesh is a story of Jesus becoming the hero of your story. Jesus coming in the flesh is the story of Jesus living right in the middle of our messy and boring story. Jesus becoming flesh changes our story, changes our lives. How?

To answer that questions, we will wield the weapon of systematic theology. Systematic theology tell us what all the Bible teaches on one topic. It focuses the light of all God’s Word onto a single point with blinding radiance. With systematic theology, we fight off the powers of darkness who would have us doubt the teaching of the Bible.

Three reasons why Jesus coming in the flesh should be the main plot of your story.

1. Christ had to become human to be our Savior
Please turn to Hebrews 2:14-18 (read)
-Jesus shared in our flesh and blood so he could and free us from death and the devil
-Jesus had to take our flesh, because he came to help US
-Verse 17- he HAD to be made like his brothers…so he would die as the sacrifice for our sins

Christ had to become a man, because he had to undo what the first man did.

Adam yielded to temptation and listened to the devil.
Christ resisted temptation and conquered the devil.

Adam through his sin, brought death into the world and to all his children.
Christ, through his death, brought life to the world and to all his children.

Adam failed his God-given mandate to rule over creation.
Christ now perfectly rules over all the world.

Where Adam failed, Christ prevailed.

Christ had to become human. Our salvation depends on it.

2. Christ had to become human to be our high priest
Look over at Hebrews 4:14-16

We do not pray to one who is unaware of our suffering and our temptation. He has been there. Are you facing temptation? Christ has and has prevailed. Are you suffering? Christ faced the deepest possible suffering and endured. Are you facing death? Christ experienced the worst possible death imaginable, and rose victorious from the grave. He is not only able to sympathize, but he gives us grace and mercy in our time of need.

Christ had to become human. Our confidence depends on it.

3. Christ had to become human to redeem our physical bodies
John talks about the hope we have of becoming like Jesus once we see him. Paul talks about our new, perfect bodies that we will have one day. God will save us completely, soul and body. In order for us to have the hope a new resurrection body, Christ had to take on our body and make it new. We will be like him because he first became as we are.

Think of this: Christ forever has a human body. With scars in his hands, feet, and side. Because he has a body, we will too.

Christ had to become human. Our hope depends on it.

Don’t look down on the doctrine of Jesus taking on our human flesh. Your salvation, your confidence, and your hope depend on it. Jesus does care about your story of mundane work, suffering, pain, and sin. He entered into your story and became the main character, the hero, THE main plot in it. He took on your flesh, your suffering, your sin, so you could follow him to THE END of the story.

Jesus Christ does not automatically become the hero of your story. It is only for those who forsake their sins and trust Jesus alone for their salvation, confidence, and hope. Is he the hero of your story?

Calvin:

“The word spirit I take metonymically, as signifying him who boasts that he is endowed with the gift of the Spirit to perform his office as a prophet.”

“For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole.”
-Gregory of Nazianzus