Introduction: As we
continue through the first chapter of John’s Gospel, we
see a series of people bearing witness to Jesus Christ,
the long-awaited Messiah who had now come on the scene.
The first day depicts John bearing witness to Jesus.
Then, he is with two of his disciples the next day and
again bears witness to Jesus as the Lamb of God. Those
disciples go spend time with Jesus, and one of them,
Andrew, goes and finds his brother, Peter, who also
comes and meets Jesus. The next Jesus invited Philip to
follow Him, and then Philip went and found Nathanael and
introduced him to Jesus. Nathanael also trusted
Christ. Obviously, one of the main themes of this
passage of Scripture is that we are to point other
people to Jesus. Are we excited enough about knowing
Jesus that we want others to know Him as well?
However, that is
not the aspect of this passage that I want to focus on
this weekend. We looked at that theme in the “Operation
Andrew” message earlier this year. We are going to
focus on the idea of “Meeting the Messiah.”
Specifically, I want us to see and act on the
invitations that are given here. These invitations
are for us as well. The Lord does want us to just read
about some people who met the Messiah, but He wants each
one of us to meet Him personally as well. Don’t turn
down His invitation!
1. Invitation #1-Be forgiven of
all our sins through Jesus
Verse 36 records John the Baptist as saying, “Behold the
Lamb of God.” God is speaking through John and inviting
these men to look to Jesus in faith and be forgiven of
their sins because the Lamb of God is the God-Man who
died as the personal, substitutionary, atoning sacrifice
for everyone’s sins. Isaiah 45:22 says, “Look to Me and
be saved, all you ends of the earth.” We all need to
trust Christ because we are all sinners in need of a
Savior.
2. Invitation #2-Have a
personal relationship with Jesus
Jesus did not come to make us
religious, but He came so that we can know Him
personally. Think about it. We are invited to have a
personal relationship with Almighty God! Jesus invited
John’s disciples to “come and see,” and then they spent
the rest of the day with Him. God wants to have that
kind of personal relationship and communion with us (see
Revelation 3:20). The conversation between Philip and
Nathanael is rooted in the Old Testament story of
Jacob. It speaks to the fact that Christ is the
revelation of God, it speaks of angels (Hebrews 1:14),
and it speaks to a personal meeting with God because God
revealed Himself personally to Jacob and Bethel means
“House of God.”
3. Invitation #3-Be transformed
by Jesus
When Peter met Jesus, the Lord
basically prophesied the work of transformation He was
going to do in Him to make Him into a stone. He
basically said that He was going to transform and use
Peter. Here are some truths to remember about
transformation:
-God knows what we can become.
-God instantly transforms us into
His child, but it is a lifelong process as far as Him
transforming us into the person He wants us to become.
-God is patient and continually
works with us through this process.
-Philippians 1:6 is true.
-This is the proper mindset to have
when ministering to people.
4. Invitation #4-Experience
real life by following Jesus
Jesus invited Philip to follow
Him. This is a very common invitation given by Jesus in
the New Testament. It is really as much a command as an
invitation. However, following Jesus, which means dying
to ourselves and submitting to His Lordship, is the way
to really experience life (see Luke 9:18-26).
Conclusion: The Bible has
many invitations, including a final one that says, “And
the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who
hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come.
Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life
freely.” Don’t turn down His invitation!
