Tonight’s study will not be as long as others have been. We are only going to look at 4 verses tonight. READ whole passage.
Jesus has just tried to explain to the Pharisees that He is the Light of the world. Of course, they didn’t believe it. The Pharisees had just asked Jesus to show them His Father. Jesus told them, “You don’t know Me or My Father. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
Jesus continues the discussion. His next statement is brief, but it is earthshaking. It’s the message that needs to be proclaimed to the world. Man’s search for an earthly deliverer or Messiah is futile. Man’s earthly search for utopia is futile.
In verses 21 & 22. Jesus is talking about man’s search. He said, “I am going away.” What He meant was that He was leaving the world, dying and returning to the Father. Then He announces the terrible fate of man, a fate so terrible it is the tragedy of tragedies. You see, man’s fate is fourfold.
1. Man searches for a great deliverer on earth. He looks for the Messiah, that is, for someone who can lead him to utopia and light and heaven. Do you agree with that statement? Can you name anyone or any group that is still searching for the Messiah? (Jim Jones, David Karesh) And man’s search is tragic because the Messiah has already come and brought the presence of utopia to man.
2. In his search, man fails to find the Messiah. So, he dies in his sin. Note in verse 21 that “sin” is singular. In the Greek writings the word “sin” is singular. So, let’s note a couple of things about this:
a. Man’s sin is singular. What I’m talking about is man’s great and terrible sin of unbelief. So long as a person continues to disbelieve, they are in a state of unbelief or a position of unbelief.
b. And man dies because of unbelief. When he dies, he dies in his sin, that is, he goes right on into the next world still in sin, in the state and condition of an unbeliever.
Paul says in Romans 8:6, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Then in Romans 8:13 Paul says, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
3. Man’s tragic end is separation from where Christ is. We see that in what Jesus says. “Where I go, you cannot come.” Wherever Christ is, the unbeliever cannot go. To detail this:
• Since Christ is the Light of the world, the unbeliever cannot enter the Light.
• Since Christ is the Son of God, the unbeliever cannot enter the presence of God.
• Since Christ is the Lord of heaven, the unbeliever cannot enter heaven.
An unbelieving person is separated forever from the presence of God and Christ. Jesus said in Matt. 5:20, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
4. Man mocks the idea of Jesus’ Messiahship. He still thinks in terms of the physical world and the dimension of sight only. The Jews understood perfectly that Jesus was referring to death. They mocked Jesus: “You say you are going to kill yourself. We don’t care to follow you.”
And that really is what seals a person’s fate as an unbeliever. The worldly person doesn’t care to follow Christ in His death. They are unwilling to take up the cross and follow Him. The worldly person wants the world and the things it has to offer, so they continue to seek for an earthly deliverer or Messiah and his utopia and heaven.
Let’s talk about utopia for a minute. Utopia would be the ideal world, a world of perfection, provision, possessions, comfort, protection, peace, and security. Utopia would be four basic things:
1. Freedom from all negative circumstances.
2. Freedom from sin and its bondages.
3. Freedom from death.
4. Freedom from hell.
And man uses all the scientific technology and human wisdom available to relieve and escape the reality of all these and their results. He looks everywhere for an escape except the one place where it’s found: in Jesus Christ.
In verses 23 & 24, we see man’s failure and futility. There are three reasons why man fails to find the true Messiah and utopia.
1. Man fails because he has a different origin and being than Christ. Man comes from the dust of the earth. Ps.103:14 – “For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” Eccl. 3:20 – “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”
2. Man fails because he sins and dies. In v. 24 we notice that “sins” is plural. It refers to the acts of sin. Man dies because he sins. 1 Cor. 6: 9-10 – “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters not adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
3. And lastly, man fails because he doesn’t believe that Jesus is God. John 3:18 – “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever doesn’t believe stands condemned already because he had not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
John 3:36 – “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” And then back to tonight’s v. 24. – “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”
I close with this, speaking of the incarnation of Jesus:
Jesus was born from above or from heaven; that is, He was born of God, as well as of Mary. Therefore, Jesus is not only Man, but He is also God. He is the God-Man.
Think of it this way. A man is born on the earth, from beneath: he is born of his father and his mother. Both are of this earth, of human flesh only. Therefore, a man is only a man; he is only human flesh and blood just like his mother and father.
However, this is not true with Jesus. Jesus is Man, but He is also God. He is Man through the flesh of His mother, and He is the eternal Son of God by the miraculous act of the Holy Spirit through Mary. God incarnated His Son in human flesh and sent Him into the world through Mary.
This means something critical. The only messiah and utopia that man can find is of this world, of the physical dimension. Therefore, man’s messiah and utopia fail; they waste away, deteriorate, decay, and die.
But not Christ and His utopia. He is “from heaven,” from the spiritual world and eternal dimension. Therefore, He and His utopia last forever.
That’s all that Jesus was trying to explain to these guys but they just couldn’t, (or wouldn’t) believe it. The world is not that much different today.
