Hearing the Son of God
Life & Light Community Church
Message from 7/9/2022
Life & Light Community Church began in the early months of 2020. What began as an opportunity for me, my wife and step-kids to continue to worship together, has now evolved into a ministry that has expanded to include close friends, family, and those who are simply hungry for the word of God. You can find us on Facebook, so please, feel free to reach out and join us.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.”
John 5:25–32 (NASB95)
Who among us did get just a little bit irritated at a certain cell phone provider who continually beat our ear drums with one simple question? “Can you hear me now?” was the tag line throughout the commercial as the spokesperson walked around his neighborhood, city, state, and eventually the entire country…or at least it seemed that way. I guess it got the point across because here we are, how many years later and we still remember that burning question – “Can you hear me now?”
We have come to a time in history when we can hear another voice asking the same question, “Can you hear me now?” There is a big difference between the voices asking this question, however. The television commercial was asked by a spokesperson, an actor being paid to ask a question that would be seared into the minds of people obsessed with cell phones. The second voice asking this question has much more authority in the lives of people…all people, not just those looking for a new cell phone. Today, if you listen carefully, you should be Hearing the Son of God asking, “Can you hear me now?” for we are quickly approaching the time of His return, when He will have the power of life and judgment as the King of the Universe.
Jesus continues to respond to the charges of the Pharisees by explaining that one day even the dead will hear His voice. Because He has the power and authority to give life and to judge justly, Hearing the Son of God, some will be resurrected to life, while others will be resurrected to judgment. The Son does not seek His own will but the will of the One who sent Him.
Yeshua, the Son of God, will one day speak and even the dead will hear His voice. As the Son of God, He gives life and judges justly. Hearing the Son of God will determine the future of all people – some to eternal life, some to eternal judgment. As the Son of God, Yeshua does not do whatever He wants, He does only the will of the Father, the One who sent Him.
In this message we seek to answer the question, “Why is Hearing the Son of God is important for all people?”
Hearing the Son of God is important for all people because the Son does the will of the Father who sent Him.
1). Hearing the Son of God is important for all people because the Son has the power to give life and the power to judge justly.
The Son has the power of life or death; to judge justly or to pardon.
Jesus continues to address the charges of the Pharisees of being a Sabbath breaker and a blasphemer. There is an interesting structure used by John in his writing in verses 19-30. It is called a chiasm. This ancient literary design is used to help the interpreter clearly see where the unit begins and where it ends. In verses 19-24 Jesus talks about the Son doing what He sees the Father doing, Father and Son give life to the dead, Father gives all judgment to the Son, and they will hear and believe. Now in verses 25-30 we see Jesus talking about they will hear and live, Father made Son the source of life, all will rise from the dead, and the Son judges like the Father. The same points in reverse order.
Hearing the Son of God is to live. Last week we learned that to hear the words of Yeshua and to believe the One who sent Him is to have eternal life. We have moved from death into life. In verse 25 we hear that the dead are included in this hearing. The Father GAVE life to the Son, so the Son HAS life in Him. This is a continuation of the theme John started back in chapter one, “In Him was life…” We also learned that this life is the Light of all people, meaning that everyone has some light within them, everyone carries something of Yeshua within themselves. Every person carries some light. The Father has made the Son the Source of life.
This includes the Son being the source of judgment, repeating the statement of verses 22-23. The Father GAVE authority to the Son, so the Son HAS authority to judge justly. How does the Son judge justly? Because He does not seek His own will but the will of the One who sent Him…the Father. Here Jesus is repeating what He said in verse 19, “I am doing whatever the Father does.” Jesus states that He can do nothing of His own initiative, it must first be seen in the Father before the Son will do it, whether it is healing, giving life, or judging, He must first know it is the Fathers will.
There is something else here we must see and understand. The power to give life comes to Yeshua as the Son of God, while the power to judge comes to Jesus as the Son of Man. Why the distinction? As the Son of God, Yeshua, is uniquely qualified to talk about heaven, reveal the Father and has been given the authority of the Father. He alone can speak and act for the Father, for He alone has come forth from the Father. As the Son of Man, Jesus is the perfect representation of all we, as human beings, are meant to be. He is One who is qualified to stand before the Father to speak to all He has faced in His humanity, the One who has experienced all things human.
Hearing the Son of God can, and does, impact all people. For the most part, there are two reactions to the name of Jesus. Either He is readily accepted and acknowledged as the Son of God, the Son of Man, and the Messiah or Savior of the world, or the mere mention of the name Jesus will cause great division and derision. At the mention of His name, people are either filled with love, devotion, and acceptance, or they are filled with anger, bitterness, and hatred.
This really should not surprise us, for we see it throughout the Scriptures, we can see it in our country today, and we know in the days to come it will grow worse as we near the time of His return. With the chaos and division in our country today, it takes an ear that is bent to hear the still small voice of the One calling us in love and eternal life. While it may appear that evil has the upper hand, any student of the Scriptures knows this is but the beginning of what must come. We are called to persevere as we await His return. We have not been promised this would be easy, that we would be well liked, or that the world would simply leave us alone. In fact, we are told that if the world first hated Jesus, then we can count of them hating those who say they belong to Him.
Questions for discussion/reflection:
Are you hearing the voice of Jesus calling out to you? If not, what might be causing the disconnect? If so, what are you hearing?
How has Yeshua, as the Son of God, given you life in recent days?
How is Jesus, as the Son of Man, representing you before the Father?
Hearing the Son of God is important for all people because the Son does the will of the Father who sent Him.
2). Hearing the Son of God is important for all people because who you hear will determine your future.
You will either hear the One who calls you in love to eternal life, or the one who calls you in deception to eternal judgment.
People will hear one of two voices calling out to them in our world. They will either hear the voice of Yeshua, the Son of God, calling out to them in love. Or they will hear the voice of Satan, the enemy, calling out to them in deception. There is no other option, there is no fence sitting, there is only one of two choices to make. To say you hear neither voice is to say you hear the voice of the enemy, for he would prefer all people to say they hear no one calling them. With a voice of indifference, people can feel free to live and make choices that please the most important person in our lives – self.
To hear the voice of Satan is to make the choice to commit evil deeds and live a life of evil. Oh, make no mistake, people do not believe they are making a choice to live an evil life. No, they are choosing to please themselves and in so doing, they commit evil deeds. Though we do not like to hear it, the choice to live an evil life is commonplace in our country. People choose to live together rather than get married. Gods’ ideal is for man and woman to live together in marriage, forsaking all others to be committed to one another. People prefer to have “casual sex” outside of marriage, rather than be “tied down” in a committed relationship. This is fornication…again, outside of Gods’ ideal.
Conversely, to hear the voice of the Son of God is to live a life committed to good deeds. No, this is not earning our place in heaven. Rather, this is doing the right thing when it needs to be done because of your love for the Father and the Son. You feel compelled to love others because you have first been loved by Father and Son. You give your life for others because Jesus, the Son of Man, first gave His life for you. You are willing to be obedient to the commands of the Son because you have first seen Him being obedient to the commands of the Father. These choices and the voice a person chooses to hear, will determine the future of that person.
If they choose to hear the voice of the one calling them in deception, they will be deceived. This deception tells them they are in control, and they are making all the choices. The voice says to please yourself and live your best life now. To hear the voice of the One calling out in love is to make the choice to love others before self and to give of yourself freely and fully. The first voice is calling a person to evil deeds, while the second voice is calling people to good deeds. With the power to give life and to judge justly, Jesus will call all people to life again one day. Those who did good deeds to eternal life and those who did evil deeds to eternal judgment.
These two choices have always been around, from the very beginning back in the Garden of Eden to this very day. We still have only two choices. For the Christ follower it is imperative we hear the voice of the Son of God. The issue is fighting through the chaos and all the other distractions seeking to gain your attention. We know from the example of Elijah we must be still and listen intently to hear the still small voice of God. He will not howl over the chaos but wait for you to quiet your heart and your mind before He makes His presence felt. Oh, sure, there will be those times you get the cold slap across the face, but those will be the exception, not the rule.
The enemy is still the prowling lion, looking for someone to destroy, as he walks among people. He is not particular who they are or what they do, he simply wants to devour as many as possible before the return of Messiah. We must learn to hear the voice of Jesus in all our circumstances. We can hear His voice in the Scriptures. He can and does talk to us through His word, for He has already said that those who hear His words will have eternal life. We can also hear the voice of the Savior through other Christ followers as we meet together. We can communicate with Jesus through our prayers and devotional times. We can hear the voice of Jesus calling out through music, through our pain and suffering, and through our joy and the blessings poured out upon us.
Questions for discussion/reflection:
How are you hearing the voice of Messiah today? Music, prayer, other Christ followers?
How is the enemy trying to deceive you today?
How are you fighting the voice of indifference?
Hearing the Son of God is important for all people because the Son does the will of the Father who sent Him.
Hearing the Son of God is no easy task today. We have so many things that are vying for our attention. We have numerous screens that are screaming at us from several different directions. We have family obligations. There are always household chores to be done. There are children to consider and their busy schedules. There are meals to prepare, there are emails to be answered, there are phone calls to make, there are bills to be paid and in the background of this, there are two voices calling out to us. We must learn to turn-off the chaos and silence the voices that seek to deceive us and lead us away from the Savior.
We must be in the word, we must be in prayer, we must continue to meet for worship, we must be still and stop striving. I know, easier said than done. But take a lesson from Elijah and let yourself stop. Let God wash over you through His word, through your prayer time, through His people. We simply cannot do this in our strength or on our own energy. We will fail. We will find ourselves in the middle of burnout and before we know it, the enemy has sucker punched us right in the gut.
With the mission trip and vacations, we will not be meeting together as the full group until August 6. I will be posting a shorter message, but during this time I challenge you to listen for the voice of the Son of God. What is He saying to YOU? How are you hearing Him? Through music, prayer, His word, or other Christ followers? Use the Soul Care Sessions to help you focus your soul, your heart, your mind on the One who is calling you in love. When we return together on the 6th, I would like to know how you faired in this challenge. Keep notes if you must but learn to discern the still small voice of God through the chaos of the world and the distractions of the enemy.
We do all things for the glory of God, through Christ our Lord,
Amen and amen.
Next Week: Romans 12:1-2
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