Sermon Series: Gospel of John Part I
Sermon Title: Reason For Life
Teacher: Tim Keller
Date: 25A, September 23, 1990
Verse: John 1:1-5
Brief notes taken by Shane Eckert
My take-away from this sermon:
Jesus is my reason for getting up in the morning, therefore he is my Logos.
“Man stole the fruit, but I must climbed the tree, a tree of life for all but me”
Jonah cried out from the deep, and God said yes. Jesus cried out from the depths, let this cup pass from me, but God said no.
The central question is “Who is Jesus Christ.”
Ask learned men who they would like to know about, 4 will always be on their list. Who is Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Karl Marx. Of the 4 only one claims to be God. To know who Jesus is we go to the book of John.
Of all the 4, 3 of them did not rise to power, held an office, or even wrote anything.
John was Jesus’ best friend. John was very close to Jesus, even laid upon his chest. But he was still convinced that this was God.
Jesus is the Logos.
- Jesus Christ is the rational for life.
- Jesus is the authority of life.
I. Jesus Christ is the rational for life.
Jesus is the devine Logos. Logos was a greatly debated issue, it was a loaded and philosophical issue. John knew this. Logos not logic, but the meaning is “The reason for life”.
Coffee maker analogy. The owner did not understand the Logos of the coffee maker, so he tried to use it for other things but never for coffee. If he understood the Logos or function or principal of existence of the coffee maker. Same analogy with cooking steak over space heater.
The Greeks were trying to understand the Logos of life. It was a big philosophical debate and searched for by many. To understand the Logos of life would give us purpose. By the time Jesus came along the philosophical schools began to think that there was no Logos. In other words “I guess there are no answers”. That’s not something you can just say with a shrug, you cannot know what you are saying to say there are no answers.
Why get up in the morning? That means there is no reason for anything. Why be nice to people. If there is no answers, then just live for pleasure. (Epicurious) If there is no answers, one school of thought, the stoics, said to be moral, generous and good to make life tolerable. Live as if there are answers. Both groups dealt with the fact that there is no answers by ignoring it. In other words, do not talk about religion because it reminds me that there are no answers.
Movies: Crimes and Misdemenors. There are no answers, but live each day for work and family and live in bliss. That is much like the behavior of the ostrich.
C.S.Lweis quote. Osterich approach to the questions.
If you say that there is no Logos, you have an impossible balancing act. Trying to live as if there are no answers is impossible.
John says that there is a Logos, but it’s not an abstract, it is a person! It is a person to be known. It’s not a bunch of philosophical issues, it’s a dynamic power that covers all depths of life.
If you love Him and serve Him, he will fill up your senses and permeate your life. This person can be your alpha and omega, your Logos.
Is living for his pleasure and honor your greatest pleasure and honor? If not then you have to develop your own Logos. What drives you? What gets you up in the morning? Why do you live? Where is your hope?
Story of man who lost his girlfriend to death. He suddenly realized the shallowness and emptiness of his life, even though he was a model of perfection in his career and rose to the top. His Logos failed him.
II. Jesus is the authority of life.
Jesus is not just the goal, He is the guide. Your not just after Him as Logos, He is the way, He is the truth. Jesus reveals to us REAL truth, how we should live and who we are. In the transfiguration God came and said of Jesus, here is my beloved son, HEAR YE HIM. Christianity is not mystical, out authority for living.
Two approaches to living.
- Scientistic approach. No truth, no morality, man is just a product of atoms colliding. Facts, but no truth.
- Newagistic approach. This says there is truth, but the truth is that we are our own Gods.We make our own Logos. There is no one to obey but me. There is no truth outside of me that I must obey or submit to. I am my own master.
Leonard Berstein - Beethoven’s fifth quote. His music shows that there is a universal truth, but Leonard would deny that it is Christ, but that there is something out there that creates order and real truth.
Jesus Christ is the author, through Him all things were made. He can speak with authority because He is the author.
Opinion is of equal authority when discussing the meaning of a book in a literary class, unless the author comes in and tells exactly what the book meant. No arguing with him, he is the author.
Your author tells you how to use sex, you have not come up with Sex and know the best way to use it. Submit to the Logos. The author of life and truth.
Absolute truth that we must submit to. Only the author can tell us what our bodies, our souls, our life is for. We need God who reveals real truth to us because there is one!!
Do you have other things in your life that are your Logos? Make Him the reason you get out of bed, give Him your life, make Him your king and you will find out what you are here for!
Do not believe? What can you do? Jesus is the prophet that spoke the truth and is the truth. He can speak his truth into the deadest and numbest of hearts. There is no excuse, come to Jesus and receive Him. He must be our thurth and he will hear your desire and He will come to you if you ask.
Close In Prayer