0
1
On the Christian calendar we are now in the season of advent. Advent is a season where we wait in eager expectation to celebrate the birth of Christ. As we look at biblical personalities, there is likely no one who waited with greater expectation or anticipation of the coming of Christ than John the Baptist. Even before he was born, it was foretold that John (who was Jesus’s cousin) would be the forerunner to Christ. He would be the one to tell people that Jesus was coming and to usher in Christ’s presence. This was his life’s work. In the same way, we who have a relationship with Christ, should always operate with a spirit of anticipation and expectation about what he will do in our lives. This is both in worship and in our day-to-day journey. Additionally, we must do like John, and tell somebody about Christ. If we who know God, do not share our God with others, they will not come to know and to have the power of God in their lives. Thus, the title, “Jesus is Lord; You Better Tell Somebody.”
Verse 6 – There was a man he was sent from God; his name was John John had a unique call on his life. He was the forerunner of Christ; proclaiming to the world that Christ, the Kingdom of God was at hand. But John was also a common, ordinary person like you or me. This verse could have been written about any of us.
- What does it mean to us to know that God uses common, ordinary people?
- Do you ever think to yourself “how can God possibly use me (or others)”?
- Think of the many “ordinary” people that God works through in the Bible. Why would he not use you? He has and he will.
God sent John -this is what the verse says. It is important to know that God is continually sending us into the world. We are his representatives.
- What does it mean to you to be sent by God?
- Do you ever think of God as sending you into a situation to act on his behalf?
- Take a moment and replace John’s name in verse 6 with your name. Reflect on the truth that you are a man or a woman that was and that is sent from God to do the things of God.
This is who you are – an ordinary person doing extraordinary things in the hands of God.
Verse 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. John’s sole purpose was to testify about the light – to testify of the coming of Jesus Christ. And, it was through the fulfilling of this purpose, that Christ came to call John the greatest of those born of a woman. It is here – in declaring the reality and presence of God – that God takes the ordinary and produces the extraordinary.
- What can we tell people about God? (Consider that verse 7 describes John as a “witness to testify”). What do witnessed do? How do people find out about God?
- Take some time to read Romans 10:14-15. How important is it for us to go and tell somebody about Christ? How does the Romans’ text say people come to find out about God?
Verses 8 & 9 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
In these verses we see John’s purpose as the “forerunner”. He is telling of the one who is to come. He is creating a spirit of expectation and anticipation about what Christ will do.
- Do we live in a spirit of expectation of what God will do?
- What can and do we need to do to operate and live in that spirit of expectation?
- What gets you excited about seeking or serving God?
- What can we do and share with others to help them have an expectation about who God is and what God can do in their lives?
Remember, God is the extraordinary; anticipate the activity of God in your life. And people meet the extraordinary when someone comes and tells them about him. Remember for yourself and for others that Jesus is Lord and make sure to tell somebody.
