The Gospel of John
(James J. Barker)


Lesson 12

“THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON”

(John 5:18-29)



INTRODUCTION:


1.    People often have unscriptural and inaccurate views concerning the Bible.  For example, I will occasionally hear people say, “The God of the O.T. is a vengeful and ferocious God, but the Lord Jesus Christ is meek and mild.”

2.    What they do not understand is that Jesus is the God of the OT (cf. Isa. 6; John 12:36-45).

3.    When people criticize the God of the OT, they do not understand the nature of God and the character of God.  Jesus said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30), and “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).

4.    Others try and separate the O.T. from the N.T.  Now, we are to rightly divide the word of truth (cf. II Tim. 2:15), and proper distinctions must be made between law and grace, Israel and the church, and so on.  However, there is only one Holy Bible, and it is comprised of 66 books – 39 books in the O.T. and 27 books in the N.T.

5.    Another unscriptural notion is that the God of the O.T. is a stern judge but the Lord Jesus Christ never judges anyone.  In fact, the Bible teaches that someday every man, woman, boy and girl must stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. 

6.    Some here might be wondering – even those of us that are saved?  Yes (cf. Rom. 14:10-12).  We will not be judged for our sins, but we must all give an account to God.

7.    And what about those that are not saved? (Cf. Acts 17:30, 31).  Note the relationship between resurrection and judgment. We will refer to it again.

8.    Most people are totally unaware of this impending judgment.  But no one will escape it.  God is going to judge every one.  And those who reject Christ will be damned (John 5:29; cf. Mark 16:16).

9.    As we study this important subject this evening, consider this: We will all have to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ one day.  And He will either be our Lord and Saviour or our Judge.  The choice is ours to make.

10. Way back in the days of the wild West, a horse ran off with a little boy sitting in the wagon.  The boy started crying and a man nearby ran after the horse and saved the little boy.  That little boy grew up to be an outlaw and was sentenced to hang by a rope.  At his trial he discovered that the judge was the same man that saved his life when he was a little boy.  He pleaded for mercy with the judge, reminding him of that incident.  The judge said, “Young man: back then I was your Saviour –but now I am your Judge, and I am sentencing you to death!”

11. Unsaved friend, some day you will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ.  Will He be your Saviour or your Judge?

12. The title of my message tonight is: “The Father Hath Committed All Judgment Unto The Son” and I will give four reasons why this is so.

 

I.     THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS EQUAL WITH GOD.

II. THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE THE FATHER LOVES THE SON.

III. THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE THE SON IS HONOURED BY THE FATHER.

IV. THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD and THE SON OF MAN.

 

I.     THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS EQUAL WITH GOD (5:18).

1.    Clearly the function of judgment belongs only to God.  That God the Father would commit all judgment unto the Son (5:22) is evidence of the equality of the Son with the Father.

2.    This teaching is one of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.  It is impossible for someone to be a genuine Christian and not believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ (Unitarians, liberals, JW, etc.).

3.    Our Lord Himself made this very plain (cf. John 8:24).  In fact, the deity of Christ is the great theme of John’s Gospel – from beginning to end (1:1; 20:28, 31; 21:25).

4.    A man who denies the deity of Christ is no more a Christian than a Hindu or a Muslim. It is absurd.  One can be off on certain doctrines (e.g., baptism, eternal security, prophecy) and still be saved, but if one does not accept the deity of Christ he is lost and on his way to hell.

5.    The Jews of Jesus’ day understood exactly what our Lord meant when He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, etc.  Therefore, they tried to kill Him (John 5:18; cf. 10:30-33).

6.    God is a Spirit (4:24) and God is eternal. Psalm 90:2 says, “Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”   Therefore, for God to have a Son, this Son of God must also be a Spirit and He too must be eternal (cf. Micah 5:2; John 1:1).  Jesus has always been the eternal Son of God.

7.    The Muslims recognize this.  That is why they are always trying to discredit the Bible.  They say it has been mistranslated and changed, etc. This is why the Bible is a forbidden book in Muslim countries,

8.    The Jews recognize this.  That is why they despise the NT.  This is why they avoid Isaiah 53.  They do not want Jews to learn about Jesus.

9.    The JW’s recognize this.  That is why they published their own perverted bible translation – the New World Translation (cf. John 1:1; Col. 1:16).

10. The Jews of our Lord’s day understood what Jesus meant and that is why they sought to kill Him (John 5:18; 8:37, 40, 58, 59; 10:30-33).

11. Right here in John 5, we see several ways in which our Lord claimed equality with God the Father:

·        Equal in working: “What things soever He (the Father) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (5:19).  It is impossible for the Son of God to act apart from the Father.

·        Equal in resurrecting from the dead (5:21).

·        Equal in judging (5:22, 27).

·        Equal in regenerating (5:24).

·        Equal in self-existence (5:26).

12. Only God has the authority to judge His creatures.  Only God has the power to save you or to cast your soul into hell.  God the Father has committed all judgment unto the Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ is equal with God (5:18, 22; 14:6).

13. By the way, before moving on I would like to once again point out the close connection between resurrection and judgment (5:21, 22, 27-29; cf. Acts 17:30, 31; Dan. 12:2, 3).

 

II. THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE THE FATHER LOVES THE SON (5:19, 20).

1.    The love of God the Father for God the Son is taught all throughout the Gospel of John (cf. 3:35, 36; 10:17; 15:9; 17:23-26).

2.    When we read this carefully, we see the unity of the Godhead (5:19, 26; 14:16-18).

 

 

III. THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE THE SON IS HONOURED BY THE FATHER (5:21-24).

1.    When people deny the deity of Christ they dishonor Him, and when they dishonor Him they dishonor the Father (5:23; cf. 8:47-49). 

2.    When people deny that Jesus rose from the dead they dishonor Him, and when they dishonor Him they dishonor the Father.

3.    When people teach that Jesus Christ and Michael the archangel are one and the same person (JW doctrine), they dishonor Christ, and when they dishonor Christ they dishonor God.

4.    When people teach that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers (Mormon doctrine), they dishonor Christ, and when they dishonor Christ they dishonor God.

5.    When people teach that in His incarnation Christ acquired a sinful nature (Ellen G. White, SDA doctrine), they dishonor Christ, and when they dishonor Christ they dishonor God.

6.    Only God can raise the dead.  Jesus Christ can raise the dead because He is God (John 5:21, 22).  In John 11:43, our Lord cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.  And he that was dead came forth.” 

7.    In order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be the perfect Judge, He must have absolute knowledge and perfect righteousness.  He must be able to discern the thoughts and motives of men’s hearts.  For Jesus to have a perfect knowledge of all the countless human beings in all the ages of history – He would have to be God.  Only God is omniscient.

8.    Recognizing this is honoring to God.  Denying this is dishonoring to God (5:22, 23).  How sad that many nominal Christians dishonor God!

9.    Over and over in this chapter, we see our Lord emphasizing that the Father has sent Him (5:23, 24, 30, 36, 37, 38). And the reason God sent Him was so that He could die on the cross for our sins. 

10. If you believe this you are saved; if you do not believe this you are lost (5:24).  There is no other way to be saved.

 

IV. THE FATHER HATH COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT UNTO THE SON BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD and THE SON OF MAN (5:27).

1.    We have also seen how Jesus Christ is the Son of God (5:25).  Furthermore, He is the Son of man (5:27).

2.    Perhaps there are some here tonight who has a difficult time understanding this.  My friend, you can never truly understand this and neither can I.

3.    There is an old saying, “He who would try to understand fully the Trinity would lose his mind; and he who would deny the Trinity would lose his soul.”

4.    Daniel Webster, the great statesman, put it this way, “I do not pretend to understand the arithmetic of heaven.”

5.    Paul called this the “mystery of godliness” (I Tim. 3:16).  “God was manifest in the flesh.” 

6.    And this is clear: because Jesus Christ took the form of a man, He is eminently qualified to be our judge (cf. Acts 17:30, 31).

7.    “Son of man” is a Messianic title.  It identifies Jesus as the promised Messiah (cf. Dan. 7:13, 14; Matt. 24:30).

8.    The first resurrection is for those that are saved (John 5:28, 29).  “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power” (Rev. 20:6).

9.    The second resurrection is for those that are lost (John 5:28, 29).  “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).

 

CONCLUSION:


Lost sinner: Please consider John 5:24.



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