CENTRAL THOUGHT
The more of Christ that is seen in our lives the less of us that is made manifest.
TEXT: JOHN 3:25-36
INTRODUCTION:
In the parable of Ten Pounds in Luke 19, the traveling nobleman commanded his servants to “occupy til I come” (Luke 19:13). The importance of this command must have had a far-reaching effect on the comportment as well as the general activities of those servants. Conscious that they were trading on behalf of their master, they must have projected his nobility to gain some advantage. In so doing, they must also have deliberately played down their own personalities which were nothing more than those of servants anyway. The implication of this statement to the Christian in relation to Christ is quite grave. To him, the Lord is saying among other things, take charge of My business here on earth; function in My capacity, that is, use My authority (John 15:16); let Me manifest Myself to the world through you (Mark 16:15-18). That being the case with the Christian, the way he carries on his activities on behalf of Christ matters a great deal. Does he present himself as though he is in charge? Does he flaunt himself in a manner that prevents his on-lookers from seeing Christ at work in him? Does he behave as an ambassador of heaven, or as one who is entirely on his own? Does his life show how much the Lord paid for him? In our text, we understand that John the Baptist had a mandate to execute for the Lord within a specific period of time. In fact, the expiration of his mandate was within his own lifetime. The ultimate purpose of God in John’s life, as well as the Christian’s, is the same as Luke 3:6, “that all flesh might see the salvation of God”.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. To know what it means for us to decrease for Christ to increase
2. To appreciate why we need to decrease
3. To understand the implication of this to the world
BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1) WHY DID JOHN THE BAPTIST MAKE THIS STATEMENT IN JOHN 3:30?
We must understand this statement of John the Baptist that Christ must become greater and more manifest to the world than himself and that he, as a mortal man, must be overshadowed by Christ. In order to understand the full importance of this statement and why it was made, we should know the events that lead to it. In John 3:25-31, we read that an argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of the Jewish customary ceremonial washing and John’s baptism. The point of this argument was which of these was more effective in purifying sin. Beside this, they were now rushing after Jesus’ baptism even though John’s came first and had the privilege to introduce Jesus to the public. It became necessary for John to establish his position that of Christ and to make known who He really was. John quickly recalled when he spoke to the people about Christ. He did not claim to be Him (Christ), but rather, with a familiar Jewish parable, he introduced himself as the friend who attends to the bridegroom. He claimed that the bride (the people) belonged to the bridegroom. It was enough for the friend (himself) to be joyous at the manifestation of the groom. For this reason, as well as the occasion, more of the bridegroom and less of His friend need to be seen. This was the desire and joy of John the Baptist.
QUESTION 2) WHAT WAS JOHN’S MAIN ASSIGNMENT HERE ON EARTH?
In our contemporary world, the duty of a friend who attends to a bridegroom or best man, is to pave the way for him and make the groom’s assignment less burdensome. His role ends there. He may put on the same attire with the groom, but every guest knows who’s entitled to the bride. Significantly, the role of John did not differ from those of the best man we are familiar with except that this had more of a spiritual and eternal implication. The Jews, apart from the great miracles of Jesus which they witnessed, also had the testimony of John the Baptist, whom they respected, pointing out to them that God truly sent His only Son to be propitiation for their sins. In his personal testimony to the priests and Levites who were detailed by the Jews of Jerusalem to enquire who he was, John claimed in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord”. Prophet Isaiah added in chapter 40 verses 4 and 5 that, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord had spoken it”. John personally added as recorded by Luke in chapter 3 verse 6 that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
No doubt the “forerunner”, John the Baptist, stirred up the hearts of the people more so with the message, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). John succeeded in letting the people know that he was earthly, but that Christ came from above and therefore needed to be given their ears if they truly wanted to hear from God (John 3:31-34). In conclusion, John added that the Son alone gives eternal life to whoever believes in Him and whoever rejects Him incurs the wrath of God upon himself (John 3:36).
QUESTION 3) WHY DID JOHN NEED TO DECREASE?
From Isaiah’s prophecy, John’s job description was very clear and unambiguous. The time frame for the performance of the job, even though not directly stated, is implied. It is not reasonable for a “bestman” to stay on the bridegroom long after a wedding. John’s statement in John 3:30 showed that he got his divinely ordered message right and that he was in constant tune with God who sent him ahead of Jesus. He had effectively accomplished the task assigned to him by prophecy. It was only proper that the principal object of John’s mission, having been manifested and already gaining wide acceptance, should be given room to operate without distraction from His forerunner. John’s continued presence and performance could have become counter-productive to the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate goal of John’s own mission was that all flesh should see the salvation of God (John 3:16). In this regard, John the Baptist uniquely distinguished himself from mere “hirelings” parading as ministers of the gospel today. No doubt, most of them received the call into ministry, but it is usually to that extent that their obedience and commitment to the Lord is seen. Without bothering themselves with regular and consistent “consultation” with the “Lord of the harvest” on the direction of the work, some of them continue to parade themselves with self-appointed agenda. The humility in John’s character and utterance recommends itself to any person who desires success and God’s approval in ministry.
QUESTION 4) WHAT LESSONS CAN BE DRAWN FROM THE STRENGTH OF CHARACTER DISPLAYED BY JOHN THE BAPTIST?
Only few ministers of the gospel in our generation can truly acknowledge and perhaps live out and publicly proclaim like apostle Paul in Gal. 2:20 that, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me”. The life lived by Paul was manifested that of self-denial so that the life of Christ who now “liveth in me” might be made manifest to the world. This was clearly also the pattern of John the Baptist’s life. It is not uncommon today to find Christians who, by sheer projection of their old lives and the lust of their hearts, relegate Christ to the background of their lives as they “show” to the whole world how rich their “father” is! Even their mannerisms easily give them up as being in competition with fellow Christians or ministers. So much arrogance is displayed in some instances that it becomes difficult to distinguish them from unbelievers to whom they are supposed to project the life of Christ that is in them. Also, some of the ministers amass titles to themselves to make themselves appear invincible and above the ordinary humans that they are. It has been said of some who, as a result of the grace of God upon their lives, considered themselves equal or at times greater than some of the prophets of old and even accepted to be referred to as such[1]old-prophet “resurrected”. But we see in John the Baptist a man who knew whom he was “… and he confessed, I am not the Christ”. As to whether he was Elisha or that prophet, he answered “no”. as to what he had to sat of himself, he answered, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord…” (John 1:19-23). John demonstrated that he was in constant touch with God who commissioned him. He testified in John 1:33 thus: “but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizes with the Holy Ghost”. Many prophets today would hardly refer to anything in the lives of other preachers which are unique and different from theirs. This was not so with John. He remarked, “I saw the Spirit descending as a dove, and it abode upon Him”. “And I saw the bare record that this is the Son of God) (John 1:32,34). On superiority between him and the Lord, he said “… but there standeth One among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose”. In every way John the Baptist’s life is a model of humility for Christians especially the preachers of today. John the Baptist had a focus and maintained his course, not being swayed by the apparent revival of Israel through his ministry. His goal and ministry was to introduce the Lord Jesus Christ and he did not allow any distractions to derail him from accomplishing that purpose.
QUESTION 5.) DOES THE CHRISTIAN ALSO NEED TO DECREASE IN ORDER FOR CHRIST TO INCREASE?
Decreasing in this sense would imply a play down on self[1]exaltation, the manifestation of self and the works of the flesh, in order for God’s spirit to give full expressions of Himself in us. In nature, almost in all cases, death marks the beginning of a new life. In John 12:23-24, Jesus referring to His death said, “Except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”. In other words, the death of something leads to the birth of another. In Col. 3:1, the word of God admonishes that because we are risen with Christ, we should seek those things that are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. We couldn’t be risen except we were dead also. Verse 3 says it clearly that we were dead and our life is hid with Christ in God. Thus, the newness of life we experience as Christians results from our being dead with Christ and the resultant supply of His life into us having been risen with Him in newness of life. The beauty of the fragrance of the precious ointment of spikenard in an alabaster box, which the woman poured on Jesus at Simon the leper’s house in neither does He contend with anyone for this purpose.
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION:
Apostle Paul showed, by his utterances in the Holy Ghost and by his personal conduct, that as purchased possessions of God, every Christian ought to live his life here on earth not to please himself but rather please the One who died to save him and chose him to be a soldier (2 Tim. 2:4). In Gal. 2:20 Paul implies that because he was crucified with Christ, he no longer lived the life he was known and identified by. Instead, he now lived out the life of Christ in him. In 1 Cor. 9:27, he makes us know that it costs something to maintain this life, and that efforts must be made to ward off every opposition to this goal. Christ, not us, must be seen. We do not have shortcuts to manifesting Christ to the world. We must not just attempt to decrease, we must constantly decrease like Paul, by fighting every opposition to it including the flesh. We must die daily (1 Cor. 15:31).But though our outward man perish our inward man is renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16).
MEMORY VERSE:
1 PETER 5:6
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
MON: We have been purchased with a price. 1 Cor. 6:19- 20
TUE: An example in humility. John 1:19-23
WED: A lesson in humility. Matt. 18:2-7
THU: Result of humility. Luke 18:9-14
FRI: God alone is to be exalted. Ps. 107:31-43
SAT: Called to do His will. Matt. 7:21-23