John 15:22-25

Good morning friends, 

 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

 Jesus here speaks of the particular sin of unbelief, of rejection of the Messiah and not sin in general. Jesus openly revealed Himself as the Messiah; He performed miracles to prove His claim. The unmitigated truth that He both proclaimed and verified was that He is God incarnate. There was no one in that generation that could claim ignorance. No one could, like the Pharisees, say they believe the Father, but not Jesus. In fact Jesus adds that whoever hates Him hates the Father.  Now it is amazing to think how twisted the Jewish view of God had to have become. Jesus is the exact representation of God the Father. As Jesus told the disciples, particularly Philip, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” So then for them to reject Jesus was to reject God. This propensity exists still in man today. We begin to construct a god of our imagination instead of knowing the God of the Scripture. I have heard far too many times “I believe God is such and such” which was more a projection of their own personality than a belief based on the Scriptures. Too many times when these aberrations are called to account one is met, not with cogent reason, but subjective projections.  That is the whole point to the Scriptures – God revealing Himself. That is one of the reasons Christ came incarnate – to reveal God as He really is. While it is true that God is revealed in the creation, the Bible is where we have the revelation of God’s purposes and communication to man. Just as those who refused to believe in Jesus in His time were held guilty, so is today’s man who has no basis for claiming ignorance either. 

Have a blessed Lord’s Day 

Bill

Heidelberg Catechism

Q. 32. But why art thou called a Christian? (a)

A. Because I am a member of Christ by faith, (b) and thus am partaker of his anointing; (c) that so I may confess his name, (d) and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him: (e) and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life (f) and afterwards I reign with him eternally, over all creatures. (g) (a) Acts 11:26. (b) 1 Cor.6:15. (c) 1 John 2:27; Acts 2:17. (d) Matt.10:32; Rom.10:10; Mark 8:38. (e) Rom.12:1; 1 Pet.2:5,9; Rev.5:8,10; Rev.1:6. (f) 1 Pet.2:11; Rom.6:12,13; Gal.5:16,17; Eph.6:11; 1 Tim.1:18,19. (g) 2 Tim.2:12; Matt.25:34.