All of us are the children of Adam, fallen in Adam, rebellious like Adam,

selfish like Adam, speaking like Adam, feeling like Adam,

unbelieving in natural and disinterested in spiritual things like Adam.

And then God comes into the world pursuing these lost people, us.

How does God's sovereign grace rescue us from the sin we inherited from Adam?

That's the ever important question John Piper answers from John 3, 31 to 36 in this episode of Light and Truth.

This sermon was originally preached

at Bethlehem Baptist Church on May 31st, 2009.

We are in verses 31 to 36.

What specifically is he doing in these verses? Let me give you this summary statement and then we'll tackle it a piece at a time.

Jesus is being... We'll tackle it a peace at a time.

Jesus is being held up as coming from God,

being full of God, and speaking and ruling as God

so that the pathway into eternity divides into those who believe and have eternal life and those who

disobey and remain under the wrath of God. That's what we see specifically in these verses.

So we need to unpack each of those steps. Number one, Jesus is lifted up as from God, from heaven, from the Father.

Verse 31, he who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.

Then drop down to verse 34.

For he whom God has sent,

sent, God sent, so he's from God,

he who God has sent utters the words of God.

So three different ways of saying that Jesus is from God.

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