Message: “Triumph or Tragedy?” from Ray Stedman

Scripture References: John 3:1-16

More Messages from Ray Stedman | Download Audio

From Series: "The Gospel of John"

Somehow Ray stripped away layers of varnish and the encrustation of centuries of tradition surrounding the Person of our Lord Jesus in this fresh, bright, powerful study of the Fourth Gospel. Editor James Denney has further enchanted these messages in the book form. "Everywhere in Scripture we are invited to pursue knowledge and discover what is around us in all the exciting mysteries God has hidden in life. We can pursue science, medicine, art, literature and politics, and all that is right. But there is something more. If that is all we have, life at that level is narrow, crabbed and limited, and we can never understand what is really happening. It is only as we come to the level of divine light, understanding as it is in the Scriptures, coming from the lips of Jesus, that we begin to put all the pieces together. Only then can we see who we are, why we are here, and get the answers to all the puzzles and conundrums of life. So when John introduces his gospel he wants us to understand this: that the One he is going to talk about, this amazing man from Nazareth is God himself somehow become a Man. He is the Creator become part of his creation, the Originator of life and of wisdom who somehow limited himself to learning as a little child, growing and partaking with us in the search for truth, and, at last, manifesting the fullness of it in his resurrected power. This is the One who is at the center of our faith. That is why we cannot forget Jesus. Every human being sooner or later must deal with Jesus of Nazareth. He is the ultimate crisis in every human life."

Sermon Text     Sermon Text (HTML)