Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast

Quenching one’s thirst is temporary. No matter how often we take a drink, we will eventually be thirsty again. Minister Aaron Hill continues his series on the gospel of John with a lesson about the Samaritan woman Jesus encounters at a well. Jews typically avoided Samaritans, but John 4 finds Jesus traveling through Samaria, stopping at a well, and asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. He offers her water that will quench thirst eternally, and while she initially has trouble separating the physical from the spiritual, she finally comes to understand that He is the Messiah and shares this news with those she knows. Jesus uses a relatively mundane situation, that of asking someone for a drink of water, as an opportunity to talk to the Samaritan woman about eternal matters. It may take us a while to comprehend what she eventually comes to understand, but may we ask Jesus for the drink that will eternally quench the need in our lives, and may we do as she did and share that news with others.

Jesus is above all. He is from heaven. He bears witness to the things of heaven. He has been sent by God. He speaks the words of God. He is indwelled by the fullness of God. The Father loves the Son. The Father has given all things into His hand. Listen as minister Aaron Hill expounds on John 3:31-36 as part of his series on the gospel of John.

In light of Christ’s sacrifice, we should be willing to sacrifice our lives for Him. In this week’s lesson, minister Aaron Hill shows us how John the Baptist understood this. As Jesus’ disciples began baptizing, John’s baptism continued. John’s baptism was preparing people for Christ, but a conflict arose over questions of purification. John said, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27). He told the questioners, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” John didn’t have a problem with that. Not long after this, Herod executed John. He had a job to do, and he did it; it wasn’t a competition. He recedes into nothingness; Jesus proceeds into everything. John knew what Jesus was worth. Do we? Christ provides sanctification so we might be holy and without blemish. He must increase, but we must decrease. It must happen. It is inevitable whether we participate or not. We will decrease. Will we grasp after nothingness, or will we hold on to Jesus so that we might become holy and without blemish?

Our spiritual birth is not something we can accomplish on our own. Minister Aaron Hill reminds listeners how Nicodemus found that out. Nicodemus sees Jesus as a man he knows God is “with,” but he doesn’t understand that Jesus is much more than that. Jesus tells him that he, Nicodemus, must be born again. Nicodemus confuses this with physical birth, but new birth must be of the water and the spirit. Through Jesus we can be cleansed and given His spirit to dwell in us. Being born again is not a do-it-yourself project. Without Jesus, there is condemnation. He gives us something we can’t give ourselves. Salvation is about what God does for us. What matters is being born again and being faithful.

Minister Aaron Hill focuses this teaching on the second chapter of John. Here, the apostle John recounts how Jesus performs the first of His miracles in Cana of Galilee when He turns water into wine. He performs this miracle to make clear His pre-existing glory. The miracles and signs He performs are done to manifest His glory. His glory being clear shows that He is the Son of God, and just as the Israelites didn’t deserve their position as a chosen people or their deliverance from Egypt, those who place their faith in Jesus don’t deserve salvation and deliverance from sin. The Jews in Jesus day couldn’t see clearly that Jesus is the Son of God. They sought a sign instead of the Savior. Some wouldn’t believe even in the face of the resurrection, though some did believe because of the signs. For those whose eyes were opened to see the glory of God in the presence of Jesus, the answer to Jesus’ identity was clear. He is Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of the world.

What do we want? Our desires determine how we live our lives. It doesn’t matter, however, who we are or what we want. It matters who Jesus is and what He wants. When Jesus says go, we must go decisively. When Jesus says say it, we must say it decisively. Minister Aaron Hill reminds us that Jesus knows us inside out, better than we know ourselves, as He explores Jesus’ first encounters with some of those who became His disciples in John 1:37-51. Jesus knows us; He knows our hearts. What we want is so small compared to what Jesus can offer.

Who are you? When we answer this question, we typically respond with our name, where we live, and what we do. Minister Aaron Hill tells us that John the Baptist gave a very different answer when he was asked this by the Jews. Instead of telling them who he was, he tells them who he is not. He says, “I’m not the Christ.” John recognized that his own ministry wasn’t about him. It was about Jesus. He puts the emphasis on Christ rather than himself. John came to baptize in order to prepare people for the presence of God.

Minister Aaron Hill leads listeners through John 1 to show us a picture of the source of all grace, a picture of Jesus Christ. “In Him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Jesus was in the beginning. John’s focus is on spiritual life, not our flawed, mortal lives. Without Jesus, we are in darkness. Jesus is light, and some will embrace His light while others will flee from it. Darkness doesn’t understand light; it is foolishness to the darkness. In the light there is life. The light shines, but all don’t understand it. Receiving Jesus gives us access to the light, but the word John uses to indicate receiving is more than a passive action. It is more of a snatching up, a grabbing onto. Jesus is so good that we can’t help but snatch Him up and be created anew through Him. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John bore witness of Jesus, saying, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” If we want grace and truth, then we much go to the source, receive Jesus, and be born of God.

In the beginning . . .

As we enter the new year, we may think of a time of new beginnings. In today’s lesson, minister Aaron Hill explores Jesus’ role in the beginning as recorded in the book of John. John records, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3). Jesus wasn’t just some human who obtained divinity. He has been with God as part of the Godhead from the beginning. Nothing has ever happened without Christ. The Father, Son, and Spirit are three necessary members of One, of the triune Godhead. 

We are currently in the season of giving gifts. Some gifts will be practical ones, some not so much, but even practical gifts are of no benefit to us if we set them aside and don't use them. Gifts of the Spirit are much the same way. If we don't make use of the gifts of the Spirit, we will not benefit from them. Scripture tells us that there are varieties of gifts. Nothing special about any of us makes us deserving of any gift. The gifts the Spirit gives us are to benefit the whole body, but they are not for our glory. They are for the common good. The gifts don't come to us through our own means; God empowers each and gives us the ability to use the gifts given us. "All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills." 1 Corinthians 12:11