Birth Pains Until He Returns
A sermon on John 16:16-33
My friend Aurelia recently returned from six months living and studying in the UK. As she shared in an episode of The Chip Lunch (Soul Revival Church’s testimony podcast), there was both an intense feeling of loneliness in being so far from home, as well as a confidence and comfort that came from knowing that God was with her, and so she was never really alone.
There was no better application to my latest sermon in our series on John’s Gospel than that.
God is always with you. He cares for you. You matter to him.
In John 16:16, Jesus gives his disciples a riddle: ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.’
He then goes on to (obtusely) explain what is about to come—his arrest, death and resurrection—and assures his friends that despite this, they are never truly alone. Because of the victory over death and sin that Jesus the Son is about to win for them on the cross, the Holy Spirit will unite them in love to God the Father.
Friends of Jesus share in the trinitarian life of the Godhead. And therefore, citing New Testament theologian N.T. Wright, “this passage is all about the fact that Jesus’ people have instant, immediate, direct and valued access into the very presence of the living God.”
You can watch or listen to the full sermon in the links below.