Like Father, Like Son

Order of Service

• Hymn — Come, Let Us Sing unto the Lord
• Call to Worship — Psalm 98
• Hymn — Come, Let Us Sing unto the Lord
• Prayer of Invocation
• Prayer of Confession
• Assurance of Pardon — Ephesians 1:7
• Scripture Reading — Acts 2:42-47
• Prayer
• Hymn
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Speak, O Lord
• Sermon
• Lord's Supper
• Hymn — Rock of Ages (stanzas 1–2)
• Lord's Supper — Bread
• Lord's Supper — Cup
• Prayer
• Hymn — Rock of Ages (stanzas 3–4)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Like Father, Like Son

Scripture: John 5:19-29

I. As the Father Judges, So Does the Son

A. Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man of Daniel 7:13-14, the one given all dominion and authority to execute judgment

1. The Father has given the Son all judgment — not partial, but complete authority over every tribe, nation, and tongue

B. "Judgment" carries two senses in this passage

1. General sense: the rendering of a true and faithful verdict — as in Romans 14:10, all will stand before the judgment seat of God
2. Negative sense: condemnation — those who do not believe are condemned already (John 3:18)

C. The already/not-yet reality of judgment

1. Already: those who believe on the Son have now passed from death to life (John 5:24); they are presently justified and will not come into condemnation
2. Not yet: on the last day, that justification (or condemnation) will be publicly declared before all the world
3. Those who do not believe are, in the words of the text, "dead men walking" — moving toward the day of execution

II. As the Father Lives, So Does the Son

A. There is an already aspect to resurrection life for the believer

1. John 5:25 — an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and live
2. This refers to spiritual resurrection — regeneration; see Ephesians 2:4-6 and Colossians 1

B. There is a not-yet aspect to resurrection life

1. John 5:28-29 — a future, bodily resurrection awaits all: believers to everlasting life, unbelievers to everlasting judgment
2. As 1 Corinthians 15 teaches, Christ defeats the last enemy — death, both physical and spiritual

C. The Son has authority to give life because he has life in himself (John 5:26)

1. The Father's name revealed in Exodus 3 — "I AM WHO I AM" — grounds the doctrine of divine aseity: God has life in himself, dependent on nothing outside himself
2. The Son likewise has life in himself — not borrowed from the Father, but shared in the same divine essence; the Son is equally self-existent
3. The Son freely gives life to whom he will (John 5:21), yet always in perfect accord with the Father's will — it is not just "like Father, like Son," but equally "like Son, like Father"

D. The life the Son grants believers is characterized by both obedience and freedom

1. The New Covenant represents the age of maturity: no longer the detailed supervision of the Mosaic law (as the old covenant was like a parent hovering over a young child), but the freedom and responsibility of a mature son
2. Obedience in the Son by the Spirit to the Father is entering into the maturity of freedom from the law — not lawlessness, but maturity and greater responsibility

III. As the Father Speaks, So Does the Son

A. The means by which the Son grants life is his word

1. John 5:24 — whoever hears my word and believes has eternal life
2. John 5:25 — the dead will hear the voice of the Son and live
3. John 5:28 — all in the tombs will hear his voice
4. Romans 10:17 — faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ

B. Christianity is uniquely a word-based, hearing-centered religion

1. The second commandment's prohibition of images has always directed God's people to the ear rather than the eye as the primary channel of divine revelation
2. Neil Postman (writing in the 1980s) observed that when religion is presented as entertainment, it becomes a fundamentally different religion — moving from an information-oriented faith to an entertainment-based one
3. Visually saturated culture trains us away from patient, attentive hearing of the word

C. Practical application: How are you training your ears?

1. Faith comes and is strengthened through hearing; the primary means of grace is the word read and proclaimed
2. The visual elements of the Lord's Supper are signs designed to drive us back to the word — to hear the promise of life found in the death and resurrection of Christ