John the Baptist had a very special and unusual life. The sole purpose of his birth and ministry was to live and proclaim the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. I think that many of us fail to appreciate the measure of selflessness and humility required to live such a life. John’s destiny was not to become great but to make way for someone greater and then to step down.
How many of us would be willing to do that? How would you feel if, instead of prophesying that you were going to become a successful and great minister, someone told you that you were going to pave the path for someone else to do that? Not very enthusiastic I’m sure. We tend to want greatness for ourselves; glory for ourselves.
But if we are to be successful as disciples of Christ we must learn to put others, and especially God, before ourselves. It may not always be easy but if we look at John the Baptist’s story we can learn how to surrender ourselves in humility.
Reference passage – John 1:19-37
1. Find Your Identity in God: What Do You Say About Yourself?
The first lesson we can learn from John is to find our identity in Christ, in God. Instead of looking to our skills and abilities or to what our friends, colleagues and even parents say about us, we are to look to who God says we are. We must find our identity in God. That is what John did.
When the Pharisees came out to meet him in the wilderness they asked him What do you say about yourself? (John 1:22) John could have said. Oh, I’m the firstborn son of Elizabeth and Zaccharius. Or I am the cousin of Jesus Christ. But he didn’t. John didn’t identify himself in an earthly way but chose to say who God said he was.
He said: I am
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Make straight the highway of the Lord
-John 1:23 (NKJV)
To be secure and confident enough to humble yourself before God and man, you need an understanding of who God says you are. We are all His children and heirs (Romans 8:17); His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), but there are also the things God has told you personally about yourself to consider. We are to indentify ourselves by these things. In God’s eyes we are precious and valuable and if we understand that it won’t be hard to work for the glory of someone else. It will also make it easier to work for the glory of God.
2. Understand Christ’s Identity: Jesus Is Preferred Before You
The second lesson we can learn from John is that we are to understand who Christ is if we are to successfully humble ourselves in service of Him. In John 1:30 John says of Jesus This is He of who I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me for He was before me. And then later in verse 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.
Right from the word Go! John understood that Jesus was greater than himself. Jesus was there at the beginning of the world (John 1:2-3) and He was the Son of God Almighty. Jesus was God. Of course it made sense that John stepped aside for Him.
Sometimes we forget the greatness and majesty of our God. We forget how big He is. How mighty. How awesome. How good. We forget that He is infinitely higher and better than we are. If we had a proper revelation of this we would realise that it is actually an honour to live in service of the human masterpieces He created and so to live in service of Him.
3. All Glory Belongs to Him: Behold, the Lamb Of God!
The final lesson we can learn from John is that all glory belongs to God! It truly does. Not only did God create the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) love us so dearly (1 John 4:10) but He came to take away our sins so that we can experience His love and fellowship once more. (John 3:16) God has done great things! But aside from that God is God!
John understood this and that is why He was able to call out not once, but twice Behold! The Lamb of God (John 1:29; 35-36) By calling out this way John was forcing all those with him to look to Jesus and ultimately, turn away from him (John). He was saying My disciples, that is the man you should be following not me. He could have kept quiet and kept his followers. But he didn’t. John understood the bigger picture, that it wasn’t about him but it was about God and what He was going to do for the whole world.
Jesus was the Lamb of God who was going to take away the sin of the world. John was not going to be able to do that, and he knew it. Jesus was the Way, the Life and the Truth. (John 14:6) John wasn’t and he knew that. Imagine he had selfishly kept his followers in a bid to glorify himself? He would have been keeping them from true life!
The Humble Will Be Exalted
As Christians we must remember that it isn’t about us. It is about God! That is not to say that God doesn’t want us to be prosperous or successful. Exactly the opposite! He wants these things for us but paradoxically, they will come when we humble ourselves before Him. Why? Because God exalts the humble! (1 Peter 5:6) John humbled himself and stepped aside for Christ and look what happened, look what Jesus said of him-
Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist…
–Matthew 11:11 (NKJV)
And Jesus said this to a crowd of people! John ended up getting his glory. He was called one of the greatest men born of woman and he got to go to heaven where he was probably received with joy. Wow! But it all came because he humbled himself and remembered that in the end, it’s all about God. It can be the same for us. When we truly glorify God we will be exalted in this life but especially so in the next when we are forever changed and received with joy by our heavenly Father.
