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Iconic Jesus | Week 1 · Rewind

Rock Point Church

Pastor Bill Bush · Jan 28, 2019 · 70 min watch · 3 min read

Iconic Jesus | Week 1

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In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

John 8
John 8:31
John 8:32
John 14:6
John 8:34
Romans 3:23

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Knowing the truth — knowing Jesus, the great I Am — is the only thing that will set you free.

In John 8, Jesus confronts people who claimed to believe in Him yet wanted what He offered while rejecting who He truly is. True freedom is not found by following a list of rules or relying on religious heritage, but by personally knowing Jesus — the great I Am — through His Word. To reach that freedom, a person must honestly admit three things: that they are powerless to fix their own brokenness, that the way they are currently trying to make life work is not working, and that without surrendering fully to Jesus, they will inevitably end up opposing Him rather than following Him.

Key points

1
1Knowing the truth means knowing Jesus personally, not merely knowing facts or rules about Him.
2
2Every person who sins is enslaved to sin and is powerless to break free on their own — the first thing we must admit.
3
3Being in the building or having the right religious background does not make someone part of God's family.
4
4The second thing we must admit is that the way we are currently trying to make life work is not working.
5
5If we do not surrender to Jesus, we will inevitably attack Him — there is no middle ground.
6
6Jesus' declaration 'I Am' identifies Him as Yahweh — the eternal God who spoke to Moses and Abraham — and is the foundation of every I Am statement in John.
7
7The only way to embrace the great I Am is to admit that I am not — surrendering our self-sufficiency and trusting fully in Jesus.

A story from life

Story about the preacher's infant daughter Micah crawling toward a ball blocked by a slide, and how he eventually got on the floor to lead her around it

Application

The pastor frames the takeaway around three honest admissions. First, admit you are powerless — you cannot make yourself right with God through effort, church attendance, or moral improvement. Second, admit that what you are currently doing is not working — if your life looks no different because of your faith, you may be listening to the wrong voice and reaching for the same key that never opens the door. Third, recognize that sitting on the fence is not neutral ground: you will either surrender to Jesus or, over time, oppose Him. The practical next step is to engage with God's Word not as a checklist, but as a relationship — going to Scripture to know Jesus, not merely to know about Him. Real freedom flows from embracing the great I Am and trusting that He knows the way to the life you were made for.

Take it into your week

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“So here we are in John chapter eight, and we're gonna start in verse 31. It says this, Jesus said to the people who believed in him”
From the transcript
“and we're gonna start in verse 31. It says this, Jesus said to the people who believed in him. Now now remember that. Because this starts off, he's talking to people to say they believe in him”
From the transcript
“you are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”
From the transcript
“later on in the book of John, Jesus says a declarative statement, another I am saving myself. When he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life”
From the transcript
“Jesus replied, I tell you the truth in verse 34, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever”
From the transcript
“I tell you the truth in verse 34, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever”
From the transcript
“The Bible says we all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God”
From the transcript
“So then he says in verse 37, yes, I realize that you're descendants of Abraham, and yet some of you are trying to kill me because there's no room in your hearts for my message”
From the transcript
“And then in verse 38, let's let's get back to the story here. He goes, I'm telling you what he's telling them. What I saw when I was with my father, but you're following the advice of your father”
From the transcript
“So they they say in verse 39, our father is Abraham, they declared. No, Jesus replied”
From the transcript
“it says when he listened to God, it says he just believed God. And because Abraham believed God, God credited that to his to righteousness to him”
From the transcript
“And Jesus told him in verse 42, if God were your father, you would love me because I have come to you from God. I'm not here on my own, but he sent me”
From the transcript
“For you are the children of your father, the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He always hated the truth because there's no truth in him”
From the transcript
“In verse 45, he says this, so when I tell you tell the truth, you just naturally don't believe me”
From the transcript
“Verse 47. Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God, but you don't listen because you don't belong to God”
From the transcript
“And they said the people said in verse 52, now we know you're possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died. But you say anyone who obeys my teaching will never die”
From the transcript
“look at look at the bottom line. What happens after he they say, who do you think you are? Verse 54. Jesus answered, if I want glory for myself, it doesn't count, but it is my father who will glorify me”
From the transcript
“Verse 55, but you don't even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be a great liar as you, but but I do know him and obey him”
From the transcript
“And in verse 56, he says, your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad”
From the transcript
“Verse 57. The people said, you aren't even 50 years old. How can you say that you have seen Abraham”
From the transcript
“When he said I am, he was referencing. Go read this on time to go to go back to Exodus chapter three when when God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush”
Paraphrase of the transcript
Jesus answered, I tell you the truth. Here comes the big push. He says, I tell you the truth. Before Abraham was even born, I am.
From the transcript
“Look what it says. At that point, they picked up stones to throw at them, but Jesus was hidden from them and left the temple”

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7

Jesus draws a line early in John 8 that is easy to miss: He does not say, 'If you believe in Me, you are free.' He says, 'If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' The freedom He is describing is not the automatic result of a one-time decision or a box checked at the back of a church. It is the fruit of a continuing relationship — staying in His Word, staying close to Him. The crowd He is speaking to had already claimed to believe in Him. They liked what He was offering. But when He pushed deeper, they pushed back. That gap — between claiming to believe and actually following — is worth sitting with honestly. It is not a gap that indicts you; it is a gap Jesus Himself invites you to close. Engaging with Scripture as a relationship rather than a checklist is what the pastor was getting at. You do not read the Word to earn something or check something off. You read it to know the Person who is the truth. That is a different posture entirely — less striving, more leaning in. And the freedom Jesus promises is waiting on the other side of that kind of knowing.

For reflection

When you open the Bible, are you more often looking for information and rules, or are you genuinely looking for Jesus? What would it feel like to approach it differently?

Pray

Pray for a fresh desire to know Jesus personally through His Word, not just to know more about Him.

There is no softer way to say what Jesus says here: 'Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.' Not occasionally inconvenienced by sin. Not mildly tempted by sin. Enslaved. The word He uses is the same one used for a person with no legal standing, no rights, no way out on their own. This is the first honest admission the sermon called us to make — that we are powerless. Not powerless in a weak, embarrassing sense, but powerless in the way that makes the rescue all the more remarkable. A person who can save themselves does not need a Savior. The fact that we cannot is exactly why Jesus came. The beautiful turn in verse 36 is that the Son has a different legal standing entirely. The Son belongs to the household permanently. And when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed — not partially free, not free on a trial basis, but genuinely and completely free. That freedom is not something you produce through effort or moral improvement. It is something you receive from the One who has the authority to give it. Admitting powerlessness is not defeat. It is the honest starting line that leads to the only door that actually opens.

For reflection

Is there an area of your life where you have been trying to fix your own brokenness through effort or willpower? What would it mean to stop striving and admit you need help?

Pray

Pray for the honesty and humility to admit your powerlessness to God — and for the courage to trust that He is not surprised by it.

The people Jesus is speaking with in John 8 have a strong religious identity. They are descendants of Abraham. That lineage was not nothing — it was the whole story of God's covenant people. And yet Jesus tells them that their actions reveal something about their actual father that their family tree does not. The sermon pointed here to a question worth sitting with: being in the building, having the right background, growing up in a Christian home — none of these things, on their own, make someone part of God's family. What matters is whether the life of God's Word is actually taking root inside a person. Genesis 15 gives us the picture: Abraham believed God, and God credited that faith to him as righteousness. It was never about bloodline or religious performance. It was always about a living trust in a living God. That same trust is what Jesus is inviting here. Heritage can be a gift — it can put you near the truth for a long time. But nearness is not the same as belonging. At some point, the faith of your parents or your community has to become your own. That is not a judgment; it is an invitation to something more personal and more real.

For reflection

Is the faith you carry something you have genuinely made your own, or does it still largely belong to someone else — a parent, a tradition, a community?

Pray

Pray for clarity about where your faith is truly your own, and ask God to make it more personal and more alive.

The second honest admission from the sermon is harder in some ways than the first: what you are currently doing is not working. Jesus says in verse 47 that the person who belongs to God hears what God says. The implication is that if His words are not landing, it is worth asking why — not as a verdict, but as a diagnostic. The pastor made a vivid point here: reaching for the same key that has never opened the door and expecting a different result is not faith — it is a kind of insanity. If your life looks no different because of your faith, if there is no fruit, no freedom, no movement toward Jesus, then something worth naming is going on. That is not meant to pile on guilt. Hard circumstances are real. Seasons of doubt and dryness are real. But there is a difference between a hard season and a habitual pattern of ignoring the voice of Jesus while calling yourself His follower. Jesus is not harsh in naming this — He is honest. And His honesty is an act of love. He is pointing out a wrong turn not to condemn but to redirect. The way out of what is not working is not trying harder. It is turning toward Him and listening differently.

For reflection

Where in your life have you been using the same approach and hoping for different results? What might it look like to genuinely listen for a different direction?

Pray

Pray for honesty about what is and is not working in your spiritual life, and for the willingness to let Jesus redirect you.

The end of John 8 is startling. The crowd that started by claiming belief in Jesus ends by picking up stones to throw at Him. That escalation is not accidental — Jesus traced it across the whole chapter. What begins as selective belief, holding on to what you want while resisting who He truly is, eventually becomes outright opposition. The sermon made this point plainly: there is no neutral ground. You will either surrender to Jesus over time, or you will drift toward opposing Him. The fence is not a stable place to stand. That is not a threat; it is simply an honest description of how the human heart works. Partial surrender hardens slowly into resistance. This is actually an encouraging word if you hear it right. It means the question is urgent and worth answering now, while your heart is still open. Jesus does not want to lose you to slow drift. The crowd in John 8 did not intend to pick up stones. They just kept saying yes to themselves and no to Him, one small choice at a time. The invitation today is to pay attention to those small choices — and to keep turning toward Jesus rather than away from Him, even in the ordinary moments.

For reflection

Are there areas where you have been quietly drifting — saying yes to yourself and no to Jesus in small, repeated ways? What would it look like to turn back?

Pray

Pray for awareness of the small daily choices that shape the direction of your heart, and for the grace to keep turning toward Jesus.

When Jesus says 'Before Abraham was even born, I am,' He is not making a grammatical mistake. He is doing something that every person in that crowd understood immediately — and that is why they reached for stones. He is using the same name God gave Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3: I Am. Yahweh. The eternal, self-existent God who has no beginning and no end. The pastor grounded the whole sermon here. Every 'I am' statement in the Gospel of John — I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the good shepherd, I am the way, the truth, and the life — flows from this moment. Jesus is not claiming to be a good teacher or a helpful guide. He is claiming to be the God of Abraham, the God of the burning bush, the God who spoke the universe into existence. That is either the most important claim ever made, or it is something far worse. There is no comfortable middle ground. But if it is true — and the sermon stakes everything on the claim that it is — then the great I Am is not a distant theological idea. He is the living God who knows you, pursues you, and is personally present with you right now. That changes everything about how you approach Him.

For reflection

What difference does it make to you personally that Jesus is not just a teacher or a moral example, but the eternal I Am — God Himself?

Pray

Pray in response to who Jesus actually is — not just what He offers — and let that shape your worship today.

Looking back over the whole chapter, a single thread runs through every exchange: Jesus keeps revealing who He truly is, and the people around Him keep deciding how much of Him they are willing to accept. They want the freedom He offers. They want to be in Abraham's family. They want eternal life. But they do not want to let go of the version of themselves that is running the show. The sermon's final point lands here: the only way to embrace the great I Am is to admit that I am not. Not capable enough, not good enough, not self-sufficient enough to make life work on my own terms. That admission is not a one-time event. It is the posture of every day — bringing your need, your limits, and your honest self to the One who actually has the power to set you free. True freedom, as the pastor described it, is not a feeling and it is not a formula. It is a Person. It is knowing Jesus — not knowing about Him, but knowing Him — through His Word, in community with others who are doing the same, and in the ordinary moments where you choose, again, to trust Him. This week was a beginning, not a conclusion. Keep coming back to the Word. Keep turning toward Jesus. That is where the freedom is.

For reflection

As you look back over this week, where have you sensed Jesus inviting you toward greater honesty, greater surrender, or greater trust? What is one step you want to take in response?

Pray

Pray over the whole of John 8 — thanking Jesus for who He truly is, and surrendering any part of yourself you have been holding back from Him.

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message takes a close look at a tense exchange in John 8 where Jesus pushes past surface-level belief to ask what it really means to know Him — and what genuine freedom actually looks like.

Discussion questions

1
In John 8:31-32, Jesus tells people who had just said they believed in Him that continuing in His Word is what makes someone a true disciple. What do you think Jesus means by the difference between believing in Him and actually continuing in His Word?
2
In John 8:34-36, Jesus says that everyone who sins is a slave to sin — and that the Son alone can set a person free. What does that picture of slavery and freedom suggest about why human effort, moral improvement, or religious routine can't get the job done on their own?
3
The crowd in John 8:37-41 pointed to their heritage — 'We are Abraham's descendants' — as the basis for their relationship with God. What does Jesus' response reveal about the difference between belonging to a religious tradition and actually belonging to God's family?
4
In John 8:42-47, Jesus says that the voice a person listens to shapes the direction their life moves. How might a community of people use that idea to evaluate whether the habits and patterns they've built around faith are actually drawing them closer to Jesus or just filling a slot on the calendar?
5
When Jesus says 'Before Abraham was even born, I am' in John 8:58, the crowd immediately picks up stones. What does their reaction tell us about what they understood Jesus to be claiming — and why does it matter that John 8 connects Jesus directly to the 'I Am' God spoke to Moses in Exodus 3?
6
The message landed on this idea: embracing the great I Am means admitting 'I am not' — letting go of self-sufficiency and trusting Jesus fully. How might that shift in posture change the way a person actually approaches Scripture day to day, moving from checking a box to genuinely seeking to know Jesus?

Pray together

Ask God for the honesty and courage to stop reaching for the keys that never open the door — and for a deeper hunger to know Jesus through His Word, not just know about Him.

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Continue the series

Iconic Jesus

Week 1 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

John 8 John 14 Romans 3 Genesis 15

Explore related topics

Knowing Jesus Personally Religious Hypocrisy Surrender to Jesus The Great I Am True Freedom in Christ

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