This I Believe (John 20:30-31)

Good morning! Welcome to Garden City.¹  

One of the questions I get asked a lot when I meet someone new is, “Why Malaysia?” Another one I get is: “Did you ever think you’d be pastoring an international church in another country?” 

Both questions are just different ways of asking the same thing: How did you end up here? 

The answer goes back to my first year as a university student. 

I was involved in a campus ministry, and one week they brought in a guest speaker to talk about missions as part of a bigger push to get students to sign up for a mission trip that summer.  

It was the first time I had heard someone talk about parts of the world with little to no access to the gospel, healthy churches, or Christians. People who were considered unengaged and unreached with the gospel. 

In the midst of his talk, this guy asked a question that struck me. He asked: “Do you think it’s okay to be a Christian and not care about the nations?” 

In my head, I thought, Absolutely. Of course you can be a faithful Christian and not worry about the nations. But the speaker said, “Absolutely not.” And from that point on—I’ll be honest—I didn’t like him. 

How dare he challenge my beliefs! I thought he didn’t know what he was talking about. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you anything else he said that night after that. I just kept thinking about how wrong he was. 

Later that week, I met up with a few guys who were discipling me. I brought it up, expecting them to agree that this guy didn’t know what he was talking about. 

But to my surprise, they agreed with him. So they patiently helped me see through the Bible why I was wrong. God used those conversations to change what I believed. And when what I believed changed, how I lived started to change too. 

The next summer, I went on a trip to China. While I was there, God made it clear to me not just that the nations matter to him, but that he knows us by name. He’s calling people from all nations to himself. 

That was fifteen years ago. In one year, I went from thinking “the nations don’t matter” to “God, send me. I’ll go.” Now, God made it clear there was a lot of preparation he needed to do in my life before it was time to go international again. 

But that question—those conversations—that was the beginning. 

Think about this: One question. One conversation. One decision can change your life. Maybe today feels like just another Sunday. But what if, in the next 30 minutes, your life changed forever? What if you believed that Jesus is who he says he is? 

We’re finishing our series in the Gospel of John by looking at two verses. In these two verses, John summarizes what we’ve been trying to say over the last 30 weeks. See, the whole reason John wrote this gospel was so that the people who read and heard it would believe. Look at John 20 with me: 

[v. 30] – Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John was selective in what he wrote about Jesus. That doesn’t mean what he wrote is inaccurate, incomplete, or untrue. It’s like when a filmmaker puts together a documentary, they map out the story they want to tell based on the facts available to them.  

John even says there’s more signs and wonders Jesus did, more teachings he gave, he could’ve told us about. But John chose to summarize the life of Jesus in this way to declare everything we need to know to believe, and by believing, that we would have life in Jesus.  

But before we dig any deeper into who Jesus is, it’s worth asking what it means to believe. 

There’s a big difference between believing that something is true and believing in something.

Has anyone ever been bungee jumping? This week I found myself wondering who first thought it was a good idea to tie a cord to your ankles and jump off a bridge. Turns out it started on one of the south pacific islands where men would build bamboo towers, tie vines to their ankles, and jump off as a rite of passage into manhood. Apparently, one of their goals was to have their hair just brush against the ground as they dropped.  

That pretty much captures the sophistication of the male brain. 

Today, bungee jumping is much safer than that. Only 1 in 500,000 jumps end in death (which is a little too high for me). But knowing those odds, I can honestly say I believe that bungee jumping is safe.  

And that’s what people assume it means to believe. To ‘believe that’ means I agree with a set of facts. I agree a bungee cord is safe. Doesn’t mean I’m getting on the platform. 

But to ‘believe in’ is entirely different. ‘Believing in’ would be like letting them strap the bungee cord to your ankle and jumping off. In that moment of free fall, you’ve made your decision. You’ve shifted the weight of your trust off yourself and placed it fully onto that cord. 

In the same way, to believe in Jesus isn’t just agreeing that he existed or affirming some set of facts about him. It’s shifting the weight of your life off yourself and onto him. It’s a change of mind that leads to a change in how you live.  

That’s how belief works in the Gospel of John. Belief isn’t just about information; it’s about trust. It’s saying, This is where I stand. This is what I’m building my life on.  

We see this picture of belief all the way back in the story of Abraham. In Genesis, God promised to give Abraham a big family, land to live in, eternal friendship, and a plan to use his family to bring salvation to the world. This would’ve been an easy thing for Abraham to laugh off because he and his wife were passed the age of childbearing. Humanly speaking, what God promised was impossible. 

Yet [Rom. 4:3] says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” How? Abraham didn’t just agree that God could do it. He trusted God would do it. So he rearranged his whole life around that promise. He still had questions, but he walked forward in trust.  

Today, we may not be given a promise as specific as having a child in old age, but we are promised eternal life through belief in Jesus. And believing in him means building our whole lives around who he is, what he’s done, and what he’s promised to do. 

That’s why John tells us he wrote his Gospel “so that you may believe.” Not just believe that Jesus lived or taught good things—but believe in him. To rest the full weight of your life on him. 

Belief in Jesus isn’t a call to passivity or blind trust. Belief in Jesus is a change of mind that leads to a change of life. Let me break that down for us:  

1. Belief in Jesus produces a new mindset.

I once heard a friend talk about a guy he’d been sharing the gospel with for months. One day, the guy finally said, “I want to follow Jesus,” which was exciting. But my friend was so burdened for this guy to understand the full weight of his decision that he almost felt like he was trying to talk him out of it.  

Believing in Jesus means you have to admit that the way you were living was wrong and you have to change. You can’t just add Jesus to what you thought was an already moral life.

Believing in Jesus means you’re choosing to abandon your former ways and shifting your weight onto the person and work of Jesus alone.  

It’s a massive price to pay, and if you consider yourself a member of another faith, it’s completely fair to ask, “Why would I do that?” 

But these two verses in John give us at least four reasons why we can trust Jesus with our lives: 

Reason #1: Jesus told you everything you need to know to believe.

Again, [v. 30] says Jesus did even more signs and wonders than what John recorded. John’s gospel ends by saying the world couldn’t contain all the things Jesus did. And he didn’t hide it. The disciples saw it all.  

Jesus did even more than we know, but what’s been recorded is enough for us to believe him. John records 7 signs, not because Jesus only did 7 miracles but because 7 is a number for completion. Jesus’ work was complete.  

Think about this: Jesus turned water into wine. He healed the terminally ill and those on the brink of death. He restored the paralyzed and the blind, 

he fed the 5,000, he raised Lazarus from the dead. He overcame sin and death on the Cross. Jesus did things only God does.  

Jesus didn’t ask people to believe him without reason. He showed us who he is. His works tell us everything we need to know to trust him—about his power, his authority, and his heart to make all things new. 

Jesus gave us a foretaste of what life in his kingdom is like. It’s like when you get the little taste-testing spoon at an ice cream shop. They want you to get a taste of what they have to offer so you’ll buy some. 

Well, the signs and works of Jesus work like that. They’re meant to give us a taste of who Jesus is and what his kingdom’s all about. And those who believe can start enjoying that life now. 

Reason #2: Jesus has done everything necessary to save you.  

Jesus isn’t just a good moral teacher, an inspiring leader, or a prophet sent by God. He’s the Christ. That word Christ means ‘Anointed One.’ 

Someone’s who’s been set apart for a specific purpose. To believe Jesus is the Christ is to trust that he’s the one God sent to rescue us. 

Which, BTW, the title, Christian means “little Christ.” So if you belong to Jesus, you’ve been set apart too—not to save anyone, but to make known what he’s already done and to help others become like Jesus. 

All of this helps answer one of the biggest questions of the Bible: How can a holy God live with sinful people?

Well, in the OT, God gifted his people with three special roles to help deal with that problem—prophets, priests, and kings. Each role was set apart to serve a specific purpose. 

• Prophets – were like God’s mouthpiece. They would speak God’s Word to God’s people and they would speak truth to power. They were the ones who would step in to say, God’s made it clear what would happen if we didn’t follow his Word and judgment is coming if we don’t change. 
• Priests – stood between God and the people. They offered sacrifices to cover sin, and those sacrifices constantly reminded everyone that sin brings death and that forgiveness requires a perfect sacrifice. 
• Kings – were set apart to rule the land under God’s law. They were meant to lead the people in justice, peace, and blessing. 

But even with these special leaders there was still a problem. Every prophet, priest, and king was sinful and imperfect. 

Moses was a great prophet, but in his anger even he didn’t do what God said, which disqualified him from entering the Promised Land. David was probably the greatest King in Israel’s history. And yet, he committed adultery with his friend’s wife and had him sent into battle to be killed.  

In King Josiah’s day, the priests were leading people into idolatry inside God’s own temple. 

How can a holy God be united with sinful people? Through the work of those serving in these anointed roles. But sinful people can’t save sinful people.  

That’s what makes Jesus as the Christ such good news. Because God himself comes and does everything necessary to save us, and there’s nothing we need to add to his finished work.  

Jesus is our true Prophet—but he doesn’t just speak God’s Word. He is the Word made flesh. To see Jesus is to see God. To hear Jesus is to hear God. 

Jesus is our Great High Priest—but he doesn’t just offer sacrifices. He is the sacrifice. He stands in our place and gives his own life, covering our sins once for all. Nothing needs to be added or repeated.  

And Jesus is our forever King—his rule is marked by love. His kingdom is marked by peace, and he doesn’t rule from a distance. He sends his Holy Spirit to live in us, helping us obey God from the heart. 

This is why believing Jesus is the Christ matters so much. It means trusting that Jesus has already done everything necessary to save you. He speaks God’s truth to us, pays the full penalty for our sin, and reigns as King. 

There’s nothing left for you to earn. Only someone left for you to shift your trust to. 

Reason #3: Jesus is even better than you think. 

John tells a story in chapter 10 where the Jews are starting to get fed up with Jesus. They’ve seen his works, they’ve heard his teaching. How long is Jesus going to keep them wondering? If he’s the Christ, just say it. Make it plain to us. 

But here’s where the confusion comes in. People in Jesus’ day expected the Messiah to be a prophet like Moses and a King like David. They knew he’d come from the royal family, but what they didn’t expect is that he’d be God in the flesh.  

The other day, I met the owner of a restaurant I’ve been going to for years—though I didn’t realize he was the owner at the time. As we were talking, I asked him how long he’d been working there. He was humble about it, but I could tell it was an awkward question, because he didn’t want to say, “Well, actually, I own the place.” 

And technically, it wouldn’t have been wrong for him to say he worked there and leave it at that. But it wouldn’t have been the most accurate thing to say about himself either—because the whole business exists because of him. 

The Jews wanted to know if Jesus was the Christ, and he is. That’s an important part of the picture, but it’s not the whole picture because Jesus is God.  

The Jews heard this and wanted to stone him. But Jesus pushed back. In [John 10:36] he says, do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works,that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Jesus being the Son of God doesn’t mean God got married and had a child. It means that Jesus is begotten, not made. CS Lewis says you beget something that’s of the same kind as you, but what you create is categorically different. A bird begets an egg that becomes a little bird, but a bird makes a nest.  

Jesus is begotten by God. He’s the same in character, nature, and will. Hebrews 1 says he’s the exact imprint of God…everything Jesus does and says is perfectly aligned with God in purpose and will because he is God in the flesh.  

Is Jesus the Christ? Yes. But he’s so much more because he’s also the Creator of the Universe and the one who holds all things together by the word of his power.  

Believing in Jesus doesn’t mean putting our trust in a great person to do the impossible. It’s trusting God, who became like us, so that he could do for us what we could never do for ourselves. 

See, Jesus is even better than you think because he’s the Son of God.  Reason #4: Your eternity is in the hands of Jesus. 

All of us are looking for life somewhere. And everyone’s trying to offer you life. That’s what great marketing is. Great marketers aren’t just trying to sell you a product. They’re trying to sell you a better life.  

Apple’s been making subtle changes to their product for years, but we’re told iPhones put us ahead of the curve and promise a more connected life. 

MasterClass offers online classes from world-renowned experts and celebrities. Taking their courses will make you a more interesting, accomplished person. 

Shopee promises instant access to everything. Look at how powerful you are. Affordable shopping is right at your fingertips.  

We’re all looking for life somewhere. How’s your search going? 

Jesus is offering you life too. He’s offering the forgiveness of sins and a return to true worship. He offers rest for the weary, peace for the hurting, and hope for the downcast. He promises life with God. And unlike all these other things, the life he offers is eternal.  

There’s real life to be had in Jesus. But to enjoy that life requires you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. That means you have to change your mind about him; you have to admit that your wrong. And if you do change your mind…everything about you will change too. 

2. Belief in Jesus changes your life. 

It’s not enough to add Jesus to you’re already full life. He’s not just another important voice to listen to for wisdom and truth. You can’t just put him on your shelf along with all your other household gods.  

To surrender to Jesus as Lord and Savior means you have to forsake everything that’s led you away from him and learn to obey what he says. 

There’s nothing off limits to Jesus. And the reality is you can’t do that apart from his help. 

Now, the road to belief in Jesus doesn’t look the same for everyone—but it does always leads to surrender and life change. Think about the stories just in the gospel of John: 

• [John 3] – Nicodemus comes to Jesus privately, and leaves confused about what it means to be born again. His journey is slow and costly. But by the end of the gospel, Nicodemus’ belief in Jesus eventually leads him to forsake his status and risk everything to follow him.  

• [John 4] tells us about the Samaritan woman at the well. When Jesus reveals himself as the Christ, she leaves her water jar behind and runs back to the people she’d been avoiding. Her belief turns into bold witness.  

• [John 9] – the man born blind follows Jesus even when it costs him his community. As his understanding grows, so does his courage. 

When Jesus reveals who he is, the man responds with worship: “Lord, I believe.” And his belief reshapes his entire life. 

The book of Acts gives us another example of the transforming power of belief in Jesus.  

Paul was a persecutor of the Church. He approved of the stoning of the first Christian martyr. He literally made it his mission in life to stop the advance of the gospel. And he was so good at it that Jesus went and met with him himself.  

See, in Acts 9, on his way to Damascus, Paul gets blinded by a bright light from heaven and Jesus asks him, ‘Why are you persecuting me?’ The last words we hear from Paul’ pre-conversion mouth are: “Who are you, Lord?”  Paul goes blind for 3 days before the Lord sends his disciple, Ananias, to minister to Paul. So Ananias goes and tells Paul, [Acts 9:17] – “the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. Listen to the first words out of Paul’s post-conversion mouth: [v. 20] – And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name?…22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, rearranges your life around the promises and purposes of God.  

• Belief turns the capable, religious leader into a born again child of God. 
• Belief makes the outcast a recipient and steward of God’s grace.  
• It turns the one who has no community into a valued family member.  
• It turns instruments of rejection into his instruments of redemption.  

It can turn a man who thought the nations were someone else’s concern into a pastor of an international church. And I say that with all humility because I don’t feel worthy of it at all.  

But if you’ve ever thought, there’s no way God could save this person. You must not know how God’s redemptive purposes work. He saves the unsavable.  

And if you think, there’s no way God could use me. You must not know how God’s resurrection power works. He turns broken vessels into ministers of his grace.  

And this is what’s so amazing about Christianity. The strength of Christianity isn’t in how good Christians are at following Jesus. The strength of Christianity rests entirely on the shoulders of Jesus Christ.  

See, Christianity’s not about becoming a better person or embracing teachings derived from myths and legends. The message of salvation is rooted in the historic appearance of Jesus Christ, the acceptance that he’s God become man, and shifting your trust onto him for all of life. 

Believe in Jesus and watch him change you. Watch him change what you love. What you live for. What your life is about. Life change is a necessary byproduct of the gospel, and God’s still changing lives today. One last example.  

Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in Somalia in the 70s. She was born and raised a 

Muslim. During her childhood, she moved in and out of countries across Africa and the Middle East before, by God’s providence, she was later granted political asylum in the Netherlands. In her 30s, she abandoned her Muslim faith and became an atheist. Literally called Richard Dawkins her mentor, and for over 20 years devoted herself to the New Atheism Movement.  

In November 2023, after bouts of depression and seeing the emptiness of atheism, she came to believe in Jesus and in June 2024 she debated Richard Dawkins about it.  

You can go watch this yourself. It’s powerful. Dawkins is basically dumbfounded by her confession. He tells her, “You can’t possibly be a Christian because you’d have to believe Jesus is the Son of God, that he rose from the dead, that he was born of a virgin.” You’ve built your life on reason and rationality, you’d have to abandon that to follow Jesus.  But why would you do that? Don’t you find the teachings of Jesus to be a bunch of nonsense?  

Hirsi Ali admitted she used to mock Christianity. That was her view. Maybe that’s your view. But in her words, she met “the God who turned her around.” And now the nonsense of faith makes a great deal of sense. She said, “It’s layered with the wisdom of millennia.” 

Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God isn’t about making a few changes to your life. It’s embracing a whole new life. Life with God. Life that lasts forever. Which means coming to believe in Jesus isn’t the end of God’s mission for us. It’s just the beginning. That’s why discipleship is so important. Discipleship means learning to life now how we’re going to live forever.  

That’s why, at Garden City, we want to make disciples, not just converts. 

That’s something we all need to commit to. John wanted people to believe in the risen Jesus, so—guided by the Holy Spirit—he wrote this Gospel. 

In the same way, Jesus sends all of us into the world to make disciples. But we can’t make anyone believe on our own. Only the Spirit can do that. 

That’s why Jesus’ promise to be with us always is so comforting. The mission he gave us is impossible without him—but he promises he will be in it with us. So we should live like he means it. 

What is Jesus calling you to do because you want others to believe?

Let me give you a couple of things to chew on as you take that to the Lord later: 

First, people might be further away from belief than you think. There’s multiple steps between a person who’s suspicious of Christianity and a person who’s ready to surrender their life to Jesus. Just because someone is respectful of your faith doesn’t make them interested in Jesus. So be patient as you make Christ known.  

Second, people might be much closer to believing than you expect. I truly believe there is only one person in history who will never fail you and his name is Jesus. You never know how the promises of another faith, family, or tradition have let people down and left them wondering if there’s any real hope in this life. Some are closer to that question than you realize. So don’t be surprised if God uses you to minister to them. 

Third, all the more reason to pray and watch. Ask for God’s wisdom and strength to lead you in doing work that is impossible without him. You might even be surprised to find that when you start praying for opportunities they start coming. You become more aware of the people around you, their needs, and God’s grace at work. 

Fourth, give people a window into a credible faith. Share your story and life with them. Let people see what a changed life that’s learning to follow Jesus looks like.   

Fifth, when the time is right, help others make a decision to follow Jesus. We don’t need to be experts to start helping others follow Jesus. Plus, God’s involved every time someone comes to him. You can count on that.  

A clear next step is helping them learn God’s Word and building relationships with God’s people through his church. 

¹ Works Consulted:  

The Gospel According to John – Carson; “Jesus and Thomas” – Keller; “For Belief” – Hopper; “That You 

May Believe” – Simmons; “Jesus is the Christ the Son of God” – Piper; “Son of God, Son of Man, King of 

Israel” – Piper