May 31 2011.
John's Glorious Gospel.
Today: John 1:1-2.
John's Gospel introduces our Lord Jesus Christ with three tremendous statements:
John 1:1-2 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God"
"In the beginning was the Word,"
"And the Word was with God,"
"And the Word was God."
"The Word" is one of the highest and most profound titles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To determine the exact meaning is not easy.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is not the
logos of Greek philosophy; rather He is the memra of the Hebrew Scriptures. Notice how important the Word is in the Old Testament. For instance, the name for Jehovah was never pronounced. It was such a holy word that they never used it at all.But this is the One who is the Word and, gathering up all that was said of Him in the Old Testament,
He is now presented as the One
"In the beginning."
This beginning antedates the first words in the Bible,
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
We are dealing with the God of eternity.
When we go back to creation He is already there, and that is exactly the way this is used -
"In the beginning was the Word."
Notice it is not is the Word; it was not in the beginning that the Word started out or was begotten.
Quote:
Was (as Dr. Lenske points out) is known as a durative imperfect, meaning continued action.
It means that the Word was in the beginning.
What beginning?
Just as far back as we want to go.
The Bible says,
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).
Does that begin God?
No,
we can keep on going back billions and trillions and "squillions" of years. We can think back to billions of years back of creation but let’s put down a point there, billions of years back of creation.
He already was;
He comes out of eternity to meet us. He did not begin.
"In the beginning was the Word" -
God was already there when the beginning was.
Wherever we begin, God is there to meet us, He is already past tense.
"In the beginning was the Word" -
Five words in the original language, and there is not a person topside of this earth who can put a date on it or understand it or fathom it.
This first tremendous statement starts us off in space.
The second statement is this,
" ... and the Word was with God."
This makes it abundantly clear that He is separate and distinct from God the Father.
We simply cannot identify Him as God the Father because He is with God.
"But," someone says, "if He is with God, He is not God."
The third statement makes it clear,
" ... and the Word was God."
This is a clear, emphatic declaration that the Lord Jesus Christ is God.
The Greek is more specific than this, because in the Greek language the important word is placed at the beginning of the sentence and it reads, "God was the Word." That is emphatic.
We simply cannot ever get rid of the deity of Christ?
These first three statements in John’s gospel makes that very clear indeed.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Just move down to verse 14 and notice the three statements there.
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
"And the Word was made flesh,"
"And the Word dwelt among us,"
"He was full of grace and truth."
The Word was made flesh - born flesh.
Let us just turn this over in our minds.
God out of eternity, already the Ancient of days; but He also came to Bethlehem, as a new born baby.
Notice that John’s gospel does not mention His birth in Bethlehem.
He came out of eternity, the Word became flesh.
"And the Word dwelt among us."
This is the second statement in verse 14.
"He pitched His tent among us."
Our human bodies are merely little tents in which we live.
The apostle Paul used the same imagery:
"… we know that if … this tabernacle were dissolved …" (2 Corinthians 5:1).
This house in which we live is a tabernacle, a tent, that can be blown over in a night; it can be snuffed out in an instant. Because we live in these little tents, the God of eternity took upon Himself a human body and thus pitched His tent down here among us. Such is the second tremendous statement.
Notice the third,
"(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Apostle John is saying something else here.
He was full of grace and truth.
The word "full" means that we simply cannot have any more.
He brought all the deity with Him. He was full of grace and full of truth when He came down here.
Now let us move to verse 18 to find three statements again.
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1:18).
"No man hath seen God at any time;"
"The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,"
"He hath declared Him."
Notice the first:
"No man hath seen God at any time." Why? He will explain it in this gospel;
Our Lord Jesus Christ told the woman at the well,
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24) -
God is Spirit!
Therefore no man has seen God at any time.
God never revealed Himself in the Old Testament to the eyes of man. What, then, did they see? Let us go back and read the record. Jacob said that he saw God, but what he saw was the angel of the Lord who wrestled with him.
That was a manifestation,
but he did not see God, because God is a Spirit.
"No man hath seen God at any time."
The second statement is,
"the only begotten Son."
He is the only begotten God.
"Which is in the bosom of the Father" -
this tells us a great deal. He did not come from the head of God to reveal the wisdom of God; He did not come from the foot of God to be a servant of man.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said,
"For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me" (John 6:38).
Our Lord Jesus was God’s servant -
He came to serve Him, and as He served the Father, He served men.
He did not come from the feet; He did not come from the head; He came from the bosom of the Father. He came to reveal the heart of God: He was
"the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father."
The third statement completes verse 18
"He hath declared Him."
The Greek word here is
exegesato. Ago is "to lead" and ex is "out."It means that our Lord Jesus Christ came to lead God out into the open.
Is there anything bigger than that?
He came out of eternity past, the God of this universe, the Creator of everything, taking upon Himself human flesh. He brought God out into the open so that we might get to know Him.
The only way we can ever get to know God is through our Precious Saviour, Lord Jesus Christ.
He came to reveal God because He is God.
There is something else here as well:
Let us place the first verse in each of these three groups and see what we come up with:
"In the beginning was the Word,"
"And the Word was made flesh,"
"No man hath seen God at any time.
We cannot see God - God is Spirit.
He had to become flesh;
He had to become one of us in order for us to know Him.
He had to come down here and bring God down where you and I are.
Now let’s place the second statements together from each of the three groups:
"The Word was with God,"
"And dwelt among us,"
"The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father."
He was with God, on an equality with God.
Apostle Paul in (Phil. 2:6). wrote of Him,
He
"… thought it not robbery to be equal with God."
He did not go to school to become God; it was not something He worked to attain. It was not a degree that He earned. He did not try to be God;
He was God.
He came to Bethlehem and was born in a manger.
Jesus,
my Saviour, to Bethlehem came,
Born in a manger
to sorrow and shame;
O it was wonderful— blest be His Name!
Seeking for me, for me!
Seeking for me, for me! Seeking for me, for me!
O it was wonderful— blest be His Name!
Seeking for me,
for me!
Jesus, my Saviour, on Calvary's tree,
Paid the great debt, and my soul He set free;
O it was wonderful— how could it be?
Dying for me, for me!
Dying for me, for me! Dying for me, for me!
O it was wonderful— how could it be?
Dying for me, for me!
Jesus, my Saviour, the same as of old,
When I was wand'ring afar from the fold,
Gently and long did He plead with my soul,
Calling for me, for me!
Calling for me, for me! Calling for me, for me!
Gently and long did He plead with my soul,
Calling for me,
for me!
Jesus, my Saviour, shall come from on high—
Sweet is the promise as weary years fly;
O I shall see Him descend from the sky,
Coming for me, for me!
Coming for me, for me! Coming for me, for me!
O I shall see Him descend from the sky,
Coming for me, for me!
Thanks: SermonAudio.com
Amen!
Our Lord Jesus Christ came went to Nazareth. He was hidden away in Nazareth.
God, out of eternity past came down to Nazareth, working in a carpenter shop.
Why?
So that we can get to know God.
The only way we can know God, is to know Christ
"The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father"
He is the only One who can reveal God to us.
Now notice the third statement in each group:
"The Word was God"
"And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth"
"He hath declared Him."
When our Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth, He was still God, full of grace and truth. And He declared Him; He is the only one who can lead Him out in the open where we can get to know Him.
There is something else here also,
How do we divide this universe?
This universe is made up of just three things.
I believe that God has put His fingerprints on everything - the Trinity is everywhere.
The universe is divided up into time, space, and matter.
The very interesting thing is that time, space, and matter include everything that is in this universe as we know it. Then time can be divided into 3 parts: past, present, and future.
What about space?
Length, breadth, and height.
Then there is in matter energy, motion, and phenomena.
Those are the three divisions of the three divisions.
The universe in which we live bears the mark of the Trinity.
Notice the way in which the Incarnation is geared into this observation.
Time:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God."
Space:
"The Word was made flesh" -
He pitched His tent here among us. We beheld His glory, full of grace and truth.
Matter:
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."
Because He became matter, became a man, took upon Himself humanity, mankind could see Him and know God. This is the time, space, and matter of the Incarnation.
Divide each of these into three.
Past:
"In the beginning was the Word."
Present:
"The Word was made flesh."
Future:
"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son … hath declared Him."
Apostle Paul said at the end of his life
"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection" (Phil. 3:10).
That will be for the future - to know Him;
today we really know so very little about Him because we are finite.
Look at space, divided into length, breadth and height.
Length:
In the beginning was the Word.
Breadth:
He came to this earth and was made flesh.
Height:
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father -
Our Lord Jesus Christ came from the heights of Glory to set Him before us.
Let us consider the divisions of matter: energy, motion, and phenomena.
Energy:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God - that's energy.
God spoke this universe into existence.
Every rational person has to confront this problem of how this universe began. That is the reason evolution has been popular - it offers to the natural man an explanation for the origin of the universe.
We must have an explanation for it if we do any thinking at all.
Here we have the answer:
"In the beginning was the Word."
God spoke.
That is the first thing that happened.
When God speaks, the Word speaks, energy is translated into matter.
What is atomic fission?
It is matter translated back into energy - poof! it disappears. Creation began with energy.
"In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God.
The Word was God."
Motion:
The Word was made flesh.
He left Heaven's Glory and He came to this earth.
Phenomena:
The greatest phenomenon in this world is Christ Jesus.
The wonders of the ancient world, the wonders we see in our day are nothing in comparison to the wonder of the Incarnation- God became man!
These statements are bigger than any of us, and yet they are so simple.
We have read them, even memorized them, yet no person can plumb the depths of them.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.….And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.….No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (verses 1, 14, 18).
These three verses are our great building blocks;
Stricken,
smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on
the tree!
'Tis the Christ by man
rejected;
Yes, my soul, 'tis He,
'Tis the longexpected Prophet,
David's Son, yet David's Lord;
By His Son God now has spoken:
'Tis the true and
faithful Word.
Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends thro' fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting His distress;
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.
Ye who think of sin but
lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice
appointed,
See Who bears the awful load;
'Tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost;
Christ's the Rock of our salvation,
His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope
have built.
Words by: Beloved By: Thomas Kelly.
Thanks: cyberhymnal.org
Tomorrow, if our Gracious Lord Jesus Christ spares my life and it is in accordance with His will and His purpose in my life I want to continue with verse 3 and consider some of the cement that holds them together.
Amen!
Reply to Caryl@cherith.co.za.
THIS PAGE UPDATED: 31-5-2011.