The Word - John 1:1-5
INTRODUCTION:
As we come into the month of December our thoughts turn to Christmas, we think of the birth of Jesus Christ, the visit of the shepherds, the gifts of the magi, what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph as they welcomed God into the world in a smelly stable. I have been reading the book God Came Near by Max Lucado, in this book he has a chapter entitled Twenty-Five Questions For Mary and I thought it might get our minds thinking if I read a few of these questions each week. Listen and think about these questions as I read. (Read from book) “What was it like watching him pray? How did he respond when he saw others kids giggling during the service at the synagogue? When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood? Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world? When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently? Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were listening to someone you couldn’t hear? How did he act at funerals? Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?”[1] These are some questions that possibly Mary pondered and now you can ponder them with her.
As I thought about the Incarnation in anticipation of this week, as I prayed and asked God what He wanted my messages to be on over the next three weeks I began meditating on John chapter 1, not your usual Christmas passage, but a passage that has all the elements of the Incarnation in it. So over the next three weeks we will be looking at verses 1-14 of John chapter 1 and seeing what John wrote concerning the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. This morning we will be looking at the first five verses of this chapter. John begins chapter one going back to the beginning because that is where the Incarnation begins. Let’s pray and then read our Scripture passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to John 1. We will be reading verses 1-5, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
John 1:1-5,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1–5, NASB95)[2]
WHO IS THE WORD? (John 1:1-2)
John begins this book by introducing us to the subject of his book, Jesus Christ. John refers to Him as the Word, we use words to reveal our hearts and our minds, Jesus as the Word reveals the heart and the mind of God to us. Jesus as the Word shows God to us. We come to know God through Jesus Christ. He truly is the Word in the sense that He is the image of the invisible God, that in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. It is through Jesus that we see God. John’s opening words take us back to the beginning, they take us back before the beginning into eternity past. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1a, NASB95)[3] The Word, God the Son, was already there in the beginning because He was there in eternity past. The first three words of John’s book are to take us back to the first book of the Bible and the opening words of Genesis. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, NASB95)[4] God chose that moment in eternity to create the heavens and the earth. But before God chose to begin the act of creation, the Incarnation had already been decided upon. Peter describes it this way, “For He [Jesus Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:20–21, NASB95)[5] Before the foundation of the world it was already known the Jesus would come in the flesh to redeem mankind. In eternity past the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit decided that God would appear in human flesh to redeem mankind from the bondage of sin. If that does not boggle your mind I don’t know what will. The Word, God the Son was in the beginning because He was there in eternity past. The Word, God the Son, was with God, John says. God the Son has always been in a special relationship of eternal fellowship in the Trinity. One God in three persons existing equally in the Godhead in perfect fellowship, in perfect unity, each person fully God within the Triune Godhead. Not only was the Word existing in eternity past, not only was He with God, but John goes on to say that the Word was God. Without reservation, John declares for us that the Word, Jesus Christ, is God. He is equal with God, this is why He can reveal God to us, because He is God. For the Incarnation to be true John had to prove that Jesus was God, otherwise He was just another man like us, sinful nature and all. He had to be different from us, He had to be the seed of the woman, but not man. He had to be both God and man otherwise He could not be sinless and if He was not sinless then He could not be the perfect sacrifice for us when He died. His death would not have paid the penalty required for our sin unless He was sinless. When Mary asked the angel how she could have a child since she was a virgin, Gabriel responded in our Scripture reading this morning, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35, NASB95)[6] So John goes to great lengths to prove that Jesus is God and in verse two he states again that Jesus, God the Son, was there in the beginning with God, not because He came into existence then, but because John wants us to understand that Jesus is God and what better way to prove that He is God then to present Him to us as the Creator. He was in the beginning with God. John goes on to give us three further proofs that Jesus is God.
THE WORD IS THE CREATOR (John 1:3)
John’s first proof that Jesus (the Word) is God is that He is the Creator of all things. Jesus could not be a created being, because He is the one that created all things out of nothing. John says that all things came into being or into existence through Him, there is not even one thing that has come into existence apart from Him. All that we have, all that man makes and all his technological advances are possible because Christ created all the raw materials that man uses. If it exists it is because the Creator, Jesus Christ, brought it into existence in the beginning. Paul agrees with John that Jesus is the Creator of all things and that He is eternal when he writes speaking of Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:16-17, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16–17, NASB95)[7] John’s first proof that Jesus is God is that He is the Creator.
THE WORD IS THE LIFE (John 1:4a)
John’s next proof that Jesus is God is that He is the Life, that in Him is life. We understand that God is the giver of life, that He creates and gives life to each of us. Jesus as the Creator gave life to the first man, Adam when He breathed into His nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Jesus as the Creator put Adam into a deep sleep and opened His side and removed a rib and fashioned it into a woman, to be a suitable helper for man. Jesus, as the Creator gave life to the first woman, Eve. Jesus is the one in whom there is life, each of us live and breathe each day because of the life given to us by Jesus Christ. To this day doctors and scientists are baffled by how a baby is formed in a mother’s womb, it is truly a miracle that takes place. It is the creative power of Jesus and the fact that He gives the life that each person lives. David wrote in Psalm 139:13-16, “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.” (Psalm 139:13–16, NASB95)[8] Not only does He give physical life, which David describes for us so beautifully here, but also, He came to give spiritual life, to raise us from spiritual death. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1-2, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:1–2, NASB95) Each of us are born with a sin nature and we are spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins and Jesus is the one who gives us life. He died to pay the penalty for our sin, He was buried, and He rose from the dead, triumphing over sin and death for us, so that He might give us life. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6b, NASB95)[9] It is in Christ that we receive life that we might come into the presence of the Father justified. Jesus is God because He is the life and in Him is life.
THE WORD IS THE LIGHT (John 1:4b-5)
John’s final proof that Jesus is God is that He is the Light. John writes that the life was the Light of men. Jesus came to give life and the way that we receive life is when the Light dispels the darkness around us and we understand that we are sinners unable to save ourselves and we believe that Jesus died for our sin, was buried and rose again. Jesus as the Light was showing us God. John’s readers would have understood that when John called Jesus the Light that He was saying that Jesus was God. Throughout the Bible light is used as an emblem of God and darkness is used to denote death, ignorance, sin, and separation from God. Throughout His earthly ministry Jesus declared that He was the Light of the world. For example, in John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12b, NASB95)[10] Jesus came that He might lead us out of darkness and into the Kingdom of Light. Isaiah described the coming deliverer by saying, “The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.” (Isaiah 9:2, NASB95)[11] Paul in writing to Timothy describes God as dwelling in unapproachable light, Peter writes that God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. John in his first epistle writes in chapter 1, verse 5, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5, NASB95)[12] John says that Jesus is God because He is the Light. Verse five of John 1 says, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5, NASB95)[13] This word translated “comprehend” has two meanings in the Greek it can mean “to understand, to grasp a concept” but it can also mean “to overcome or over power.” In this verse, it means to overcome or over power. When Jesus came into the world it was like a light coming on in a dark room, the darkness is dispelled by the light. Jesus dispelled the darkness of this world when He came. John is saying that Jesus is God because He is the Light and as the Light He invaded the dominion of darkness, Satan the ruler of this dark world and his subjects resisted the Light, they tried to overpower the Light, but they were unable to frustrate the power of the Light, the Light was and always will be victorious and bring life to men who respond to the Light.
CONCLUSION:
John in writing this book understands that for Jesus to be the Savior of the world, for His death and resurrection to have any effect on mankind, then Jesus had to be sinless. We know that those who are born of Adam are sinners. Paul wrote in Romans 5:12-14, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” (Romans 5:12–14, NASB95)[14] Jesus, therefore, could not be born of Adam’s line, He had to be fully human, but He could not come from Adam. The only way was that He could be sinless and fully human was to be born of a woman, and His Father be God, so that He is the only begotten Son of God, the second person of the Triune God. John understood this and so opens His book by proving to us that Jesus can be the Savior of the world, because even though He is fully man having been born of a human woman, He is also sinless, holy and righteous because He is fully God. He is the expression of God in human form. John gives us three proofs that He is God, first proof is that He is the Creator of all things. Only God could bring all things into existence and Jesus is the Creator. The second proof is that Jesus is the Life. He is the One who imparts physical life to all that are living or have lived, and as the Life He also is the only one who can give spiritual life to those who are dead in our trespasses and sins. He raises us to new life in Him. The third proof is that He is God is that He is the Light. We learned that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all and Jesus as the Light is proof that He is God. He came to this earth and became the Light of the world, shining into the darkness of sin and separation from God, dispelling this darkness, and though the kingdom of darkness fought against the Light they could not overcome it and those who respond to the Light come out of darkness and into His Kingdom of Light. Paul in Ephesians 5 tells us that those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ are now children of Light. John beyond a doubt believes that Jesus is God and he proves it to us so that we can know that the baby that was born more than 2000 years ago in the little town of Bethlehem in a smelly stable possibly to the lowing of cows, and the baaing of sheep, and the clucking of chickens is the only begotten, sinless and holy Son of God who was the one who went to the cross where God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. There is reason to celebrate the Incarnation because without it there would be no forgiveness of sin, if God had chosen not to come to this earth in human form then our end would be eternal separation from God. Praise God that before the foundations of the earth were laid, in eternity past God determined that He had come as our Immanuel, God with us so that we might be the righteousness of God in Him.
[1]Lucado, Max, God Came Near. Nashville, Tenn. : W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2004
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[9]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[10]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[11]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[12]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[13]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[14]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995