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THE WORD BECAME FLESH John 1:1-18 Pastor Stephen Muncherian December 22, 2019 |
Before
we get to John 1 - we have a short Christmas Quiz. #1 On
the way to Bethlehem, Mary rode on: A. A Camel B. A Donkey C. Joseph’s shoulders D. I have no clue Answer is D - the Bible doesn’t say. #2 Jesus was
born in a: A. Stable B. Guest Room C. Main Room D. Cave Most probably - the answer is C - the
word in Greek that gets translated “inn” - actually
describes a guest room.
That would have been on the upper level of a
house belonging to Joseph’s relatives. That because
of the census - the guest room was full of… guests. So rather than shamefully turning Joseph
and Mary out onto the street - Joseph’s relatives
probably invited them to stay in the main room of the
house - lower level - where Jesus was most probably
born. Some of you are way ahead of me on this. The point of
the questions is to point out the obvious. To get us
thinking. There
are some great traditions and things that get blended
into the birth narrative which may or may not be true. Which may be
really great images and feelings and traditions. But - come December 26th - all that
tradition and holiday happenings and feelings at all
can leave us pretty empty. In the day
to day of what we need for life we need more. Truth is
huge. John is writing about Jesus. Who Jesus
is. We’re going there this morning because -
in the day to day of our lives we need - we crave -
the life that God offers to us through Jesus - and
because there are people around us who also have deep
needs and - whether they understand it or not - they
also need Jesus.
And because there is truth here about
Jesus - not assumptions and images that we might
associate with Christmas - but truth that is just down
right exciting realty changing truth that’s well worth
our taking the time to marinate in and praise God for, Truth to
base our lives on and why we can respond to God in
faith. Here’s the big picture of where we’re
going to this morning:
Who Jesus is and what that means... for us. If
you are able - would you stand with me as we come
together before God and His word - and read with me
our text for this morning: 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 were made through Him, and without
Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it. There was a man sent from God,
whose name was John.
He came as a witness, to bear witness about the
light, that all might believe through him. He was not
the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world. He was in
the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the
world did not know Him.
He came to His own, and His own people did not
receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who
believed in His name, He gave the right to become
children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the
only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore
witness about him, and cried out, “This was He of whom
I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me,
because He was before me.’”) And from His fullness we have all
received, grace upon grace. For the law
was given through Moses; grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God; the only God, Who is at the
Father’s side, He has made Him known.
Verse
1: In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in
the beginning with God. Who is He?
He is Jesus.
John describing Jesus being THE Eternal God. To get John’s description of Jesus we
need to do a short word study here. [pun
intended] “In the beginning” in Greek literally reads “in beginning.” There’s no “the” in John’s wording. Meaning we can think back as far as we
can imagine going back.
In the indefinite expanse of timeless existence
before anything began - space - time - matter - atoms
- before anything began “the Word” was. “Was” is in the Greek imperfect past
tense meaning: It
just was. Put simply:
God is His own eternity. God is. Which is a mind popper for those of us
who have a beginning point and an expiration date. For some of
us that end point reality check is getting noticeably
closer. “Word” translates the Greek word “logos.” Heard that? Hang on to something. “Logos” in the Greek way of thinking
could have a number of meanings. The Greek philosophers used “logos” to
describe the logical order of the natural laws of the
universe - like gravity - mathematics - morality - and
more so what was behind the scenes that made all that
work. To the Greeks the universe would be pure
chaos without this impersonal divine whatever - that
they called “logos” - that somehow gave order to all
that potential chaos. In some ways - like the force. Star Wars. How many of
you have seen episode IX? John is declaring that the “logos” - this
ordering “word” - existed before the natural order of
the universe - before any beginning point in the
eternal past the Word was already existing. The Word had
no beginning. The
Word has always existed. Meaning that the Word - “logos” - is not
a part of the creation but the Word is what gives
existence and order to the creation. Point being that the word is not some
impersonal force - made up of midichlorians or
something - that exists within what exists - but that
the Word is a very real eternal Divine person that
intentionally creates and gives order to creation. Still hanging on to something?
In Greek, John uses the preposition
“pros” for “with.”
Meaning - face to face - eye ball to eye ball -
two persons intimate with each other. John further defines that “withness” by
saying that “the Word was God.” Meaning the Word and God coexisted
together. Which is a depth of intimacy that’s
greater than any human relationship. Even a
husband and wife.
It is an essential complete oneness of nature
and essence. Nature meaning what God does. How God
acts. And
essence meaning Who God is. Meaning that everything that is true of
God is also true of the Word. Has been
true - is true - will be true. And just in case we’re still a tad fuzzy
on what that means…
anybody feeling fuzzy? John drives
his point home in verse 2: “He - not it - He [who’s He?
Jesus] was in the beginning with God.” Literally:
“He was in beginning with the God.” John is choosing his words very
carefully. Leaving
no room for misunderstanding. Are we grabbing John? In that eternal existence before time - Jesus and
God were together and they were the same Being. If that’s a
mind blower - it is.
The only One who understands that is God. Chuck
Swindoll commenting on John’s statement writes this: “While the Father and Son are
distinct ‘persons,’ sharing the same nature and
attributes, they also share the same essence. And by
‘essence,’ Father and Son exist as one Supreme Being.”
(1) John describing Jesus - point one - Jesus
is THE eternal God.
Then
in verse 3 John emphasizes that Jesus is the Creator of what has been made to exist. All things were made through Him [Jesus], and without Him was not any thing made
that was made. Everything that exists can be put into
one of two categories.
Which are…?
“Not Created” and “Created.” Not Created
means whatever exists that wasn’t created. Created
means whatever exists because it was created. Pretty
straight forward.
Right? By definition - the only thing not
created is… God.
Right? The
one God who existed before creation. Are we together with John? The reason anything exists is because He
- the One not created - He made it to exist. Jesus Who
was not created - Jesus - God - made what was made. That is critically important for us to be
clear on. In John’s day and in every day since then
- even today - there are people who acknowledge that
Jesus was an amazingly unique person in human history. But beyond
that, things gets a little fuzzy. Many religious people will claim that
Jesus was a created being. That the
Father brought the Son into existence. And then
Jesus created everything else. Or, maybe
Jesus was a spiritual being who took on human flesh. Maybe Jesus
was an enlightened teacher or a human that achieved
some kind of divinity.
Even people claiming to be Christian -
Jehovah’s Witnesses - Mormons - will stop at
the full divinity of Jesus. Jesus is not
coequal - not co-eternal - not coexistent with the
Father in eternity past.
Jesus is not THE God. All that fuzziness may acknowledge Jesus
as baby born in Bethlehem - with all the cultural add
ons - but it leaves us way short of any true hope for
our lives. John is very clear - before anything
existed Jesus - God - who is THE Creator - exists -
and He Jesus created everything that was made - even
us. John goes on in verse 4 describing Jesus
our Creator. Jesus
is the source of life and light. In Him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of
men. Two images:
Life and... light. We need to
be clear on how John is using those two images. Genesis begins with God the creator
speaking creation into existence - and God filling
that creation with life - vegetation - sea creatures -
birds - land animals - creeping things - and finally
God gives life to... man - male and female created in
God’s image. John is saying that in the beginning
Jesus - God - created humanity and gave us life. Jesus is the
source of all life. How many of you are alive this morning? Some are not
sure yet. John writes, that life is the light of
men. Light is something that happens when we
go into a dark room and flip on the light switch. Hopefully. Light can also be a symbol of
enlightenment - gaining truth or wisdom -
understanding. The
light bulb coming on in our brain. Hopefully. Light also has to do with where we’re at
spiritually. Hang on to something. What does
John mean by light?
In
Genesis 1 we’re told that God the Creator creates the
heavens and the earth.
The earth is without form and it’s empty. There’s
darkness over the face to the deep. But, God is
there. Then
God speaks and creates light and separates light from
darkness. Day
and Night - evening and morning. Day one. We’re
together? Then God goes on to start forming the
earth and creating living things - plants and trees. Then - day four God creates stars - the
sun - the moon. Day five - God creates life in the water
and birds in the air. Day six - God creates critters and
creatures and... man.
Still together? Question:
If God creates the stars and sun and moon on
day four - where did the light come from on day one? God. Flash back:
The same place it comes from in Revelation 21
where John is given a vision of the New Jerusalem. Remember
this? From
when we looked at Revelation. “And the city has no need of sun or
moon to shine on it, for the glory of God [Who God is - His nature and essence] gives it light, and its lamp is the
Lamb [Jesus].” (Revelation
21:23; 22:5). Before God creates light - God has filled
all of creation with the light of His presence. That’s
light. Every
atom - every subatomic particle - everything that’s a
created thing - is filled with the truth of Who He is
so that everything in His creation would testify of
Him - Who He is. Psalm 19:1:
“The heavens declare the glory
of... God” Creation is all about... God. To God alone
be the glory. John
goes on: The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it. We get this. Yes? If not...
keep hanging on to something. The first Adam - then each one of us -
have individually and personally confirmed Adam’s
choice to sin. Which
is true of all of humanity. We’re
fallen. We’ve
rejected God and the life that He’s given us. In a very
real sense we live in the darkness of our own
depravity and death.
John tells us that the light - the glory
of God - the truth of Who God is - God Himself - THE
eternal “logos” - has come to us - in the darkness of
our own depravity to restore us to the truth of life
in Him - to know what it means to live real life in
His light forever. Then John writes that “the darkness has not overcome the
light.” “Overcome” translates a Greek word that
can mean “to seize” or “to attack” or “to overpower” Or it can
mean “to comprehend” - “to understand.” Probably
John means both.
Even if, we don’t get it. Even if we
don’t comprehend it - understand it. Even if we
resist it - reject Him.
Even if - to the mind darkened by sin - the
truth of God is pure nonsense. The virgin
birth is fantasy.
The resurrection is foolishness. A cultural
myth at best. Jesus has still come to us - His
creation. His
work in His creation cannot be stopped - overcome - by
the darkness of our sin clouded depraved thinking. John the Baptist - verse 6 - John the
Baptist who Jesus called the greatest of all the
prophets - John was given the unique role of preparing
the way and pointing to the Messiah - Jesus - Who is
the very light of God piercing the darkness of this
world. God
working out what God purposefully has chosen to do in
His creation. The work and ministry of Jesus cannot be
overcome by darkness.
Jesus - incarnate and crucified and resurrected
and returning - Jesus has overcome darkness. Jesus is our only hope. He’s the
only source of the life and the light that we
desperately need in the darkness and depravity and
death of our lives. Verse
9 - Who Jesus is - Jesus is the way to relationship
with God: The true light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world. He was in
the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the
world did not know Him.
He came to His own, and His own people did not
receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who
believed in His name, He gave the right to become
children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God.
When we’re plugged into the grid -
PG&E - or a solar panel - that connection provides
all the energy necessary so that we have at our
disposal what we need to illuminate every dark corner
of our homes. We know the grid is there. All that’s
offered to us by that grid is available. But as
people living where we live we can choose to not flip
the switch. We
can choose to live in the dark. The light is
available. But
its not compulsory.
No one is going to force us to flip the switch. Now that Jesus has come no one can claim
ignorance. To
believe or not to believe is not a question of
intellect or comprehension - what we know or don’t
know. It’s
a choice of the will.
When we choose to remain in darkness we have no
one to blame but ourselves. Jesus
- on the night of His betrayal and arrest - Jesus told
His disciples: “If I had not come and spoken to
them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now
they have no excuse for their sin.” (John
15:22) The source of life and light has come. We have to
make a choice. John tells us the Jews made that choice. Jesus’ own
people did not receive Him. They
rejected Him. Got
the Romans to crucify Him. John writes - verse 12 - but others have
chosen to flip the switch of faith. To receive
Jesus is to believe in His name - Who He is and His
saving work on our behalf. John writes that - when we choose to
believe in Jesus - God gives to us life as His child. God gives to
us not a physical birth of the flesh - 9 months of
pregnancy and a delivery - or a birth because of
something we will to make happen - our own efforts a
spirituality and righteousness. But a
spiritual rebirth that comes only because He - God -
wills it to be so.
When we receive Jesus by believing - by
faith - God wills to give us the right to be His
children. We
become heirs of His eternal promises - forgiven -
restored in our relationship before Him - to life in
His life and light - for now and forever. That is down right exciting reality
changing truth - certain hope - that is well worth our
taking the time to marinate in and praise God for -
especially today.
Amen? Finally
- John describing Who Jesus is - in verse 14 John
tells us that Jesus is the incarnate God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the
only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Word - God the eternal Creator -
Jesus - became “flesh.”
Jesus chooses to set aside His prerogative to
use His divine attributes and takes on what it means
to be human. God
incarnate - in carne.
God in the flesh of our humanity. (Philippians
2:6-9) Meaning that everything that God is -
Jesus is. Everything
that man is - Jesus is.
Minus the sin part. Which is a mind blower. Yes? Back in John’s day they had trouble with
that because one of the prevailing beliefs of the time
was that anything that we could see was inherently
evil. The
great hope of humanity was to escape from this evil -
foul - physical reality. In other words - our bodies are evil. We need to
deny the physical in order to get reconnected with
their idea of god - logos. Death is
liberation from all this crud - the prison of the evil
physical flesh. So, God becoming a man - taking on human
flesh - was just weird - inconceivable. None of
their gods would ever do that. So they came up with ideas like Jesus
only seemed to be in the flesh but in reality He was
some kind of divine apparition. He only
seemed to do things like eating and drinking. Point being that in John’s day they had a
problem with Jesus’ humanity. In our day
we seem to have a problem with Jesus’ divinity. But both are still true. John declares the truth - whether we
understand it - comprehend it intellectually - or not
isn’t the issue.
We can’t anyway.
Jesus is fully God and fully man. When we see
Jesus we see the Father.
Jesus reveals the Father to us in the material
world in which we live. Verse 15 - Same truth John the Baptist
testified of. John
the Baptist - pointing at Jesus - John told the
crowds: “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who
comes after me ranks before me, because He was before
me.’” Which can seem confusing because John was
born before Jesus.
And John precedes Jesus in ministry. But John was conceived to testify of
Jesus. Even
in the womb - when Mary visited Elizabeth - John
moved. John
testified of Jesus. John’s ministry at the Jordan River was
about preparing people and pointing people to Jesus. The light of
the world. The
Lamb of God. John’s testimony was all about Jesus
being God come into the flesh and blood of our
humanity to deal with our depravity and sin. In
verse 16 John - the apostle - John writes that in
Jesus, by God’s grace - not because we deserve it but
because God chose to do it - in Jesus, by God’s grace,
we received God’s fullness. Because -
verse 18 - Jesus has made the fullness of God Who is
unseen - seenable - knowable to us. God had revealed Himself through Moses -
dreams and visions and burning bushes and mountain
tops getting blasted - pillars of fire and clouds -
and angels coming as messengers. But in Jesus - God at the time of God’s
choosing - God steps into the flesh and blood of bone
and sinew of humanity - able to be touched and heard
and even crucified.
Meaning that God did not remain some
abstract - out there - unknowable divine Being. John describing Who Jesus is - John takes
us from the eternal Word to the incarnate personal
Jesus - dwelling among us - revealing God - His life
and light - in the day to day reality and drama of our
lives. If people we share with struggle to know
God and what He’s like - if we have trouble
understanding God ourselves - which we do. All we need
to know about God and what it means to know God and
have a saving - restored from sin - relationship with
God - all we need to know is found in Jesus. Merry Christmas. Happy
Incarnation. The
Word has become flesh. Processing
all that - for what we can take away with us this
morning... What John writes prompts a number of
questions that we could be asking ourselves. Briefly -
let me suggest just two: Question number one: How well do
you know Jesus? What Scripture reveals about Him. Not just
what we hear about Him from others or what’s out there
on Facebook. But - in what John writes is this truth -
that the only key that opens the door to understanding
life is Jesus. Jesus
is THE Word that orders all of creation - that brings
together what life is all about - that declares to us
what it means to be known by God and to know Him. So, how are you doing at pursuing Jesus? Knowing Him
more intimately?
Being devoted to Him? Loving Him
with the totality of who you are? Probably most of us - myself included -
could do better at that. And maybe this morning as you’re hearing
about Who Jesus is and the need to chose to trust Him
as your Savior and to pursue your relationship with
Him - maybe you have questions what it means to trust
Him as your Savior - or what it means to be pursing
Him. Please
come talk with me after the service. The coffee
will still be hot.
This is way more important. Second question: How well do
those around you know Jesus? What will you do this week to share Jesus
with others? To
encourage others to know Him more deeply? Not the
cultural Jesus. But
the Jesus Who is God who has come to save us and give
us life. Be intentional - individually or as a
family - especially in these days of celebration -
maybe as a part of your celebration - your traditions
as a family. Read
Scripture. Read
the accounts of Jesus birth - especially Matthew and
Luke. Take time to thank God for His coming to
us - for His choosing to know us and to - by His grace
- to allow us to know Him. Because this is just down right exciting
realty changing truth that’s well worth our taking the
time to marinate in and praise God for - today and
every day. And
way too huge to keep to ourselves. _________________________ 1. Charles R. Swindoll, “Insights On John: Swindoll’s
New Testament Insights,” Zondervan,
2010, page 26 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a
publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All
rights reserved. |