And The Word Was God

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And the Word Was God

John 1:1-3

Grace Fellowship Church

September 20, 2009

Series 6 Sermon 1

 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,  and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.  9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 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. 15 (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.’”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

 

Introduction

There are four Gospel accounts of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and of course John comprise the fourfold Gospel in the Bible.  The Old Testament points to the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and the four Gospels record this coming.  The epistles of the New Testament explain the implications of Christ’s first coming and the Book of Revelation points toward the Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming. 

 

Of the four Gospels John’s Gospel account starts off far differently than the other three.  Let me read to you Matthew 1:1.

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Now listen to Mark 1:1.

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

Then Mark immediately begins to talk about John the Baptist.

 

Listen to Luke 1:1-4.

 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. 

And then Luke begins by talking about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

Matthew begins with the genealogy of the Lord Jesus and shows that He is the rightful heir to the throne of Israel as the Son of David.  Luke goes into great detail about the circumstances of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ even recording many of the conversations that took place between certain people.  Mark skips all of this and the first time we see the Lord Jesus in his Gospel it is at His baptism. 

 

John does not include the Lord’s genealogy.  He does not include the conversations surrounding His birth.  He does not even mention the Lord’s birth except by saying in verse 18 that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  John does not try to give an orderly account of the ministry and the life of Jesus Christ.  He does not try and record as many miracles of Jesus as the other writers do.  John does not even record any of the parables that are so important in Matthew’s Gospel account. 

 

John records seven signs starting with the wedding feast at Cana and ending with the resurrection of Lazarus and then tells us what we are supposed to do with these signs in

John 20:30-31.  Listen as I read. 

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.

 

So John has a very specific purpose for writing what he has penned for us.  His purpose is 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.  This is why many people point unbelievers to John’s Gospel.  They tell them to read John’s Gospel to come into contact with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And that is fine.  I think that is a wonderful thing to do.  I encourage you to encourage your unsaved friends and family to read this Gospel.  But don’t think just because you are a believer that you have no need of this Gospel account.  You have not come to the place in your Christian walk where you have outgrown it. 

 

Believing in the New Testament is not mere mental agreement to a set of facts.  Believing as the New Testament teaches it involves more than just your intellect.  It involves the whole person.  Because of what the mind believes the rest of the person acts upon that belief and it is evidenced in daily life.  Why does the Christian not entangle his or her self in many of the same sins as the world?  Because they believe that Jesus is the Christ and have life in His name and that has changed them.  So part of believing is persevering or as the Lord Jesus says in John, abiding.  You will find this in John 8 and in John 15. 

 

So this book is good for introducing unbelievers to the Savior and it is good for aiding believers in persevering in the faith. 

 

So where does John begin His Gospel account?  He does not begin with John the Baptist as Mark does.  He does not begin with the genealogy as Matthew does and he does not begin with the narrative of the birth of Jesus as Luke does.  He takes us further back than human language can describe.  John begins with a short but effective treatise on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He captures in 18 verses what theologians, pastors, and Christians have been writing about for two millennia now and if the Lord Jesus does not return soon they will continue to write about it. The language is simple yet profound.  The Greek is simple and easy yet the implications of these first 18 verses are earth shattering and life changing. 

 

Context

The writer of this Gospel is the apostle John.  He is also the author of 1,2, and 3 John and the Revelation.  So he contributed five books to our New Testament.  He was brother of James and one of the sons of Zebedee who was a fisherman by trade.  In Matthew 4:21 the young men were with their father mending nets when the Lord Jesus called them to be His disciples.  Then in Mark 3:17 we learn that the Lord Jesus called these two young men the sons of thunder.  It was also their mother who asked the Lord Jesus if her two sons could sit on His right and His left in the kingdom.  This maybe the reason that the Apostle does not name himself in this Gospel but only refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.  John was a zealous man.  In Luke 9:55 he and James asked the Lord Jesus if He wanted them to call down fire from Heaven to consume the village that would not receive the Lord Jesus.  This was the John who penned this Gospel account.  I want you to listen to John 21:24.

24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

 

This is the stamp of authenticity for this Gospel.  Those who saw and heard the Lord Jesus Christ attest to the truth of this Gospel account. 

 

Most believe that John is writing from Ephesus where he served a church as pastor there.  Of course we know that John ends up on the prison island of Patmos where he penned the book of Revelation. 

 

We have already discussed John’s purpose and his unique starting point.  Now I want you to realize that John could have started this Gospel anywhere.  The mother of the Lord Jesus lived with him after the crucifixion.  He had access to all the stories of childhood that none of us know and history has lost.  He knew all of the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ because the one who witnessed it all was there with him.  And yet all of this is not mentioned because John has a much greater purpose in writing this Gospel than merely transmitting to us an historical account of the life of Christ.  His purpose is to bring us face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ.  His desire for us is to believe and to keep on believing.  John begins with the eternal nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

      

So this morning I want us to come face to face with the eternal nature of the Son of God.  John does not provide any suspense at all in showing us who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He gets right to the heart of the matter. 

 

 

PNP

So from John 1:1, I want you to see three attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

1.  Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

2.  Jesus Christ is eternal.

3.  Jesus Christ is God. 

 

Purpose

My purpose this morning is to reacquaint you or introduce you for the first time to the limitless and one of the most majestic studies in all of Scripture, Christology.  Christology is the study of the Lord Jesus Christ.  All of the Old Testament points to Him and the Gospels reveal Him, and the Epistles explain Him.  The single event that split time happened when the Lord Jesus Christ stepped onto the human stage as a baby born in Bethlehem.  Or as John records it in verse 14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  I want you to understand when you are praying to the Father through the Son who your mediator is.  If you are not converted I want you to understand that this Jesus whom we preach will one day be standing in front of you and you will bow the knee and confess that He is Lord to the glory of the Father.  Either you will bow the knee in humility confessing Him as Lord affirming your salvation or you will bow the knee in humiliation confessing Him as Lord affirming your eternal judgment. 

 

The famous atheist Richard Dawkins will one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ whom he denies exists and he will bow the knee and confess that Christ Jesus is Lord.  Let’s pray he does that before his death. 

 

RPNP

So look with me this morning at these three attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

1.  Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

Notice with me verse 1. 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 

Notice that John calls the Lord Jesus the Word.  Some of you know the Greek word that John uses that is translated Word here in these verses. It is the word “logos.”  This was a very familiar word to those in the time of this writing because much had been written about this word.  Historians tell us that the people living in John’s day and Jesus’ day had a philosophical understanding of the logos.  The Stoics and those who followed the teachings of Plato had a concept of the logos.  And many have suggested that John was picking up on their understanding. 

 

But let’s understand something.  John was Jewish.  He was more interested as a Jew in Torah than he was in the philosophy of the Stoics and Plato.  He would have been in the synagogue not the school of ancient Greek philosophy.  So we do not need to go further than the Bible to discover why John refers to the Lord Jesus as the Logos.  We simply must understand the message of John to pick up what John is interested in communicating to us by the term logos or word. 

 

In the Old Testament the Word of God always accomplished something and many times the Word of God was personified.  The Word of God had creative power.  Listen to Genesis 1:3.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Now listen to Psalm 33:6.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

God’s Word also was for revelation.  His Word revealed His nature and His will. Listen to Jeremiah 1:4 and how the Word of the Lord is personified.  Jeremiah says:

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me…

 Listen to Isaiah 9:8.

8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel;    

Again we find God revealing Himself and His will through His Word.  Listen to Ezekiel 33:7.

7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.

 

But the Word of the Lord is not just for creation and revelation, the Word of the Lord also delivers.  Listen to Psalm 107:20.

20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

Listen carefully to the language of Isaiah 55:1-3. 

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Listen to Psalm 107:20.

20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

 

But the Word is not only for creation, revelation, and deliverance.  The Word also judges. 

Listen to Isaiah 55:11.

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Listen to Psalm 29:3-9.

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

 

So what we need to understand and what John understood is that the Word of the Lord has power.  And what John wants us to understand by using this term logos or word to describe the Lord Jesus, is that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the Word of God.  Look at verse 1 with me again. 

In the beginning was the Word…

 

Now remember these four things that the Word of God accomplished in the Old Testament.  By the Word the Lord creates, he reveals Himself and His ways, He delivers, and He judges.  Did Jesus of Nazareth do these things on earth?  Can John legitimately say that Jesus Christ is the Word? 

 

Yes he can.  Think about the creation.  Did Jesus Christ create?  Several times John shows us that not only does Christ have the ability to create, it seems that He is not bound by natural laws as we are.  Think about the first sign that John tells us about Jesus.  We need grapes and time to make wine, anywhere from six months to a year.  We can all do it with a little know how.  But the Lord Jesus, the Word, turns water into fermented grape juice at His Word.  Remember in that sign the Lord does not touch anything. 

 

The sixth sign is Jesus healing the man born blind.  If you read that what you will find is this strange situation where Jesus spits on the ground and makes mud.  He takes the mud and smears it on the man’s eyes and he is healed.  This is reminiscent of God taking the dust of the ground and creating Adam and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. 

 

Second, does the Lord Jesus reveal God to us?  The answer is yes.  Look down in your Bibles to John 1:18.

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Listen to John 14:8-9.

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

So the Lord Jesus is the visual, tangible revelation of God on earth.  But did the Lord command anything?  Did He add to God’s revelation?  Judge for yourselves.  Listen to John 13:34-35.

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

So the Word or the Lord Jesus creates and He reveals but does He deliver? 

Listen to John 10:14-15.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

 

And what about judgment?  Did the Lord Jesus come into the world for judgment?  Listen to John 9:39.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

 

So why does John use the term logos or Word to describe the Lord Jesus in this Gospel?   He is God’s self revelation.  And that is where John begins his Gospel account.  There is no suspense here.  John is bringing us right to where we need to be. 

 

This is reminiscent of Hebrews 1:1-3. 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

  By John using this term, logos, what he is showing us is that all of the revelation of God is disclosed to us in the Son of God.  This is the testimony of John and the testimony of the other apostles as well. Listen to what the Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 1:22-25.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; (then Peter quotes Isaiah 40:6) 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (And what is the Word you might ask?)

And this word is the good news (the Gospel) that was preached to you.

 

We preach Christ and Him crucified.  This is the Gospel.  The Logos is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the revelation of God. He is the exact imprint of the nature of God.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  Listen to Colossians 1:15-20.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 

 

The term Logos captures in one word what theologians work to put in volumes of books.  That is first this morning. We have seen that Jesus Christ is the Logos.  Second we need to see that:

 

2.  Jesus Christ is eternal.

Look at verse 1 again. 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…

 

When you hear the words, in the beginning, your mind should be thinking of the first words in Scripture.  The Bible begins with the words, in the beginning God.  And what John is communicating to us in very simple language is something that is very profound.  John has the ability to same things very simply and yet the words carry great weight.  What John is saying is that in the beginning Jesus Christ was there.  When we read Genesis 1:1 we should now read it through the lens of the New Testament and we know that the Lord Jesus was present in the beginning. 

 

But the theological question comes in as to when the Lord Jesus came about.  There is a theological heresy that started with a man named Arius who lived from about 250 AD to 336 AD.  He taught and many in the church followed his teaching that Christ was a created being.  This heresy was condemned in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea.  You can find this teaching still today in some circles.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses are Arians as are a few other groups. 

 

The problem that the have is in John’s language in verse 1.  If you read this in English you may get the impression that the Word could have been created in the beginning along with the universe.  Look at verse 1.

In the beginning was the word….

In English it sounds like just a past tense verb.  But John’s language will not allow you to come to this conclusion.  The verb that is translated “was” is in the imperfect tense.  That gives it a translation more literally that says, “In the beginning, the Word was already there.” 

 

But the imperfect does not necessarily rule out the possibility that the Word was created.  According to the Arians He could have been created before everything else and therefore was there in the beginning.  But the answer to that comes in verse 2 and 3.  Look at verse 2. 

2 He was in the beginning with God.

Again the same translation could be used here in verse 2 as in verse 1.  “He was already there in the beginning with God.”  But that does not necessarily destroy the Arian argument.  Verse 3 puts the argument to rest.  In verses 1 and 2 John uses the verb “eime.”  Its basic meaning is “I am” or “I exist.”  I want you to look at verse 3 with that in mind. 

3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

 

Did you catch that?  The Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, could not have been created because all things that were created were made through him and without him not one thing was made that was made.  The verb John uses in verse 3 is the verb “ginomai.”  It means to come into being, to be created or made.  If John wanted us to think that the Word was created he simply could have told us.  But what he tells us is that Christ was not created but is eternal. 

 

The Lord Jesus demonstrated this fact in John 8:58.  The Jews were contending with Him and he told them they were of their father the devil.  They replied that there father was Abraham.  The Lord Jesus told them that Abraham rejoiced that he would see the Lord Jesus’ day and he saw it and he rejoiced.  The Jews said to Jesus, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”  The Lord Jesus uses the same verbs that that John uses in John 1:1-3.          

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was (ginomai- was created), I am (eimi- I existed).”

 

The Word is Christ and the Word is eternal.  He was not created. 

Now we need to see that:

 

3.  Jesus Christ is God. 

Look at verse 1.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

And the next phrase will have John removed from the synagogue….

and the Word was God.        

The Word did not become a god.  The Word did not become God.  It is the same language, the same verb that is in verse 1, “eime”, and in the same tense, the imperfect.  The Word was already God. 

 

Folks, this is why as Christians we are Trinitarian.  The Bible teaches that there is only one God.  But the same Bible teaches that within this One God there are three persons.  We see this in verses 1 and 2 of John 1.  Look at the verses again with me. 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And then for emphasis John repeats himself in verse 2. 

2 He was in the beginning with God.  

 

Now this is hard for us to grasp.  The analogies fail here.  When Grace Fellowship started Mark, Doug, and I worked very hard at hammering out our church documents.  We all were there in the beginning.  And we were there with one another.  But I am not Doug and Doug is not Mark and Mark is not Joe. 

 

But the Word was in the beginning and the Word was with God, and the Word was God and that Word is a masculine being because John says in verse 2 that He was in the beginning with God. 

 

And later in the Gospel of John we will be introduced to the third person of the Trinity and that is the Holy Spirit. 

 

If you have a hard time grasping the concept of Trinity don’t beat yourself up.  God is incomprehensible which simply means there are aspects of God that we as finite human beings can not grasp.  But here is what we understand.  The Lord Jesus is called the logos by John.  He was in the beginning with God and He was already God. 

 

Notice that the verse does not say, “And God was the Word.”  That would mean something different than what John intends here.  Then you get into the Oneness Pentecostal idea of one God with three manifestations.  But what the Bible teaches is that the Word was already God but the Word is not all that God is.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is the baptismal formula.  We are baptized in the name of our triune God. 

 

Let me try and help you with this by giving you some workable language regarding the Trinity.  How do you explain the Trinity to someone?  How do you explain what our minds can not really fathom?  Maybe this will help. 

 

The Bible teaches that there is one God.  But the Bible teaches that this One God exists in three distinct persons.  So the Godhead is One in essence and three in person.  The Father is God. The Son is God.  The Holy Spirit is God.  They are coequal and one in essence.  That is why Genesis 1:26 says, “Let Us make man in our own image…”  That is why one of the Hebrew words for God, Elohim, is plural. 

 

Conclusion

We have seen this morning that Jesus Christ is the Word, He is eternal, and Jesus Christ is God. 

 

John could have eased us into this truth but he chooses rather to smack us in the face with it right off the bat.  You see John is going to spend the next 20 and a half chapters proving what he has said in the first three verses.  When we come into contact with the Lord Jesus Christ we are coming into contact with the Lord of the universe.  And the Lord of the Universe has never spent one millisecond at the beckon call of fallen sinful humanity waiting to see if they will accept Him as their savior. 

 

This is why John shows us who the Lord Jesus is right up front.  Because in showing us who He is we are faced with the greatest decision in our lives.  Will we bow the knee to Him now believing in Him and His Gospel for our salvation or will we bow the knee in judgment when we stand before the throne of Christ Jesus? 

 

If you have been toying around with committing yourself to Christ and trusting in Him alone for salvation repenting and turning from your sin then you need to do so now while there is still light.  You must turn from sin and self and turn to the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ as your only hope and salvation. 

 

Christian, have you been slack in your obedience to the Lord?  Have you forgotten that your Savior is the Lord of the Universe?  Then repent and turn from your sin and follow the Lord Jesus more closely. 

 

Let’s pray as we prepare for the Lord’s Supper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 11

 

Warning:

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

 

Supper:

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 

 

 

 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

 

 

And the Word Was God

John 1:1-3

Grace Fellowship Church

September 20, 2009

Series 6 Sermon 1

 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,  and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.  9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 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. 15 (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.’”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

 

Introduction

There are four Gospel accounts of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and of course John comprise the fourfold Gospel in the Bible.  The Old Testament points to the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and the four Gospels record this coming.  The epistles of the New Testament explain the implications of Christ’s first coming and the Book of Revelation points toward the Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming. 

 

Of the four Gospels John’s Gospel account starts off far differently than the other three.  Let me read to you Matthew 1:1.

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Now listen to Mark 1:1.

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

Then Mark immediately begins to talk about John the Baptist.

 

Listen to Luke 1:1-4.

 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. 

And then Luke begins by talking about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

Matthew begins with the genealogy of the Lord Jesus and shows that He is the rightful heir to the throne of Israel as the Son of David.  Luke goes into great detail about the circumstances of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ even recording many of the conversations that took place between certain people.  Mark skips all of this and the first time we see the Lord Jesus in his Gospel it is at His baptism. 

 

John does not include the Lord’s genealogy.  He does not include the conversations surrounding His birth.  He does not even mention the Lord’s birth except by saying in verse 18 that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  John does not try to give an orderly account of the ministry and the life of Jesus Christ.  He does not try and record as many miracles of Jesus as the other writers do.  John does not even record any of the parables that are so important in Matthew’s Gospel account. 

 

John records seven signs starting with the wedding feast at Cana and ending with the resurrection of Lazarus and then tells us what we are supposed to do with these signs in

John 20:30-31.  Listen as I read. 

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.

 

So John has a very specific purpose for writing what he has penned for us.  His purpose is 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.  This is why many people point unbelievers to John’s Gospel.  They tell them to read John’s Gospel to come into contact with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And that is fine.  I think that is a wonderful thing to do.  I encourage you to encourage your unsaved friends and family to read this Gospel.  But don’t think just because you are a believer that you have no need of this Gospel account.  You have not come to the place in your Christian walk where you have outgrown it. 

 

Believing in the New Testament is not mere mental agreement to a set of facts.  Believing as the New Testament teaches it involves more than just your intellect.  It involves the whole person.  Because of what the mind believes the rest of the person acts upon that belief and it is evidenced in daily life.  Why does the Christian not entangle his or her self in many of the same sins as the world?  Because they believe that Jesus is the Christ and have life in His name and that has changed them.  So part of believing is persevering or as the Lord Jesus says in John, abiding.  You will find this in John 8 and in John 15. 

 

So this book is good for introducing unbelievers to the Savior and it is good for aiding believers in persevering in the faith. 

 

So where does John begin His Gospel account?  He does not begin with John the Baptist as Mark does.  He does not begin with the genealogy as Matthew does and he does not begin with the narrative of the birth of Jesus as Luke does.  He takes us further back than human language can describe.  John begins with a short but effective treatise on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He captures in 18 verses what theologians, pastors, and Christians have been writing about for two millennia now and if the Lord Jesus does not return soon they will continue to write about it. The language is simple yet profound.  The Greek is simple and easy yet the implications of these first 18 verses are earth shattering and life changing. 

 

Context

The writer of this Gospel is the apostle John.  He is also the author of 1,2, and 3 John and the Revelation.  So he contributed five books to our New Testament.  He was brother of James and one of the sons of Zebedee who was a fisherman by trade.  In Matthew 4:21 the young men were with their father mending nets when the Lord Jesus called them to be His disciples.  Then in Mark 3:17 we learn that the Lord Jesus called these two young men the sons of thunder.  It was also their mother who asked the Lord Jesus if her two sons could sit on His right and His left in the kingdom.  This maybe the reason that the Apostle does not name himself in this Gospel but only refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.  John was a zealous man.  In Luke 9:55 he and James asked the Lord Jesus if He wanted them to call down fire from Heaven to consume the village that would not receive the Lord Jesus.  This was the John who penned this Gospel account.  I want you to listen to John 21:24.

24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

 

This is the stamp of authenticity for this Gospel.  Those who saw and heard the Lord Jesus Christ attest to the truth of this Gospel account. 

 

Most believe that John is writing from Ephesus where he served a church as pastor there.  Of course we know that John ends up on the prison island of Patmos where he penned the book of Revelation. 

 

We have already discussed John’s purpose and his unique starting point.  Now I want you to realize that John could have started this Gospel anywhere.  The mother of the Lord Jesus lived with him after the crucifixion.  He had access to all the stories of childhood that none of us know and history has lost.  He knew all of the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ because the one who witnessed it all was there with him.  And yet all of this is not mentioned because John has a much greater purpose in writing this Gospel than merely transmitting to us an historical account of the life of Christ.  His purpose is to bring us face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ.  His desire for us is to believe and to keep on believing.  John begins with the eternal nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

      

So this morning I want us to come face to face with the eternal nature of the Son of God.  John does not provide any suspense at all in showing us who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He gets right to the heart of the matter. 

 

 

PNP

So from John 1:1, I want you to see three attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

1.  Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

2.  Jesus Christ is eternal.

3.  Jesus Christ is God. 

 

Purpose

My purpose this morning is to reacquaint you or introduce you for the first time to the limitless and one of the most majestic studies in all of Scripture, Christology.  Christology is the study of the Lord Jesus Christ.  All of the Old Testament points to Him and the Gospels reveal Him, and the Epistles explain Him.  The single event that split time happened when the Lord Jesus Christ stepped onto the human stage as a baby born in Bethlehem.  Or as John records it in verse 14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  I want you to understand when you are praying to the Father through the Son who your mediator is.  If you are not converted I want you to understand that this Jesus whom we preach will one day be standing in front of you and you will bow the knee and confess that He is Lord to the glory of the Father.  Either you will bow the knee in humility confessing Him as Lord affirming your salvation or you will bow the knee in humiliation confessing Him as Lord affirming your eternal judgment. 

 

The famous atheist Richard Dawkins will one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ whom he denies exists and he will bow the knee and confess that Christ Jesus is Lord.  Let’s pray he does that before his death. 

 

RPNP

So look with me this morning at these three attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

1.  Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

Notice with me verse 1. 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 

Notice that John calls the Lord Jesus the Word.  Some of you know the Greek word that John uses that is translated Word here in these verses. It is the word “logos.”  This was a very familiar word to those in the time of this writing because much had been written about this word.  Historians tell us that the people living in John’s day and Jesus’ day had a philosophical understanding of the logos.  The Stoics and those who followed the teachings of Plato had a concept of the logos.  And many have suggested that John was picking up on their understanding. 

 

But let’s understand something.  John was Jewish.  He was more interested as a Jew in Torah than he was in the philosophy of the Stoics and Plato.  He would have been in the synagogue not the school of ancient Greek philosophy.  So we do not need to go further than the Bible to discover why John refers to the Lord Jesus as the Logos.  We simply must understand the message of John to pick up what John is interested in communicating to us by the term logos or word. 

 

In the Old Testament the Word of God always accomplished something and many times the Word of God was personified.  The Word of God had creative power.  Listen to Genesis 1:3.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Now listen to Psalm 33:6.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

God’s Word also was for revelation.  His Word revealed His nature and His will. Listen to Jeremiah 1:4 and how the Word of the Lord is personified.  Jeremiah says:

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me…

 Listen to Isaiah 9:8.

8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel;    

Again we find God revealing Himself and His will through His Word.  Listen to Ezekiel 33:7.

7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.

 

But the Word of the Lord is not just for creation and revelation, the Word of the Lord also delivers.  Listen to Psalm 107:20.

20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

Listen carefully to the language of Isaiah 55:1-3. 

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Listen to Psalm 107:20.

20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

 

But the Word is not only for creation, revelation, and deliverance.  The Word also judges. 

Listen to Isaiah 55:11.

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Listen to Psalm 29:3-9.

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

 

So what we need to understand and what John understood is that the Word of the Lord has power.  And what John wants us to understand by using this term logos or word to describe the Lord Jesus, is that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the Word of God.  Look at verse 1 with me again. 

In the beginning was the Word…

 

Now remember these four things that the Word of God accomplished in the Old Testament.  By the Word the Lord creates, he reveals Himself and His ways, He delivers, and He judges.  Did Jesus of Nazareth do these things on earth?  Can John legitimately say that Jesus Christ is the Word? 

 

Yes he can.  Think about the creation.  Did Jesus Christ create?  Several times John shows us that not only does Christ have the ability to create, it seems that He is not bound by natural laws as we are.  Think about the first sign that John tells us about Jesus.  We need grapes and time to make wine, anywhere from six months to a year.  We can all do it with a little know how.  But the Lord Jesus, the Word, turns water into fermented grape juice at His Word.  Remember in that sign the Lord does not touch anything. 

 

The sixth sign is Jesus healing the man born blind.  If you read that what you will find is this strange situation where Jesus spits on the ground and makes mud.  He takes the mud and smears it on the man’s eyes and he is healed.  This is reminiscent of God taking the dust of the ground and creating Adam and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. 

 

Second, does the Lord Jesus reveal God to us?  The answer is yes.  Look down in your Bibles to John 1:18.

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Listen to John 14:8-9.

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

So the Lord Jesus is the visual, tangible revelation of God on earth.  But did the Lord command anything?  Did He add to God’s revelation?  Judge for yourselves.  Listen to John 13:34-35.

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

So the Word or the Lord Jesus creates and He reveals but does He deliver? 

Listen to John 10:14-15.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

 

And what about judgment?  Did the Lord Jesus come into the world for judgment?  Listen to John 9:39.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

 

So why does John use the term logos or Word to describe the Lord Jesus in this Gospel?   He is God’s self revelation.  And that is where John begins his Gospel account.  There is no suspense here.  John is bringing us right to where we need to be. 

 

This is reminiscent of Hebrews 1:1-3. 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

  By John using this term, logos, what he is showing us is that all of the revelation of God is disclosed to us in the Son of God.  This is the testimony of John and the testimony of the other apostles as well. Listen to what the Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 1:22-25.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; (then Peter quotes Isaiah 40:6) 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (And what is the Word you might ask?)

And this word is the good news (the Gospel) that was preached to you.

 

We preach Christ and Him crucified.  This is the Gospel.  The Logos is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the revelation of God. He is the exact imprint of the nature of God.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  Listen to Colossians 1:15-20.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 

 

The term Logos captures in one word what theologians work to put in volumes of books.  That is first this morning. We have seen that Jesus Christ is the Logos.  Second we need to see that:

 

2.  Jesus Christ is eternal.

Look at verse 1 again. 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…

 

When you hear the words, in the beginning, your mind should be thinking of the first words in Scripture.  The Bible begins with the words, in the beginning God.  And what John is communicating to us in very simple language is something that is very profound.  John has the ability to same things very simply and yet the words carry great weight.  What John is saying is that in the beginning Jesus Christ was there.  When we read Genesis 1:1 we should now read it through the lens of the New Testament and we know that the Lord Jesus was present in the beginning. 

 

But the theological question comes in as to when the Lord Jesus came about.  There is a theological heresy that started with a man named Arius who lived from about 250 AD to 336 AD.  He taught and many in the church followed his teaching that Christ was a created being.  This heresy was condemned in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea.  You can find this teaching still today in some circles.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses are Arians as are a few other groups. 

 

The problem that the have is in John’s language in verse 1.  If you read this in English you may get the impression that the Word could have been created in the beginning along with the universe.  Look at verse 1.

In the beginning was the word….

In English it sounds like just a past tense verb.  But John’s language will not allow you to come to this conclusion.  The verb that is translated “was” is in the imperfect tense.  That gives it a translation more literally that says, “In the beginning, the Word was already there.” 

 

But the imperfect does not necessarily rule out the possibility that the Word was created.  According to the Arians He could have been created before everything else and therefore was there in the beginning.  But the answer to that comes in verse 2 and 3.  Look at verse 2. 

2 He was in the beginning with God.

Again the same translation could be used here in verse 2 as in verse 1.  “He was already there in the beginning with God.”  But that does not necessarily destroy the Arian argument.  Verse 3 puts the argument to rest.  In verses 1 and 2 John uses the verb “eime.”  Its basic meaning is “I am” or “I exist.”  I want you to look at verse 3 with that in mind. 

3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

 

Did you catch that?  The Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, could not have been created because all things that were created were made through him and without him not one thing was made that was made.  The verb John uses in verse 3 is the verb “ginomai.”  It means to come into being, to be created or made.  If John wanted us to think that the Word was created he simply could have told us.  But what he tells us is that Christ was not created but is eternal. 

 

The Lord Jesus demonstrated this fact in John 8:58.  The Jews were contending with Him and he told them they were of their father the devil.  They replied that there father was Abraham.  The Lord Jesus told them that Abraham rejoiced that he would see the Lord Jesus’ day and he saw it and he rejoiced.  The Jews said to Jesus, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”  The Lord Jesus uses the same verbs that that John uses in John 1:1-3.          

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was (ginomai- was created), I am (eimi- I existed).”

 

The Word is Christ and the Word is eternal.  He was not created. 

Now we need to see that:

 

3.  Jesus Christ is God. 

Look at verse 1.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

And the next phrase will have John removed from the synagogue….

and the Word was God.        

The Word did not become a god.  The Word did not become God.  It is the same language, the same verb that is in verse 1, “eime”, and in the same tense, the imperfect.  The Word was already God. 

 

Folks, this is why as Christians we are Trinitarian.  The Bible teaches that there is only one God.  But the same Bible teaches that within this One God there are three persons.  We see this in verses 1 and 2 of John 1.  Look at the verses again with me. 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And then for emphasis John repeats himself in verse 2. 

2 He was in the beginning with God.  

 

Now this is hard for us to grasp.  The analogies fail here.  When Grace Fellowship started Mark, Doug, and I worked very hard at hammering out our church documents.  We all were there in the beginning.  And we were there with one another.  But I am not Doug and Doug is not Mark and Mark is not Joe. 

 

But the Word was in the beginning and the Word was with God, and the Word was God and that Word is a masculine being because John says in verse 2 that He was in the beginning with God. 

 

And later in the Gospel of John we will be introduced to the third person of the Trinity and that is the Holy Spirit. 

 

If you have a hard time grasping the concept of Trinity don’t beat yourself up.  God is incomprehensible which simply means there are aspects of God that we as finite human beings can not grasp.  But here is what we understand.  The Lord Jesus is called the logos by John.  He was in the beginning with God and He was already God. 

 

Notice that the verse does not say, “And God was the Word.”  That would mean something different than what John intends here.  Then you get into the Oneness Pentecostal idea of one God with three manifestations.  But what the Bible teaches is that the Word was already God but the Word is not all that God is.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is the baptismal formula.  We are baptized in the name of our triune God. 

 

Let me try and help you with this by giving you some workable language regarding the Trinity.  How do you explain the Trinity to someone?  How do you explain what our minds can not really fathom?  Maybe this will help. 

 

The Bible teaches that there is one God.  But the Bible teaches that this One God exists in three distinct persons.  So the Godhead is One in essence and three in person.  The Father is God. The Son is God.  The Holy Spirit is God.  They are coequal and one in essence.  That is why Genesis 1:26 says, “Let Us make man in our own image…”  That is why one of the Hebrew words for God, Elohim, is plural. 

 

Conclusion

We have seen this morning that Jesus Christ is the Word, He is eternal, and Jesus Christ is God. 

 

John could have eased us into this truth but he chooses rather to smack us in the face with it right off the bat.  You see John is going to spend the next 20 and a half chapters proving what he has said in the first three verses.  When we come into contact with the Lord Jesus Christ we are coming into contact with the Lord of the universe.  And the Lord of the Universe has never spent one millisecond at the beckon call of fallen sinful humanity waiting to see if they will accept Him as their savior. 

 

This is why John shows us who the Lord Jesus is right up front.  Because in showing us who He is we are faced with the greatest decision in our lives.  Will we bow the knee to Him now believing in Him and His Gospel for our salvation or will we bow the knee in judgment when we stand before the throne of Christ Jesus? 

 

If you have been toying around with committing yourself to Christ and trusting in Him alone for salvation repenting and turning from your sin then you need to do so now while there is still light.  You must turn from sin and self and turn to the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ as your only hope and salvation. 

 

Christian, have you been slack in your obedience to the Lord?  Have you forgotten that your Savior is the Lord of the Universe?  Then repent and turn from your sin and follow the Lord Jesus more closely. 

 

Let’s pray as we prepare for the Lord’s Supper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 11

 

Warning:

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

 

Supper:

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 

 

 

 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

 

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