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.
Introduction
Sometimes we are very shocked by things that happen to us. Thursday night I was coming home from leading a Bible study and it was rainy and a little foggy. I was on a very familiar road when all of a sudden I see something in the road in the opposite lane that makes absolutely no sense to me. It is large and dark and it looks out of place. I have mere seconds to decide what to do and make of this large dark object. I was thinking as I came upon it pretty rapidly that I could not make sense of this. What is this in the road? It wasn’t until I passed it that I finally realized what it was. It was a very large and dark cow in the road and we looked each other right in the eyes as I passed it going about 45 MPH. I was in very close proximity to this very large animal and I was shocked when I realized how close I came to hitting this animal with my car.
That cow was not supposed to be there. It was supposed to be in the field behind a fence safe and sound for the night. It was out of place. Things like this shock us. Things that are out of place surprise us and they should. There is a specific order for things. And last week I showed you from John 1:12-13 how these verses should shock us. You have verses 6-11 that show how the witnesses of God, John the Baptist, the creation, and Jesus Christ, were all rejected by the world. John said in verse 5 that the light shines into the darkness and the darkness has not comprehended it. So the shock comes in verse 12 that states there have been those who have received the Lord Jesus and they are believing in His name. Verse 13 tells us how this has happened. Those who are believing are doing so because they have been born of God. The surprising, shocking thing in these verses is that God would resurrect to life a dead, blind, and deaf sinner to see Christ Jesus as all glorious.
Like verses 12 and 13, verse 14 is one of those shocking verses. You see like the cow on the road at times we are shocked by what we see and what we read. Verse 14 has historically been one of those verses that have shocked people into a misunderstanding of the text and some have heretically explained this passage.
Let’s set up the context. To understand verse 14 and fully appreciate what is taking place in the verse we need to go back to the first five verses and remember what John has taught us so far. Verse 1 was shocking enough. Look at it.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Remember the Greek verb that is translated “was” in our English text. In the beginning the Word was already there, the Word was already with God and the shocking statement is that the Word was already God. Verse two hammers home the point that the Word was already with God. Look at verse 2.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
John told us that the Word was God but the Word is not all that God is. There are two distinct persons here. Later in John’s gospel we will be introduced to the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. But for now we are told that the Word was God and was with God. And then we have verse three which is even more shocking. The Word was active with God in the beginning. Look at verse 3.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The Arians were so shocked by these verses that they claimed that Jesus Christ was a created being. They are the ancestors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses today that will come to your home and tell you that Jesus Christ is not God and he was a created being. In 325 AD at the Council of Nicea the Arian understanding of Jesus Christ was called heresy.
The reason it was called heresy is because of verse 3. It is plain that we are dealing with deity. Only God can create and the verse plainly says that all things were created through the Word and that not one thing was created that was created without Him. So that rules out the Word being a created being.
So thus far we have the Word who is eternal, He was with God, and He was God. He is the mediator of all creation and there was nothing created that was created without him. All of the planets, black holes, stars, galaxies, people, and animals were created through Him and then in verse 4 we learn that the Word is the mediator of all life and light. Look at verse 4.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
All physical, moral, and spiritual life emanates from Jesus Christ. Any spiritual light that anyone has comes from Him. And when we understand the effect that sin has had on the human race it should come as no surprise that verse 5 says what it says. Look at verse 5.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome (comprehended) it.
So with verse 5 in mind, that the light has not been properly comprehended or understood it is no wonder that many people throughout church history have stumbled over the doctrine that John presents to us in verse 14. Look at the very first part of verse 14 with me again
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
John does not use any mysterious language here. It is not unclear what John is saying. And that is what makes it so shocking to the ear and to the eyes. Now let’s understand what John is saying. The second person of the eternal Godhead who has always been endowed with deity and power and authority so much so that the entire creation was created through His mediation and in Him is all life and light; this Word who was with God in the beginning and was God became flesh and dwelt among us.
Folks this is not a natural occurrence. John uses the verb “ginomai” that we translate as became. It is the same word that is used of John the Baptist in verse 6 when John says, “There was a man sent from God….” The difference is John was not the light but came to bear witness about the light. But now in verse 14 with very similar language John the Apostle says that the Word became flesh.
He became what He was not already. John could have used different language. He could have said that the Word put on human flesh. He could have said that the Word appeared to have flesh. But he does not. He says very plainly that the Word became flesh.
This is shocking to our system. These words take most of what people believe about God and His other worldliness and the unscriptural idea that we are here and God is far away and dashes that to pieces.
Throughout the early church there have been many, like the Arians that we heard about just minutes ago that have tripped over this doctrine of the incarnation. The reason is because this is really a foreign concept to most. Let me provide you three very prominent examples of heretical views of the incarnation. Sometimes it helps to understand what John is not saying before we understand what he is saying in verse 14.
There was a man who became bishop in Laodicea about 361AD. His name was Apollinarias and his heretical teaching has been called Apollinarianism. He stumbled over John’s words in verse 14. He taught that indeed that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh but this presented a peculiar problem. He taught that the one person of Christ had a human body but not a human mind or spirit. So you had this fragmented human being that was not fully human.
Another group of heretics held that there were two separate persons in Christ. There was the human person when Christ became flesh and the divine person of the eternal second person of the Trinity. This group was called the Nestorians. This view was called heresy by the church as well.
The third view that is heretical is known by two names. Sometimes it is referred to as Monophysitism and sometimes Eutychianism. They held that Jesus was some sort of hybrid. The way they described this was to say that the divine nature and the human nature came together and created this third type of nature that was both human and divine.
So here is the summary of the heretical views.
The Arians simply said that Jesus was not divine. The Apollinarians said that Jesus was not fully human. The Nestorians said that Jesus was two distinct persons rather than one person with two distinct natures. And Eutychianism taught that in Jesus you had this mixture of the human and divine creating this third type of nature.
So how did the church answer these with heretical views? How do we respond to these in a way that does not lessen the glory of God in Christ? They used four adverbs to answer them. And that is what I want you to see from our text this morning. It’s going to be helpful here to understand that what Scripture teaches is that Christ is one person who has two natures. This is not like what you see on cartoons when a person has an angel on one shoulder whispering into one ear and the devil on the other whispering into the other ear. Christ is perfectly human and perfectly divine.
PNP
So from John 1:14 I want to give you these four adverbs that will help us understand and defend the doctrine of the incarnation.
1. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united truly.
2. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united perfectly.
3. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united undividedly.
4. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united unmixedly.
Purpose
The reason I am preaching this passage of Scripture is because it is of the utmost importance that we understand the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many deceivers running around in the world who have heretical views of Christ Jesus. There are those who claim to have visions where they have been told special things by Christ about who He is.
One such person is the famous televangelist and deceiver Kenneth Copeland. He said that if he knew as much of the Old Testament as Jesus did that he could have died on the cross for everyone’s sins. He will even tell people what Jesus looked like and how tall he was.
So it is imperative that we understand John 1:14. We must not be deceived. There is only one Lord Jesus and He is the only one who can save.
RPNP
So look with me at these four adverbs that will help us understand and defend the doctrine of the incarnation.
1. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united truly.
The first part of verse 14 is our passage and John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
In verses 1 through three John has already made it very clear that the Word is God. All things were created through Him and not one thing that was created was made without Him. So we understand that the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ is eternally God.
The Arians taught that Jesus was not God. They taught that He was the first of all creation and that at a fixed point God begot the son but He was not divine. So Jesus of Nazareth was merely a man. The Arians taught that Jesus Christ was misunderstood by the church and they were wrongly worshipping Him as God. This is the same theology of the Jehovah’s Witnesses today. They are simply repackaged Arians.
The man who attacked this Arian heresy was Athanasius. Many in the church had begun to follow this heresy and Athanasius felt like he was all alone in this fight. He even wrote the statement, “Athanasius against the world!” This is how Athanasius attacked the teachings of Arius. He appealed to Scripture. Here is what he said.
1. No creature can redeem another creature.
2. According to Arius, Jesus Christ is a creature.
3. Therefore, according to Arius, Jesus Christ can not redeem humanity.
Now here is how Athanasius turned it back to Scripture.
1. Only God can save.
Isaiah 45:21 and 22 says:
21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
2. Jesus Christ saves.
Listen to Matthew 1:21.
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Look at your Bibles at John 1:29.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Listen to Acts 4:12.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Athanasius continues his argument and says:
Therefore Jesus is God.
The argument that Athanasius made from Scripture is that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was truly God. This was encapsulated at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD with the Nicene Creed. Listen as I read the first two sentences.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
The problem with heresy is that once you get one thing nailed down another board pops up. Once the divinity of Christ had been established then another attack happened against his humanity. Which is where your second adverb comes in.
2. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united perfectly.
We again go back to verse 14. ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
Remember that Apollinarians claimed that Jesus was indeed God. But they had an overreaction to Arianism in that they claimed that Jesus was not fully human. Remember he had a divine nature that took up the space that would have been the human mind and spirit. After all how could God take up residence with sinful humanity?
Those who argued against the Apollinarians did so by stating that only what is assumed in the incarnation will be redeemed by Christ’s death. If He was not fully human then he could not redeem humanity. And if He were not fully God He would not have the authority to do so.
This is what John tells us here in verses 1 through 14. The Word who was with God and was God became flesh and dwelled among us. He was not aloof but rubbed shoulders with sinful humanity. He Himself even said that He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
The Apostle Paul said it this way. He who knew no sin became sin so that we might be the righteousness of God. The writer of Hebrews said that Christ is able to save to the uttermost. So the two natures of Christ, His divinity and His humanity had to be united truly and perfectly.
Then we have the third adverb that we need to look at.
3. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united undividedly.
The Nestorians said that Christ was two distinct persons rather than one person with two distinct natures. So they saw the Lord Jesus as two persons occupying one body. This creates all kinds of problems. For one if this were true why did the Lord Jesus never refer to Himself as we or us? It was always I or me. Undividedly is the third adverb. Fourth:
4. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united unmixedly.
Remember the last heresy saw Jesus as some sort of hybrid. Like dropping ink into water it becomes mixed together. But the Bible teaches that Christ is united truly, perfectly, undividedly, and unmixedly.
The problem that all these who erred in their understanding of Christ had in common was simply a refusal to take the text of Scripture at face value. One of the things that we believers need to understand and appreciate about God is that we can not explain everything about Him nor should we feel like we have to. We simply need to be able to tell people what the Bible says. Some things we can and should spend time explaining. Others we simply need to believe what the Bible says and not try to explain it away by the work of our feeble capacities for comprehending God who is incomprehensible. We simply know what we know about God because as the source of life and light He has made Himself known. And He has done so to His own satisfaction in the pages of Scripture.
So now that we have those four adverbs in our minds let’s go back to John 1:14 and see what John is telling us. Look at the verse.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
The eternal Word who was with God and was God became flesh. I told you earlier that John uses the same verb that he uses in verse 6 speaking of John the Baptist but it is also the same verb that we find in verse 3 where all things were made through Him. So that which He made He became.
In becoming flesh He did not cease to be the second person of the Trinity. He was and still is the eternal Son of God. But the Word has become flesh. John uses the word flesh intentionally. People are flesh. All of us are flesh and blood with a soul. And the eternal Word became flesh and blood with a human soul. Jesus Christ is as much human as all of us minus the sin nature. And even after His death and resurrection He kept His human body. It still had the scars of crucifixion. He ate with His disciples. He was now in possession of a glorified human body.
Listen to 1 John 3:2.
2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appearswe shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Folks, He became like us so that by His power and authority and redemption we could become like Him. To deny that the Lord Jesus came in the flesh is to deny Him completely. Listen to 1 John 4:1-3.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
Listen to 2 John verse 7.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
John says the eternal Word became flesh and He did something in His flesh. What was it? Look at verse 14 again.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
The foreshadowing Old Testament event was the tabernacle in the wilderness where Moses would go in and meet with God. God would dwell with His people in a tent and would be in the midst of His people. And what John shows us using the same word that is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament is that God has indeed come to tabernacle among His people again. This time He is not in a tent made with men’s hands. He is not in the Temple that is in Jerusalem that is so glorious. He has taken up residence in the man Jesus of Nazareth.
And as we read the Gospel of John and the other three Gospel accounts what we quickly notice is that Jesus Christ got up close to people. Have you ever been around a celebrity? The few that I have been around often seem like they don’t want to be around people because people usually want something from them. But the Lord Jesus would walk among the people. He talked with them and He taught them. He ate with them and got in their fishing boats and visited their tax collecting booths. Remember He was called all kinds of things because of this. He was referred to as a glutton and a winebibber and because of the people He got close to He was dismissed because surely the Messiah would never associate with such lowlifes.
This should provide us as believers some great comfort. The Lord Jesus came so that we could be with Him. He did not come to make us slaves He came to make us sons and daughters. He did not come to have people work in His vineyard but to come and live in the Father’s house. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. I go there to prepare a place for you so that where I am there you may be also.”
When we meet the Lord Jesus face to face we may feel like the prodigal who says just make me a servant but He is the loving Father who brings us into His house. He desires to be with us. And furthermore because the Word became flesh he can sympathize with our weaknesses. Listen to Hebrews 4:15.
For we do not have a highpriest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Listen sinners, we don’t draw near to Christ because we are holy or good enough. We draw near to our great High Priest because He has bid us come unto Him because we are sinful and unholy and unrighteous. If we had to wait until we were sinless to approach Him then we would never be able to come. Even after we are converted we still live in flesh being destroyed by sin and He still calls us to come to Him in faith confessing our sins and receiving the forgiveness of those sins that He has provided by His sufferings.
He came to us. We did not go to Him. He became what we are so that we could be with Him and like Him. He crossed the chasm that separated us from Him and by His cross and His death and His resurrection He is calling us to Himself. In Christ God has come near to us. John says He tabernacled, he placed his dwelling place right next to us.
If that were not enough we have more in verse 14. So how is it that when Christ the Lord takes on human flesh that He does not lose any of His divinity? How is it that two natures can occupy one person? How is it that God can become man without losing any of His Godness?
I don’t know. I only know that is what John tells us and I believe that because if it is not true then I am without hope and so are you. Look at verse 14 again.
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.
Can I tell you first that the glory that John speaks of here points to the cross? Listen to John 12:27-28 where the Lord Jesus starts looking toward the cross.
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
John says that we have seen His glory. And this is a particular glory. It points back to His divinity. Look at verse 14 again. This is how we know Christ did not lose any of His divinity in flesh.
and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
What is translated “as of the only Son” in verse 14 is the Greek word “monogenase.” John is saying that there is not another like the Lord Jesus anywhere. Who else can it be said about that He is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and then in the same book He says Himself, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.”
Let me tell you that there has never been and there will never be another like the Lord Jesus Christ. He is fully God and fully man. He is not two persons occupying one body. He is not some hybrid mixture of deity and humanity. He is the theanthropos, the God-man. He is fully God and He is fully man. He is one person with two natures. That is what John is telling us and that is what Scripture bears out because He is the only one who can save.
Listen to Romans 8:1-4.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set youfree in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
I want to close with Colossians 1:15-23. In that passage the Apostle Paul puts it all together for us. Listen as I read.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For byhim 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. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creationunder heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Let me ask you this morning, God in Christ has come near to us. Have you drawn near to Him? Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Christ alone by faith for salvation? Are you walking with Him because His reason for coming was so that we could do that. That is what John says at the end of verse 14. Look at it with me.
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.
Let’s pray.
The Incarnation
John 1:14
GraceFellowshipChurch
October 18, 2009
Series 6 Sermon 5
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.
Introduction
Sometimes we are very shocked by things that happen to us. Thursday night I was coming home from leading a Bible study and it was rainy and a little foggy. I was on a very familiar road when all of a sudden I see something in the road in the opposite lane that makes absolutely no sense to me. It is large and dark and it looks out of place. I have mere seconds to decide what to do and make of this large dark object. I was thinking as I came upon it pretty rapidly that I could not make sense of this. What is this in the road? It wasn’t until I passed it that I finally realized what it was. It was a very large and dark cow in the road and we looked each other right in the eyes as I passed it going about 45 MPH. I was in very close proximity to this very large animal and I was shocked when I realized how close I came to hitting this animal with my car.
That cow was not supposed to be there. It was supposed to be in the field behind a fence safe and sound for the night. It was out of place. Things like this shock us. Things that are out of place surprise us and they should. There is a specific order for things. And last week I showed you from John 1:12-13 how these verses should shock us. You have verses 6-11 that show how the witnesses of God, John the Baptist, the creation, and Jesus Christ, were all rejected by the world. John said in verse 5 that the light shines into the darkness and the darkness has not comprehended it. So the shock comes in verse 12 that states there have been those who have received the Lord Jesus and they are believing in His name. Verse 13 tells us how this has happened. Those who are believing are doing so because they have been born of God. The surprising, shocking thing in these verses is that God would resurrect to life a dead, blind, and deaf sinner to see Christ Jesus as all glorious.
Like verses 12 and 13, verse 14 is one of those shocking verses. You see like the cow on the road at times we are shocked by what we see and what we read. Verse 14 has historically been one of those verses that have shocked people into a misunderstanding of the text and some have heretically explained this passage.
Let’s set up the context. To understand verse 14 and fully appreciate what is taking place in the verse we need to go back to the first five verses and remember what John has taught us so far. Verse 1 was shocking enough. Look at it.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Remember the Greek verb that is translated “was” in our English text. In the beginning the Word was already there, the Word was already with God and the shocking statement is that the Word was already God. Verse two hammers home the point that the Word was already with God. Look at verse 2.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
John told us that the Word was God but the Word is not all that God is. There are two distinct persons here. Later in John’s gospel we will be introduced to the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. But for now we are told that the Word was God and was with God. And then we have verse three which is even more shocking. The Word was active with God in the beginning. Look at verse 3.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
The Arians were so shocked by these verses that they claimed that Jesus Christ was a created being. They are the ancestors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses today that will come to your home and tell you that Jesus Christ is not God and he was a created being. In 325 AD at the Council of Nicea the Arian understanding of Jesus Christ was called heresy.
The reason it was called heresy is because of verse 3. It is plain that we are dealing with deity. Only God can create and the verse plainly says that all things were created through the Word and that not one thing was created that was created without Him. So that rules out the Word being a created being.
So thus far we have the Word who is eternal, He was with God, and He was God. He is the mediator of all creation and there was nothing created that was created without him. All of the planets, black holes, stars, galaxies, people, and animals were created through Him and then in verse 4 we learn that the Word is the mediator of all life and light. Look at verse 4.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
All physical, moral, and spiritual life emanates from Jesus Christ. Any spiritual light that anyone has comes from Him. And when we understand the effect that sin has had on the human race it should come as no surprise that verse 5 says what it says. Look at verse 5.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome (comprehended) it.
So with verse 5 in mind, that the light has not been properly comprehended or understood it is no wonder that many people throughout church history have stumbled over the doctrine that John presents to us in verse 14. Look at the very first part of verse 14 with me again
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
John does not use any mysterious language here. It is not unclear what John is saying. And that is what makes it so shocking to the ear and to the eyes. Now let’s understand what John is saying. The second person of the eternal Godhead who has always been endowed with deity and power and authority so much so that the entire creation was created through His mediation and in Him is all life and light; this Word who was with God in the beginning and was God became flesh and dwelt among us.
Folks this is not a natural occurrence. John uses the verb “ginomai” that we translate as became. It is the same word that is used of John the Baptist in verse 6 when John says, “There was a man sent from God….” The difference is John was not the light but came to bear witness about the light. But now in verse 14 with very similar language John the Apostle says that the Word became flesh.
He became what He was not already. John could have used different language. He could have said that the Word put on human flesh. He could have said that the Word appeared to have flesh. But he does not. He says very plainly that the Word became flesh.
This is shocking to our system. These words take most of what people believe about God and His other worldliness and the unscriptural idea that we are here and God is far away and dashes that to pieces.
Throughout the early church there have been many, like the Arians that we heard about just minutes ago that have tripped over this doctrine of the incarnation. The reason is because this is really a foreign concept to most. Let me provide you three very prominent examples of heretical views of the incarnation. Sometimes it helps to understand what John is not saying before we understand what he is saying in verse 14.
There was a man who became bishop in Laodicea about 361AD. His name was Apollinarias and his heretical teaching has been called Apollinarianism. He stumbled over John’s words in verse 14. He taught that indeed that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh but this presented a peculiar problem. He taught that the one person of Christ had a human body but not a human mind or spirit. So you had this fragmented human being that was not fully human.
Another group of heretics held that there were two separate persons in Christ. There was the human person when Christ became flesh and the divine person of the eternal second person of the Trinity. This group was called the Nestorians. This view was called heresy by the church as well.
The third view that is heretical is known by two names. Sometimes it is referred to as Monophysitism and sometimes Eutychianism. They held that Jesus was some sort of hybrid. The way they described this was to say that the divine nature and the human nature came together and created this third type of nature that was both human and divine.
So here is the summary of the heretical views.
The Arians simply said that Jesus was not divine. The Apollinarians said that Jesus was not fully human. The Nestorians said that Jesus was two distinct persons rather than one person with two distinct natures. And Eutychianism taught that in Jesus you had this mixture of the human and divine creating this third type of nature.
So how did the church answer these with heretical views? How do we respond to these in a way that does not lessen the glory of God in Christ? They used four adverbs to answer them. And that is what I want you to see from our text this morning. It’s going to be helpful here to understand that what Scripture teaches is that Christ is one person who has two natures. This is not like what you see on cartoons when a person has an angel on one shoulder whispering into one ear and the devil on the other whispering into the other ear. Christ is perfectly human and perfectly divine.
PNP
So from John 1:14 I want to give you these four adverbs that will help us understand and defend the doctrine of the incarnation.
1. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united truly.
2. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united perfectly.
3. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united undividedly.
4. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united unmixedly.
Purpose
The reason I am preaching this passage of Scripture is because it is of the utmost importance that we understand the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many deceivers running around in the world who have heretical views of Christ Jesus. There are those who claim to have visions where they have been told special things by Christ about who He is.
One such person is the famous televangelist and deceiver Kenneth Copeland. He said that if he knew as much of the Old Testament as Jesus did that he could have died on the cross for everyone’s sins. He will even tell people what Jesus looked like and how tall he was.
So it is imperative that we understand John 1:14. We must not be deceived. There is only one Lord Jesus and He is the only one who can save.
RPNP
So look with me at these four adverbs that will help us understand and defend the doctrine of the incarnation.
1. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united truly.
The first part of verse 14 is our passage and John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
In verses 1 through three John has already made it very clear that the Word is God. All things were created through Him and not one thing that was created was made without Him. So we understand that the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ is eternally God.
The Arians taught that Jesus was not God. They taught that He was the first of all creation and that at a fixed point God begot the son but He was not divine. So Jesus of Nazareth was merely a man. The Arians taught that Jesus Christ was misunderstood by the church and they were wrongly worshipping Him as God. This is the same theology of the Jehovah’s Witnesses today. They are simply repackaged Arians.
The man who attacked this Arian heresy was Athanasius. Many in the church had begun to follow this heresy and Athanasius felt like he was all alone in this fight. He even wrote the statement, “Athanasius against the world!” This is how Athanasius attacked the teachings of Arius. He appealed to Scripture. Here is what he said.
1. No creature can redeem another creature.
2. According to Arius, Jesus Christ is a creature.
3. Therefore, according to Arius, Jesus Christ can not redeem humanity.
Now here is how Athanasius turned it back to Scripture.
1. Only God can save.
Isaiah 45:21 and 22 says:
21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
2. Jesus Christ saves.
Listen to Matthew 1:21.
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Look at your Bibles at John 1:29.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Listen to Acts 4:12.
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Athanasius continues his argument and says:
Therefore Jesus is God.
The argument that Athanasius made from Scripture is that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was truly God. This was encapsulated at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD with the Nicene Creed. Listen as I read the first two sentences.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
The problem with heresy is that once you get one thing nailed down another board pops up. Once the divinity of Christ had been established then another attack happened against his humanity. Which is where your second adverb comes in.
2. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united perfectly.
We again go back to verse 14. ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
Remember that Apollinarians claimed that Jesus was indeed God. But they had an overreaction to Arianism in that they claimed that Jesus was not fully human. Remember he had a divine nature that took up the space that would have been the human mind and spirit. After all how could God take up residence with sinful humanity?
Those who argued against the Apollinarians did so by stating that only what is assumed in the incarnation will be redeemed by Christ’s death. If He was not fully human then he could not redeem humanity. And if He were not fully God He would not have the authority to do so.
This is what John tells us here in verses 1 through 14. The Word who was with God and was God became flesh and dwelled among us. He was not aloof but rubbed shoulders with sinful humanity. He Himself even said that He did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
The Apostle Paul said it this way. He who knew no sin became sin so that we might be the righteousness of God. The writer of Hebrews said that Christ is able to save to the uttermost. So the two natures of Christ, His divinity and His humanity had to be united truly and perfectly.
Then we have the third adverb that we need to look at.
3. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united undividedly.
The Nestorians said that Christ was two distinct persons rather than one person with two distinct natures. So they saw the Lord Jesus as two persons occupying one body. This creates all kinds of problems. For one if this were true why did the Lord Jesus never refer to Himself as we or us? It was always I or me. Undividedly is the third adverb. Fourth:
4. When the Word became flesh the two natures of Christ were united unmixedly.
Remember the last heresy saw Jesus as some sort of hybrid. Like dropping ink into water it becomes mixed together. But the Bible teaches that Christ is united truly, perfectly, undividedly, and unmixedly.
The problem that all these who erred in their understanding of Christ had in common was simply a refusal to take the text of Scripture at face value. One of the things that we believers need to understand and appreciate about God is that we can not explain everything about Him nor should we feel like we have to. We simply need to be able to tell people what the Bible says. Some things we can and should spend time explaining. Others we simply need to believe what the Bible says and not try to explain it away by the work of our feeble capacities for comprehending God who is incomprehensible. We simply know what we know about God because as the source of life and light He has made Himself known. And He has done so to His own satisfaction in the pages of Scripture.
So now that we have those four adverbs in our minds let’s go back to John 1:14 and see what John is telling us. Look at the verse.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
The eternal Word who was with God and was God became flesh. I told you earlier that John uses the same verb that he uses in verse 6 speaking of John the Baptist but it is also the same verb that we find in verse 3 where all things were made through Him. So that which He made He became.
In becoming flesh He did not cease to be the second person of the Trinity. He was and still is the eternal Son of God. But the Word has become flesh. John uses the word flesh intentionally. People are flesh. All of us are flesh and blood with a soul. And the eternal Word became flesh and blood with a human soul. Jesus Christ is as much human as all of us minus the sin nature. And even after His death and resurrection He kept His human body. It still had the scars of crucifixion. He ate with His disciples. He was now in possession of a glorified human body.
Listen to 1 John 3:2.
2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appearswe shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Folks, He became like us so that by His power and authority and redemption we could become like Him. To deny that the Lord Jesus came in the flesh is to deny Him completely. Listen to 1 John 4:1-3.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
Listen to 2 John verse 7.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
John says the eternal Word became flesh and He did something in His flesh. What was it? Look at verse 14 again.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
The foreshadowing Old Testament event was the tabernacle in the wilderness where Moses would go in and meet with God. God would dwell with His people in a tent and would be in the midst of His people. And what John shows us using the same word that is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament is that God has indeed come to tabernacle among His people again. This time He is not in a tent made with men’s hands. He is not in the Temple that is in Jerusalem that is so glorious. He has taken up residence in the man Jesus of Nazareth.
And as we read the Gospel of John and the other three Gospel accounts what we quickly notice is that Jesus Christ got up close to people. Have you ever been around a celebrity? The few that I have been around often seem like they don’t want to be around people because people usually want something from them. But the Lord Jesus would walk among the people. He talked with them and He taught them. He ate with them and got in their fishing boats and visited their tax collecting booths. Remember He was called all kinds of things because of this. He was referred to as a glutton and a winebibber and because of the people He got close to He was dismissed because surely the Messiah would never associate with such lowlifes.
This should provide us as believers some great comfort. The Lord Jesus came so that we could be with Him. He did not come to make us slaves He came to make us sons and daughters. He did not come to have people work in His vineyard but to come and live in the Father’s house. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. I go there to prepare a place for you so that where I am there you may be also.”
When we meet the Lord Jesus face to face we may feel like the prodigal who says just make me a servant but He is the loving Father who brings us into His house. He desires to be with us. And furthermore because the Word became flesh he can sympathize with our weaknesses. Listen to Hebrews 4:15.
For we do not have a highpriest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Listen sinners, we don’t draw near to Christ because we are holy or good enough. We draw near to our great High Priest because He has bid us come unto Him because we are sinful and unholy and unrighteous. If we had to wait until we were sinless to approach Him then we would never be able to come. Even after we are converted we still live in flesh being destroyed by sin and He still calls us to come to Him in faith confessing our sins and receiving the forgiveness of those sins that He has provided by His sufferings.
He came to us. We did not go to Him. He became what we are so that we could be with Him and like Him. He crossed the chasm that separated us from Him and by His cross and His death and His resurrection He is calling us to Himself. In Christ God has come near to us. John says He tabernacled, he placed his dwelling place right next to us.
If that were not enough we have more in verse 14. So how is it that when Christ the Lord takes on human flesh that He does not lose any of His divinity? How is it that two natures can occupy one person? How is it that God can become man without losing any of His Godness?
I don’t know. I only know that is what John tells us and I believe that because if it is not true then I am without hope and so are you. Look at verse 14 again.
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.
Can I tell you first that the glory that John speaks of here points to the cross? Listen to John 12:27-28 where the Lord Jesus starts looking toward the cross.
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
John says that we have seen His glory. And this is a particular glory. It points back to His divinity. Look at verse 14 again. This is how we know Christ did not lose any of His divinity in flesh.
and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
What is translated “as of the only Son” in verse 14 is the Greek word “monogenase.” John is saying that there is not another like the Lord Jesus anywhere. Who else can it be said about that He is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and then in the same book He says Himself, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.”
Let me tell you that there has never been and there will never be another like the Lord Jesus Christ. He is fully God and fully man. He is not two persons occupying one body. He is not some hybrid mixture of deity and humanity. He is the theanthropos, the God-man. He is fully God and He is fully man. He is one person with two natures. That is what John is telling us and that is what Scripture bears out because He is the only one who can save.
Listen to Romans 8:1-4.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set youfree in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
I want to close with Colossians 1:15-23. In that passage the Apostle Paul puts it all together for us. Listen as I read.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For byhim 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. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creationunder heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Let me ask you this morning, God in Christ has come near to us. Have you drawn near to Him? Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Christ alone by faith for salvation? Are you walking with Him because His reason for coming was so that we could do that. That is what John says at the end of verse 14. Look at it with me.
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.
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