John: So That You May Believe...Gospel of John, Part 04, John 1:12-18, The Logos Received

 September 29^th, 2024

From The Series: John- So That You May Believe

Part 04 The Logos Received

John 1:12-18

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

Here we are in the final portion of the prologue this morning. Here is a quick recap: the first 18 verses of chapter 1 are considered the prologue or introduction of the Book of John. In the first two messages from the prologue we examined the use of the word Logos to describe Jesus of Nazareth and we saw how Jesus was, and continues to be rejected by many.

This morning, we will see how John announces that the Logos is received in this last part of the prologue. This receiving is not a Plan B by God, we will see this morning that this was always part of the original Plan of Redemption that was decided upon by the Godhead. Our attitude about this issue speaks directly to our understanding of the Sovereignty of God. We will address this further in the final point of this morning’s message.

I am going to quote and reference a fair amount of Scripture today because I want you to realize that what I am saying is what the Bible says and not just my opinion. Not all Scripture that I quote will be on the screen this morning, but it will be listed in the bulletin. Follow along with your bulletin open and a pen in hand. If I say something that piques your interest, put a star beside that passage and go home and verify what I said was accurate and in context by reading the paragraph before and the paragraph after the section that I quoted. These things are important, and I want you to be paying attention. We will be feeding on some really important issues this morning.

For context, I will read the entire prologue again this morning before we jump into the final section for a deeper look. Please open your Bible to the first chapter of the Gospel of John and I will read the first 18 verses.

READ JOHN 1:1-18

“¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 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 testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

PRAY

The three points that I see emerging from this passage are:

1. Christians are children of God. Contrary to what you may have been told in the past, the Bible says that we are not all children of God. We will deal with this shortly.

2. The second point I see emerging from this text is that Christians are born of God. Scripture is clear in multiple places that this is an action of God, by God. We will see what Scripture has to say about that in a few minutes.

3. The third point I see emerging from this text is Christians are given Grace. I always seem to need more time for the third point, so I hope we have enough time to examin the doctrine of Grace, moving beyond the brief dictionary definition we all know.

With that being said, let’s jump to the first point: Christians are Children of God. The first thing we need to do is understand that there is a difference between being created by God and being a Child of God.

We are all created by God. Every person, animal, insect, and plant is created by God. Everything in the Universe is a creation of God. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created…” God continues to create today, He has simply changed His methods of creating. Now the Lord creates through procreation.

I like the way that the New Living Translation puts it, “¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13. Make no mistake, procreation is the method, but God is still the Creator. As a man married to a creative person who crochets, I like the image that this verse brings to mind. It is God who knits us together in our Mother’s womb, even the delicate inner parts of our bodies.

So, that is the Creator God. But not all those who are created are Children of God. Now, don’t get mad at me, I know this is offensive to some people. I’ll let you in on a secret, I don’t know who is and who isn’t a child of God. Most likely, neither do you. That is why we must approach everybody we come in contact with as if they are a child of God. It is not our job to prequalify people before we share the Gospel with them. Keep that in mind. But, the Bible is clear that some are born of God and some are not.

In his first epistle, John goes into this thought in greater detail. We are not ALL Children of God. Some in this world, I would say most, are children of the devil. How can we tell the difference? 1 John 3:10 says, “¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

What is our proof of being a Child of God? 1 John 5:2 gives us some ideas, “¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ and is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.” Living our lives according to the commands of God is proof that we are His children. Living out the commands in a loving and obedient manner, not from a sense of obligation, or in an attempt to earn favour with God.

It is true that we are living in a period of Grace, but that does not mean Grace replaces the Law. This is a misinterpretation of God’s Word. It is a misunderstanding known as antinomianism and was taught to be a heresy by the early church. In Matthew 5:17-18 Jesus taught us these very words, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” In other words, Jesus not only fulfilled all that the prophets proclaimed about Him, but He also fulfilled all the requirements of the Law in order to try and earn your way to heaven. Jesus’ once for all our sins sacrifice was sufficient to repair our relationship with the Father.

But what does it mean to believe “that Jesus is the Christ”? James 2:19 tests us with this thought, “¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” Think back to the many encounters that Jesus had with demons in the Gospels. The demons recognized Jesus when they came face-to-face with Him. One even asked if it was the appointed time for His appearance.  So, James tells us that simply recognizing that there is one God is not enough to save us. Believing there is one God is not enough to save us. We must believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that His completed work on the Cross was complete and accepted by the Father as payment for our disobedience and sin against Him as God.

This is important and worth a slide. The good news is that even belief and faith are gifts that are supplied by God to us. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains this to us, “⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—⁹ not by works so that no one can boast.” We must recognize that even our faith is a gift from God. If we received Grace from God as a result of our faith, then it would be by our works that we are saved. Verse 8 proclaims that both grace and faith are gifts from God. This is why verse 9 is in the text, “so that no one can boast.”

This thought, that I can do nothing to earn my way to God was one of the primary reasons that I recognized the Christian faith as true. The false religions that I had been studying earlier in my life all contained an aspect of works. A balancing of good deeds versus bad deeds. All in an attempt to show that I was worthy of entrance to heaven. Only Christianity teaches that you can do nothing before Salvation, it all falls on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to do the saving. Our work begins after Salvation through the sharing of the Gospel to bring more to the Kingdom of God and living an exemplary life by following the commands of God.

Let’s look back at the first two verses in today’s passage, verses 12 and 13, “¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” Let’s circle back to what it means to be Children of God and Born of God.

To become Children of God is not our doing. Verse 13 says, “Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” Let’s take these one at a time. Children born not of natural descent. John is referring primarily to the Jews here who were so proud of their heritage and genealogy. But the same applies to us who are not of Jewish descent but may have been born into a Christian home or family. Your Christianity is an individual calling and applies only to you. You do not inherit your Christian faith from your Christian mother, father, or grandparents.

The same applies to your children. Don’t get me wrong, I think being raised in a Christian home with godly parents who live out their faith daily, is a tremendous advantage. It is a moral head start that will help your children do well in the world. But are you teaching them God's Word in your home? Do you, or did you, practice family devotions in your home when the children were young? Was Jesus present in the home Monday through Saturday, or just evident in your life for a couple of hours on Sundays?

The second point in this verse makes it clear that your being saved was not your decision. “Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision…” Don’t get mad at me, that’s what the Bible says. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the source. While Jesus was talking with the Pharisee Nicodemus at night, Jesus taught him some interesting things. John 3:3, 5-6 records, “³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”  ⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” By the way, the born of water does not refer to Baptism as you might think. Water is often used as a metaphor for the Word of God or Scripture. Being “Born of Water and the Spirit” refers to the hearing of God’s Word and the work of the Spirit in us.

Paul writes the same instruction to Titus in the Letter that bears his name, “⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,” Titus 3:4-6. According to these passages, regeneration happens before salvation.

Just as the LORD told the prophet, Ezekiel, “²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:26-27. This is more proof that salvation is of the Lord. Can you give yourself a new heart?

Scripture tells us we were dead in our trespasses. What can a dead man do to save himself? I have heard the analogy of sinners being like a drowning man clinging to Jesus as to a life-preserver. But Scripture says we were dead, not drowning. We were unable to cling to anything when we were still lost in our sins. Praise God we were born again! Born into the family of God. We are now heirs, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the proof of this inheritance.

Believers no longer belong to the devil, nor to those whose father the devil is. 1 John 3:7-8 gives us this promise. Listen to this, “⁷ Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Do you believe what Scripture says here, friends? “The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” Identify the pronoun here: “The one who does what is righteous”, that would be you and me as believers, “is righteous, just as he is righteous”. Just as who is righteous? Who is the only one righteous? Who is the “he” in this verse? Jesus Christ. But, “⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.”

Are you prepared to believe as Christians that you are Children of God, not born of heritage, merit, or your choice, but Born of God through the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit?

There is another requirement of God’s Children besides just obedience to Him. God's children are to love one another. John 13:33-35 says, “³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” Being Children of God has a vertical aspect to it and a horizontal aspect to it. This is why we are to reconcile with others in Christ, who we have a disagreement with. This is how we show we are true disciples of Jesus Christ.

One last thing before we move onto the point that Christians are given Grace. At the moment, today in our present lives, we do not fully appreciate what this means: to be a child of God. 1 John 3:1-2 explains this to us, “¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” We will not fully appreciate what it means to be a child of God until we are in His presence. It is not until we see His perfection for ourselves in the New Eden that we reach our state of perfection in our Glorified bodies and our sanctification is complete. Oh, what a day that will be!

Ok, let’s move on to the final point for this morning’s sermon, “Christians are given Grace”. Look at verse 16 of John Chapter One with me, “¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” The phrase “grace in place of grace already given” refers to the piling on of grace that one experiences as they go through life with Jesus. As we grow in our maturity and sanctification with Jesus as Lord, the Grace that we receive only multiplies and we experience God’s blessings in more and different ways. Even when we go through hardships, if we are mature enough, we can recognize the blessings those hardships contain and we receive more grace in our lives.

But what does it mean to speak of “the fullness” of Jesus Christ? Out of His fullness means that Jesus contains the full attributes of God, not just Love. We cannot speak of God's love without speaking of His wrath. We cannot speak of His mercy without speaking of his judgment. We cannot speak of heaven without speaking of hell. We cannot speak of a Saviour without speaking of our sinfulness.

Why is this important to grasp? It is important to understand the true Jesus in all His fullness, or we risk our salvation. 1 John 1:1-3, "¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." In these three verses, John is attempting to impress upon us the fullness of Jesus Christ. That Jesus shared all the attributes of the Father and that they were one in purpose and essence. Jesus and the Father are one.

We do not have the option to paint a different Jesus than He actually was. We must accept and worship the fullness of Jesus, not some pared-down idol of our own making. To worship any other Jesus than the full and complete version of Jesus causes us to risk our salvation, because we are not following the true Jesus.

We have pastors and denominations leading people away from the true Jesus. Many false teachers give you the sugar-coated Jesus because He is easier to sell and fill the church with.

John makes this point again in verse 18, “¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” No one is closer to the Father than the Son. It is the closest relationship that has ever been. Closer than any husband and wife, or parent and child. The only way that you could have a relationship that is close to being this close is to clone yourself. But even then, it would only be a shadow of this true relationship because the Father and Son and Spirit have been one since eternity past.

We cannot have this level of closeness, but we can still receive the benefit of this fullness from Jesus. Colossians 2:9-10 says this, “⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” In Christ we are complete. The grace of Jesus Christ permits us to rest in His completed work for our salvation.

But what of grace? God’s grace flows out of his inter-trinitarian, gift-giving life. Even in humanity’s fallen state, God freely grants to his creatures good things they do not deserve. The greatest of these goods is Jesus Christ.

One of the most amazing ways that God show His grace to us is explained in Exodus 34:6 which reads,  “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”. Think about that for a minute. The point that God is slow to anger with His rebellious creatures should cause us all to shout hallelujah choruses all day long. The fact that the Lord did not erase us from existence the first time we sinned or even the last time we sinned against Him is a testimony of His love for us.

Because of our rebellion, we are all deserving of hell. The people who question God by accusing Him of sending good people to hell is absurd. Romans tells us that there is no one good, not one. We as humans like to grade goodness on the bell curve, and even then it does not look good for us. In our fallen state, everyone fails to reach that 100% mark in goodness. It is part of our human nature to think that good is all relative. We constantly compare ourselves to our neighbours, friends, or family members and we tell ourselves that we aren't that bad, so-and-so is worse, look what they have done.

The problem is that we are comparing ourselves to the wrong standard. Our standard for goodness is not our neighbour or even our parents. The Gold-medal standard for goodness is found in the person of Jesus Christ. So, when you compare yourself to Jesus, how’s that workin’ for you so far?

When we understand that God’s grace is the unmerited divine favour, a favour from which comes many gifts and that the greatest of these gifts is Jesus Christ, then friends what more could we need? Our fullness in life should be found in Jesus. If you lost all the blessings that you have received from God tomorrow, would you still love your Lord?

If you were like Job of the Old Testament and lost all your children and grandchildren, all your belongings and all your savings, would you be like Job and say to the Lord,

“² “I know that you can do all things;

no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.’

⁵ My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you.

⁶ Therefore I despise myself

and repent in dust and ashes.”   Job 42:2-6

Is repentance a regular occurrence for you? When was the last time you repented of your sins to the Father? The World hates that question! When we repent, we are forced to remember our mistakes and our shortcomings. We are forced to admit our imperfections, our need for a saviour. The Worldly do not wish to be reminded of their needs in this area.

Don’t be like the World, be like Job. I ask you again if you lost everything tomorrow, would you still love Jesus? Would your salvation be enough? Have you accepted the salvation that He is offering you?

CONCLUSION

I want to close with this quote from C.S. Lewis who once described himself as the most reluctant convert in all of Britain.

“I never had the experience of looking for God. It was the other way round: He was the hunter (or so it seemed to me) and I was the deer. He stalked me like a whitetail, took unerring aim, and fired. And I am very thankful that this is how the first (conscious) meeting occurred. It forearms one against subsequent fears that the whole thing was only wish fulfillment. Something one didn’t wish for can hardly be that.” [C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections^[1]

            Take joy in the fact that you had nothing to do with your salvation. As Lewis said he was glad he didn’t wish or ask for salvation, if it was of Lewis’ doing, he might change his mind and walk away.

Doxology:

In place of the usual doxology, let me leave you with these words from Jesus Christ:

“³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Go in peace, you are dismissed.

Pastor Paul’s Points:

1) Christians Are Children of God.

2) Christians Are Born of God.

3) Christians Are Given Grace.

 

Questions to meditate on this week:

A. Have you accepted the fact you are a Child of God?

B. Have you accepted that not all are a Child of God?

C. Have you accepted that salvation is of God?

---

^[1] Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 177.

John- So That You May Believe, Gospel of John, Part 03, John 1:6-11, Logos Lost

 September 22^nd, 2024

From The Series: John- So That You May Believe

Part 03 Logos Lost

The Gospel of John

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

Good morning, again. This morning we are resuming our series from the Gospel of John and the title of this morning’s message is “Logos Lost”. Last week we learned the historical/cultural background surrounding the choice by the author John of the word “Logos”. I fear I might have lost a few of you last week but I felt it important for us to grasp why John chose the “Word” to describe Jesus.

To the original Greek audience, “Logos” carried with it the idea of a force or power in the Universe that watched over things. It was an impersonal force referred to as “The One and All”. John begins his Gospel by saying, “Hey, that unknowable force you call the ‘One and All’, we can know it and His name is Jesus”.

John also had a Jewish audience in mind when he wrote his gospel. The word “Word” carried significant meaning for the Jews as well. In Hebrew, the word is dabar and is used nearly 3000 times in the Old Testament. It is used as both a verb and a noun. As both an action word and as a name. In addition to the ordinary use of dabar to indicate speaking or talking, it also has significant theological use. Primarily used in, God speaking to His people, either directly as in the case of Adam, Abraham, and Moses, to name a few, or speaking to His people through the prophets.

So we see that Words are powerful. They are powerful in the sense that it is through the use of God’s words that we see His power revealed. But, we will come back to that in a bit.

This morning we are in the middle section of the prologue which we saw last week is evidently here at the start of the gospel. For context, let’s read the full prologue again, and then I’ll come back to the middle section, verses 6 to 11 and we will examine those verses more closely this morning.

Please follow along in your Bibles or on your devices as we study the first 18 verses of the first chapter of John. Starting in John Chapter 1, verse 1.

If you did not bring your Bible this morning, you should find one underneath one of the chairs in the row in front of you. John Chapter 1 will be found on page 860 of the pew bible. If you do not have a bible at home, please take that bible with you as a gift from Mountain View Church. We feel that it is vitally important that you have easy access to God’s Word. And God’s Word says…

READ JOHN 1:1-18

PRAY

This morning, if I have completed my preparation well, we should see by the end of the message these three main points:

1.       Jesus as the Light.

2.       Jesus as the Truth.

3.       Jesus is rejected.

Notice that this third point is in the present tense not just the past tense. That is deliberate because Jesus is still being rejected today. I’m sure we all have friends, family, or neighbours who are still rejecting Jesus and we will deal with that in a bit. But first, let us deal with Jesus as the Light.

Look with me in your Bibles at the sixth verse of this first chapter. Verse 6 says, “⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” In the introduction message for this series, we covered the fact that the Apostle John, the author of this book, never refers to himself by name in the Gospel of John. So, the “man sent from God whose name was John” must be another John. Besides, John the Apostle does not claim to be a prophet of God, he is more than a prophet. His office is greater because he was an Apostle of Jesus, an office that is higher than a prophet. John spent three years in the very presence of the God-Man Jesus of Nazareth. Prophets only heard from God periodically mainly through the temporary empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

In that way, believers today have a richer gift than the prophets of old did, as we have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a seal, a guarantee that we belong to Jesus. How are doing with that gift? Are you remaining sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit? Do you actively listen for the voice of God in your life? Not just when you are reading your Bibles every day and trying to learn from God’s Word, but also in your every action throughout every day. Are you actively listening for God’s input?

I am doing some premarital coaching with a couple at the moment, and we have been learning together about the concept of actively listening. What this boils down to is, when your spouse is talking to you, are you giving them your full attention? Or, are you allowing yourself to be distracted from what he/she is saying by still reading, watching tv, or checking something on your phone while they are speaking? Actively listening is an important tool to use in communicating with your spouse.

If it is important to use with your spouse, how much more critical is it to use with our Saviour? How many more important things should we be hearing from our Saviour through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit?

The author of the book of Hebrews begins his book with these wise words, “¹ In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Hebrews 1:1-2 If God is speaking to us through the words of His Son, are we listening? Are we actively listening? Or, are we listening to God like we sometimes listen to our spouse? Not fully engaged, but partially distracted by something the world is trying to say to us?

But what about prophets? How do we know what they say is trustworthy? 2 Peter 1:21 states “²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” We see this same description used of John the Baptist. That is why he is referred to as “a man sent from God.” This statement legitimizes all that John the Baptist has to say.

Back to our passage from today, the author of the gospel points to another John, a prophet, one who was sent from God and look at verse 7. We see what the mission of this prophet was, “⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.”

A couple of things from the verse. We will talk about witnessing and testifying, and we will also talk about “that” light.

First, we need to identify the pronouns. The “he/him” in this verse refers to John the Baptist as the witness. It is through the words of witnesses like John that we come to believe in Jesus. Those who testify about Jesus are the agents of belief, while Jesus remains the object of belief. God chooses to tell others about Himself through the witnessing of those who have come to a saving knowledge of Him. God’s Word speaks to us, and the Holy Spirit speaks to those that are His. But the majority of the world hears about Jesus through the testimony of others.

John the Baptist is introduced as a prophet from God sent to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. John is the herald, the one who proceeds the coming Messiah to gather the attention of the masses to be alert to the coming messenger and His message.

The words witness and testify should bring to mind a courtroom and should indicate that what these people are speaking are facts and not mere opinions. That is why when you are sharing the gospel with someone, it is very persuasive to tell them what Jesus has done for you and how the presence of the Savior has changed your life. That is why we call it sharing your testimony.

Now, interestingly, Thursday night at Youth, the lecture we watched taught that sharing just your testimony is not a strong enough reason to proclaim your trust in the Bible. And I would add, that just sharing your testimony with others is often not enough to convince someone in Jesus. The main reason for this is that it is not you who are doing the convincing, rather it is the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives that does the convincing. Our testimony acts as a witness to the changing effect that God’s work has in our lives.

What was it that John was testifying to? Both John the Apostle and John the Baptist were proclaiming that Jesus is the Light. The light of the world. The spiritual light which replaces the darkness that exists in the hearts of men while they are still spiritually dead. Spiritual light is slightly different from physical light in that physical light and physical darkness can not occupy the same space at the same time. When physical light comes along, physical darkness is no more.

But spiritual darkness can exist in the same space as spiritual light. Take the home where one spouse is saved and the other is not. There we have spiritual light and spiritual darkness occupying the same space at the same time. Marilyn was saved and went to church for almost a whole year before I was saved. But Marilyn had an ally in her attempts with me. She had the pastor and that little country church praying for my salvation during that year and God in His mercy, reached out and pulled me back to Him. So friends, if you have someone in your life who is not saved, don’t be shy, don’t be embarrassed. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, we were all lost sinners at one point. Pray for your lost loved one, ask your pastor for prayers for them, and ask during corporate prayer time so that the whole church can pray for them.

Look at verse 8 from our passage this morning, “⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” We see the gospel writer confirming that John the Baptist was not the light, but merely the witness to the light. The herald, the proclaimer, or the opening act before the headliner takes the stage.

Look at verse 9, “⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” This leads us to our second point of the morning: Jesus as the Truth. We’ve examined Jesus as the Light, and now we are going to look at Jesus as the Truth.

"True" refers to not only the same name but the same nature. "True" as in the same nature as God the Father. This is deep theology being expressed here in only a few words. Jesus as the truth also represents that Jesus shares the same Nature as the Father.

Everyone knows John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life” and most people stop there because that is the safe zone. There is nothing offensive about that statement.

But the next verse when added to the previous verse is cause for resentment. “⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7

That part about “no one comes to the Father except through me” is what others find offensive. As a matter of fact, even the Pope seems to find this statement offensive. While he was in Singapore and was addressing a group of interdenominational youth, the Holy Father said, “All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy, they are like different languages that express the divine.” But that is not what Jesus is saying here in Scripture. Jesus doesn’t say, “Everybody on every path” ends up at the Father.

Jesus is very blunt and clear, and this is the part that people find offensive, Jesus declares, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” I’m not trying to put words in Jesus’ mouth here, but it sure seems like He is saying that the Hindus, the Buddhists, and the Muslims are not coming to the Father because they all reject the deity of Jesus. Or those who do not reject the deity of Jesus, but refuse to acknowledge the exclusivity that Jesus proclaims here are also doomed.

This is what makes Jesus the “true light” that the gospel writer is speaking of. But what is Jesus and John speaking of? They are speaking of the truth, the saving belief that Jesus Christ was the Logos, that He was God, who took on human form, one who added flesh to His being and walked among His creation. Jesus lived among us for some thirty-odd years. He lived a perfect exemplary life, one that was without sin.

He did this so that Jesus could be presented before the Father as the spotless Lamb of God. The fulfillment of all the sacrifices offered at the Tabernacle and then at the Temples which were but a mere foreshadowing of His ultimate sacrifice for sin.

The shedding of blood was established as a tangible sign of what is difficult for us to see immediately in our lives. What I am referring to is our sins often come with a cost. The sins of Adam and Eve came with the greatest of costs because the perfect relationship that mankind had with the Creator God was severed and our forefathers were ejected from the perfect Garden. Blood was shed when animals were sacrificed and Adam and his wife were clothed in animal skins. This established the pattern between man and God.

This pattern of animal sacrifice was fulfilled and set aside when the spotless lamb of God, His very Son, allowed Himself to be nailed to a rough Roman Cross and His blood shed to cover the sins of all men. Through the death of the Son, our sin-debt was satisfied with the Father.

Christ laid down His life for us while we were still sinners, and then He raised it up again and walked out of that borrowed tomb of a rich man. Raising up again proved that Jesus was God because He told His disciples before His death in chapter 10 of John, “¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” John 10:17-18. Second- The Father was satisfied with the payment. We know because Jesus proclaimed from the Cross, “It is finished”.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we now live in a period of Grace. Grace is the underserved, unearned mercy from the Father that is given freely to those whom the Father loves, not of human decision as verse 13 says. Once we accept this gift we are called to live differently from the world.

Ephesians 5:8-10 says, “⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord.” Paul is carrying on this theme of Light which John speaks of here. There is a contrast between the darkness of the world and the light of Jesus presented in the Gospel of John and elsewhere in the New Testament.

This metaphor is useful not just for the teachings of Jesus, for the teachings of many wise men could be described as providing light. It is more than that because Jesus as Light represents the difference between the two kingdoms. The kingdom of this world, the Kingdom assigned to Satan and his minions for a time, and the opposite kingdom, the righteous coming Kingdom of God which will cause Eden to be restored when Christ returns to earth to rule over us. The enemy is already defeated, it just isn’t his time yet. Until that time comes, he will continue to wreck as much pain and hurt on this world as God permits.

Look back with me at verse 10 of today’s passage. “¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” I love how Scripture is so full of understatements. I think God intentionally does that so when we sit and study what His Word says to us, and we grasp the deeper meaning contained in a verse, it has an even bigger impact on us. To me, this is one of those verses.

When we read this verse in light of other verses in the Bible, it is like the revealed beauty of the flower of the Peony and the many petals represent the fulness of truth contained within the pages of the Bible. Again, in this verse, we must identify the pronouns, for the Apostle John has shifted from speaking about the herald of God, to now talking about the Son of God. He, Jesus, was in the world. This is the introduction of the incarnate Jesus. No genealogies, no big birth account from John. John goes from existence before time and creation in verse 1, to here in verse 10 the same Divine Being now entering into His own Creation.

He was in the world, the Greek word for world here is kosmos and while it can refer to simply the planet Earth, it does carry with its use the wider implication of all the Universe. That is what John means when he states, “though the world was made through him” John is addressing the broader creation of all the Cosmos, all of space.

Keep your finger here in John but trun with me for a quick second and take a look with me at Colossians chapter 1. Colossians 1 can be found on page 954 in the Pew Bible.

Colossians 1:15-20 says, “¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ 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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Did you catch that in verse 17? Jesus not only created the Universe, He is holding it all together.

Okay, back to John 1, verse 10. John identifies Jesus as the creator, the God who was present in Genesis 1:1-3. John is appealing to his Jewish audience here. John is reminding them that the power of God was displayed through the spoken word. We touched on this last week. Numerous times and in numerous ways, God displayed His power through words.

Here is where the secular world gets it wrong. You will hear people say that “words have power”. Except for God’s words, words do not have power. Words spoken by others only have power if we choose to give them power. Hateful words which are rejected by us, have no power. They are useful tools for communicating ideas but human words have no power to manifest or conjure.

God’s words are powerful. We see this power recorded in the passages from Genesis chapter 1 for example. 10 times in Genesis chapter 1 "God said", and 5 times God "called" and gave names, 7 times God said things were good, with the crowning declaration after God created mankind and he called it "very good". It was through God’s spoken words that creation came into existence.

Now in the second half of this verse, John pulls back from the large meaning for kosmos and Universe, to the smaller meaning of World or earth. John says “the world did not recognize him.” The ESV translates it as “know”. “the world did not know him.” ESV. The ESV uses the word "know" in place of "recognize". For the Greek word ginosko (gheen-OS-ko) which means, to know, perceive, to understand, and have knowledge of.

This is still true of Jesus today. The Gospel has reached just about every corner of the planet and almost every tribe in their own language, or in at least a language that they can communicate in and yet, much of the world still chooses to reject Jesus. This indicates to me a few things, and you are free to disagree with my conclusions. A couple of these are secondary issues.

The first, which I feel is a primary issue speaks to the sinful, rebellious nature of mankind. Over and over, we hear from secular experts how we are all basically good, and there are only a few bad people in the world. Some “so-called” Christian leaders say the same thing. Smiling Joe from down Houston Texas claims this despite the Bible saying in Romans 3:23, “²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”. If we all fall short, then we all need a Savior. Amen?

Alright, the final verse and the final point of the morning, “¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” Jesus came to His own, the Jewish people first. They rejected Him. His people not only rejected Him, the religious leaders, crucified and killed Him. All a part of God’s Glorious redemptive Plan for humanity.

What does it mean that they rejected Him or they did not receive Him? In James Strong’s Enhanced Lexicon, the Greek word is described as this, “1 to take to, to take with one’s self, to join to one’s self. B metaph. 1B1 to accept or acknowledge one to be such as he professes to be. 1B2 not to reject, not to withhold obedience.” That antonym (the opposite definition) is most illuminating for this passage. “Not to reject, not to withhold obedience”. Isn’t that what we see in so much of the world when they reject Jesus? They are withholding their obedience.

We saw earlier this morning the comparisons that John makes in his gospel between those walking with Jesus and those who are not. John's Gospel is very "Black and White". John presents the world in terms of stark contrast. Paul is more nuanced, but John draws firm lines in the theology that he presents. "Darkness and Light", "truth and Lies", "Acceptance or Rejection", "Life or Death", and "In or Out". John makes his points very clear. John’s Gospel is often presented as the “Gospel of Love” but the Love is often contrasted with the judgement of God. We are so good at ignoring the things that we find uncomfortable.

The word "rejected" is used 124 times in the NIV in 115 verses, mainly referring to man rejecting God's Laws and decrees. In the Old Testament “rejected” is used over a dozen times by the Psalmist when he laments about the rejection BY God of His people because of their disobedience.

Early in His ministry, Jesus spoke to His disciples about being rejected. Mark 8:31, "He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again." His disciples found this truth difficult to accept. Peter even rebuked the Lord and said it would never happen. That was when Jesus called Peter Satan. But Peter did not yet fully understand the redemptive plan of Christ.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus warns His followers and by extension, He warns us, "²² Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.” Luke 6:22. When we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people, we should expect to be rejected because of Him and our association with Jesus. We should never let the threat of losing a friendship prevent us from sharing the Gospel with someone. If they truly are your friends, then they will accept all of you.

I was witnessing to my barber this week while I was getting a haircut and I gave him a bible to read and study. Thanked me for the gift and we will be texting back and forth in the future. Lord willing, we may see him at a Men’s Group or in church some Sunday morning.

CONCLUSION

The title of this morning’s sermon is “Logos Lost”. We see in the last verse of this morning’s passage that Jesus was rejected by His people, the Jewish people and more specifically, the Jewish religious leaders. This rejection of Jesus continues today, however, the rejection has spread far beyond the borders of the ancient Palestinian region. Jesus is being rejected around the world in all cultures. We here in Canada have become very adept at rejecting Jesus and His teachings as the low church attendance can attest to. I was listening to Pastor Paul Washer this week and he said that the true follower of Jesus yearns to gather each week and worship their Lord and Saviour. They long to gather with the other Saints and come together in community to lift each other.

Our “Natural” state is rebellion against God. This is evident in our lives before we became saved. This “Natural” state of rebellion is evident in the amount of people who are still rejecting the person of Jesus and His teachings. Sure, some have adopted “some” of His teachings, the teachings that do not challenge their autonomy, the teachings that allow them to remain in their sinful lifestyles. Those that teach “God is Love” and “All Love is Love”. Those are the people who will never bow their heads, or bend their knees in submission to Jesus Christ. Not without the supernatural intervening work of The Holy Spirit, who will replace their hearts of stone with a heart of flesh for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah, Praise God when that happens. If you have not bent the knee to Jesus, if you have not submitted your entire life to Jesus, come talk to me, I’ll be right here, upfront.

Doxology:

The Apostle Paul closes out his great work of theology, the Book of Romans with this doxology regarding Jesus. From Romans chapter 16, “²⁵ Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith—²⁷ to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

May you go in peace, you are dismissed. 

Pastor Paul’s Points:

1) Jesus as the Light.

2) Jesus as the Truth.

3) Jesus is rejected.

Questions to meditate on this week:

1.     Are you “actively listening” to Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit?

2.     Are you walking in the light of Jesus in your daily life?

3.     Are you sharing the Gospel?

Prayer Night September 17th, 2024.

 MVEMC Prayer Night Date, Sept. 17th, 2024

Tonight, we are praying over two topics. Topic one is to pray for the hearts of the people in our church to be open to serve. The Lord is at work in our church! Topic two is a prayer for the people of our church to have God’s wisdom.

Instructions: Read the suggested passage offered (or, if you are praying at home and the Holy Spirit brings a different passage to mind, use that passage) in the various translations listed under it. Pay attention to the different English words used by the multiple translators. After reading the translations offer up your praise and prayers to the Lord. Take your time moving on to the next prayer. Wait for a short time in silence listening for anything that the Holy Spirit may say to you. Take this prayer time as an opportunity to grow closer to Jesus in your prayer time.

 

Topic One: Pray for the hearts of the people in our church to be open to serve.

Passage One: 1 Kings 8:58

“⁵⁸ May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors.”  NIV

“May he not leave us or forsake us, ⁵⁸ that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers.” ESV

“⁵⁷ “May Yahweh our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not forsake us or abandon us, ⁵⁸ that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers.” LSB

“⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us ⁵⁸ so that he causes us to be devoted to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors.” CSB NCV

“⁵⁷ The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: ⁵⁸ That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.” NLT

 

 

Passage Two: Ephesians 3:17-19

 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” NIV

“¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” ESV

“¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being firmly rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” LSB

“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, ¹⁹ and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” CSB or NCV

“¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” NLT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topic Two: Pray for the people of our church to have God’s wisdom.

Passage One: Proverbs 8:

“⁴ “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. ⁵ You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. (Wisdom)” NIV

“⁴  “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. ⁵ O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.” ESV

“⁴ “To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men. ⁵ “O simple ones, understand prudence; And, O fools, understand a heart of wisdom.” LSB

“⁴ “People, I call out to you; my cry is to the children of Adam. ⁵ Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced; develop common sense, you who are foolish.” CSB

“⁴ “I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people. ⁵ You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding.” NLT

 

Passage Two: Job 12:13

“¹³ “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his” NIV

“¹³ “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.” ESV

“¹³ “With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and discernment.” LSB

“¹³ Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are his.” CSB

“¹³ “But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his.” NLT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John-So That You May Believe... Gospel of John Part 02 John 1:1-5 "The Logos"

 September 15^th, 2024

From The Series: John- So That You May Believe

Part 2 The Logos

The Gospel of John 1:1-5

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

I don’t want to spend a lot of time on an introduction to the sermon this morning, so why don’t we jump right in I will ask you to open your Bibles or turn on your devices to the Gospel of John and the first chapter.

If you did not bring your Bible this morning, you should find one underneath one of the chairs in the row in front of you. John Chapter 1 will be found on page 860 of the pew bible. If you do not have a bible at home, please take that bible with you as a gift from Mountain View Church. We feel that it is vitally important that you have easy access to God’s Word.

While you are finding the spot in your bible I want to say that I cannot tell you how excited I am to be in this series on the Gospel of John. I am looking forward to learning about the person and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth through the lens of one of His closest friends and followers. It is commonly agreed among the commentary writers that this Gospel has a very distinct prologue or introduction. The first 18 verses of Chapter 1 are considered a distinct section of the book. If this Gospel had been written in the manner of a modern book we would see a separate chapter here marked “Prologue” or “Introduction”.

The prologue for the Gospel is verses 1 to 18 and is broken down into 3 sections:

Section 1 (verses 1-5); Section 1 deals with THE LOGOS.

Section 2 (Verses 6-11); Section 2 deals with The Logos Lost.

Section 3 (Verses 12-18); Section 3 Deals with the Logos acknowledged and regained.

For context this morning, I am going to read the entire prologue, the first 18 verses and then after I pray, we will come back and drill down on the first section, the section dealing with the Logos. Please follow along in your Bibles or on your devices. And God’s Word says…

READ John 1:1-18

“¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 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 testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and ^f is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

These are the three main points that I will attempt to cover this morning:

1.       The Purpose of the Prologue.

2.       The Person of Jesus

3.       The Problem With Philosophy

If I have completed my preparation properly, I will be able to show these three points in the first five verses of the prologue.

Point number one: The Purpose of the Prologue. Last week we examined how the purpose of the entire book of the Gospel was to prove that Jesus was God. This morning we are going to drill down on that a little further. The purpose of the prologue, however, is to introduce the author’s purpose, intentions, and interest in the book. In that way, the purpose of the prologue aligns with the purpose of the book.

Near the end of the Gospel, John once again declares what the purpose of his gospel is, “³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31.

John also uses the prologue to introduce some of the themes that he will develop throughout his book. Themes such as Creation, eternity, God, light, darkness, truth, Grace, fulfillment of the Law, God becoming flesh, rejection, acceptance, faith, glory of God, and acceptance by God. The concept of more than one God, while still remaining monotheistic is also introduced in verse 18 and the sentence, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” We will explore that idea more fully in a couple of weeks.

We have now determined what the purpose of the prologue was, to introduce the author’s purpose, intentions, and interest in the book.

Before we move on to the second point this morning, let’s go back and read the first 5 verses again.

“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.”

“In the beginning”. John uses this phrase in a deliberate attempt to draw the reader’s mind back to the words of Genesis 1:1. The Old Testament begins with the exact same phrase, “In the beginning”. I might get a little technical here and I’m going to mention Greek words a bit but I don’t want to lose you. Looking at the Greek is important to help us grasp what the author was saying to his original audience. Often when a work is translated from one language to another, in this case from Greek into English, some nuance can be lost with the selection of a single English word. So stay with me as I attempt to bring you the full scope of what John is saying in these few words. The words are simple, yet the concept contained in the words is very complex and requires us to examine them closely in order to grasp the full meaning of what John is saying here.

“In the beginning”, the Greek word used here for beginning is arche. Arche (ar-khay) has a deeper meaning than just beginning. It has the intent of cause, origin, power, and authority. The use in John 1:1 implies something before time, not a beginning within time, but an absolute beginning.

We can really deduce this fact when we combine “In the beginning” with the Greek from the next part “…was the Word,”. In Greek, this phrase reads like this, “en arche eimi o logos”. The word eimi, which we translate as “was” is an imperfect verb meaning that John is trying to get across to us that the Word, the “logos” existed before the beginning. If John had used the Greek word ginomai, he would have implied that the Word came into existence at the beginning along with the rest of creation. But eimi stresses that the Word always existed; there was never a point when He came into being. This is an important point. It speaks to the very eternality of Jesus as God.

So many people make the mistake of thinking that Jesus came into existence when he was born. They confuse the celebration of Christmas and the human birth of Jesus, with the coming into existence of Jesus. The Incarnation, as it is known, is the term used to describe the “taking on of human flesh” when the Son came to earth.

The Nicene Creed is one of the creeds of the early church and is helpful in our understanding of this concept of the incarnation. If you are unfamiliar with creeds, they are usually short statements that are easy to memorize and It helps to clarify some doctrinal points for the Christian. The Nicene Creed states the following:

“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.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

I think a lot of today’s churches lose something valuable when they no longer teach the Creeds of the Faith.

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one God. Monotheism. One God, the Father Almighty, the first person of the Trinity. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the only begotten of the Father before all worlds, speaking to the eternal nature of Jesus Christ. Just as John did in the opening line of his gospel. 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. God of God, very God of Very God, being of one substance with the Father.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; Why did Jesus become incarnate? For us men, for our salvation. For it is by no other means that man can be saved from his sinful state than through the acceptance of Jesus through faith and the recognition of His death, burial, and resurrection that we may be saved.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. The Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.” It is important to note that the words “catholic” and “apostolic” are not capitalized. The word catholic here refers to the Universal Christian church, not any specific denomination or sect. The word apostolic refers to the teaching that is keeping in line with the teaching of Jesus Christ and His apostles.

I mentioned this creed simply to illustrate what John was saying in the first line of his gospel. You will find the Nicene Creed printed in your bulletin so that you can take it home and study it some more this week.

So we see that John describes the Word as being “in the beginning” the arche which is the time before creation and John uses the word logos in Greek to describe this God who is God who has existed since before the beginning.

The English word “Word” in Greek is Logos- Again, we are looking at the Greek in order to determine what John was saying to his original audience. His audience was two-fold. The first was the Jews who had been dispersed during the Babylonian captivity of Israel and Judea. These Jews are referred to as the diaspora or “dispersed ones”. They were scattered throughout the Near Eastern world including into regions of Asia Minor and Greece.

As a result of this, the Jews became heavily influenced by Greek thought and culture. The term for that is they became Hellenistic. But Greek language and culture were heavy influences for everyone in the region. Greek was the language of trade, much like English has become today. This is why the New Testament was written originally in Greek. For the Greeks Logos represented meaning, universal Law, and truth. This power as represented by the word Logos was also referred to as the One and All. Then the Stoics came along with their philosophy and they developed the thought that truth is derived from a specific point of origin in the Logos-God. So the word Logos represented the unseen god and source of knowledge and truth. A universal power available to all mankind and made evident through Universal Law.

There is a RIGHT logos or Universal Law that bestows on humans the power of knowledge and thus moral behaviour. In this connection a distinction is made between the inner logos (thinking), given by the God-Logos, and the LOGOS ordained for speaking. Did you catch that? The word Logos was used to refer to the divine power as well as to the ability to communicate between people using words.

This concept of logos is complicated. We had Greek philosophers claiming it was the natural Law of the Universe. There was also the Jewish philosopher Philo who attempted a Jewish-Hellenistic syncretism that attempted to combine the classic Greek philosophy of Plato and the teaching of Moses into one system. We will get into the problem and tension between philosophy and theology in a little bit. Philo was well-respected among the Hellenistic Jews and these Jews may have been one of John’s primary target audiences. So for the Greeks and Hellenistic Jews, the concept of Logos was one of an unknowable force that was god-like in origin. So John says in his Gospel, “Hey, you know that concept Logos, the god-like thing that you call Logos that you think is unknowable. Let me tell you about Him.” John is claiming to understand this concept and that it is more than a concept, it is a personal God. “¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Time for some more Greek here. Stay with me this is important. "the Word was with God". This English translation does not bring out the full richness of the Greek expression (pros ton theon). That phrase means far more than merely that the Word existed with God; W. Robert Cook puts it this way, "it gives the picture of two personal beings facing one another and engaging in intelligent discourse". Let me repeat, "it gives the picture of two personal beings facing one another and engaging in intelligent discourse".

From all eternity Jesus, as the second person of the Trinity; was "with the Father (pros ton pantera)" in deep, intimate fellowship. Another commentator put it this way, “Perhaps pros ton theon could best be rendered "face-to-face". The Word is a person, not an attribute of God or an emanation from Him. And He is of the same essence as the Father”. In other words, Jesus is a full equal to the Father, of the same essence and not a created being as the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim.

This is why the Nicene Creed uses the “begotten” to explain the origin of the Son. We will not know exactly how this came to be this side of heaven. I hope to have a chance to ask Jesus about this one day.

Look with me at the second verse of John, “² He was with God in the beginning.”. John is reinforcing the thought that He, the Word or Logos was with God in the beginning or the beginning before the beginning if you will. He was with God before creation. But who was He? In the Bible studies that I teach, I have always emphasized the importance of identifying the pronouns in any sentence. Without identifying the pronouns it is easy to lose track of who is speaking or who the passage is referring to. The latter is the case here; who is the He that John is talking about? John doesn’t identify the subject of his discourse by name until verse 17 of this first chapter. Finally, in verse 17 John identifies Jesus Christ as the person he has been referring to. Jesus Christ was with God in the beginning. Jesus Christ is the Logos according to John.

So, Joh is saying, “Hey you know that Logos thing, that concept we all acknowledge is here among us but is too mysterious for us to ever understand fully, well that power, that Logos is actually knowable through the person of Jesus Christ. That is another important concept for why Jesus had to come to Earth. Second to his most important reason, the saving work on the Cross, the incarnation of Jesus made the concept of a Creator God tangible for mankind.

Up until this point, man only heard from the messengers of God, both angelic beings and prophets whom God spoke through to His people. But now, God Himself was walking among His creation interacting with them and speaking His truth to them directly.

This thought is the single most important and non-negotiable tenet of the Christian faith, Jesus is God. I know to the Christian, this seems so simple and understandable, but I am telling you that this fact is the single biggest stumbling block to those who reject the Gospel. This is one of the points that we have to put our faith in, that Jesus Christ is God. It is only through the fully-God, fully-man of Jesus Christ that we can be reconciled back to God. James Montgomery Boice put it this way drawing on the teachings of the 11^th Century theologian Anselm of Canterbury, Boice wrote the following, Quote, “Salvation had to be achieved by God, for no one else could achieve it. Men and women could not achieve it, for we are the ones who have gotten ourselves into trouble. We have suffered from the effects of sin to such a degree that our will is bound, and therefore we cannot even choose to please God, let alone actually please Him. If we are to be saved, only God, who has both the will and power to save, must save us. Anselm’s second answer is that, in apparent contradiction, salvation must also be achieved by man. Man is the one who has wronged God and must therefore make the wrong right. But since man’s will is bound to our sinful nature, and we cannot please God on our own, then salvation can be achieved only by the one who is both God and man, namely, by Christ” End Quote.

Paul summed up this thought in one line from the fifth chapter of Romans. Romans 5:19 says, “¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” It is through the God-man, Jesus Christ that we receive the riches and abundance of God’s Grace and mercy.

Let’s move on to the third verse or we will run out of time this morning. “³ Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.” OK, first identify the pronoun, John is still speaking about Jesus here. Through Jesus, all things were made, without Jesus, nothing was made that has been made. How were things made? The Bible tells us in Genesis that God spoke and things came into existence. Over and over in the first chapter of Genesis it says, “And God said…”

This brings us to another important aspect of the word Logos and that is the power of the spoken word. Logos: The Word is where Jesus manifests His power. Jesus SPOKE the Universe into existence. Jesus SPOKE the healings, Jesus SPOKE and the sea was calmed. This is why we desperately need to pay attention to the words of Jesus. We often sing Logost the “power in the Blood of Jesus” but we should also be singing of the power in the words of Jesus. But, if acknowledge the power of the words then we will have to acknowledge that we need to obey the words of Jesus.

But here’s the thing, Jesus didn't just speak the Gospel to His followers, He demonstrated the message by going to the cross. Jesus didn’t just instruct us how to act, he demonstrated for us through the single-biggest example of sacrifice by going to the cross to pay the sin debt for all those who have rebelled against God but then put their faith in the completed work of Jesus.

Another aspect of the definition of Logos speaks to the revelation of God BY God. Paul calls the word of the cross "the message [logos] of reconciliation" in 2 Corinthians 5:19. While we were still sinners Romans 5:8-10 says, “⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” How much more proof do we require for the love that God has for us? While we were yet still in open rebellion against Him, He sent His One and Only Son to die for us.

We have seen that Logos is a person, it is also a power, and it is a message of love.

Moving on to verse 4, “⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” John is saying that Jesus is life and light. He is the light for all mankind, the hope that we are all to put our faith in, but alas, the Bible also tells us that not all will do so. In John 14:6 while Jesus was having a conversation with His disciples, in an attempt to bring them comfort, Jesus told them this, “⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This verse alone, but there are many others in the same vein, but this verse is enough to counter the argument that all religions lead to God. We must never use this thought of “all go to heaven” to aleve ourselves of the need to evangelize to our lost friends and family. The life Jesus is referring to here is the eternal life that we will spend with Jesus and the Father in the Kingdom to come.

The final passage that we will look at this morning is verse 5 and it builds on this concept of Jesus being light. “⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Darkness is the absence of light. Darkness is not a thing on its own. It is the absence of something else. Darkness is the absence of light. Just as evil is the absence of good. We can take comfort in that statement. For if we truly desire to turn our country, province, county, or town around, all we must do is bring the light into the darkness. Darkness vanishes in the presence of light. There is no darkness that the light of Jesus Christ cannot penetrate. If you begin to despair about the state of our current circumstances, remember the answer is to bring the light of the Gospel, the light of Jesus Christ into the situation. This is why I say, “All of Christ, for all of life”. No matter how dark the situation may seem to be, Jesus can illuminate the answers.

The final point I want to touch on this morning has to do with philosophy. We haves spoken a lot about philosophy this morning, especially Greek philosophy. You may think that philosophy has nothing to do with Jesus, God, church, or theology. I would just caution you against such thoughts. Philosophy can be helpful but we must keep one very important factor in mind, philosophy is meant to be the Handmaiden of theology. What do I mean by that? Well, theology is the study of God and how God has revealed Himself to mankind and the message that God brings to them. God chooses the method and the message that He reveals to us. The most common method that God uses is the written words contained in the canon of Scripture. We learned this morning that God has also revealed His message through the person of Jesus Christ.

Philosophy is defined as “the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.” Philosophy is the rational investigation of truths. The investigation and not the explanation of these truths. This is why philosophy is described as the handmaiden of theology. Philosophy exists to assist one in reaching the truths of theology, but too often the philosophy or the system that one uses to understand what God is saying ends up replacing the theology altogether. Often, the philosophical system becomes the driving force in understanding life’s problems and truths.

The same is true for psychology. My advice for Christians who are seeking help with their challenges should first seek Bible-based counselling. Frequently, secular counsellors will not understand the connection you have with the Lord and they will give you secular solutions. They may give you advice that seems perfectly acceptable to their secular worldview, but a Bible-believing Christian may be asked to compromise their values or the teachings of Jesus.

Philosophy is a man-made structure and system that is designed to help understand the mysteries of God. The problem is that most systems are flawed because the designers of the system are flawed.

As Christians, we have the gift, the seal of our inheritance, the Holy Spirit living inside of us to help interpret and teach us the lessons from Scripture. As long as philosophy remembers its place, then it is fine to use. But, when we fail to keep philosophy in its proper place and with the proper perspective, that is when we can be led astray and we can fall prey to problems like syncretism. Syncretism is the blending of two different belief systems into one. We heard about Philo trying to merge Greek philosophy with Jewish teachings about the Law. The problem is that theology is often the one that is compromised the most.

CONCLUSION

We got a little technical today, so for a conclusion why don’t we simply review the passage again to remind us of what God is saying to us through His Word, “¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

                Pastor Paul’s Points:

1)        The Purpose of the prologue.

* To introduce the author’s purpose, intentions, and interest in the book.

2) The Person of Jesus (Logos).

            * Why Logos?

3) The Problem with philosophy.

* Philosophy is meant to be the Handmaiden to theology.

 

Questions to meditate on this week:

1.      How is your walk going?

2.      How has your personal theology changed?

3.      What other worldviews are you permitting to colour your reading and application of Scripture?