September 15th, 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 11th 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?
