September 22nd, 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?
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