Transcript

The Word Beyond Words-Part One

John 1:1-5
Sunday, June 23, 2002  
Pastor Randy Smith

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In his book Into Thin Air , Jon Krakauer tells of his harrowing experience climbing Mt. Everest. On May 10, 1996, Krakauer made it to the top. He paused only for a few minutes before heading down, his muscles exhausted, his limbs frozen, and his brain oxygen-deprived. As he descended, some clouds drifted up and enveloped him. Soon, thunder, lightning, and a snow storm threatened to disorient him, but he was close enough to base camp number 4 to get to the sheltering tents before the full force of the storm hit. Four climbers arrived at the summit shortly before Jon and did not have time to get to the camp before darkness. The storm caused them to lose their way. Exhausted and lost, they simply lay down to wait out the night. When they awoke in the morning, they found they had lain down just one step from the 4,000 foot precipice of the South Wall. They had slept the night on the edge of a cliff in the middle of a snowstorm.

Ever since the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3, humankind has rebelled against its Creator. They have lived a life of wanton pleasure, rejecting the true and living God in preference for idols and broken cisterns which bring no satisfaction. For such people who spurn their Creator in unbelief, for such people who love the darkness and hate the light, these sleep on the precipice, just inches from a 4,000-foot cliff. Little do they realize that they are potentially one breath away from meeting their Maker and being sentenced to an eternity of heaven or condemnation. One car wreck, one heart attack, one accident at the beach and their life, which is biblically compared to a vapor, comes to an end. Their time of rebellion has run out and over the cliff they will fall.

The world lies in a predicament of peril. People are sleeping on the precipice of spiritual disaster. A superior messenger must be sent from God to warn people of the impending danger, guide them to truth and provide a path of escape from the edge of cliff. That rescue mission comes in the person of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John wrote his gospel for exactly this purpose: to explain the One who is able to deliver people from sin and danger. His goal in writing could not be stated any clearer, "Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (Jn. 20:30-31). Throughout the gospel we will see a wake-up call to those who are flirting with disaster in their rejection of God. We'll see a contrast between faith and unbelief, truth and error, eternal life and judgment, light and darkness.

And for those of you who already believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I trust the Holy Spirit will reveal Him unto you in a way that allows you to see Him bigger and better and greater than you have ever imagined Him in the past. It's all about exalting Jesus Christ, the Word, as He is commonly referred to in John chapter 1.

John begins chapter 1 with a description of the Word. To worship Him appropriately, we must initially understand who He is. So this morning as we begin our study of John, we will examine 5 characteristics which describe the nature of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word: the preexistence of the Word, the deity of the Word, the work of the Word, the vitality of the Word and the illumination of the Word.

1. THE PREEXISTENCE OF THE WORD (1:1a-b, 2)

Let's begin with the pre-existence of the Word. Verse 1- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (skip to verse 2) He was in the beginning with God."

In order to show the supremacy of God, Moses began the book of Genesis by pointing not only to God's current existence (for those who come to Him must believe that He is), but also to His pre-existence. The first verse in the Bible reads, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." God transcends His creation. He is over His creation. All creation owes its allegiance to Him.

In words reminiscent of Genesis 1:1, John begins his gospel by saying, "In the beginning was the Word." John is taking one of the pivotal statements in the entire Bible ascribed to God-Jehovah and rewording it in such a fashion to speak of Jesus Christ without committing blasphemy. From the get-go, John is magnifying the supremacy of Jesus Christ.

In other words, Jesus Christ did not come on the scene during His ministry, or His virgin birth, or creation for that matter. Rather He was in the beginning! "Was" is in the imperfect tense, which denotes a continuous existence. Arius, the 4^th century heretic said, "There was a time when He was not." On the contrary, Jesus Christ existed before all was created.

You might wonder, what can we know about Christ's activity before creation? What was He doing? Our information is limited, but verse 1 does instruct us that He was "with God." Verse 2 reaffirms, "He was in the beginning with God." In other words, He was before all in perfect fellowship with the Father. The union and intimacy between God and Jesus Christ prior to creation is probably best described in John 17:24. "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world ." We know that Jesus Christ also was in a position of glory before creation. "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was " (Jn. 17:5). In the beginning before the world was created, the Word existed in glory, in the closest possible connection with the Father.

But yet the reader is left wondering at this point as to the specific identity of the Word. Who is He? Based on what has been said regarding His pre-existence and glory, the Word appears to be God. But also based on what has been said, the Word was definitely with God. And when I say both statements are right: Jesus Christ is God and Jesus was also with God, the monotheistic reader is left scratching his/her head wondering how one plus one can equal one! What we have here is the formation of the Trinity. John's point specifically thus far- the Word was God, yet distinct from the Father.

2. THE DEITY OF THE WORD (1:1c)

Well maybe the reader is saying, sure, I can buy the Word's presence with God before creation, but the pre-existence argument does not prove to me that Jesus was fully God. After all, He could have been created before creation. Prove to me that Jesus was God! Look at the remainder of verse 1, "and the Word was God." Can it be stated any clearer? Our attention turns to the second point on your outline, the deity of the Word.

The primary universal aspect that has separated orthodox Christianity with those identified as cults is either the acceptance or rejection of the deity of Christ. Walter Martin in his classic, The Kingdom of the Cults said, "We do not suggest that we turn the 'ecclesiastical microscopes' on the cults, but rather, that they be viewed in the light of what we know to be divine revelation, the Word of God, which itself weighs them, 'in the sensitive scale of final truth,' for it was the Lord who taught, "if you do believe not that I AM, you will die in your sins." And the final criterion today as always, must remain, 'What think ye of Christ?" Elsewhere Martin says, "But if, as some suggest, this (doctrinal compromise for the sake of unity) be broadened to include those who are not in agreement with the essentials of biblical Christianity, we must resolutely oppose it. It is most interesting to note that the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, which constitute the spearhead of the ecumenical movements throughout the world, have consistently denied membership to the cults…on the ground that they do not recognize or worship Jesus Christ as God and Savior."

Across the board from Jehovah Witnesses to Mormons, cults deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They may say He was an angel, the apex of God's creation, an extraordinary human or even "a god," but they will refuse to ascribe the full deity to Jesus Christ and confess that He is fully equal to the Father in essence. On the other hand, throughout history, throughout all the creeds and councils, the orthodox church has affirmed and reaffirmed that Jesus Christ is truly God having come in the flesh. John 1:1, "and the Word was God !

You may be thinking…what do the cults do with John 1:1? Can the text be any clearer in affirming the deity of Jesus Christ? Here's what they do. They violate the context, the theology of the New Testament and sound grammatical principles in order to make the text say what they want. Time permits me from explaining the errors of their ways and the means to a correct interpretation, but I have recorded the result of my study on the insert in your bulletin to be read at your nearest convenience and kept for future reference. But for our purpose this morning, it is imperative that we understand that Jesus Christ was fully God, the second person of the Trinity.

The deity of Jesus Christ is of vital importance to the Christian faith. Consider the implications: First , through Jesus Christ, we can have real knowledge of God. Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9) and elsewhere, "he who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me" (Jn. 12:45). Jesus Christ is literally the exegesis of God (Jn. 1:18)! Do you want to see the power, holiness or love of God? Simply look to Jesus! He is the prophet of God par excellence simply because He is what He has claimed to be. He is God in the flesh!

Second, it was not merely a human being who died for our sins. Rather, it was an infinite God able to live a perfectly sinless life and bear the eternal consequences of sin and vicariously die in our place. Only a perfect God could achieve this feat, bear the penalty and give to us a perfect righteousness whereby we may be justified in the sight of the Father.

Third, God and humanity have been reunited. Jesus Christ, the One who is both fully God and fully man is able to stand in the gap between God and man and serve as our substitute and our mediator.

Fourth, if Jesus were a man we would be attributing the work of salvation to a man. Jonah 2:9 says, "Salvation is from the Lord." The Lord Jesus Christ, not man, achieved salvation for His creatures and therefore the triune God gets all the glory.

Fifth , due to the deity of Christ, He is worthy of our worship. If Jesus Christ were just a man, our hymns, our conversation, our church constitution and this sermon would all be idolatrous. But since He is God in the same sense as the Father, He is deserving of our praise, adoration and obedience. We are to worship only God and since Jesus is God, His worship is acceptable. It's testified throughout the Scriptures. "And they (the Magi) came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh" (Mt. 2:11). "And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him" (Mt. 28:9). And for the remainder of eternity as it is occurring right now, the book of Revelation says that we will be worshipping Jesus Christ in heaven. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing….To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever" (Rev. 5:12-13).

3. THE WORK OF THE WORD (1:3)

So Jesus Christ is preexistent, He is God and now in point three, He is Creator…"the work of the Word." We turn from His relationship with the Father (in verses 1-2) to His relationship with creation (in verse 3). "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

Basically John is stating the same truth from both a positive and negative perspective. Bottom line, Jesus Christ is the Creator of all. Just as we learned earlier, creation, according to Genesis 1, is solely a work of God. But John, in describing and magnifying the divine Word, ascribes to Him a work unique to God alone. We are already at a point in this book where the reader is forced to worship Jesus Christ or burn the book for blasphemy. Scholar CK Barrett once said, "The deeds and words of Jesus Christ are the deeds and words of God; if this is not true, the book is blasphemous."

Elsewhere John said, "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created" (Rev. 4:11). But John is not alone in this powerful description of the Creator-Christ. Paul said, "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Col. 1:16-17). Even the writer of Hebrews affirms, "In these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world" (Heb. 1:2).

Just as we read in Genesis when all things came into being by God's spoken word, the Word, Jesus Christ, was God's personal agent that created everything. All things were made through Him. Screaming to us in the verse are the words, "all things" and "nothing." Look at the verse again. "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." Those words this week brought me great encouragement. I can go down to the beach and look at the smallest grain of sand and say, "Jesus Christ made this!" He even made the millions of atoms that compose this grain of sand. Then, I can gaze at the horizon and imagine vast ocean that lies before me hundreds of miles across, trillions of gallons of water and say, "Jesus Christ made this!" From the smallest to the largest, Jesus Christ made it all! From the fish to the human beings, Jesus Christ made them all! Do you think He knows my needs? Do you think my problems are too big for Him?

Even when I consider the forces of darkness that seek to resist the Kingdom of God, I realize that Jesus Christ made them all. And though they wage a vicious war, a sovereign King who will one day be victorious numbers their days. For the created will never overpower the Creator. They know it (Lk. 22:53), but we as humans are often slow to learn and quick to forget. Jesus Christ created it all. All things owe their existence to Him. And those who choose his side are guaranteed victory both now and in the end!

For purpose of encouragement and personal accountability to Him, it is imperative that we uphold that the God of the Scriptures is responsible for creation. In his talks, author Phillip Johnson often quotes the verses we've studied thus far: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." After reading this, Johnson asks: "Is that true or false?" Then he turns this Scripture inside out and creates a credo for use in sanctuaries aligned with the National Center for Science Education. It sounds like this: "In the beginning were the particles and the particles somehow became complex, living stuff. And the stuff imagined God." After reading this, Johnson again asks: "Is that true or false?" Johnson argues that today's debates over science, creation and morality are, literally, clashes between people who believe there is scientific evidence that God created man and those who believe there is scientific evidence that man created God. Johnson said, "If there is no Creator who has a purpose for your life, then there is no such thing as sin." Sin would mean that you are in a wrong relationship to your Creator. Well, you can't be in the wrong relationship with the particles. They don't care. So you don't need a Savior to save you from the consequences of your wrong relationship with the particles…When you give away creation, you have given away everything."

Is it any wonder that John boldly states that the Word was the Creator of all as early as the third verse in his book consisting of 21 chapters?

4. THE VITALITY OF THE WORD (1:4a)

In the beginning of verse 4 John now expresses the vitality of the Word. Pre-existence, Deity, Creator and now Vitality. Verse 4, "In Him was life" (stop right there). "Life" is mentioned 36 times in the book of John, 25% of all NT references. In addition to all that we have learned about Jesus Christ thus far, John adds that He is also self-existing life. Nobody had to impart to him ether physical or spiritual life, because He is the embodiment of life. John 11:25 says, "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life ; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies." In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life ." If you want to see life in its intended, purest and original form, look to Jesus, for He is life. He is not "a" life, but "the" life!

As we learned in the pervious verse, as Creator Jesus Christ imparts physical life to all beings. And as we will learn throughout this letter, Jesus Christ imparts spiritual life to all who believe in His name. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life " (Jn. 3:16). Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life ; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life " (Jn. 5:39-40). Just as He restored life to Lazarus, Jesus Christ is able to impart both physical life and spiritual life to human beings.

Everyone alive has already been given physical life. That life is a precious gift of God to all human beings. But if you could see inside most humans' hearts, you would see that they are filled with grief, despair and depression. Humans live their lives as tiny globs of atoms in a vast universe only to die and leave everything they've achieved and accumulated behind. People have searched through the avenues of sex and alcohol and drugs and possessions and appearance and money and vacations all to find satisfaction, but the pursuit comes up empty and leads to further meaningless. Many go through life as a programmed robot without purpose, aim or hope, chasing every gimmick from astrology to hedonism to find the meaning of life. Who wants a life like that?

Unfortunately few in their search for life, ever turn to the source of life, Jesus Christ, their Creator. He is the One who can impart not only His joy and peace, but also His life to those who will trust in Him. Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life , and might have it abundantly " (Jn. 10:10). Beloved, life is meaningless apart from His life that enables us to see everything from His perspective; from people to suffering to money to nature to morality to death. Are you tired of playing the games? Do you want to experience "abundant life?" Then turn to Jesus! Joni Eareckson Tada once said, "Just think, every promise God has ever made finds its fulfillment in Jesus. God doesn't just give us grace; He gives us Jesus, the Lord of grace. If it's peace, it's only found in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Even life itself is found in the Resurrection and the Life. Christianity isn't all that complicated ... it's Jesus." One will never find the purpose of life until they find Jesus!

5. THE ILLUMINATION OF THE WORD (1:4b-5)

If the case for the supremacy of the Word has not been convincing enough, allow me to give you one final aspect to consider. Point five, the illumination of the Word. Verses 4-5 read, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Just as life has both a physical and spiritual sense, light also can have a physical and spiritual sense. During creation God said, "Let there be light." We already learned that Jesus Christ was active in creation, though John throughout his gospel will refer to light not so much with physical aspects, but rather with spiritual aspects. In a spiritual sense, Jesus Christ is the life-bringer and light-bearer to all people. Though there are many neon lights clearly marking the broad road to destruction, Jesus Christ is the true light of the world, which enables all through His revelation to see the narrow path to the Father.

Light is symbolic of life and truth and goodness and guidance, whereas darkness represents death and error and evil and confusion. Verse 5 says, "The light shines (present tense-continually) in the darkness." Originally, the Light came into a world of chaos, a lost world in love with sin. The light illuminated the darkness and exposed that sin. Now the Light exposes that sin through His Word and His people. But unfortunately most love the darkness so much they resist the light with all their might. "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (Jn 3:19-20).

But as much as most resist the light, the light will prevail. Verse 5 continues, "and the darkness did not overcome it, " did not katalambano it. Some versions translate the word "comprehend" or "understood." This is true; the darkness does not comprehend the light. I believe the context even allows for this translation. But I believe a better translation is "overcome." The darkness fights to quench the flame and by human observation it appears that the darkness is winning. But the light will be victorious. As John Piper calls it, "the invincibility of the light." The Scriptures promise us, the light will overcome. Though light and darkness are opposites, they are not opposites of equal power. Even in a jet-black room, so dark that your hand cannot be seen just inches from your face, one candle has the ability to dispel darkness. As long as there is light, darkness will not prevail. We must not lose heart!

And though many resist, some when they are made aware of their sin, come to the Light for forgiveness. They have passed from darkness into light. They have become children of the light. Ephesians 5:8 says, "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light." And now it is their responsibility to bear that light to a lost and dark world through the power of the Holy Spirit. To a world that is spiritually sleeping on the precipice of disaster, potentially seconds away from falling off the cliff. They and we must warn others of the danger and point them to the way of safety. We must beg people on behalf of Christ. John 12:36 says, "While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light." We must be fully confident ourselves that those who walk in the light will be rescued.

Beloved, John's gospel was written that you might believe. Do you believe? If not, what more evidence do you need to turn your life over to Jesus Christ? He is pre-existent. He is God. He is Creator. He is life and He is light! I pray that every soul hearing my voice has spiritual eyes and ears to behold this glorious truth and worship the Word.