An Awesome Journey Series

Subject: "An Awesome Journey"

Text: John 1:1-14

The gospel of John is considered by many to be the deepest and most spiritual book in the Bible. John had one goal in mind, to inspire faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In the Gospel of John, the writer gives us a more complete revelation of Jesus the Son of God, His purpose and ministry than that given in the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The synoptic Gospels view the coming of the promised Messiah from earth’s viewpoint. John helps us see the picture from God’s viewpoint. John’s Gospel reveals several insights not found in the other Gospels. In the Gospel of John, the "I Am’s” of God are revealed, and the divinity of Christ is proven. Fifteen hundred years earlier, God said to Moses, “Tell them I Am that I Am.” The Gospel of John listed those “I Am’s” of God. We are introduced to the Holy Spirit, His work and ministry in the New Testament. In John Chapter 5, Jesus declares of Himself for six consecutive times that He was sent from God. More than 100 times, Jesus refers to God as His Father in the Gospel of John. This Gospel devotes more than half of its writing to the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. There are several conversations and discourses found only in the Gospel of John such as the Nicodemus story, the Samaritan woman story, the discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles, the Good Shepherd story, and the intercessory of prayer of Jesus found in Chapters 14-17. John gives us only six miracles, or signs, as convincing evidence that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The recurring phrase in the book of John is "that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God." John does not retrace the genealogy of Jesus. There are no shepherd stories or manger scenes included. There are no angelic choruses or wise men visits mentioned because this Gospel is written from heaven’s perspective. John gives us God’s view of salvation coming into the world. Jesus, the Son of God, undertook an awesome journey for the redemption of humankind.

The journey that John describes in our text is the most amazing mission ever undertaken. It is almost an unbelievable one! The journey stretches our imagination and gives us a glimpse of the great love the Father God has for us. Many peoples and cultures of the world reject the message of Christianity because they refused to believe that God would undertake such a journey for the salvation of man. It seems too good to be true. Nevertheless, the word of God says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”* The God of the Universe, motivated by pure love, undertook this journey, as an act of His own will to save man from his sin. Listen to the key verse of our text before we begin our journey.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

“And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1: 14)

Let us begin our journey. Jesus journeyed from heaven into earth…

1. Jesus Journeyed From Heaven to Earth. Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God, began his journey as the Word, the Logos, and the Son of God who had existed forever. He, the Son of God, built and designed the heavens and the earth, for without Him was not anything made that was made. Jesus was with God and was God in the presence of the heavenly host. He loved humanity so much that He left heaven, a perfect place, with perfect provision, perfect praise, and a place of perfect satisfaction, to enter into a world full of sin, trouble and turmoil. More than that, He chose to be born of a woman, in a lowly stable, in a poor village called Bethlehem, right here on earth. It is hard to imagine a kind of love that spares no expense and has no limitation. Probably, any good businessman might have wondered about God’s investment in the human race. Bringing salvation into the world would be extremely costly. However, God so loved the world, that He sent Jesus on a journey. Jesus journeyed from heaven to earth on a mission to save the human race. The earth and humanity had gone terribly wrong. Sin had polluted the world and the heart of man had been turned against God. I think if God had asked the advice of any good executive, the advice probably would have been, "Cut your losses, forget about the human race on earth and start over somewhere else, maybe Jupiter or Mars. Nonetheless, the Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life." I believe Jesus was willing leave a place of perfect peace and step into Bethlehem, a place of turbulence and turmoil to prove to each of us that He is not afraid to get involved in the chaos of our lives. In the midst of our chaos, we must remember that He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus can bring peace in the middle of our turbulence. Jesus journeyed from heaven to earth. Secondly, He journeyed from eternity into time.