Encountering Jesus

John Stott said, “Nothing hinders evangelism more than the widespread loss of confidence in the truth, relevance, and power of the Gospel.” There has been an erosion of convictions in Christian circles concerning: 1. the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, 2. the exclusive truth claims of Jesus, 3. our confidence in the Word of God, and 4. our commitment to the body of Christ. Because of this subtle but deadly assault on our Christian faith, it is of utmost importance that we continually examine our hearts to see where we stand in our relationship to Jesus Christ, His Word, and to the local church to which you have been called.

Today, we are beginning a study in the Gospel according to John. John’s Gospel was written for a specific purpose, which we see in throughout the book and especially in chapter 20 verse 30- 31:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (ESV).

John selected certain stories, sermons, sayings, and signs to assure those who had placed or would place their faith in Christ about who He is. Why is this assurance so important? Martin Luther said,

If Christ is not true and natural God... we are doomed ... we must have a Savior who is true God and Lord over sin, death, devil, and hell. If we permit the devil to topple this stronghold for us, so that we disbelieve His divinity, then His suffering, death, and resurrection profit us nothing.

The gospel of John is addressing two groups of people: First, the God-fearing Jews and Greeks who regularly attended synagogue services and, second, the followers of Jesus. To the first group we could understand the word “believe” to mean - these things were written so that you may come to faith or believe that the Messiah, the Son of God, whom we have been waiting for is found in the person of Jesus. To the second group - the followers of Jesus, John is saying, “these things were written so that you may continue to have faith and continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.” If you believe and continue to believe in Jesus, you will experience life, real life, vital, exciting, compelling, fulfilling, satisfying life - as God intended it now and for all of eternity.

John 1:1-5 (NASB)

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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.

Right in this first passage in chapter 1, John is speaking about Jesus’:

? Pre-existence

? Power

? Personal presence

Jesus’ Pre-existence

John 1:1-2 says,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

In John 1:1, the apostle John is relating everything back to the very beginning of time, space, and matter. In the first verse of the first book of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

In speaking to the Jews ‘the word’ < dabar (Hebr) of God is connected with God’s powerful activity in creation (cf. Gn. 1:3ff.; Ps. 33:6), revelation (Jer 1:4; Isa 9:8; Ezk 33:7; Am 3:1, 8) and deliverance and judgment. God ‘sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave’ (Ps. 107:20). John was personifying the Word. The Word was Jesus, who existed as the second member of the Trinity. The Word “was” in this passage indicates that Jesus was not only there at the beginning of time but that He was always there. John is telling the Jews who Jesus is.

To the Greek, John was referring to Jesus as the divine Word or Logos - the logic behind all that exists. This is what the Greeks were searching for - the universal, divine reason that transcends humanity and the cosmos. They were seeking for the ultimate reason, the ultimate truth that explains why anything and everything exists.

What John was saying to both the Jews and the Greeks is that even before the world was spoken into being, Jesus (the Word) who always was with God, meaning face-to-face with God and equal with God is the reason for the universe’s existence. In the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, and also here in John 1, the context reveals that the beginning of time, space and matter was absolute but before time, space and matter even came into being, the Word (Jesus) already existed. Athanasius described it this way: “There never was when He was not.”