In The Dark No Longer Series

IN THE DARK NO LONGER

John 1:3-5

S: Life

Th: Christmas: It’s About Jesus

Pr: JESUS IS OUR SOURCE FOR LIFE.

?: How?

KW: Undertakings

TS: We will find in John 1:3-5 three undertakings of Jesus that reveal to us how He is the source for our life.

The _____ undertaking that reveals Jesus as our source for life is He…

I. BRINGS LIFE INTO BEING (3)

II. BRIGHTENS THE WAY TO LIFE (4-5)

III. BEATS DEATH (5)

RMBC 12/10/00 AM

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever noticed that sometimes people attempt to make the clear unclear?

Take for example the following examples of new politically correct definitions:

ILL Notebook: Communication (Politically Correct)

You don’t have gym socks that smell.

You have ’odor retentive athletic footwear.’

You’re not shy.

You’re ’conversationally selective.’

You don’t talk a lot.

You’re ’abundantly verbal.’

You’re not being sent to the principal’s office.

You’re ’going on a mandatory field trip to the administrative building.’

It’s not called ’gossip’ anymore.

It’s ’the speedy transmission of near-factual information.’

While we may appreciate the creativity of these definitions, in the course of the day to day, we appreciate clear, concise and accurate information.

We are not looking to be confused or to be confusing.

We want to understand.

We want to be understood.

TRANSITION:

During this Advent season, we have begun a study on the gospel of John that will continue through the next year.

We will not finish it next year, but we will pick up on it from time to time and eventually finish it sometime in the future.

1. The gospel of John gives us clear information about the person of Jesus.

Last week, when we considered the first two verses of the gospel of John, we saw that John understood that Jesus was nothing less than God Himself.

John describes Jesus’ creativity, His eternity and His Deity.

To give us an even broader understanding of Jesus, he used the title “Word.”

Let me word the first verse a bit differently this morning because of that title:

2. “In the beginning was the Communication.”

When Jesus uses the name “Word” for Jesus, He is telling us that through Jesus, God seeks to communicate to us.

He is not content to leave us ignorant.

He is reaching out to us.

He wants us to know Him.

He desires that we know what He offers.

He longs for us to respond to His love.

So…

3. John writes this biography about Jesus so that we will have life (John 20:31).

Note the final words that John gives toward the end of the gospel (we considered them last week as well).

He tells us, clearly, what his purpose is in writing:

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John is telling us that God wants us to have life.

He wants us to know the purpose of life.

He communicates with us so that our life will have meaning.

He desires that we will have the significance that we were created to have.

But for this to happen, we need to understand that…

4. JESUS IS OUR SOURCE FOR LIFE.

Simply, Jesus is life!

All that is good about life finds its source in Jesus.

He wants us to enjoy life.

He wants us to know it in all its fullness and abundance.

When I go to the hospital to visit, a familiar phrase that I hear is, “All that matters is your health.”

And though there is a grain of truth in that, there is also a deception.

For our life here on earth is not the beginning and the end of the definition of life.

In the big picture of things, life goes way beyond the matters of our earthly life.

We will learn more about that as we give consideration of our text this morning.

So…

5. We will find in John 1:3-5 three undertakings of Jesus that reveal to us how He is the source for our life.

(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 men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

OUR STUDY:

I. The first undertaking that reveals Jesus as our source for life is He BRINGS LIFE INTO BEING (3).

1. Jesus is the agent and sustainer of creation (Hebrews 1:1-3a).

In our understanding of the Godhead, it is the Father that created.

But that is not the end of the description, for He did it through the Word.

Note how the letter to the Hebrews begins:

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…