“The Jesus Files”
Who is Jesus (John 1:1-9)
Quote: “In Jesus we discover all of God we can know.”
Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus– that a woman would give her life to care for the sick and dying in India in His Name?
Who is Jesus– that some of the most gifted musicians in human history would compose music to bring Him glory?
Who is Jesus– that some of the world’s greatest architecture is dedicated to Him?
Who is Jesus– that TODAY, hundreds of millions will meet openly (and secretly) to worship Him?
Who is Jesus– That people will testify (2,000 years after He physically left the earth) that He has released them from the chains of addiction, hatred, fear and every destructive behavior, and given them a brand-new life?
Who is Jesus– that in His Name, people forsake personal gain to feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked, and comfort the dying…believing that there is an ETERNAL consequence…both for the one helped AND for themselves.
In “One Solitary Life” Dr. James Frances wrote: “All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that have ever reigned, PUT TOGETHER, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life of Jesus Christ.”
Introduction:
John’s Gospel is focused on Jesus’ DEITY.
The intended audience was “GENTILE”.
Not exclusively…but living in Ephesus as he wrote this, John was surrounded by citizens of Rome, and immersed in Greek philosophy and mythology.
Key verse: JOHN 20:31
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.
1.) Jesus is THE WORD (the “LOGOS”). V.1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
***There are a couple of IMPORTANT things in the first verse:
John is clearly referencing the CREATION ACCOUNT.
In our review we said the PRIMARY AUDIENCE for this Gospel was GENTILE…but there were Gentiles reading Jewish literature (including the Old Testament) looking for information about the Origin of the universe…and there would be Jews who would read John’s Gospel to see what HE HAD TO SAY about Jesus.
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”
John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
***remember in the Genesis account, how did God CREATE things??? “And God SAID…let there be LIGHT and let there be WATER and DRY GROUND and PLANTS and ANIMALS…and let US make MAN in OUR IMAGE.
And God SAID it…and it happened. His WORD.
He is also addressing the Greek QUESTIONS and PHILOSOPHY about the origin of the universe.
***The Greek philosopher Aristotle (and Hericlitus) used “LOGOS” to explain the INTELLECT that was behind the order he saw in the universe. He called it “the divine logic”. The Stoics took his thoughts and expanded on them and said that when men were LOGICAL and RATIONAL…they were most “spiritual”, and when they were PASSIONATE and EMOTIONAL, they had turned away from the LOGOS.
***Think about what John is doing: He is entering into the Greek arena of ideas…and using THEIR terminology…to show them something about God that wasn’t a part of their thinking.
Greek MYTHOLOGY had “gods” that were powerful but flawed…prone to deceit, jealousy, lust, pride, and so on. Their “gods” were MANY…were not PERFECT…and were not SOVEREIGN.
Greek PHILOSOPHY viewed “the divine” as an IMPERSONAL FORCE…mostly intellect and logic, but with no INVOLVEMENT or INTEREST in humanity. Certainly not CONCERNED or LOVING.
John will ENLIGHTEN and CLARIFY as he presents God as POWERFUL, PERFECT and PERSONAL!!!
Jesus is the complete EXPRESSION of who God is.
I think Dr. Warren Wiersbe said it very clearly:
“Just as our words reveal our mind and heart, so Christ reveals the mind and heart of God to men. A word is composed of letters; and Christ is the Alpha and Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), who spells out God’s love to us. While God can be known in part through nature and history, He is known in full through Jesus Christ, the living, incarnate Word of God.”
At the beginning of time, the Logos was ALREADY THERE!
A literal translation of these first 2 verses could read: “BEFORE there was a beginning of time, the Word had been.” He always was…He was not created.
- “With” speaks of RELATIONSHIP not proximity. Some people get caught up in the way the English translations read. They reason that “IF the word is WITH God…he must be something OTHER than God.” But the word “with” is actually the Greek word “PROS” with means “toward” and indicates UNITY or INTIMACY. So- “The Word was UNITED with God…”
***And, just to make it clear…
- The Word IS GOD!
Not “a god”. Not an “expression or energy”
2.) Jesus is the unappreciated CREATOR. V.3-5
Verse 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."
***Much current scientific thought, even the “official” position of the United States Government (if you count NASA, which is an official agency of the US Govt. and their stated position) is that everything began with a “Big Bang” followed by billions of years of evolution. There is no acknowledgment of a creator.
But John leaves no room for atheism as he clearly states THERE IS A CREATOR GOD!
Everything “OWES ITS EXISTENCE” to Him.
Verse 3 "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
Not just the material “STUFF”, but LIFE.
Verse 4 "In him was life..."
NOT that making THINGS…planets, stars, galaxies, the Universe is UNIMPRESSIVE or UNIMPORTANT, but that God made US and that He made us to KNOW US and us to know Him…that He made us to demonstrate toward us, and for us to love Him in return and enjoy Him forever. That is MORE than amazing!!!
When the CREATOR steps into His creation, He brings LIGHT (but that doesn’t mean those in SPIRITUAL darkness will appreciate it.)
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.
***Remember the “division” in Greek thought about “gods”…that they were either IMPERSONAL, CREATIVE and LOGICAL…OR…were FLAWED, SELF-SERVING and only mingled with humanity because of their own needs.
John explains that the CREATOR steps into His CREATION to reveal Himself AND to bring TRUTH (illumination/light) to mankind and give them SPIRITUAL LIFE.
BUT… (Romans 1:18-23)
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
3.) Jesus’ FORERUNNER put in perspective. V.6-9
Since the Apostle John is dealing with fundamental issues up front…and since Ephesus had a SECT of “John the Baptist only” disciples…he explains John’s SUPPORTING role of Jesus’ministry:
6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
The powerful ministry of JOHN THE BAPTIST needed to be placed in proper context.
The Gospel writer addresses the ROLE of John the Baptist in Jesus’ ministry because many years AFTER John the Baptist’s execution and Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension…there were still people who IDENTIFIED with John and refused to BELIEVE in Jesus.
John’s Gospel is NOT unkind or unappreciative of John the Baptist…but it is BLUNT:
John the Baptist was A MAN.
John the Baptist was a WITNESS.
John the Baptist was not THE LIGHT.
In this passage, John addresses 3 questions:
Is Jesus LESS THAN God?
No…Jesus is ETERNAL (He was BEFORE anything was created)…Everything was created by GOD…nothing was created without Jesus. Jesus is revealed as the SECOND person of the godhead…in complete unity with God the Father and, John says pointedly- “the Word was God.”
Is spiritual ILLUMINATION and LIFE possible apart from Jesus?
No...Later in this Gospel (John 14) Jesus will say it this clearly- “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life– no one comes to the Father except through me.” But that message is also clear in the opening 9 verses: “In Him was LIFE and that LIFE was the light of men.”
Can the MESSENGER (John the baptist) be more important than the MESSAGE (Jesus)?
No! Jesus is central. He will be the focus of John’s Gospel…but He is also the FOCAL POINT of human history.
-The Old Testament anticipates Him.
-The Gospels follow His life.
-The rest of the New Testament proclaim the significance of His MISSION and MESSAGE
-The church was created by God to worship Him and announce His promised return.
-Even our human CALENDAR pivots on His life…marking the years BEFORE and AFTER his time on earth.
“One Solitary Life"
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did any of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
The final word: Jesus is the complete EXPRESSION,
REVELATION and COMMUNICATION of the Living God.
