Who Is This?p.1
John 1:1-3
“THE WORD”
By Pastor Ralph Juthman
INTRODUCTION:
In 1 Kings 8:27 King Solomon asks, “Will God indeed dwell on earth?”
You have probably heard of the campaign to publicize the non existence of God. Organizations like the Humanist League are spending millions of dollars for ad space on city buses in Canada and the USA that contend, “There probably is no God, so relax and get on with you life.”
What is interesting is how non committal these groups are. The ads say, Probably” not Definitely. This is most likely because deep down, there is not a person who can say with 100%assurance that God does not exist.
What these people have not accepted is the fact that over 99% of people on this planet profess a belief in God in some shape or form. Everywhere, on this planet there are groups of people gathering in churches, synagogues, temples, forest and jungles to give worship to some professed deity.
What this shows is the universal desire to reach out and touch the unreachable. People innately want to touch God. But how can this happen? How can humans come into contact with the Divine?
This is where Christianity sets itself apart from every religion, faith group and cult. It is the only faith that proclaims with absolute certainty, that GOD HAS COME DOWN TO MAN> HE did this in the person of Jesus Christ.
From the opening section of the gospel, John addresses this question, “who is Jesus?” The first 18 vv., most often called the Prologue, contain a summary of John’s most reflective convictions about our Lord. In fact, many Bible Scholars believe that these verses comprised an early hymn, that the early Christians used to sing.
John records 7 names or titles that identify of Jesus
1. THE WORD ( 1-3, 14)
2. THE LIGHT (4-13; 8:12)
3. THE SON OF GOD (15-28, 49; MATT 16:16)
4. THE LAMB OF GOD (29-34) Good Friday
5. THE MESSIAH (35-42)
6. THE KING OF ISREAL (43-49; 12:15) Palm Sunday
7. THE SON OF MAN (50-51)
Over the next seven weeks we will study each of these individual titles of Jesus. Each of these are essential in understanding and answering the question, “WHO IS JESUS”
In verses 1-3, we find one of the most elevated (and complex) statements concerning Christ’s identity in all of Scripture.
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John focuses upon the central fact of our Christian faith: Christianity is not a philosophy, it is about a Person, and that Person is fundamental to our faith. To remove Jesus from Christianity is like taking numbers out of math, the sun out of daylight. It is to strip Christianity of its most essential component.
While other world religions focus upon the teachings, ideas, philosophies of their founders and teachers, Christianity is about a personal relationship with a Person. The central theme of John’s message is found in 20:31,
But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
That is why Jesus Christ is the most astonishing individual in human history. More books have been written, music composed, picturespainted, and drama performed about Jesus than any other person. Why?
Why did other great figures come and go? Why do others fade into the annals of history but Jesus Christ looms as large in modern society as he did 2000 years ago? Why is he the most powerful personality to ever appear on this planet? That is the question John answers in the prologue…Who is Jesus?
Jesus is a great historical figure and held by many to be the most inspirational leader the world has ever known. But is he more? The typical responses to the life and claims of Jesus Christ sounds something like this:
"Jesus Christ was a great man."
"Jesus Christ was a wonderful moral model."
"Jesus Christ was an enlightened religious teacher."
"Jesus Christ was an esteemed prophet."
What do you think of Jesus Christ? Who is He?
The Gospel of John introduces the Lord Jesus Christ with three tremendous statements:
“In the beginning was the Word,”
“And the Word was with God,”
“And the Word was God.”
It can be stated that in this simple sentence is the most compact theological statement in all of the Bible. These verses teach us three separate truths about who Jesus is.
First, HE IS ETERNALLY GOD. 1 In the beginning was the Word….
John begins his Gospel in an unusual manner. He starts “in the beginning.” Do those words sound familiar to you? They take us back to Gen. 1.1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” John starts with God. In the Bible, you cannot go any further back than God, and that is where John begins, in eternity past with God’s eternal purpose.
And what does he tell us? In the beginning was the Word. Recognize the significance of what John says here: In the beginning, from all eternity, before all time, the Word has existed.
“in the beginning was the Word.” Notice it is not is the Word; it was not in the beginning that the Word started out or was begotten. “Was” is known as a “continued action.” In fact the sense of the entire verse is “In the beginning was continuing the Word, and the Word was continuing with God and the Word was continually God.”
This is where Jehovas Witnesses fail to se. The JW’s teach that Jesus was not eternally God. He was created, born like every other man on this planet. The Morman’s as well teach that Jesus was created by God, first as an angel who came to earth as a man.
Christianity teaches The Word was in the beginning. What beginning? Just as far back as you want to go. He was already there when the beginning was. “Well,” somebody says, “there has to be a beginning somewhere.” All right, wherever you begin, He is there to meet you, He is already past tense.
John tells that “in the beginning was the Word.” In Greek it is the word (Logos). It occurs in verses one and fourteen. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…(14) And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Why is Jesus Christ called the word? What is the significance of that title? John’s calling Jesus “the Word” he was connecting with the thought of his day. John in wanting to reach both Jews and Greeks uses a word that was familiar to both cultures, and had significant meaning.
To the Greeks, the Logos represented the soul of the universe. It was the rational principle from which everything came, a creative stabilizing governing force of the universe (much like the “force” of Star Wars genre). The Word is what gives the universe meaning and purpose.
William Barclay, one of the great Bible expositors of the 19th century wrote ’the Word , the Logos was the principle of order under which the universe continued to exist.”…It is the Word that gives order and reason to the physical world.”
Barclay in quoting one of the ancient Greek scholars, writes, “Not only is there pattern in the world of events… nothing moves with aimless feet..in all of life and in all the events of life there is purpose, a plan a scheme, a design. And what controls these events? …The controlling power is the Logos, the Word.”
To the Hebrews, the Logos was identified with the Word of God. In the OT, the word of God is connected with God’s active power. His word represented his actions in creation (Gen. 1.1; Ps. 33.6), revelation (God’s word came to the prophets), deliverance (Ps. 107.20), covenant, guidance, and judgment. The Word of God represented His actions, His self-revelation, how God revealed Himself and acted.
John states, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” In those few words, John informs us that the Word has existed from all eternity. At the beginning of time, the word was there with God. The Word has existed eternally. He already “was” when time began. At creation, the Word was already present.
Also, John states that the Word was with God (pros: face-to-face). John indicates that the Word is separate and distinguishable from the Father. He is a separate person. He was there with God (1 John 1.2: the Word of life was with the Father and was manifested to us).
In just a few simple but profound words, John offers a glimpse of the Trinity. The word has existed from eternity past, yet at the same time, He is a separate Person from the Father. He is eternal yet separate.
Not Only Is He Eternally God but….
Secondly, HE IS EQUALLY GOD: “… and the Word was with God…” ,
John states that “the word was with God” OR AS ANOTHER VERSION RENDERS, ‘the Word present to God -literally (face to face).
This indicates that the Word is separate and distinguishable from the Father. He is a separate person. In a simple yet profound words John offers us a glimpse of the Trinity.
Although the term “trinity” is not found in Scripture the doctrine is found from its earliest pages. In the story of the creation of man recorded Genesis 1:26 we find, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” The most common name for God given in the Old Testament is the plural – Elohim. Jesus is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father.
Not Only Is He Equally God but…
Third, HE IS ESSENTIALLY GOD.:“… and the Word was God.”
Or literally “and God was the Word.” This means that everything that can be said about God the Father can be said about God the Son. Jesus is in every way God, yet He is a separate person from God the Father.
The Jehovah’s Witness in their translation of the scriptures, (The New World Translation) translates this phrase “and the word was a god.” They do this by supplying the indefinite article “a” where none is in the Greek.
Unlike any other widely followed religious leader in history, Jesus Christ made a unique claim. He declared Himself God. Not a god, not god-like, but God incarnate - the Creator of the universe in human flesh.
4. Verse three leaves no doubt that JESUS IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
Video: Carman
1 Corinthians 8:6 supports this same division of labor concerning Creation, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”
The author of the book of Hebrews also looks back at the beginning when he said, (Heb 1:1-3)
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, (2) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (3) who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
John when he wrote the book of Revelation again assured that Jesus was the Creator, (Rev.4:11) “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
The Apostle Paul speaks out to reveal in (Col 1:15-17) that Jesus is not only the Creator of the Universe, He is the sustainer as well. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (16) For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (17) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
But what does this have to do with us personally? How does this intersect our lives? What difference does it make ultimately?
1. It means that Jesus is God and has the power to help.
There are many ways that this effects us personally, and one is: It means that Jesus Christ is God. It means that he is alive today and has the power to help us.
There could not have been an incarnation of God if Jesus did not previously exist. This truth changes everything we understand about who God is and what he is like. If Jesus is God, then we know what God is like. John wrote:
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us” (1 John 1:1-2).
This means that we have a God we can know. He has revealed himself. He did not stay aloof and separate from us, but came to be with us.
2. It means God cares for us.
This is not a god who, as the deists claim, created the world, wound it up and set if off into space never to take an interest in it again. Far from it. This is a God who is full of emotion and passionate caring for the world and the people he created — “"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That is why the Bible can say, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). If Jesus did not care, he would never have come. He certainly would not have allowed himself to be abused and crucified if he did not love you enormously. It just wouldn’t have happened. The eternal God stepped into time and space to allow you to know him, be forgiven and inherit the kingdom of heaven. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.
How can we continue to live selfish, self-centered and sinful lives when God has done all he can do to demonstrate his love for us? How can we hold onto our sin when Jesus gave up everything for us.
What else does this mean to us? The third thing is:
3. It means there is a plan.
Here is the plan: Jesus came from Glory, and he wants to bring you into that glory. He said, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world” (John 17:24).
He wants you to be with him. It is a plan that was in place before the creation of the world. The apostle Peter explains it like this:
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake” (1 Peter 1:18-20).
The prophets spoke of it, Jesus promised it, and the day will come when you will inherit it — the plan of God that started before time began, to bring you into an everlasting kingdom. This kingdom has a King. It is Jesus himself, and he has reigned in glory before the world began and will reign long after the present world order is over. He has invited you to be a part of that kingdom. This is the generosity of God. The Bible says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
The plan is to give us eternal life. The Bible says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
This is God’s plan, and it is taking the world in a specific direction regardless of what the godless try to do. No one can resist him. His plan is for those who love and serve him, and the future for those who belong to God is more glorious than anyone can imagine. As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
CONLCLUSION:
I want to conclude today with the same question that I began with, “What do you think of Jesus? Who Is he really?”
One of the greatest theological minds of the 20th century was C.S. Lewis. Lewis wrote such classics as The Chronicles of Naria, Prince Caspian, The Screwtape letters, but probably his signature work was his book called Mere Christianity.
IN the book Mere Christianity, Lewis wrote "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ’I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, The MacMillan Company, 1960, pp. 40-41.)
“Who Is Jesus?” and what you decide will determine your eternal destiny. Is he is a good prophet, a great teacher, a wonderful role model, or is he more than that? He certainly claimed to be more.
Who is Jesus and why should I believe in Him?
He is the Son of God, God Himself.
He is the Creator of the world.
He is the Originator of Life and Light.
To deny Him is to turn from God Himself, the Creator of the world. To deny Him is to continue in spiritual darkness and death. Only Jesus offers true life and light.
Do you have a personal relationship with the Creator God, the Originator of spiritual life and light? You can. Right now…..
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.If you have never received God’s gift of Life, you can right now pray and ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your life
This sermon was preached by Rev. Ralph Juthman at Havelock Pentecostal Church. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, New International Version, Copyright © 1873, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Thanks to Rodney Buchanan for his sermon, The Eternal Christ. And John Hamby, Who Is This Jesus?
