When God Became A Man
John 1:1-5, 10-14
John chapter one may not seem like a great Christmas text—but it is the truth behind the story of the angels and shepherds and the Wise Men and the journey to Bethlehem. Without this verse, the rest of the story has no meaning. Our text tells us what really happened 2000 years ago—and what it means for us today.
John does not begin his Gospel as the other Gospel accounts do. Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus. Mark began his story of the life of Jesus with His baptism by John the Baptist. Luke gives the story of Jesus’ birth. But John transports us to eternity past – before creation, before man – before the existence of time.
“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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (4) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
First, The Reality of His Kingship. (1:1-9)
•Eternal with God (vv.1-2)
“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.”
John moves back beyond human history to start his account of Jesus. John begins his gospel with the words, “in the beginning.” John’s use of the term “in the beginning” is probably a conscious referral to the very first words in the Bible. In Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Is that beginning of God? No of course not, when you go back to creation He is already there, and that is exactly what John says in verse one — “in the beginning was the Word.” Notice it is not “in the beginning is the Word” – it is “in the beginning was the Word.” “Was” is known as a durative imperfect, meaning “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.”
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.
According to this verse, Jesus who was the personification of the word of God has simply always existed! He didn't come into being in Bethlehem, but He has been here throughout all the endless ages of eternities past.
The Word was not only there; “the Word was with God.” This phrase literally means that the Word was “face to face” with God. It identifies the most intimate possible relationship of communication and communion and fellowship. In eternity past God was face to face with Jesus Christ. He had an unmatched, unparalleled divine face-to-face fellowship and communion with God in eternity past
First, in the beginning the Word was there, and secondly, in the beginning the Word was with God, and final step, “the Word was God.” The Word literally was God. Jesus Christ is God in a body. He is God and He always was God.
•Creator of the Universe (v. 3)
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
When you consider that this verse tells us that Jesus was the Creator of the universe, His birth as a baby in a stable becomes even more amazing. The Creator humbled Himself and became a creature in His own creation! God became dependent upon a human mother. Jesus, who was the Agent of Creation, stepped out of eternity, laid aside His glory and entered this world as a human baby! Even then not born into royalty but born into the humblest of surroundings.
As we have already stated John’s use of the term “in the beginning” in verse one of our text was probably a conscious referral to Genesis 1:1. In Genesis 1:1 we are told “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The word that is translated “God” in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word Elohim, which is a plural word. Later Genesis 1:26 at the creation of man God said, “Let us make man in our image.” All three parts of the Trinity are visible in the creation.
The Apostle Paul explains the relationship of Jesus to creation in four statements found in Colossians 1:15-17. “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born 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 prin-cipalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (17) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
He existed before creation. (v. 15)
“He is … the firstborn over all creation.”
The term “first-born” does not refer to time, but to place or status. Firstborn simply means “of first importance or of first rank.”
He Himself created all things. (v. 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….” This verse begins with the word “for,” but could and should be translated “because.” He is the one through whom everything came into being. John tells us, (1:3) “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:3) The writer of Hebrews states, “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;” (Hebrews 1:2)
All Things exist for him. (v. 16b)
“… All things were created through Him and for Him.” Creation is “for” Christ in the sense that He is the end for which all things exist, the goal toward which all things are intended to move.
He holds all things together (v. 17)
“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
This implies that without the presence of the eternal God in the Universe, things would literally fly apart. Not only did He make this universe, but He is the power that holds it all together. That is what the word “consist” means. As one man put it, he is “the glue of the galaxies.” He made it and He holds it all together too!
•Light of the World (vv. 4-5)
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5)
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
The word translated “comprehend” (katelaben) in the verse five is a word that has at least three mean-ings. On the most literal level the word means “to seize” or “to apprehend.”
Secondly, the word can also mean “to overtake” - the darkness “never overpowered” or “overcomes” the light.
Third, the word can also mean “to quench or to extinguish or eclipse” – thus meaning that the light cannot be eclipsed by the darkness. [James Montgomery Boice. “The Gospel of John” Five Volumes in One. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985) pp. 44-45]
But if the light unmasks and reveals the darkness for what it is, then the darkness will not remain passive but will fight back. It is the nature of darkness to try to quench the light.
Verse five says “the light shines in the darkness” indicating a continuous action. The light is constantly showing up the darkness for what is; ignorance, unbelief and rebellion against God.
•Became a Man (v. 14)
“And the Word became 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.”
The whole truth about Christmas is contained in the first part of verse fourteen-"the Word became flesh.” Jesus is the visible Word of God. He is God in human flesh. Theologians call this truth the Incarn-ation. It’s a hard concept to understand, and in the early Church there were many debates about what it really meant. Some people said Jesus wasn’t really a man; He just looked like a man, maybe something like a ghost. Others said He had the body of a man but He didn’t have a human soul. Still others said Jesus was two people in one body—sort of half-God and half-man. And unbelievers said it was all nonsense- that in fact Jesus wasn’t God at all. They claimed He was an ordin-ary person like you and me with a sin nature just like everyone else on planet Earth.
But all those ideas are plainly wrong. When Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, the infinite God took on the form of a tiny unborn baby boy - surely the greatest miracle of all time. No one can say how it happened—or even how God can become man without ceasing to be God. But that’s what the Bible teaches.
Let me say it clearly. The Son did not cease to be God when He became a man. In some indefinable way He added manhood but He did not subtract deity. He was fully God and fully man—the God-man.
But just try of a moment to wrap your mind around the truth the Almighty God – the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe moved in a human form. The love of God now beat in a human heart. The wisdom of God now spoke from human lips. Jesus was God with skin on. When God took upon Himself human form, He did not live above us, or beneath us, or away from us, but with us!
For some 33 years God moved into our neighbor-hood, and as the NIV says that He “made his dwelling among us.” Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth. He belonged to a family; He grew norm-ally, and played with His little friends in the streets of Nazareth. He went to school and was faithful in the worship of the synagogue. He worked with hands in His father’s carpenter’s shop, and learned the skills of the trade. He lived among the people, He attended weddings and funerals, He saw their hope and their dreams and their disappointments and their sorrow.
With all the excitement and activity of the Christmas Season it is easy to blow right past the birth of Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” But such has always been the case. When He came the first time, Herod hated Him, the Scribes ignored Him, and there was no room for Him in the inn. Only the shepherds, the Wise Men; the poor and the foreigners, welcomed Him to this Earth.
Not much has changed today as we see the birth of Jesus slipping from our cultural awareness. He came into the world He created and “the world did not know Him.” (v. 10)
Secondly, The Response To His Kingship. (1:10-12)
Let’s note the three responses to the King.
•He is Ignored (v. 10)
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.”
John emphasizes the word “world” by repeating it three times in this verse. The “Word” was continuously in the world; the world owes its existence to Him, and yet the world did not know Him. Not knowing Him refers to more than just an intellectual knowledge it is a failure to know or have a right relationship with Him.
•He is Rejected (v. 11)
“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
Not only did His creation “not know Him” (v.10) verse eleven says “He came to His own” which means He came to the place and among the people who were His own. He came among His own people, the Jews, but they “did not receive Him.” It seems rather mysterious to us that Jesus was not accepted by his own people, the very people who had been waiting in anticipation of His coming for many generations.
Did Israel have any excuse for their failure to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah? Think of the reasons why they should have recognized Him. In the first place they had the prophecies of His coming in the Scripture. And if that were not enough they had the evidence of the miracles that Christ performed. And yet they did not accept Jesus as the promised one!
Do you know why the religious leaders of His day rejected Jesus? They rejected Him primarily because He did not fit their expectations. Because He did not come with great pomp and ceremony, because He did not come to set up an Earthly kingdom, they refused to accept Him. They did not accept Him because He came with a message that they must repent and be born again. They did not accept Him because as “the light of God” He revealed them for what they were, sinners who needed to be saved. As John 3:19-20 says, "This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who is evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." The light came to His own but because they were in love with the darkness they did not receive the light. And because of this, rather than welcoming Him, they became more suspicious and finally rejected Him in blind anger even accusing Him of being a child of the Devil. Then they killed Him.
While it is true that the world ignored him and his own people rejected him—not everyone ignored him and not everyone rejected him. Some people recognized him and welcomed him as Lord and Savior.
•He is Accepted (vv. 12-13)
Not all of His people rejected Him, all the Apostles and 100% of the earliest Disciples were Jewish. Even in the midst of general rejection, many followed the Lord. John records that there were some who received Him; like the Samaritan woman (Chap. four) the woman taken in adultery (Chap. eight) and the blind man (Chap. nine).
John 1:12 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible because it clearly explains how someone can become a Christian. Notice three key words in verse twelve: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name (13) who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Received.
“But as many as received Him…”
Verse twelve says “but as many as received Him” the word translated “as many” (hosoi) is sometimes translated “whosoever” and it opens the doors of salvation to all who will receive Him. The way of salvation begins with a simple step: “To as many as received Him.” “Receive” means receive as God’s revelation of light and truth. In verse twelve John says first –“receive” then “believe.”
Believed.
“…to those who believe in His name.”
This means more than just saying a prayer or signing a card. Throughout the gospel of John, the verb “believe” is emphasized as an activity, something that one does. Receiving Jesus means taking Jesus into your life for what He is. It does not mean a kind of peaceful co-existence with a Christ who makes no claims — as though He can stay in the house as long as He doesn't play His music so loud. It has the idea of believing that Jesus is the Son of God and resting on Him so completely that He is your only hope of Heaven.
Right.
“…to them He gave the right to become children of God”
Those who receive the light are given the “right” (exousia) literally “authority or the right” to become “the children of God.” Those who are born are those who “believe.” This is such a profound truth that appar-ently John never got over it for when he was very old he wrote (1 John 3:1) “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!”
The moment you receive Christ into your life, God gives you the honor of becoming a member of His family. This teaches us, by the way, that not everyone is a child of God. All are created by God, but not everyone in the world is a child of God. Sometimes people care-lessly say, “We’re all God’s children,” but the Bible says no such thing. God only gives the privilege of being His children to those who by personal faith receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Conclusion
Some people think no decision is necessary to become a Christian. They think they are Christian by birth. Usually they arrive at that conclusion by a process of elimination. “I’m not Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, so I must be a Christian.” But you aren’t a Christian simply because you aren’t something else. You aren’t a Christian simply because your parents were Christians or you were raised in the church. No drifts into Christianity by accident. At some point you must consciously believe and receive Jesus as you Lord and Savior.
Verse twelve says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” The same thing will happen this Christmas. Let’s make sure that we are among those who have received Him.
When God Became a Man
John 1:1-5, 10-14
First, The Reality of His Kingship. (1:1-9)
• __________ with God (vv.1-2)
•___________ of the Universe (v. 3) (Col. 1:16-17)
He existed __________ creation. (v. 15)
He Himself _______________ all things. (v. 16)
(Jn. 1:3 Heb1:2)
All Things exist ______ him. (v. 16b)
He holds all things _________________ (v. 17)
•______________ of the World (vv. 4-5)
•Became a ____________ (v. 14)
Secondly, The Response To His Kingship. (1:10-12)
Let’s note the three responses to the King.
•He is _______________ (v. 10)
•He is _______________ (v. 11)
•He is _______________ (vv. 12-13)
Received
Believed
Right
