GOD’s PERFECT EXPRESSION-I—John 1:1-5
Attention:
Decision to marry.
Not a mere Event but is a reality of Total commitment.
Those who simply ‘live together’ never experience the security of commitment inherent to actual marriage. That is because Marriage is the ultimate expression of a husband’s love to his wife & vice versa.
The apostle John demonstrated that Jesus is the perfect expression of God to man.
God perfectly expresses Himself to mankind thru Jesus.
Why does God express Himself to mankind thru Jesus?
Thru God’s perfect manifestation, He submits Himself to your ability to know & apprehend of these truths.
*6 capacities/governors of God’s Perfect Expression.
John shares with his audience, the intricacies of Jesus’ Divine nature as experienced thru/by humanity. These truths are stated thusly so we will recognize Jesus as the Christ & Son of God. It is the introduction to reaching John’s overall purpose for writing, as stated in 20:31—“but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, & that believing you may have life in His name.”
Job’s lament—that he could be fully understood & heard by God:
Job 16:21—“Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!”
Job 13:3—“But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to reason with God.”
Job 23:2-7—““Even today my complaint is bitter; My hand is listless because of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me. Would He contend with me in His great power? No! But He would take note of me. There the upright could reason with Him, And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.”
1—God’s perfect expression for mankind is...
ETERNAL(:1a-b)
Explanation:(:1a-b)
:1—“In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God.”
John is introducing Jesus as the embodiment of God’s revelation—of both Himself & creation.
Jn. 1:14—And the Word became flesh & dwelt among us, & we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace & truth.
Rev. 19:13—He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, & His name is called The Word of God.
1Jn. 1:1—That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, & our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--
“Three times in this sentence John uses this imperfect of eimi ‘to be’[“was”] which conveys no idea of origin for God or for the Logos, simply continuous existence. Quite a different verb (egeneto—‘became’) appears in verse 14 for the beginning of the Incarnation of the Logos.”—RWP
God merely speaks, & by His word, there exists when nothing existed previously.
“Word”—Greek has four words which designate a “word.” Three of them refer to the use of words as they are used in sentence structures. A fourth word, logov, used here, refers to, not the outward form of the word but refers to the connection of the word with the thought that made it. It’s not just a part of speech but is what is spoken. When you give your word that you will do something, you don’t hand them a piece of paper with a word written on it but you express a thought that you have both agreed on. Your word is what binds you to each other. You express your thought in words but your “word” is what people know you by. And your “word” is either true or false. The strength of the words you use is dependent on your keeping that word. The relationship between the words you use & how you behave toward those words, reveals the intentions of your heart. Your “word” in that sense, is your self-revelation to others.
That is what God’s Word is. “The Word” is God’s self-revelation or the way He makes Himself known to us. “The Word” spoken of in John is the full expression of God’s thoughts & intentions toward man & of what He wants to say to the world. But there is much more to God than speaking words. The Word here, is given personality. God’s Word is a person.
In the OT, the “word of the LORD” was responsible for, 1) Creation(Ps. 33:6; Gen.1); 2)Revelation(Jer.1:4, Eze. 33:7; Amos 3:1,8).
Ps.33:6—“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; & all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”
Gen. 1, states, “God said” & “& it was so.”
Jer. 1:4-5—“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.””
The word of the LORD is the pre-incarnate Jesus. That is how John can refer to Him as “the Word.” He is so much a part of the very essence of God that the two though separable are inseparable.
Rev. 19:11-16—:13—“And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: & his name is called The Word of God.”
“The Word” is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.
Heb. 1:1-2—“God, who at various times & in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 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;”
But “the Word” “was in the beginning.”
Therefore, “The Word” is something that is encountered beyond the world & time itself.
Argumentation:
Rev. 22:13—““I am the Alpha & the Omega, the Beginning & the End, the First & the Last.””
Rev. 1:10-17—“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, & I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha & the Omega, the First & the Last,” &, “What you see, write in a book & send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, & to Laodicea.” Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, & in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet & girded about the chest with a golden band. His head & hair were white like wool, as white as snow, & His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, & His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, & His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First & the Last.”
Isa. 48:12—““Listen to Me[the LORD of Hosts], O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.”
This description of all-encompassing letters surely relates to Jesus’ title as “the Word.”
Jn. 17:5—““And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Jn. 1:15—“John bore witness of Him[Jesus] & cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’””
Micah 5:2—““But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.””
Col. 1:17—“And He is before all things, & in Him all things consist.”
Illustration:
Before a son or daughter can help you with your family business, he must undergo a maturity process. Their bodies must mature by growing & strengthening & lengthening muscles & bones/
A child couldn’t possibly come out of his mother’s womb with fully developed bones because on the way out the bones of the head bend & push & conform to the shape of the birth canal. Our children’s heads were squashed & wrinkled before that final push that brought their heads out. Their tiny bones had to be in a necessary preexistent condition before any other growth process could take place, i.e., before they could hold their heads up, before they could grasp things, before they could push with their legs, before they could roll over. Eventually they will be roughly the same size as their parents. Your children eventually get to the point where they can perform adult roles like you & I. They can pilot a boat, drive a tractor, they can work with tackle properly so that they don’t hinder or destroy the work-day.
Your daughter can cook your secret recipe pound cake as well as or better than you can.
But before that there had to exist the mother that bore them & taught them the task...recipe.
Jesus Christ existed before the world could have come into existence. It wasn’t possible before Him. “The Word” had to be before anything else could be/ETERNAL
Application:
?Is God’s Perfect Expression for you...ETERNAL?
?Is Jesus God’s Perfect Expression?
2—God’s perfect expression for mankind is...
COLLABORATIVE/Working hand-in-hand(:1b-2)
Explanation:(:1-2)Cooperation/Communion/Fellowship within the Godhead
:1b—“In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God.”
:2—“He was in the beginning with God.”
“With God”(prov) signifies not only a distinction but a relationship as well.
Verse 2 “pinpoints the focus of v. 1, namely, that from the beginning the Logos was directly related to God.”—NAC
How can God be separate(with) from the Word if both existed simultaneously in eternity?—There must be EITHER...more than one God, which is unbiblical, OR... God must exist as more than one person each having the same essence of being.
Collaboration—‘working jointly on an activity.
“He/The same”—outov—Pronoun—1) This, these, etc. Strong—The, he(she or it), i.e. This or that(often with article repeated).
“With”—prov—Prep.—1) To the advantage of; 2) At, near, by; 3) To, towards, with, with regard to. Strong—a preposition of direction; Forward to, i.e. with the genitive case--Toward the side of, i.e. Pertaining to; with the dative case--By the side of, i.e. Near to; usually with the accusative case the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is predicated).
Argumentation:
1Jn. 1:2—“the life was manifested, & we have seen, & bear witness, & declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father & was manifested to us--”
Jn. 10:35, 37-38—“Jesus answered them, “I told you, & you do not believe. “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.”.....““If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; “but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know & believe that the Father is in Me, & I in Him.””
Jn. 14:10-11—““Do you not believe that I am in the Father, & the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father & the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”
Jn. 6:41-45—“The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father & mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus therefore answered & said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; & I will raise him up at the last day. “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard & learned from the Father comes to Me.”
There is a divine Collaboration that is so tight & perfect that it cannot be violated by anyone or anything!
Illustration:
At this moment we are Collaborating—‘work jointly on an activity.’/Cooperation is a necessary facet of Collaboration/Face-to-face, in communion one with the other/It works among people & also among the Godhead/Role fulfillment is vital to success on any level/COLLABORATIVE
There is a tiny plant called a lichen. It grows on the sides of trees & on rocks & some of them are free standing but they are very low growing things that look like little colored patches that have been placed on the objects they grow on. They are unique in that a lichen is a fungus, like a white or black, mushroom or like that gray corn smut that knocks down the value of your crop. But a lichen is really not a fungus either because a fungus doesn’t have any means of turning sunlight into energy like green plants do. They have to get their nourishment from decaying matter & they need wet conditions to do this. The lichen is a combination of fungus & algae. The algae inside of the lichen provides the food for the fungus part because it can use sunlight to make the nutrients & supply those nutrients to the fungus. The algae or the fungi, in lichens, cannot exist separately in the extreme conditions that they can when they are together as a lichen/In fact, if they are forcibly separated the lichen is destroyed/COLLABORATIVE
Jesus & the Father have a relationship that is that close. God does not exist in less than an intimate relationship between the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Just like a lichen cannot exist if the fungus or the algae are separated, God is not God if there is not a Trinity.
Application:
?Is God’s Perfect Expression for you... COLLABORATIVE?
?Is Jesus God’s Perfect Expression?
3—God’s perfect expression for mankind is...
COEQUAL(:1c)
Explanation:(:1c)
:1c—“In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God.”
“John now shows what they[the Word & God] have in common: they are God.”—Andreas Kostenberger in BECNT
Jehovah’s Witness theology harps on the absence of the article before the second “God” in “the Word was God”....However, logov(“Word”) has the definite article to show that it is the subject of the sentence(since it is in the same case as yeov). The rendering “God was the Word” is invalid, because “the Word,” not “God” is the subject[which]“would equate the Father[the One whom the Word was with] with the Word, thus denying that the two are separate persons.”.....“According to the rules of Greek grammar, when the predicate nominative(God in this clause) precedes the verb, it cannot be considered indefinite(& thus translated ‘a god’ instead of God) merely because it does not have the article.” Other examples of this construction are in :6, 12, 13 & :18, where it would be ludicrous to insert ‘a god.’—John MacArthur
“If John had included the article,.....He would have been so identifying the Word with God that no divine being could exist apart from the Word.....The Word Himself does not make up the entire Godhead; nevertheless the divinity that belongs to the rest of the Godhead belongs also to Him.”— D. A. Carson
“The meaning of John 1:1 is not merely that the Word has Divine characteristics but that the Word participates in the reality called God.”—Gerald Borchert in NAC
“The Word” is deity. He is God Himself. However you will notice that John did not rearrange the phrase here to say, “God is the Word.” That is because if he had, then there could be no divine being apart from “the Word.” We know that can’t be because “the Word” was with God & therefore, there are at least two distinct persons in the Godhead or what we call the Trinity. We know that the Bible teaches that there is a third person of the Godhead(the Holy Spirit). John has given us a very nearly full-blown Trinitarian doctrine. John shows us not only that “the Word” was of the same nature, character or substance as God, & that “the Word” was in intimate fellowship with God, & that “the Word” existed prior to creation. He not only was all those things but He did all of those things “in the beginning” at the exact same time that God Himself existed(:1:2). John is making certain that we understand that Jesus is more than just an ordinary man. “Beginning”—arch—1) Beginning, origin; 2) The person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader; 3) That by which anything begins to be, the origin, the active cause; 4) The extremity of a thing; 5) The first place, principality, rule, magistracy. Strong—from arcomai[To commence(in order of time)]; (properly abstract) A commencement, or concretely--Chief (in various applications of order, time, place, or rank).
“Word”3X—logov—MSN—1) of speech—1a) A word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea, 1b) What someone has said, 1c) Discourse, 1d) Doctrine, teaching, 1e) Anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative, 1f) Matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law, 1g) The thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed; 2) Its use as respect to the MIND alone—2a) Reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating, 2b) Account, i.e. regard, consideration, 2c) Account, i.e. reckoning, score, 2d) Account, i.e. answer or explanation in reference to judgment, 2e) Relation, i.e. with whom as judge we stand in relation, 2f) Reason, cause, groun; 3) In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom & power in union with God, his minister in creation & government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical & ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, & shone forth conspicuously from His words & deeds. Strong—Something said (including the thought); by implication--A topic(subject of discourse), also--Reasoning(the mental faculty) or motive; by extension--A computation; specifically(with the article in John)--the Divine Expression(i.e. Christ).
“Was”3X—hn—1) I was, etc. Strong—I(thou, etc.) was(wast or were).
“God”2X—yeov—1) A god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities; 2) The Godhead, trinity; 3) Spoken of the only & true God; 4) Whatever can in any respect be likened unto God, or resemble him in any way. Strong—A deity, especially(with o)--The supreme Divinity; figuratively--A magistrate; by Hebraism--Very.
Argumentation:
Jn. 10:30—““I & My Father are one.””
Deut. 6:4(Mk. 12:29)—“The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”
Isa. 44:6-8—““Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First & I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it & set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming & shall come, Let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, & declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.’””
1Cor. 8:6—“yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, & we for Him; & one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, & through whom we live.”
Heb. 1:1-13—“God, who at various times & in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 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; who being the brightness of His glory & the express image of His person, & 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, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.” But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever & ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness & hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” And: “You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?”
Php 2:5-6—“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,”
Mat. 1:22-23—“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: [Isa 7:14]“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, & bear a Son, & they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””
Isa. 9:6—“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
1Tim. 3:16—“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”
Jn. 8:54-59—“Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him & keep His word. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, & he saw it & was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, & have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself & went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, & so passed by.”
Illustration:
‘Two Men & A Truck’ moving company/Assumed that somewhere two men formed a moving company that eventually became recognized nationally/No doubt these two men are coequals within that company/Together they are the perfect expression of their company’s desire & goals/COEQUAL
Two companies UPS & Federal Express do the same type of business/Both are in the delivery business/The nature of their business is the same/COEQUAL
In WWII there were many different allies who were. involved in accomplishing the same goal. The Americans, the British, the French, all worked to diffuse the German threat to the world. Each of these international Allies applied themselves in different theaters of operation/COEQUAL
Farmers all have the same nature of business regardless of whether they grow corn or cotton or soybeans, or peanuts, or cattle, or pigs or chickens. Your business is to provide your customers with a food product of some kind. George’s(fresh seafood) business is of the same essence as Ralph’s(cotton) even though they sell different products/COEQUAL
Application:
?Is God’s Perfect Expression for you...COEQUAL?
?Is Jesus God’s Perfect Expression?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Marriage is the perfect expression of love between a man & woman.
Action:
God’s perfect expression for mankind is...
1. ETERNAL(:1a-b)
2. COLLABORATION/Working hand-in-hand(:1b-2)
3. COEQUAL(:1c)
Presented 08/11/2013am to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
