GOD’s PERFECT EXPRESSION-II—John 1:1-5
Attention:
Sandbars along Hwy 98 near Eastpoint, FL/People can wade ?nearly 100 yds? into the Apalachicola Bay on sandbars/Tide, River, Ocean, Winds, etc. sculpt the sandbars/The sandbars are the Perfect Expression of the water’s movement & power.
Likewise, Jesus is God’s Perfect Expression of Himself to mankind.
Need:
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 these truths.
*6 capacities/governors of God’s Perfect Expression/Manifestation.
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.”
Previously we found that...God’s perfect expression to mankind is...
1. ETERNAL(:1a-b)
2. COLLABORATIVE/Works hand-in-hand(:1b-2)
3. COEQUAL(:1c)
4—God’s perfect expression to mankind is...
CREATOR(:3)
Explanation:(:3)
:3—“All things were made through Him, & without Him nothing was made that was made.”
“All things” includes every reality with the exception of God, as “all things” “were made” by/thru the handiwork/achievement/instrumentation of the Word. Thru His agency, with the Father & Spirit alone, all things came into being. Apart from the agency of the Word, there neither was nor could have been any creative event or process.
So by this Word(of God) was fulfilled/accomplished the very creation of every single created thing.
We also must remember that “...God saw everything that He had made, & indeed it was very good...”—Gen. 1:31
“All things”—pav—Adj.—1) individually—1a) Each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything; 2) collectively—2a) Some of all types. Strong—apparently a primary word; All, any, every, the whole.
“Made/Came into being”3X—ginomai—1) To become, i.e. To come into existence, begin to be, receive being; 2) To become, i.e. to come to pass, happen; 3) To arise, appear in history, come upon the stage; 4) To be made, finished—4a) of miracles--To be performed, wrought; 5) To become, be made. Strong–To cause to be ("gen"-erate), i.e. reflexively--To become(come into being), used with great latitude(literal, figurative, intensive, etc.).
**“Second aorist middle indicative of ginomai, the constative aorist covering the creative activity looked at as one event in contrast with the continuous existence of hn in verses 1, 2.”...“Creation is thus presented as a becoming (ginomai) in contrast with being (eimi).”—RWP
“Three times in [:1] 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
“Through”—dia—Prep.—1) Through—1a) of place, 1b) of time, 1c) of means; 2) Through—2a) the ground or reason by which something is or is not done. Strong—a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; Through(in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional).
“Without”—cwriv—Adverb—1) Separate, apart—1a) Without any, 1b) Besides. Strong—At a space, i.e. Separately or apart from(often as preposition).
“Nothing”—oude—1) But not, neither, nor, not even. Strong—Not however, i.e. Neither, nor, not even.
Argumentation:
Ps. 33:6—“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”
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;”
Eph. 3:8-9—“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, & to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;”
Col 1:9-20—“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, & to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom & spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work & increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience & longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness & conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven & that are on earth, visible & invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him & for Him. And He is before all things, & in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, & by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
Illustration:
My nephew, Paul, graduated from NCSU years ago. He got a degree in Mechanical Engineering. The draw for any branch of engineering is that it puts knowledge to practical use. A mechanical engineer uses materials in certain combinations to construct machines which can help people &/or animals to better perform certain functions. I used to love watching Mr. Rogers when he would show how a factory produced certain things like knit sweaters or make wieners or potato chips or cars, etc./I enjoy watching TV shows like, ‘How Its Made’/Paul is the designer or the creator of something from raw knowledge. He applies or makes knowledge practical/CREATOR
Jesus in His pre-incarnate state, in the beginning, in intimate fellowship with God, of the same nature as God, made perfect use of His holiness by creating the universe & all that is in it. He created it from nothing & apart from His desire nothing has come into being. The Word took all of His fullness as God & created. Gen. 1:1—“In the beginning God created the heavens & the earth.”
Application:
?Is God’s Perfect Expression to you...CREATOR?
?Is Jesus God’s Perfect Expression?
5—God’s perfect expression to mankind is...
DRAW-ER(:4)
Explanation:(:4) Sustainer/Pull-er/Attract-er
:4—“In Him was life, & the life was the light of men.”
“That which has come into being (:3) in the Logos was life. The power that creates & sustains life in the universe is the Logos.”—RWP
“John proclaims Jesus as the supreme light, who is both eternal & universal & yet personal.”—BECNT
The “life” is only “in” Christ—the Word of God.
“Light” draws those who are in darkness seeing as darkness is overwhelmed/dispelled by it.
Thus the “life” of God in Christ draws men to God. The “life” in the Word is that which illumines men’s lives to their God-ordained purpose.
Christ Jesus gives you vastly more than you can ever have apart from Him....the very “life” for which you were created!
This “life” that is “light” is al that is needed to attract you to Jesus.
*I believe much of the lack of this attraction is centered on the failure of the church, as a whole, to live the “life” which the Word(Christ) offers.
“In”—en—1) In, by, with etc. Strong—a primary preposition denoting (fixed)position(in place, time or state), & by implication--Instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between eiv & ek); "In," at, (up-)on, by, etc..
“Life”—zwh—Strong—Life(literally or figuratively)—MSN—Life(physical); life(belonging to God, Christ & the believer).
Another word—biov—deals strictly with physical life.
“Light”—fwv—1)Light. The general term for light: light of a fire. Strong—Luminousness(in the widest application, nat. or artificial, abstract or concrete, literal or figurative).
“Men”—anyrwpov—1) A human being, whether male or female; 2) Indefinitely--Someone, a man, one; 3) in the plural--People; 4) joined with other words--Merchantman. Strong—Man-faced, i.e. a human being.
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. 6:44-48—““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. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.”
*There must be something about God that appeals to you. Something about Him must draw you to Him...
It may be that you need to experience true Love—Husband-Wife, Father-Mother, Brother-Sister, etc. True love is found in God thru Christ Jesus!
It may be that you need to experience true Direction & Purpose—Your work seems pointless & meaningless. True direction & purpose are found in God thru Christ Jesus!
It may be that you need to experience true Fulfillment & Significance— True fulfillment & significance are found in God thru Christ Jesus!
Illustration:
Churches who wrangle over old hymns vs. new hymns/I don’t care when they were written or whether or not I know the words/If they are worthy of praising God they are worthy of praising God!/I never want to raise up a song simply because 'it is old & I’m used to it,' NOR do I want to push a song simply because 'its new & I’m used to it!'/Both are effectively saying, “That generation(old or young) doesn’t matter to me.”—Self-centeredness in religious clothing!...& self-centeredness is one reason why Jesus had to pay for that sin on the Cross!/DRAW-ER
Application:
?Is God’s Perfect Expression to you...DRAW-ER?
?Is Jesus God’s Perfect Expression?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Sandbars along Hwy. 98.—Perfect expression of water's action.
Action:
God’s perfect expression for mankind is...
4. CREATOR(:3)
5. DRAW-ER(:4)
1. ETERNAL(:1a-b)
2. COLLABORATIVE/Works hand-in-hand(:1b-2)
3. COEQUAL(:1c)
Presented 09/01/2013am to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
