In The Beginning
The Gospel of John Series – Part 1
Today we begin a new series of messages. I like series for several reasons; first it keeps us all on a track so we know where we're going and where we've been, secondly we can all be in prayer about what God is trying to show us and teach us as we journey along together and thirdly, it gets all of us through a book of the Bible TOGETHER.
So the book I've been led to and have been reading, and finding quite fascinating again, is the Gospel of John. This is the book that I most often point new believers to read as their first look into the Bible. Why? Again, a few reasons. It's written in a very personal and relational way to a varied audience. It's written a story-like style that puts the reader in the footsteps of the apostle, seeing Jesus in a very close way. And the main reason is that the purpose of this letter is to show that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God and that by believing in Jesus, people can have eternal life.
In fact, John testifies to that fact towards the end of the book in what we call chapter 20 (remember, originally this was a long letter to the churches of the day, it didn’t have chapters and verses…we add that for reference only). In that section he writes this about what he is testifying to, these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. This is a book about Jesus so that we who read it will believe in Jesus and by doing so, have everlasting life!
John (one of the 12 disciples of Jesus) wrote this gospel letter (a telling of what Jesus did, what He said and what people's responses were to Him) to both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) who lived in the greater Greco-Roman world in Ephesus and beyond in the first century.
And even though we are a mix of many more cultures today who live a very modern lifestyle in a world that seems so full of new knowledge, we will see that this word still speaks clearly and powerfully to anyone, anywhere at any time.
I'd like to encourage you to take notes, to write down your thoughts, to highlight your bible, to write out any questions you may have and to also take time to read this again at home and ask God what He may specifically be saying to YOU.
So, if we're ready, let's begin this journey through this gospel according to John. We'll begin at the beginning, turn with me to chapter 1 and verse 1. I'm reading from the English Standard Version. Will you stand with me as we read the Word of God…
Pray – God, speak to us…
The Word Became Flesh
1 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 was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
How's that for an introduction! I wanted us to read that entire section, but we may only get through part of this today. I really don’t know how long it will take to journey through this letter. There is SO much that we can learn from every phrase. Today we're going to focus on that first section in verses 1-5
1 In the beginning…
What a clear, powerful and emphatic statement! John begins by reminding his readers that indeed there WAS a beginning. Not once upon a time… THE beginning. It's very much an echo from Genesis, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…
It tells us that there WAS a beginning, a starting point, something that happened a long time ago (Gr РArch̩) but a beginning of what exactly? The beginning of creation. Everything that has ever been had a starting point. At one time, they did not exist, now they do (more on that in a second). There was a point in time, before time as we know it, when the clock started ticking and things started to happen.
In Genesis, it's when God SPOKE. God said…and there was…light, sun, stars, moons, land, sea, plants, animals, and us…God spoke, things happened, time began.
Now an evolutionist might say that was the big bang, that everything started there – BOOM! And suddenly (billions and billions of years later) we now see the result of that explosion of matter. That was 'the beginning'. Only problem with that theory is, 'what about before that?' And why did it blow up? And where did 'it' come from? Where did the energy come from to start it? Why are there planets and moons and galaxies spinning in different directions if they all started from one spinning object to begin with? And why was it spinning? And why did it form anything if there was nothing to begin with? Bang goes the theory? In THE beginning, GOD created…
And… 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
There was something in the beginning, not nothing. In that beginning, something already existed and that was the Word. Therefore the Word must have already been around when the beginning began (I love English!) This would show us that before the beginning (creation) there was something already going on – there was the Word, the Word was there before the beginning. This shows us the eternal attribute of the Word. It was before anything else was; anything we know of now anyway. The Word existed outside of our understanding of time. That's important, remember that when we get to some future passages.
And the Word was not alone – ahh! More somethings! The Word was with God. God and the Word were together, with each other. This is the beginning of our understanding of something we call the Trinity, the three persons of God. Not three Gods, they are all God, but expressed in three distinct persons, all in perfect unity, all with unique roles and characteristics.
And the Word, part of this eternally-existing relationship, WAS GOD. Not only was the Word with God, but was and is also God. Not only is that confusing to our little brains, but it's just really COOL! How can we relate to this? We try various explanations like cherry pie (you cut three pieces but underneath it's still all one) or the identity idea that a person can be father, husband, son, friend, co-worker – all the same person with many different relationships to others – or a cup of coffee with cream and sugar all mixed together but still called a cup of coffee…but these lack the depth of what must exist in the relationship of God with God with God…I don't want to try to do that today, perhaps a few heads smarter than mine (and there are lots of those!) could sit down and have a discussion over pie and coffee and figure it all out
2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
He, Him = person; the Person of Jesus. This is Who John is talking about. The Word is Jesus Christ (See verse 14). Again HE was there in the beginning. And HE is the One through which all things were made (word – speak correlation)
It's important again to see that ALL THINGS WERE 'MADE.' There has to be a creator for anything to be made. God spoke (Word) and there was. God is the designer and architect and contractor and builder and inspector of everything that's ever been created. Nothing came into existence on its own because it is impossible for nothing to do anything in order to become something. Things don’t make anything on their own, it takes intelligence to create anything.
A farmer doesn't go out into the field to see if the corn is growing if he hasn’t planted any corn to begin with – and where did the field come from, or the farmer for that matter?
I can't park my 1999 Jeep in the garage (if I had one) one night and come back the next morning to see a brand new one in there, or Porsche for that matter. I can't even expect an Ikea product to build itself when I open the box…that just doesn't happen. A creator, designer, builder MUST have input for anything to be made.
Without God, nothing can happen. With God, everything happened. Without His input at the most infinitesimally small or infinitely massive level nothing would ever have been made or 'created' – PERIOD!
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Life comes from God, the Word, Jesus Himself. His first words in scripture are 'Let there be light.' The beginning began with light. I read this as being the third Person in the Trinity, the Spirit of God. Life was IN Him and that Spirit, the Holy Spirit, give life to all of us. Light is one of those things you cannot hold, it is energy, it is life. It's difficult to explain what 'life' is. We simply understand that without life, something is dead. When a person dies, it is life that leaves them. One moment they are living, the next, they are not. What's different? Life is gone – the spirit is gone. God's Spirit is what draws us to Him, that is His divine purpose.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Too often, I think, people try to suppress the Light that is God, the Word that is God, The Father, God Almighty.
God's light of life is shining everywhere for us to see. Look around at all that has been made and try to explain away the existence of such an amazing Being, wonderful Creator, loving God, Word of Life. We make up all sorts of excuses we call theories or science or even religion in order to somehow disprove God. What are we running from? The light. We try to stay in the dark, but you know what, darkness cannot overcome light. Darkness is not an entity; darkness is the absence of light.
People try to remove God from their lives in so many ways, but light has a way of shining into dark places and revealing what's hidden. What are we trying to hide from God? Why do we love darkness instead of light at times? Why would we want anything else other than the Truth that has been made so clear to us that God, by His Word, created everything, including you and me and all that we see around us in this universe (One Word) and that we can be can have life that lasts forever if we just believe? The evidence is here and throughout scripture; God made you, God loves you, God died for you, God will forgive you and God wants you to be with Him forever.
You can have a new beginning with Jesus starting today. Put your trust in Him, that's believing. Put your hope in Him, that's faith. Give your life to Him, that's the beginning of eternity.
