JOHN 1 SERIES: THREE ‘WAS’s
John 1:1-3
#John1
INTRODUCTION… ONLY THE ORIGINAL BUILDER CAN RESTORE IT James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 244-245.
In a remote Swiss village stands a beautiful church - Mountain Valley Cathedral. It has high pillars and magnificent stained glass windows, but what makes it special is the most beautiful pipe organ in the whole region. People would come from far off lands just to hear the lovely tunes of this organ.
Once something went wrong with the pipe organ. It releases the wrong tones and sounds of disharmony. Musicians and experts from around the world had tried to repair it. No one could find the fault. It was made unique, customized and no one really knows how to fit it. They gave up.
After some time, one old man came. "Why wasn’t the pipe organ used?"
"It’s not playing right," says the church staff.
"Let me try." Since it has been lying there, the staff reluctantly agreed to let the old man try his hand.
For two days the old man worked in almost total silence. The church worker was, in fact, getting a bit nervous. Then on the third day - at noon – suddenly the music came. The pipe organ gives off the best music after so many years. The people in the village heard the beautiful music. They came to the church to see.
This old man was playing at the organ. After he finished, one man asked, "How did you fix it? How did you manage to restore this magnificent instrument when even the world’s experts could not?"
The old man said, "It was I who built this organ fifty years ago. I created it, and now I have restored it."
JOHN 1
John 1 is very much a statement in the New Testament all about how God, the Creator of the Universe, came and fixed humanity’s sin Himself because He was the One Who created us in the first place. God created us and restored us through Christ. That is a theme very much present in all the Gospels, but very much in the Gospel of John. Today we are beginning a journey through John 1 that will take us from now all the way to Easter. One chapter from now all the way to Easter! Yep; that is indeed what I said. There is much in John 1 to talk about and apply and get right in our minds as believers in Jesus Christ. John 1 is deep and we are going to dive in! The truth is that God came and saved us because He was the only One who could.
READ JOHN 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.
In these opening verses of John 1, my eye caught the three “was” statements in verse 1. These “was” statements are significant as we talk about Jesus Christ our Savior. These “was” statements are worth our time to think on, pray on, and apply what we can to our lives. Make no mistake John 1, even the first verse of John 1, is a deep theological statement all about Jesus Christ Who is identified as “the Word.” We are going to chop up a small verse into three parts in a minute, but it is important that we know exactly what the Apostle John is describing to us as he begins the Gospel.
WAS THE WORD
The first “was” statement is: “In the beginning was the Word.”
The Greek word for “word” here is “logos.” Maybe you have heard that term maybe not. “Logos” is a word that not only stands for “word,” but also for “thought” and also most importantly for “the divine order that rules the universe.” Calling Jesus “the word” implies that He is the One Who plans the seasons and keeps the planets in orbit and keeps everything together. Jesus orders the universe. Jesus is the Word made flesh, the incarnate Word that runs everything we see and hear and experience.
Notice that the verse opens that “in the beginning” “was the Word.” You might say, yeah, so what? Well the verse is telling us that when the beginning of everything happened, the Word… already… was. The Word already existed. The past tense is used for the Word existing when creation and the beginning of things we understand began. It is the same thought present in Genesis 1:1 which says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God already existed before the creation of the heavens and earth. God preceded the creation of everything. God is the uncreated Creator. Same thought here. The Word was already present and existing when the beginning of everything came around.
That means the “Word” is eternal, uncreated, and the Being that was eternally present before what we know as reality came to exist. We must remember that the Apostle John is opening his Gospel about Jesus Christ by calling Him “the Word” for a reason. He is placing Jesus in context for a reason because Jesus Christ is our Savior and the most significant and important person Who has ever lived.
The Bible is clear in other places that God existed before creation and has always existed. God is eternal. It was God Who thought up all of existence and has measureless power to create everything and everyone. In the beginning was the Word. We know the Word is Jesus. Therefore, before the beginning was… there was Jesus.
READ Psalm 90:1-2
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.”
READ Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
Before there was anything created or thought of by God, the Word existed. John 20:31, at the end of the Gospel, says, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” John begins this Gospel by locating Jesus, the Word, in context in relation to time, creation, and everything. So before there was any time or anything, there was the Word, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That is Who is Good News for us.
WAS WITH GOD
The second “was” statement is: “and the Word was with God.”
The image we get is that the Word and God are in perfect sync with One Another so much so that they are one. We get the picture of perfect motion and union. We get the idea of utter completeness and oneness and yet also distinct at the same time. I don’t know if human language can explain God and expand our awareness of our Almighty God. I have no explanation really of how God is one and three at the same time, but it is nevertheless True.
ILLUSTRATION… https://www.everystudent.com/forum/trinity.html
You and I live in a three-dimensional world. All physical objects have a certain height, width, and depth. One person can look like someone else, or behave like someone else, or even sound like someone else. But a person cannot actually be the same as another person. They are distinct individuals.
God, however, lives without the limitations of a three-dimensional universe. He is spirit. And he is infinitely more complex than we are.
That is why Jesus the Son can be different from the Father. And, yet the same.
The Bible clearly speaks of: God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. But emphasizes that there is only ONE God.
If we were to use math, it would not be, 1+1+1=3. It would be 1x1x1=1. God is a triune God.
Thus the term: "Tri" meaning three, and "Unity" meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity. It is a way of acknowledging what the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is yet three "Persons" who have the same essence of deity.
Some have tried to give human illustrations for the Trinity, such as H2O being water, ice and steam (all different forms, but all are H2O). Another illustration would be the sun. From it we receive light, heat and radiation. Three distinct aspects, but only one sun.
No illustration is going to be perfect.
Here we begin to get a hint of a mystery about God. Some things we know and understand about God and some things we do not know and do not understand about God. Some things we only know in part. This is one of those things we only know it part and barely understand. There is one divine essence that is God and three persons: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit that is God. God the Father is God all by Himself, Jesus the Son is God all by Himself, and the Holy Spirit is God all by Himself.
I honestly believe this nature of God is a pretty hefty theological thought. God really is a mystery to us in many ways, but that doesn’t mean we just throw something away because we don’t fully understand. It is very important that Jesus is God because that is essential when it comes to our forgiveness in God’s plan.
The Word is Jesus and Jesus was with God and He was God all at the same time. Jesus is God. Jesus also has a relationship with God. He is the image of the invisible God in sync with every will and plan of God the Father. There is one divine essence and three persons: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 8:6 the Apostle Paul reflects on this in part when he says, “…yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”
I know, everything I just said is clear as mud.
WAS GOD
The third “was” statement is: “and the Word was God.”
I am glad that the Apostle John chooses to end this statement that we have chopped up with the phrase “and the Word was God.” He ties all of these thoughts together. Jesus is the Word. The Word is with God. Jesus, the Word, is God. When you and I see Jesus, we see the fullness of God in Him in all aspects.
Hebrews 1:1-2 echoes the Apostle John’s thoughts here: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.”
Jesus is God.
That is why in John 5:18 Jesus made Himself equal with God.
That is why in John 8:58 Jesus refers to Himself as “I Am.”
That is why in John 10:30 Jesus says He and the Father are one.
That is why in John 14:9 Jesus tells Philip that if someone has seen Jesus they have also seen God.
That is why in John 20:28 Thomas confesses that Jesus is Lord and God.
That is why in 1 John 5:20 John says Jesus is the true God and eternal life.
ILLUSTRATION… NWT of the Bible (p)
I have here in my had a Bible. Well, it is sort of a Bible. I open the cover and it says, “New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.” It says “rendered from the original languages.” It’s got Genesis-Revelation.
This is a Bible that a Jehovah’s Witness would use. I would like to direct your attention in this Bible to the very verse we have been reading today. John 1:1 in this Bible it happens to be on page 1151. John 1:1 says in this Bible: “In [the] beginning, the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” You see Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was created by Jehovah as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser, though mighty, god. That is why John 1:1 says that in their “translation” of the Bible.
No, John 1:1 says very clearly in the original language and in normal Bibles that Jesus is God.
APPLICATION FOR OUR LIVES
Now I have to tell you, a deep theological passage like this one is hard to preach on and is also hard to apply. There is not a Biblical narrative where you and I can point out what to do or what not to do. Here is no lesson to learn from or example to follow. There is no easy application of what to do or three action steps I can share with you. There is no command present in these verses or sin exposed for us to avoid.
I do have two suggestions, however:
APPLICATION 1: Jesus is God.
This passage makes it very clear that Jesus is God. Jesus was not created. Jesus is not an angel. Jesus is not some other kind of created spiritual being. Jesus was not just a good teacher. Jesus was not just a moral man who did magic tricks. Jesus is not a made-up person from history.
You will encounter many ideas about Jesus Christ as you navigate this world. The statement “Jesus is God” is an important one and will allow you to know that the person with whom you are talking or the book by the author you are reading or the website you are visiting is a Christian or not. Not “Jesus is a god” or “Jesus is mostly God” or anything like that… three words… “Jesus is God.”
You and I must guard our belief that Jesus is God because we have an enemy that likes to sow doubt, false ideas, and twist the truth just enough that we wonder about our long-held beliefs. Jesus is God. Period. No qualifiers. No guesses. No other statements. Guard that belief in your life.
APPLICATION 2: Trust in Jesus.
We serve the uncreated God of the Universe Who can completely be trusted. We believe in the uncreated Word of the Universe who can be completely trusted. We can trust in Jesus when He says that He died for our sins in order to be the way for us to have a relationship with God. We can trust Jesus when He says, “It is finished” from the cross. We can trust Jesus that we are forgiven. We can trust Jesus that He came to bring us abundant life. We can trust Jesus that He has prepared Heaven for us. We can trust the teachings of Jesus that those teachings are for our good and God’s best for us in this life.
Two suggestions:
APPLICATION 1: Jesus is God.
APPLICATION 2: Trust in Jesus.
CONCLUDING ILLUSTRATION… ONLY THE ORIGINAL BUILDER CAN RESTORE IT James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 244-245.
I’d like to retell the story I started with this morning and offer a little bit of commentary at the end of retelling it.
In a remote Swiss village stands a beautiful church - Mountain Valley Cathedral. It has high pillars and magnificent stained glass windows, but what makes it special is the most beautiful pipe organ in the whole region. People would come from far off lands just to hear the lovely tunes of this organ.
Once something went wrong with the pipe organ. It releases the wrong tones and sounds of disharmony. Musicians and experts from around the world had tried to repair it. No one could find the fault. It was made unique, customized and no one really knows how to fit it. They gave up.
After some time, one old man came. "Why wasn’t the pipe organ used?"
"It’s not playing right," says the church staff.
"Let me try." Since it has been lying there, the staff reluctantly agreed to let the old man try his hand.
For two days the old man worked in almost total silence. The church worker was, in fact, getting a bit nervous. Then on the third day - at noon – suddenly the music came. The pipe organ gives off the best music after so many years. The people in the village heard the beautiful music. They came to the church to see.
This old man was playing at the organ. After he finished, one man asked, "How did you fix it? How did you manage to restore this magnificent instrument when even the world’s experts could not?"
The old man said, "It was I who built this organ fifty years ago. I created it, and now I have restored it."
That is such a nice hearted story. Here is my commentary:
Wouldn’t it have been nice and normal if the old man arrived at the church and said to them, “Hey folks, I’m the guy who crafted this organ 50-years ago, how about I take a look at it?” I know if I had been some of the people in the church the answer would have been a resounding yes instead of a nervous tentative yes. He made it therefore it is quite obvious that he would know how to fix it. All he had to do was introduce himself.
John 1:1 is the Apostle John introducing Jesus Christ to us. Remember John gives us the purpose of the Gospel in John 20:31 at the end of the Gospel, which says, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” You can believe in His name and have life in His Name and be saved because Jesus is God and Jesus can be trusted. Jesus introduces Himself in John 1:1 and we can trust what He says in the rest of the Gospel.
CONCLUSION IN PRAYER
