“IN THE BEGINNING” John 1:1-5
FBCF – 10/3/21
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Are you an expert in anything? Is there something that you know a lot about, lot of knowledge about some subject or activity or skill?
- Nephew – USMC expert marksman w/ rifle & pistol
Of course, there are times when we may think we are an expert, but really aren’t. Billie Burke, famous actress early 20th century (good witch in Wizard of Oz), on a transatlantic ocean voyage. Noticed man at next table suffering from bad cold. "Are you uncomfortable?" He nodded. "I'll tell you just what to do for it. Go back to your room, drink lots of orange juice, & take 2 aspirins. Cover yourself with all the blankets you can find. Sweat the cold out. I know just what I'm talking about. I'm Billie Burke from Hollywood." The man smiled & introduced himself. "Thanks," he said, "I'm Dr. Mayo from the Mayo clinic."
Question: Are you an expert on Jesus? As His followers & His disciples, we need to be. Begin 7-week series today – “Keep Your Eyes on Jesus” w/ goal that you & I will be farther down the road to being the experts on Jesus that we need to be. Of course, never get to the end of learning about Him while we are still alive on this earth. But sometimes, we use that as an excuse for not striving to learn more about Him. We need to make a serious commitment to make serious progress toward being a serious student of Jesus Christ. Word “disciple” means “student.” We all need to be God’s classroom w/ the Bible as our textbook learning everything we can about who Jesus is & what it means to know Him, live for Him, & serve for the rest of our lives.
Let me be clear about one thing: We aren’t going to strive to become an expert about Jesus just so we can say we are an expert about Jesus.
- Nephew became expert to be able to use weapon
- Dr. Mayo expert to help sick people
- Firefighter goes through fire academy
- Counselor expert to help depressed & discouraged
Don’t gain knowledge just for knowledge’s sake. Gain knowledge to put it to use to make a difference in our world.
EXPLANATION – John 1:1-5, 14
Best place to start – “In the beginning.” First, a little about Gospel of John:
- Matthew, Mark, & Luke – Synoptic Gospels – “synoptic” – “see together.” These contain many of same stories told from each unique perspective & angle, all inspired by the Holy Spirit.
o Matthew – Jewish tax collector – Wrote to Jews – Very orderly writing to prove Jesus was the King & Promised Messiah – Quotes OT more than any other Gospel writer
o Mark – Target audience was Roman believers, particularly Gentiles. Action-packed & to the point. Gentiles not as concerned about Jewish lineage & genealogy.
o Luke – a physician – “most beautiful book ever written.” Emphasized Jesus’ compassion toward many who were considered outcasts.
John’s Gospel – Different from others. Doesn’t give chronological narrative of Jesus’ life & ministry, but as John 20:31 says, “…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, & that by believing you may have life in His name.” Focus: To persuade people to believe in Jesus (Last week’s sermon – Best News Ever).
C.S. Lewis: “Look for Christ & you will find Him, & w/ Him everything else.” This is the reason that we are launching into this series – We are going to look for Christ & find Him, &, as a result, our lives & our church will never be the same. So let’s start laying the groundwork today here “In the beginning…”
APPLICATION – We need to know about Jesus so we can follow Him & obey Him.
JESUS…From the Gospel of John, we know that He is:
- The only-begotten Son of God
- The Bread of Life
- The Light of the World
- The Door
- The Good Shepherd
- The Resurrection & the Life
- The Way, the Truth, & the Life
- The Vine
Here in these first 5 verses, we see that Jesus…
…IS ETERNAL – v. 1-3 – Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, was w/ the Eternal Father, & the Eternal Holy Spirit in the beginning during creation.
- Genesis 1:26 – “Let US make man…”
- Colossians 1:15-17 – “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens & on earth, visible & invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him & for Him. He is before all things, & in Him all things hold together.” (NASB)
- “The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.” (BF&M 2000)
Jesus was not created by God. He didn’t become the Son of God when it was time to be born in Bethlehem. He is & has always been the 2nd Person of the Godhead for all eternity. There’s a false teaching called Modalism that says that there is only one God who switches back & forth between 3 different manifestations or “modes” – Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. The Scripture teaches us that there are 3 distinct, eternal Persons in the Godhead. A modalist would say that God took on the “mode” of the Son at the incarnation, instead of God the Son being eternally present since before the foundation of the earth. “…modalism, collapses the three persons of the Godhead into one person. In modalism, God is Father, Son, & HS, but He is not simultaneously Father, Son, & HS. There is no eternal fellowship between Father, Son, & Spirit; rather, at one point in history God was the Father, then He switched to being the Son, & now He is the HS.” (https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/trinitarian-heresies) Modalism is a false teaching not supported by the Bible & should be rejected.
…IS THE ETERNAL WORD – v. 1-2 – “Word” – logos – This very title of Jesus – “the Word” – conveys the truth of the message of the Gospel. Jesus didn’t just bring the message of the Gospel – He IS the message of the Gospel. John used this word, logos, to communicate to both Jews & Gentiles who Jesus truly is.
- Jews – When they heard the word, they would think of OT teaching of how God’s will was accomplished. For instance, Psalm 107:20 – “He sent out His word & healed them & delivered them from their destruction.”
- Gentiles – Word “logos” would have made them think about God bridging the gap between Himself & the world.
But John didn’t stop w/ just these ideas. He used them as a starting point to introduce them to Jesus, the Eternal Living Word, who came to reveal God to man & save any & all who would believe in Him. Remember – that’s John’s main purpose for writing his Gospel.
…GIVES ETERNAL LIFE – v. 4a – Jesus was the life-giver. That’s the very reason He came earth. John 10:10 – “I came that you might have life & have it more abundantly.” John uses the word “life” at least 36 times in his Gospel, continually driving home the truth that eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ.
- When Lazarus lay dead in the tomb, Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection & the life” (John 11:25)
- When Thomas was confused about death & afterlife, Jesus said, “I am the Way…” (John 14:6).
There are a couple of different Greek words for “life”:
- bios – starts at birth, ends at death. Not word John uses
- zoe – refers to life as God has it – not limited by time or hindered by death. This is word John uses when he said, “In His was life.” There’s nothing that limits or hinders the eternal life that Jesus gives to those who believe in Him.
…SHINES THE ETERNAL LIGHT – v. 4b-5 – John links life w/ Jesus, & he links light w/ Jesus. Each is just as true as the other. Both are foundational truths about Jesus. Both are terms of victory – victory over death & victory over darkness.
Our world is filled w/ darkness. Sin infiltrates every life, every home & family, every community, every nation. Perversion & evil runs rampant right now as more & more people are deceived & deluded & destroyed.
But our hope is found in the One who shines His eternal light into the darkness b/c He IS the Light of the World. His light shines even though “the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it]” (AMP).
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS – So what do we do this knowledge about Jesus?
- Do I truly believe this?
- Will I receive Him?
- Am I living for Him?
