INTRODUCTION
• This four-week sermon series will encourage us to explore God’s Word and equip us with basic principles that will help us engage with Scripture and correctly interpret its texts.
• In this series, we will cover topics such as Jesus as the Word of God, the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament, Scripture as God-breathed, and the Bible as a living and active book.
• Today we will explore a beautiful scripture passage found in John 1:1-18.
• John 1:1-18 serves as an introduction to the book of John and is the foundation of all the book contains.
• When reading the Bible, context is vital to truly understanding what the Bible teaches.
• John gives us the context from which we need to know and apprehend so we can understand John's writings properly.
• When asked where to start reading the Bible, I suggest reading John's Gospel.
• God reveals himself to humanity through two primary means: words and actions.
• In the Bible, these mediums of revelation work together and are interconnected.
• For example, God has revealed himself in human history through His mighty deeds and works, and these actions have been recorded and written down in Scripture.
• God also speaks directly to and through prophets in the Bible, which is documented in words within the canon of Scripture.
• But even Scripture was not enough to fully reveal God to us, as John alludes to at the end of his Gospel:
John 21:25 (NET 2nd ed.)
25 There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
• We just celebrated Christmas, the birth of Jesus, God in the flesh!
• The Word had to become flesh.
• God’s most remarkable and explicit revelation of Himself is found in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
• Christ is the Word of God spoken to the world.
• The incarnation functions as the final and personal revelation of God.
• Today, we will spend some time giving context to who Jesus is and why He came to us in the manner He did.
John 1:1–3 (NET 2nd ed.)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.
2 The Word was with God in the beginning.
3 All things were created by him, and apart from him, not one thing was created that has been created.
John 1:10 (NET 2nd ed.)
10 He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him.
SERMON
I. Words have purpose.
• There are many different mediums of human communication in the modern world: physical mail, email, phone calls, voice mail, voice messaging, text messaging, and social-media communication.
• It is commonly understood that old-fashioned face-to-face, in-person communication is still the most effective.
• Similarly, God’s face-to-face, in-person revelation of Himself to us in the incarnation was the most effective way for Him to speak to us.
• Email, snail mail, texting, voice mail, voice messaging, and social media communication all involve words.
• The words we use have a purpose.
• Jesus is called THE WORD!
• God sent Him for a reason; God sought to communicate with us in a way we could understand.
• All of us here today speak English.
• I am preaching using the English language.
• I am speaking in a language we can all understand.
• When I was in Italy, I understood little about the Italian language.
• As a result, it was hard for me to understand things.
• Fortunately, I have an intelligent wife who learned some of the language so that we could function.
• Many in Italy could speak English; however, it was not their first language, so it was easier for me but more difficult for them.
• Anyone who has pets knows we do not communicate the same way.
• I can meow at my cats, and who knows what I said.
• When God sent Jesus, the Word, in the flesh, according to S.D. Gordon as he, summarized John 1:14 noted; · "Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand." Bruce Demarest, Jesus Christ, The God-Man, p. 41
• God sent Jesus because He wanted to communicate with us so that we could understand Him.
• The concept of the Word(logos) is saturated with meaning for both Jews and Greeks.
• To the Greek philosophers, the logos was the impersonal, abstract principle of reason and order in the universe.
• It was, in some sense, a creative force and also the source of wisdom.
• The average Greek may not have fully understood all the nuances of meaning with which the philosophers invested the term logos.
• Yet even to laymen, the term would have signified one of the most important principles in the universe.
• To the Greeks, John presented Jesus as the personification and embodiment of the logos.
• Unlike the Greek concept, however, Jesus was not an impersonal source, force, principle, or emanation.
• In Him, the true logos who was God became a man—a concept foreign to Greek thought. (John MacArthur Jr. Commentary)
• The title “The Word” was used in Jewish writings to refer to the Messiah.
• John employs this title to catch the attention of both the Jews and the philosophers.
• The WORD they had heard of will be explained to them and embodied by Jesus!
• Verse 1 flat out tells us that the WORD WAS GOD (NOT A GOD), but earlier in the passage, we see something in the original text that we miss in the English translations.
• The phrase “was with God” means far more than merely that the Word existed with God; it “[gives] the picture of two personal beings facing one another and engaging in intelligent discourse” (W. Robert Cook, The Theology of John [Chicago: Moody, 1979], 49).
• The WORD is the same essence as the Father.
• We also note that Jesus and the Father (and the Holy Spirit, for that matter) are separate personalities, and we see an inseparable relationship.
• We see an intimacy in the connection between the Father and Jesus.
• We see this in Genesis 1:26
Genesis 1:26 (NET 2nd ed.)
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”
• “OUR” image, the image of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Jesus was not a created being, but all things were made through Him, and the verse emphasizes that EVERYTHING was made through Him.
• Hebrews 1:2 reminds us that through Jesus, the world was created.
• Let’s look at verses 4-13
John 1:4–13 (NET 2nd ed.)
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.
5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.
6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him.
8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him.
11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him.
12 But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children
13 —children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.
II. Words enlighten.
• Words are meant to enlighten those to whom we are speaking or writing.
• In the Bible, light is a metaphor for good and righteousness, while darkness refers to sin and evil.
• The light of Jesus lets us see things how they truly are if we dare to enter the light.
• Jesus illuminated a path for us through His life. He did not just dictate on high; He served and gave us an example to follow!
• The light of Jesus enables us to discern what we are called to do and what we need to avoid.
• Jesus is the embodiment of the light of God’s truth and love.
• Jesus came to enlighten us concerning God!
• The light of Jesus shines on the darkness of ignorance. Guilt, misery, and sin.
• Jesus tries to shine the light into the darkness of those who are lost and those who are not on the correct path.
• Jesus came to bring light into a dark, lost world.
• The light of Jesus exposes things for what they are and for who we are.
• This is done so that we can see ourselves as we really are. We know that we need Jesus in our life.
• Without Jesus, we live in a dark, hopeless world.
• The darkness will try to cover the light. Satan and his crew know what is waiting for them. They tried to kill the light, but they failed.
• They will do EVERYTHING possible to make sure you do not see the light because they do not want you to see it.
• Satan will use everything he has to try to blind you to the truth.
• He will use friends and family situations; you name it, he will use it to keep you from God's truth and love.
• Do you notice that no matter how dark a room is, one speck of light will not be swallowed up?
• Evil will do all it can to defeat the light. Do not let it happen in your life.
• Jesus lights the path to God!
John 1:14–18 (NET 2nd ed.)
14 Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.
15 John testified about him and shouted out, “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ ”
16 For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.
III. Words are meant to be read.
• When we write, we write so the words can be read in a similar fashion; when we speak, we speak to be heard.
• God made Himself easy to understand by sending Jesus to represent Him. People could not relate to the gods of Greece or Rome.
• The passage says we have SAW His GLORY.
• “Saw” does not mean to stare at blindly, but to contemplate, to learn by looking and observing.
• When we see the glory of God, it should do something to us; it should change us; this is why reading God’s word is so important; we see the glory of God through Jesus, and Jesus is revealed to us in the Bible by eyewitnesses such as John.
• As people saw the Christ child, it had to change them; when we connect with Jesus now, it should change us also!
• The Law gave us a glimpse of God.
• The Law showed us the truth about the justice side of God.
• Break the Law and pay the price.
• Jesus gives us a full picture of God.
• The Law showed us that we couldn’t make it to heaven on our own merit.
• This is the truth that was revealed through Jesus.
• The religious leaders of the day did not grasp the truth.
• They thought they could get to heaven because of their goodness and righteousness.
• When we look at Jesus, we see the truth about ourselves.
• We see that we are not as perfect as we once thought.
• We also receive a gift the Law did not provide, GRACE.
• Grace is unmerited favor.
• Since the Law showed us we cannot possibly make it to heaven on our own, we need God’s grace to get there.
• Where the Law was weak, God’s grace is strong.
• Grace says I know you will not be perfect, so I will make up the difference if you belong to me.
CONCLUSION
• The Bible is a means to knowing God Himself.
• The goal of personal devotions is to grow in our relationship with and love for God.
• It is possible to possess great knowledge of the Bible but still lack a redemptive relationship with the God of the universe; it is possible to possess intellectual knowledge of God through Bible study without transformative knowledge of God through a living, breathing relationship.
• In addition, if we want to know who God is and what Christianity teaches, we should look no further than the person of Jesus Christ.
• Jesus is the self-revelation of God Himself.
• All Bible study should revolve around Jesus, lead to Jesus, and end with Jesus.
• When we do not allow the Bible to speak for itself, when it comes into the Bible not being open to letting it define itself, something as small as changing the word “WAS” to “A” will completely change how we see Jesus.
• In Acts 2:38, changing the “FOR” to “because of” will change the meaning and understanding of baptism.
• The little things matter, but when it comes to understanding scripture, or most anything, changing what seems to be something small is a BIG deal.
• Next time you deposit money, change the number in the account line.
Application Point: If we want to know who God is, we should look no further than the person of Jesus Christ.
