“The Reveal-ation of Jesus”
John 1:14-18
John 1:14-18 (ESV)
“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.”
Windows are an important part of a building:
? They allow the occupant to see
? what is going on in the world around them and
? it allows the world to peek in on and see what the occupant is doing.
Businesses understand the importance of windows because:
? it allows them to entice potential shoppers
? to come into their store and shop.
A storeowner will spend a lot of time:
? making sure that their main window
? looks appealing to people passing by.
A window allows the chance to stop and look in and see what is there.
Throughout time man has sought ways:
? to see God or to make a connection with Him.
? Throughout time man tried all sorts of ways to do it.
Throughout history….
God has reached out to man because He loved man:
? God created Adam and Eve, and
? communicated with them and walked with them,
? then they sinned, they hid from God and
? God caste them out of the garden.
God revealed a bit of Himself:
- through Moses and the 10 Commandments.
- He spoke through Moses and the Prophets
- He gave men visions
During Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s time:
? God communicated with man through these men.
? Now God reveals Himself to us through Jesus
? God has habitually reached His hand of peace towards mankind
Hebrews 1:1-3 (ESV)
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
God has spoken to us through Jesus:
- who is the created and sustains all things
I like how the NIV translations states John 1:3:
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,”
Mankind has longed to see God and connect with Him
Pascal describes man’s hunger for God:
- as a craving and a helplessness
- that can only be satisfied by God
Rather than fill that God shaped hole with God:
- men fill it with all things that do not satisfy or help
- leaving them desperate for God
Yet God is not far from any of us…
Today we are going to see that Jesus is the window to God:
? Though Jesus we can see the glory of God,
? through the window of Jesus we can see grace and truth in full and
? we can see the very essence of God through Jesus.
Through Jesus you will be able to see God and connect with Him.
1. The Incarnation of the Word
“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.”
- John 1:14
Incarnation is a:
? central doctrine in the Christian faith:
? that states that God became human
? in the form of Jesus Christ.
The word "incarnation" comes from:
? the Latin word caro, which means "flesh".
? God became flesh or incarnate in Christ,
? Christ was both fully human and fully divine at the same time.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NLT) could not be clearer:
“5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.”
To this day there are thriving cults:
- who believe that Jesus is one of many gods
- Jesus is god and we can become gods too
- Jesus is the archangel Michael
- that Mary has special access to God for salvation
- Jesus is a prophet, teacher, but not God
The identity of Jesus matters:
- If Jesus Christ is not God:
- we are to be pitied and are without hope
- we are still dead in our sins
C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying:
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
The purpose of John:
? is found is clearly defined in John 20:31
? John’s purpose is that the reader….
“may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing [they] may have life in His name.”
The word “believes”: is in the book of John 83 times
Belief in the REAL JESUS is a matter of life and death.
John’s purpose:
- is that the reader come to believe
- and that they would
- have life in Jesus’ name
Jesus was not created on Christmas:
- John wants us to know that is not
- the first Jesus is seen in the Bible.
John 1:1 teaches us that:
? Jesus: The Word, the Logos
? predates the creation of the world
? Jesus was present in Genesis 1 at creation
John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 is connected at the hip:
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Jesus is the Word or the Logos (Lah-gos):
- Jesus is God in the flesh
- not distant and unknowable
- but up close, present, available and approachable.
Colossians 1:16 (NIV)
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
John 1:14,18 (NIV)
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
John revealed Jesus Christ as “the Son of God,”:
? the eternal second person of the Trinity.
? He became a man, the “Christ” (Messiah), and
? offered Himself as a sacrifice for sins.
Those who put their faith in Him:
? will “have life in His name,”
? while those who reject Him will be judged and
? sentenced to eternal punishment.
2. Grace and Truth Revealed
“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.’”
- John 1:15
Now the Apostle John turns his attention to John the Baptist:
- the forerunner of Christ
- the one to prepare the way for the Lord
- the voice in the wilderness
The Baptist:
- preached the coming of the Messiah
- his message was one of repentance
- and he was baptized in the wilderness
John the Baptist made it clear:
- that Jesus was greater than he
- that Jesus was before him
- that he himself would fade away and become lesser
John introduced Jesus:
- who was the word, the life, the light
- The Truth about the identity of Jesus…
- REVEALS the GRACE that Jesus brings
John 1:14 (NIV):
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus is full of Truth and reveals:
- we can never keep the Law
- that we are guilty of sin and owe a debt of death and Hell
- Jesus does not ignore the TRUTH….
Isaiah 53:6 reveals us as LOST SHEEP in need of a Shepherd:
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
God’s TRUTH pronounces us guilty,
God’s GRACE covers our debt.
John 1:17 (NIV)
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Colossians 1:19-21
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.”
Because Jesus is Full of GRACE AND TRUTH:
- we can be declared righteous in God’s sight
- our sins can be wiped away
- forgiveness is available
3. The Fullness of Grace
“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.”
- John 1:16-17
“Grace upon grace”:
- brings to my mind grace piled upon grace
- a pile of GRACE that is inexhaustible
We don’t live in a world of inexhaustible:
- money can runs out
- health can leave us
- life has an expiration date
- friends come and go….
- loved one’s pass away
- in the world everything seems to have limits
We can live in:
? the world of inexhaustible LOVE.
? God’s grace is unlimited
If you are forgiven and saved:
- it only comes from the blood of Jesus
- God in the flesh died and took our punishment
- paying our debt and adding blessing to our accounts.
The saved are all on level ground:
- all receiving and yet none deserving
- we LIFT our savior because
- without JESUS we’d never have SALVATION
WE would remain dead in our sins, enemies of God and objects of wrath…
The LAW was given through MOSES:
- The Law never saved anyone
- the Law was a teacher
- that showed us our need for a SAVIOR
I’ve tried to live by the letter of God’s LAW:
- but I fail time and time again
- the LAW is perfect but only brings condemnation
- thankfully the Christian lives bathed in GRACE
Jesus introduces us to a world of GRACE:
- we believe we are saved by faith through grace
- grace is God’s undeserved favor
- Grace cannot be earned, it is a gift freely given
WE count on God’s grace to build a bridge:
- from our sinfulness and condemned state
- to an intimate loving relationship with God
- of forgiveness and reconciliation
- a relationship based on God’s LOVE above God’s LAW
In God’s economy:
- we are never too far away to come home
- we have never sinned beyond His forgiveness
- God’s grace is greater than all our sin
Isaiah 1:18 (ESV):
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
The Good News is:
- God is never shocked by our sin, He knows everything
- God is not overwhelmed by our need for forgiveness
- God is waiting for us to bring all our needs to His table
God’s grace is waiting:
- to accept all our junk, sin, problems
- and to forgive us our sins and
- cleanse us from all unrighteousness
4. The Revelation of God
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.”
- John 1:18
Since the beginning of time:
o God has been reaching out to people
o Seeking a relationship with US
o speaking to US through “prophets, dreams and visions
Throughout the Bible God tries to reveal himself to HIS people:
- His own people largely turn away from Him
- they seem disinterested in God, and
- they would rather worship the creation than their creator
Yet God was not satisfied to remain distant from US:
- God did all He could to bridge the distance
- between Himself and His creation
- He sent His one and only son to visit us face to face
- to die in our place….
What more could God do to have a relationship with US???
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
God is not FULLY KNOWN:
- through the LAW in the OLD Testament
- the only way you find God is through JESUS
- to see God you must know JESUS
“Jesus said… “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. NO one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
- John 14:6-7 (ESV)
Conclusion:
Why did God send Jesus?
? He did it so that we could see His glory, so
? that we could see the truth and
? so that we could see the grace of God in full.
So that we MIGHT BELIEVE:
- in His name
- and have life in that name
The ONLY way to escape Hell:
- to have the forgiveness of SINS
- is to BELIEVE in the NAME above ALL NAMES
- to RECEIVE God’s GRACE
- to accept God’s UNMERITED FAVOR
C.S. Lewis said,
“The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God.”
God sent Jesus so that we could see HIM!
- that we could believe IN HIM
- that WE can die to ourselves and LIVE for Him
Jesus died on the cross so we can be changed:
- from those destined to die
- to those SAVED by GRACE and
- become citizens of heaven
The way that we get people to want to become a Christian:
? is to let them see God though us
? as we are being transformed into the image of God.
Is the way you live your Christian life important?
o Do people will see Jesus living in you?
o If they do then they will want Him to live in them also!
I think that people struggle with living and serving because:
? they have not taken the time to really know HIM.
? God sent His Son so that we could get a clear picture of Him.
Will you commit yourself to knowing Him in?
? Will you commit to giving Jesus a chance in your life?
? It is my hope that each one of us will strive
? to get to know Jesus in a more personal way;
? I guarantee you that if you do, you will not be the same ever again!
Credit:
- intro and conclusion are edited from from Jeff Anselmi (sermoncentral.com)
