THE PASTOR’S POINTS
sermon ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
December 14, 2003
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 (NIV)
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NIV)
Logos is the Greek word we translate as "word". Logos is God’s translation for a world that couldn’t understand Him. It is a demonstration of God in Christ, so we could know God. It is the Word of gracious condescension for people who can’t speak heaven’s language. We are far from His level, so He came down to ours!
In the first few verses of John’s Gospel, there is symmetry of thought which -- when coupled appropriately -- expresses critical truth about the incarnation of Jesus. To understand this, a brief word about or word is in order. The old saying has it, What’s in a name? The answer is: Everything if it is your name, and it describes who you are, your nature, and your character.
To the ancients, and even modern Easterners, a word is not simply head knowledge transferred to sound waves, indicating a concept or nominative designation. The word is seen as an active event -- inherently powerful. A word is the same as a deed.
In that way, Jesus Christ, described as the Word of God, is expressing that He is indeed God. Jesus describes -- displays the very character (logos) of God. Men didn’t really know what to think of God -- and so God explained himself. As G. Campbell Morgan put it, In Christ, the long long silence became speech.
On a human level, my Uncle Marlen, knew how to do that. When he was explaining something, he frequently asked a one-word question; he would say, Catch? He wanted to know if we were catching-on to his idea. At pick-up football games he always knew what to do. In the huddle he’d describe some elaborate play. The instructions included things like running to the oak tree, and cutting over to the old Chevy (awaiting overhaul in the back yard). Be sure you fake left, he’d warn -- Don’t let Tommy get in front of you. I’ll throw you the ball when you zig right -- CATCH? Catch? Catch what? Sure I’ll catch the ball -- just -- what’s a fake left and a zig right?
Uncle Marlen would look at those blank stares in our faces -- we must have looked like does in the headlights -- then he would say, I’ll do it one time so you can see it. Just throw me the ball when I holler ’NOW!’ He would run some intricate pass pattern, gliding with that Jamaica shuffle of his -- and yell, Now - C’mon, hit me. The plans seldom worked -- but we saw with our own eyes the best left fakes and zigs ever!
That is the way with logos; Jesus was God’s way of saying "catch?" Jesus showed us The Father.
Investigate with me the couplets of John 1:1 and 1:14. These words which fit-together describe the speech; they tell us who this Word (Jesus) was, is, will be...
JESUS WAS ETERNITY ENTERING TIME
Verse 1: In the beginning was the Word
Verse 14: And the Word was made flesh,
The Bible here states an unqualified fact -- Jesus is eternal God! He is The Word, and He has always existed. When he became flesh, it was eternity entering the realm of time. One author put it this way:
Jesus’ incarnation was...He who never began to be, but eternally existed, and who continued to be what he eternally was, began to be what he eternally was not. [1]
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" John 8:58 (NIV)
Christ used the same expression as when the Father spoke to Moses at the burning bush...I AM. The eternal nature of Jesus was prophesied by the prophets:
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2 (KJV)
Besides the eternal nature, there is the creative nature of Jesus:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or Principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:16-17 (KJV)
Cloning is one of the hot items in the news these days. Many speak of creating life. What a textbook case of missing the mark! Man may mess around with DNA, rearranging the order of things -- but only God can create. The Bible says that God created ex-nihilo (something out of nothing). As the old country preacher put it -- In the beginnin’ there weren’t nothin’. God catched Hisself a bit o’ that nothin’ an’ flung it out there in the heavens, an’ made Hisself a bit o’ somthin’. Lousy grammar -- great theology!
So this Jesus did not begin to exist 2,000 years ago in a manger. This babe cradled in Mary’s arms was the one whose goings and comings were from everlasting -- He was eternity entering time! And, also...
JESUS WAS DESTINATION ENTERING THE JOURNEY
Verse 1: and the Word was with God
Verse 14: and dwelt among us,
Genesis tells us that the broken fellowship between man and God, by sin in the Garden of Eden, also broke the intended destination of mankind. We are created for relationship and residence in the presence of God. We are His family.
Jesus had that. As the Word, Jesus was with God. Jesus was always at the Father’s side in unbroken fellowship since before time began. But it was interrupted by the cross of Calvary. He came to dwell among us, and die for us. Fellowship with God was our intended destination - When sin shut down man’s journey, Jesus came to enter and walk the journey with us.
The Bible tells us that Jesus promised that:
...for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13.5 (KJV)
The main issue here is one of faithfulness. Jesus is eternal, and yet he walks this temporary journey with us. When He says, I’ll never leave you, He isn’t just talking about this week, or as long as you do everything right. This is an eternal commitment for Him.
How comforting is that thought! It’s good to know you have something you can count on during this difficult and uncertain journey we call life. Before September 2001 many Americans felt safe, like our borders were largely impenetrable. Nowadays the word "terrorist" is a daily part of our vocabulary; it is an uncertain and anarchy-prone, tumultuous world in which we live. Our children walk around nervous about the future.
Jesus came to walk this valley journey with us. He is the destination for which our souls were created, and that for which we crave. But Jesus does not make us wait to get there - he has entered the journey to run the race with us. What a joy!
He was eternity entering time, our destination entering the journey, and ...
JESUS WAS REALITY BECOMING A ROAD SIGN
Verse 1: and the Word was God
Verse 14: full of grace and truth.
Max Lucado said this was The Author entering his own story.{2} Jesus Christ was in every way conceivable the God of the universe. He is not God the Father, nor God the Holy Spirit -- but He is God. Some groups translate the end of John 1.1: ...and the Word was a god. If that was the thought God wanted to communicate to us, there is a different and very precise phrase in the Greek language to state it with no ambiguity.
But God does not stutter - He said, the Word WAS GOD! Beloved, that leaves little room for interpretation. Jesus was and is the reality of God. Yet, He chose to become a man that we might have God revealed to us. He became a road sign, pointing to the destination. That road sign is grace and truth.
It is an odd thing we contemplate here -- Jesus as both the picture and reality of God, being God, and His own picture! He displayed His God-nature in human flesh. The theologians call Him the God-Man, fully God, fully man. He was full of grace and truth.
Jesus is grace
As the One full of grace, Jesus brought the forgiveness of God, dying on the cross that we might live. He was both the perfection of Godly living, and the One who perfects those who trust in him (Romans 3.26).
Jesus is truth
Truth is the righteousness of God’s nature. As the Word of Truth, Jesus declared the righteousness of God against sin. This is the holiness of God that cannot have anything corrupt in His presence.
epilogue
So, what then? What does all this mean? What shall I do about it? Consider:
" Jesus is Eternity entering time. We are moving in time, headed towards eternity.
Jesus wants to make certain we are prepared.
" Jesus is Destination entering journey. We must walk through this journey called life.
Jesus knows the strength we will need - for he not only is the destination - he has walked the trail as one of us, and still walks with us.
" Jesus is Reality as well as Road sign. As mere men, we have lots of ideas about our universe. Jesus wanted us to have the right idea about what is real, and what will crumble. So, he became the human picture of reality. He became our road sign,
pointing the way, becoming the way,
pointing to truth, being the truth,
pointing to life, giving life.
John wrote this gospel (Good News) for one reason:
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
John 20.31
This is the response for which God is waiting. He wants you to believe in Jesus - trust in Jesus by committing your life to Him as the God of eternity, destiny and reality.
" Give your life - all that you know of you to all you know of Him.
" Give Him all your thoughts, dreams, plans, actions and attitudes -- that is believing in Jesus. And that brings life through His name.
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ENDNOTES
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[1] The Bible Illustrator, (Hiawatha, Ia, Parsons Technology, 1990), Idx 720
[2] Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder, (Dallas, Word Publishing, 1995). 12
