Who, Not What, Is The Word

Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several groups following different leaders; the majority followed Brigham Young, while smaller groups followed Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. (Wikipedia

“Joseph Smith believed it was his consent to those living in this dispensation to enter the celestial Kingdom of God. Brigham Young the second Living Prophet of the Mormon Church said,

“No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith… He reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity and calling, as God does in Heaven” – Journal of Discourses, Vol.14, p.203

“It is taught by at least some Mormons that there is no salvation for people alive today unless they accept Joseph Smith – Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th Living Prophet of the Mormon Church, stated,

“Joseph Smith claimed that his followers stayed loyal to him whereas those of Jesus ran away. This he proposed as proof that he, Joseph, had done a greater work than Jesus – Smith himself declared,

“I have more to boast of than any man had. I am the only man that has been able to keep a church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter nor Jesus ever did. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I.” –History of the Church, Vol.6, p.408.”

The author of John addresses this kind of teaching. John takes a different approach when priest and levites were sent to question his identity.

John 1:25 And they asked him, and said unto him, why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

26John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

27He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. (KJV)

Later he would say’ while in prison,

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease” (KJV)

“He must become greater; I must become less.” (NIV)

There are four major themes in this passage that I would like to develop.

I. John Presents Word, Who was

In varied ways there are many who claim to be on the highest pedal, the ultimate authority. This power grabbing applies to Christians—I watched divide the Southern Baptist into camps. I witness some of our professors get displaced for false claims about their theology. This power grabbing has divided Christianity into 41,000 denominations. (Global Christianity, Gordan-Conwell Theological Seminary). Why? Because they wrap their identity around a person, practices, an individual’s teaching, and/or incidental ideals.

I recall finding a note in my Bible, “I don’t to be here”. It was a church where I had been asked to preach. In a Bible study class, the teacher claimed authority above everyone. A lady had in-laws that drank alcohol. Dogmatically he told her not to go around them. I understand staying away when they were consuming alcohol; however, to instruct her to not be around them was over the top. He could have helped

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 (KJV)

When you look around with all the clutter, political voices, teachings by secularists, and preachers who pull people left and right, that pales in comparisons to the Word who transcends everything and everyone. He is above time and has preeminence over our best word. The Jewish leaders became entrapped in their own teaching about God and his people and could not recognize God when he stood right in front of them.

They interpreted that one had to be a Jew to be inside the circle. What did that mean? First, they focused on the ground where they lived. Second, they acted like there was a direct blood link to Abraham; however, there has always been marriages within many groups of people and nations.

In one sense, to say the Jews are one ethnic group is a false belief. Today the demographic of Israel shows this. Out of a population of almost 10 million 73% are Jews of all backgrounds. Arab of any religion, make up 20% of the population. Today secularism characterizes the nation of Israel; Israel’s abortion laws ae the world’s most liberal—98% of women requesting an abortion are allowed to have an abortion.

John declares God as the creator of all people and everything in the world—even babies in the womb.

What this verse is teaching us is that God transcends and has power over all of creation. He is divinity. He is Logos, the Word in English Bibles translated this as Word—upper case, as when you speak of a person. God is above time. This verse reminds us of Gensis 1:1 where we learn that God was always there and created the world, man, and woman. Logos is a reference to God as “divine self-expression.” Got Question.org makes an interesting statement. One that throws a lot of people into a quandary where they try to disprove the creation story about the Who of creation.