In Him is Light, Life, Grace, Truth

Transcript

GRM 511
In Him is Light, Life, Grace, Truth
John 1:118
122996

I want to direct our attention today to the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Last week we looked into the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 where Isaiah spoke of the child that would be born. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah had already said in chapter 7 and verse 14, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call His name Emmanuel." We noted as we looked at these names, Emmanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The uniqueness of Jesus Christ was clearly emphasized in each of the names. Attention was drawn in each of these names or titles to the reality that He is not only man, but He is God. A truth and a reality that really goes beyond what we can grasp with finite minds is that the eternal God has become a man and has been born into the human race.

In the New Testament one of the outstanding passages on this subject is the first chapter of the Gospel of John. I want to just highlight the prologue of the Gospel of John which is the first eighteen verses. What John does in what is called the prologue or the introduction to the book is he prepares the way for the rest of what he will write. So many of the ideas that are brought up in these opening verses will reappear again and again as you move through the book. Some of the key words like light and life and faith are brought up here in these opening verses and will appear again and again and again. The Gospel of John is called the gospel of belief because the word for "believe" or "faith" is used 98 times in the Gospel of John. His repeated emphasis and focus is that you must believe in Him. He is the Savior. He is the Son of God. There is no salvation in anyone or any place else. We must recognize who He is, bow before Him, and trust in Him.

Note the connection here through the prologue. Three verses really say it all and there will be an elaboration out of all of these. Verse 1 begins, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jump to verse 14 and the connection could follow right on one another. "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Down to verse 18, "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."


Those three verses really give you the focus of what John is saying in this introduction to the book. A strong emphasis will be found here in the fact that Jesus Christ is God. A strong emphasis will be found here that Jesus Christ is man. That combination says it all about the Person of Christ. He is the God-man. As the book unfolds and as John will touch on here, He came to provide salvation. A salvation that would only be accomplished through His death.

As you begin the Gospel, you begin immediately with a verse that is as strong and clear a declaration of the deity of Christ as you would find anywhere in Scripture. There are many places where the deity of Jesus Christ is brought out, but none is clearer or more direct than John 1:1.

"In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God." First we have to say something about the name that is used for Christ, the Word. First, there's no doubt that he's talking about an individual here, a person, not a concept, but an actual person. As we saw in verse 14, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Anybody who reads chapter 1 will have no question that we are talking about a person and that person is Jesus Christ. But why would He be called the Word? The background for the New Testament writings is found in the Old Testament. The Word of God is often personified and said to act as though it had its own identify. Psalm 33:6, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made." You see, the word of God is seen as acting and accomplishing something. It's powerful. It works. It was the word of God that created the heavens. When God spoke His Word then creation took place. God said and this happened. But the word is seen to have activity, to accomplish something. In Psalm 107:20, "He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions." Again, you see the word of God is acting as God's agent, acting on God's behalf.

The idea is that the Word expresses revelation, making something known. It also carries the idea of activity, accomplishment. It represents God. God's word does what He desires to be done so here it's a fitting identification for Jesus Christ. He’s the one who will reveal and make God known in a fuller way than has ever been done before. He’s the one who will act in accomplishing and carrying out God's purposes particularly in salvation in the fullest possible way.


So it's a fitting expression for Jesus Christ and I think there is much confusion that comes when people begin to run to the wrong places. John doesn't build his writing on Plato but he very clearly through this Gospel built again and again on the Old Testament Scriptures. That's true with all the Gospel writers and the rest of the New Testament writers as well. When you are reading the New Testament, you assume it's built on the Old Testament. There is a continuity and that helps explain it.

There are three things said about the Word in verse 1 that will draw attention to His deity. John is the Gospel of the deity of Jesus Christ. That is a major emphasis throughout this Gospel. Jesus Christ is God. "In the beginning was the Word," that's the first statement we have to look at. It tells us that the Word was eternal with God. "In the beginning was the Word." The word "was" here in the Greek text is in the imperfect tense. The imperfect tense denotes continuous action in past time. So you could translate this, "In the beginning the Word already was," because that's the force of the grammar here. "In the beginning the Word already was." The point being made is when you get to the beginning Jesus Christ already was. He didn't begin at the beginning. He already was at the beginning.
In Micah's prophecy chapter 5 is that great prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Then the verse closes by saying "His days are from eternity." He didn't begin at Bethlehem. He has dwelt in eternity.

So here, "In the beginning the Word already was," what is the beginning? Well, our Bibles begin in Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." For us that is the beginning. Now God existed before that. There are certain things in Scripture that tell us some of what God did before Genesis 1:1, but Genesis 1:1 the beginning of creation is what enables us to draw a line. Everything is defined either before that or after that. The beginning of everything apart from God is Genesis 1:1.

The next statement reads, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God." Not only was the Word eternal with GodHe already was in the beginningbut He was present with God. The Word was with God. He's personally distinct from God. He was with God. Some commentators translate this "was face to face with God" because the preposition here comes from a word that originally meant to be face to face and thus came to mean with. When you are face to face with someone, you're with someone. The point we want to see here specifically is He is personally distinct from God. He is with God there, so He is distinct from God.

The next statement. The third point made about the Word. "The Word was God." He is identical in essence with God. Now we read this and say He was with God, He was God. He was with Himself? No, we are distinguishing between persons within the Triune God. There is one God eternally existent in three personsFather, Son and Holy Spirit. Here He was with God, particularly with the Father, although He'd been present with the Spirit.


There's a lot of discussion that goes around about the grammar of this statement, "The Word was God." People sometimes say, "If we only had one unquestioned clear statement about the deity of Christ, I would believe it." Well, here it is. They say, "Oh no, there's questions about this." Some of the cults would say, "Well, what is really an issue here is there is no definite article "the" before the word "God," and if Jesus Christ was the God, capital G, it would have the definite article in Greek. It doesn't so it should be translated, "the Word was a god, small g." But you must understand grammatically in Greek if the definite article was present with "God," at the end of verse 1, it would mean that the Word was all there was to God. It would not all allow for the Father and also the Holy Spirit to also be God. So grammatically with the doctrine of the Trinity you could not include the definite article in this occasion. The Word was God but so is the Father God, so is the Holy Spirit God. God is not limited to the Word. There are three persons within the Godhead. Furthermore, the presence or the absence of the article, the definite article, with God (the word "theos" in Greek) has nothing to do with whether you translate it capital G or small G. That's just a smoke screen pumped out by people who really are trying to avoid the clear statement here of the deity of Christ.

Verse 6, "There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John," referring to John the Baptist." "There was a man sent from God." There's no definite article there. There was a man sent from a god, small g? I don't think that fits at all. Look at verse 12, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of 'a' god." Small g? No. But there is no definite article before God.

Verse 13, "Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." No definite article again, but capital G. Look at translations of those who deny verse 1 refers to God, like the New World translation used by the Jehovah Witnesses, and you'll find in these other places they use capital G. But they forgot to tell you there's no definite article there either. But they make a big case if you read their Greek edition with their notes in the back of it of the absence of the article in verse 1. It's a smoke screen. In fact, that's a dishonest edition. I want to say it on tape. I've gone through all the references they use in the back. Whoever put that together purposely quoted only portions of the sentences of the resources they used like from A. T. Robertson, acknowledged Greek scholar, to imply that these Greek authorities supported their interpretation in handling of the article. Whoever put that together is dishonest because if you read the whole sentence, men like A. T. Robertson are arguing just the opposite of what they are trying to prove in their translation. I've sat with some from that group and gone over these resources. I’ve opened them up in my library. We read them. They said, "You must have a different edition of these works.” No matter what edition we're in, they say the same thing. It's no point. The use of the article doesn't have anything to do with what they want to do with the article here.


All that to say we have a clear statement of the deity of Christ. He was in the beginning. When you get to the beginning, He already was. That makes Him God because only God precedes everything else. He was with God. There He is distinct from Him but He is present there with Him. He was God. He is of the same essence. He Himself is God. You always have something that goes beyond our mind because we get to the doctrine of the Trinity and we say, "Wow, this is confusing." It is in one sense because there's nothing in the human realm that we can relate it to. There are no illustrations that don't have flaws in describing the Trinity because the Triune God is the only true expression of the Trinity. Naturally this is something our finite mind doesn't fully grasp. Let's face it. If we could grasp everything about God and reduce Him down to where we can manage Him, then we become God, not God. If this finite mind can contain everything there is about God and understand fully all there is to understand then God is not very great. But that's the kind of God we like to have because we like to create Him, as we've talked about, in our own image. It's another way of worshipping ourselves.

It's a clear statement here that Jesus Christ is God. Now we are going to do some elaboration and development in the following verses and we'll just highlight this. Verse 2 picks up with the middle statement of verse 1, "He was in the beginning with God." So the first two phrases of verse 1 are reproduced. "He was in the beginning with God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God." He reiterates that because of what he is going to do. He was in the beginning with God because He is what we would call the active agent in creation.

Verse 3, "All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." He states it positively and negatively. "All things" and this expression takes everything individually. Every single thing came into being through Him. Or we could state it negatively, "Apart from Him nothing has come into being that has come into being." In other words, you have to understand how complete this statement is. He has created everything and nothing was brought into existence that He did not create. All creation is His result. He is apart from creation. That's the point. He was in the beginning with God. Because we start at the beginning. All there was, was God until God brought everything else into existence. All things came into being through Him, by Him.

You understand that even if you didn't have verse 1 in John 1, but you had verse 3, that would be a statement of the deity of Jesus Christ. "All things came into being through Him, apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." Well, that would mean He's God. Because God, the Old Testament makes clear again and again, is the creator of everything. So to say Jesus Christ is the creator of everything is to say Jesus Christ is God.

Look at Colossians chapter 1 verse 15, "And He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." The word "firstborn" doesn't mean necessarily born first in time. Again, you go back to the Old Testament. The firstborn often was the one born first in time, but it identified a specific role or position. The firstborn had the position of honor, preeminence. But it isn't always the firstborn in time. For example, Isaac was the heir of his father Abraham but he was not the firstborn son of Abraham.


It's a position. He has the preeminence before all creation. "For by Him all things were created." So all we have to do is read the context. Don’t think, "Oh yeah, there's the word 'firstborn.' That means that he had a beginning." You just read the next statement, "All things were created by Him, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities." This includes the angelic realm, the spirit world. That was all created by Him as well. All things have been created through Him and for Him. Again, that's a clear statement of the deity of Christ. All things have been created for God and His glory. Saying all things have been created for Christ is a statement of His deity. It would blasphemy for me to say, "All things have been created for me." God has said “I will not give My glory to another.”

So it's created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. Again, He precedes everything. It’s the same thing as John 1:1 said. Furthermore, He holds it all together. He is the sovereign God.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2, "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." Christ is the creator of all things. In fact, verse 3 tells, "He is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature." It's going to come out in verse 14 of John 1. We'll pick it up here in Hebrews 1. John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth." Here Hebrews 1:3 says, "He is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature." He perfectly reproduces the Father. There are things in our moral character, as those who have been born into the family of God, that are to manifest God's character, but we are not the exact representation of God's nature. Furthermore, Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. That's saying the same thing as Colossians said. “By Him all things hold together.” But people say the Scripture's not clear on the deity of Christ. I say you're not reading the Scripture. It couldn't be any clearer. He's the creating God.



Part of the confusion we have is the Scripture is clear there is one God. There are three Persons who comprise the one God. We distinguish between the Persons and sometimes that causes us confusion in thinking one is less than God. Look at verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 8, "Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, we exist for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him." Well, you read here, "The Father from whom are all things and we exist for Him." But Colossians 1 said concerning Christ, "All things came into being through Him and are for Him." Now we're told that's true of the Father. You see, as you are emphasizing a different Person of the Trinity, you say a quality about Him or a truth concerning Him, it can also be true of another Person of the Trinity. We talk about God the Father and here we're told, "There is but one God the Father," and yet in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 is a prophecy concerning the birth of Christ, "A child will be born, a son will be given. He will be called Eternal Father." Well is He now the Father? No, He's the Son. But He has the characteristics that God the Father has and that He is eternally a Father also, but He is distinct from the Person of the Trinity that we call Father. There's but one God and you have the Father but you have one Lord. Both are the one God.

We say, wow, I can understand why people get confused about the Trinity. I can too, but that doesn't mean that it's not true. If there aren't many things about the eternal God, the infinite God who has created everything, that my finite mind cannot put together in my delightful little packages, again, we're back to the fact what kind of God is He? He's a God that is no greater than me. I don't even think when we are in the glory of heaven in eternity that we'll understand it all because I will always be a created being and He will always be the infinite creating God. That's one of the reasons we will never get bored through eternity. It's like when you become a believer and you start studying the Bible. Boy, I just can't wait till I know everything. You know when I started preaching I used to think well, my ministry in a church will last so long because pretty soon I will have preached everything. You know what I realize? If the Lord doesn't come, I'm going to die before I get it all done. If I had ten lifetimes, I wouldn't exhaust the truth of the Word and all there is to know about the God who is revealed here. And He tells us He hasn't revealed everything here.

Back to John chapter 1. Those first three verses clearly define who He is “the Word.” Jesus Christ He is God. Now we come to His involvement in the human race and what He did at the incarnation. "In Him was life," verse 4 of John 1, "and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it." Light and darkness are key concepts in John's writings. Life also is a key concept in John's writing. Life, light, darkness, they'll come up again and again. "In Him was life," now we could be talking about general life here and that's true because He just said everything came into existence through Him. So whether it's plant life, animal life, human life, I mean, life generally, as broad as you can speak, came into existence through Him. But as John uses the word "life," he usually and normally uses it of spiritual life, often calling it eternal life. That seems to be the transition that he is making here. He focuses on the spiritual aspect. In Him was life, not only life generally that we all have, but the true life that brings us the knowledge of God.


"And the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness." Now you can have a play on the words here or a development. In Him was life and the life could refer to Christ who brings life to everyone, since He's the source of life. He is called the life, as He will be the light. He's the light of men. So He's called "the light," in verse 5 "which shines in the darkness." Since He is the source of light, He is the light. Since He is the source of life, He is the life. That's also true that the life He brings, the spiritual life, is the light of men. Light in Scripture refers to knowledge, to the ability to know and to understand, a common concept. The light that John talks about is the ability to know and understand God. It's a key concept in John's writings. The book of 1 John chapter 1 will talk about that as well. “The light shines in the darkness.” It's the light of men. The ability to know God, the ability to understand God. The ability to appreciate the things of God. Understand the point that John is making here. The eternal God who has created all things has brought true life, not just physical life but true life and the ability to know God.

"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it." That word "comprehend" is probably better translated "overcome" or "overtake," as will see another use in the Gospel of John in a moment. "The light shines in the darkness." We'll see that Jesus Christ identifies Himself as the fulfillment of this. He is the light that was shining in the darkness. The darkness did not overcome it. It opposed it, but it did not overcome it.

Turn over to John chapter 3, that great chapter where we have verse 16, "Where God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son in order that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life." Verse 18, "He who believes in Him [Christ] is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices truth comes to the light." "This is the judgment," verse 19, "the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light." That's why He was so offensive to the people of His day. He told them the truth and for that they wanted to kill Him. Because you see you can't deal with Jesus Christ if you don't deal with sin and people love their sin. They love the darkness. Darkness is a picture of sin as we even use it today. The things that go with sin. Today there are places that you will go to in the daytime that you will not go at night. Why? People do wicked things at night under the cover of darkness. So it goes together. The picture of darkness becomes a picture of the sin that is covered in the darkness.

The darkness also pictures the inability to see and know and understand the things of God. Men are opposed to Jesus Christ. Men, women, and young people don’t want to talk about their sin. No, but they'll stand up and sing a Christmas carol. You must understand the only reason Jesus Christ became a man was to deal with sin. So He walked this earth, talked about sin and people hated Him for it. Why? They loved their sin. They loved being proud. We say you have to humble yourself. Oh no, I have to think highly of myself. I have to learn good selfesteem. Then you come to Scripture and God says you're a sinner worthy of hell. Well, that doesn't build your self-esteem. I don't want to hear it. Jesus Christ becomes a problem, a problem today even as it was then.

But you see the contrast light and darkness, light and darkness. Look over in chapter 8 of John verse 12, "Then Jesus again spoke to them saying, 'I am the light of the world, he who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." There you see the concepts that we have in John 1, light and life. "In Him was life and the life was the light of men." He's the light of life. He's the light that brings life. Because in Christ, the One who makes God known, when we bow before Him, turning from our sin and trusting Him as our Savior, we are born again, we receive life, the life of God.

John 12 is the last chapter in John's Gospel on the public ministry of Christ. Chapter 13 will carry us to His private ministry which will culminate in the crucifixion. So His public ministry closes in chapter 12 of John. Verse 35, "So Jesus said to them, 'For a little while longer the light is among you, walk while you have the light, so the darkness will not overtake you." Remember I said in John 1:5, "The darkness did not comprehend it." It's better to translate that overcome or overtake. It's the same word translated as overtake here in the New American Standard Bible that I'm using. "So that darkness will not overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light believe in the Light so that you may become sons of light. Having spoken these things Jesus went away and hid himself." His public ministry comes to a close. It comes to a close in what? You were in spiritual darkness. You really know nothing about the true and living God if you have not come to Christ. Many people have ideas about God. Many people think they have things to say about God. Many preachers preach messages about God. But you understand, that if you don't recognize and believe that Jesus Christ is the God-man who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and was raised because that penalty has been paid, if you have not put your full faith and trust in Him, you are in spiritual darkness whether you're a preacher or whether you've never walked in the door of a church. All you have to do is turn on the TV and listen to some of the preachers preaching and you'll understand they are preaching in the darkness. They have no understanding or comprehension of who Jesus Christ really is. Just as these that Jesus is addressing with the Pharisees, Sadducees, the religious leaders of His day. But He says you're in spiritual darkness. You don't have a clue to who I am or who the living God really is.


It’s a serious concept, this matter of light and darkness. We need to take it seriously. We like to put everything in a realm of gray. None of us have complete knowledge. None of us know everything. We all learn something and we are all learning no doubt. I don't want to stand up here and say I'm the one who knows everything because I don't, but I do know what the Scripture says on this subject that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord as the Old Testament said. Jesus said “I am the light.” If you don't come to Me, you live in the darkness.

Come back to chapter 1. Now it seems as you read the prologue that all of a sudden we bring in another person here. Verses 6,7 and 8 talk about the ministry of John the Baptist, not John the apostle who wrote this gospel but John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ.

John the Baptist was coming preparing the way for the coming of Christ, preparing hearts. So you read verse 6, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the Light [Jesus Christ] so that all might believe through Him." His ministry was to prepare people to believe in Christ. So he came announcing, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand," which is another way of saying, "repent the Messiah is coming." He did say that in Matthew 3. When the Messiah comes he'll exercise judgment on the unbelieving, so you better recognize you're a sinner and turn from your sin and believe or you'll be judged.

“He was not the Light but came that he might bear witness of the Light.” A reminder that John had such a powerful ministry. The whole nation came out to hear John the Baptist. But here’s a reminder he wasn't the light. He only bore witness to the Light. Jesus Christ is the Light. John the Baptist is crucial here because we've talked about the light and the darkness, Jesus’ presence in the world, and that John the Baptist was the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah and introduced Jesus to the nation. The baptism of Christ at the hands of John the Baptist marks the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ. The next three years His life was filled with teaching and miracles. Before that we get a couple of glimpsesHis birth, His presentation at the temple, His debating with the scholars at 12 years of age. Next thing you know, He's 30 years of age being baptized by John the Baptist. That begins His public ministry.


Verse 9, we pick up with John the apostle's account again. "There was the true Light which coming into the world, enlightens every man." Jesus Christ was the true Light. When Jesus Christ came into the world He enlightened every man, which Jesus said in verse 12, "I am the Light of the world." Does that mean every man is saved? No, but the Light has been provided for every man. Not everyone in Palestine believed in Christ. Some were exposed to the brightness of the light as He made God known. They hated Him so much for it they crucified Him. The fact is the light was provided there for all men.

It's the same today. You can have a good relationship with some people. You can go out to lunch with them. You can play golf with them. You can visit with them at work. Everything is fine. We get along well. You sit down and say, "You know, I'd like to talk about the fact that you are a sinner, guilty before God and on your way to an eternal hell. And you know, you can't be saved by joining a church. You can't be saved by being baptized. You can't be saved by taking the sacraments. You can only be saved by turning from your sin and believing that Jesus Christ God's Son died for you." That does wonders for friendships. All of a sudden we don’t get along so well. They don't call anymore. And when we call they're busy. What? The light doesn't always mean salvation will happen as we read in the other passages in John 3, John 8 and John 12. Some people are offended by the Light. They don't want to be told they're sinners. It's not the “in” thing today even in church services to talk about sin, to talk about hell. I go to be lifted up, to feel good, to be told what a wonderful person I am, how God loves me. Well, I love you too. Smile. But you know, it's just not honest.

How would you like to go for a physical exam. You have a pain under your arm and you say, I have a pain here, Doctor. The doctor looks at it and he says, oh. In his mind he says, boy, that's cancer. If we don't operate on that immediately you won't last long. Who wants to hear they have cancer? So, he comes back out and you say, how am I doing? He says, you're doing great. Well, he made you feel good because that's what you wanted to hear. You walk out and you say to your wife, you know what. I'm great. The doctor told me. Is that kind of doctor you want to have? But people go to church and that's the kind of preacher they want to have. Yeah, I went to church all last year. He never told me once I was a sinner. I love him. Yup, never mentioned hell once. That's the kind of church I like. Isn't it amazing how adults like to be deluded. They don't want to hear what God has to say.

Well, He's the light which enlightens every man. What He says is true, and that's the only true knowledge of God. We may not like what we hear but it's true. And you know there is hope in it. That surgeon says, you know if we operate and do this, I think you've got a good chance to be cured. You say, well, I don't want to go through the surgery, but I like what I'm hearing. You know what God says? If you recognize your sin, really come to grips with that and recognize that Jesus Christ is the Savior, I'll forgive you. I'll make you whole. I'll make you clean. Well, I don't like the diagnosis I'm a sinner and it really hits my pride right at the heart. It doesn't do my selfesteem much good, but you know what? It's not what I want. It's what I need and it’s good to know there's a cure.


He's the Savior. He enlightens every man. "He was in the world. The world was made through Him. The world did not know Him." You see he's picked up what he has mentioned in the opening verses. He's the creator of all things. Here, this is amazing. I mean, I can see why people stand back and say that just can't be true. Here is the One who dwelled in eternity, who brought everything that exists into existence and now He is born in a stable at Bethlehem. Can you imagine living in that day and pointing out, see that man over there dressed in the white robe, walking along with that group of men talking? He's the One who created everything. No. I can understand why they didn't believe it. But it doesn't change that it's true.

He was in the world. The world was made through him. The world did not know Him. Furthermore, He came to His own. Plural here. His own things, probably even focusing in on beyond creation perhaps to Israel with its priesthood and its temple and all of its activity. He came to his own things. “And those who were His own.” He came to His own people. Those who were His own people did not receive Him. You see, not just the general creation, just narrowing it down. Even the people who had been chosen to belong to Him in the Old Testament, the Jews who had the Old Testament Scripture, they didn't receive Him. But it's not all gloom.

"But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become the children of God even to those who believe in His name." Salvation was provided for those who would receive Him. What does it mean to receive Him? To believe in His name. "As many as received Him to them He gave the right to become the children of God." Here's a theme that will be picked up in John 3. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and Jesus said to him, "You must be born again or you'll never see the kingdom of God." How do you become a child of God? You must be born again. How are you born again? By believing in His name. His name stands for all that He is. That's why John reminds us. He is God. You cannot be saved if you deny the deity of Jesus Christ. You cannot be saved if you deny the humanity of Jesus Christ. You must believe in the Person of Christ. You cannot be saved if you deny the work of Christ, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and was raised because the penalty had been paid. You cannot be saved if you refuse to believe you're a sinner. That's the beginning point. If you're not a sinner, you don't need a Savior. If you're not a sinner, the Scripture is wrong. God says all have sinned and there is not one righteous person. “There is none righteous, not even one.” If you don't believe God, you can't be saved. You must believe, believe in Him.

It’s a key word in John. It’s used 98 times. The word "believe" or trust. "Who were born," note verse 13, "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but God." You understand this is not a physical process. This is a spiritual process. We are not born of blood, referring to physical generation. We still ask today, "What's your blood line?" He's a blue blood, royalty. A physical line. "Not of blood." "Nor of the will of flesh." It didn't come out of sexual desires, physical desires. "Nor of the will of man." It wasn't human determination. In our day of birth control and family planning, you have human determination. We decided to have a child. But you understand none of these physical matters bring about the birth to become a child of God that we're talking about in verses 12 and 13. This is crucial. The Jews are stuck on this and chapter 8 of John will be a development of it. The Jews said to Christ, "We have Abraham as our father." Jesus said forget it. God can make children for Abraham out of the stones." Your physical line does nothing for you. The issue is you must be born again. You must become a child of God. God must become your family.


Note the end of verse 13, they “become children of God." It was God's action, God's activity, God's work that brought about the birth. We continue to reproduce the error. We've had parents call here because their young people have come to the university, have heard the message of Christ, have believed, have been born again. Oh, we raised them right. They were baptized. They were confirmed. They were . . . whatever you do to them. Now they are denying all that. Aren't you thrilled that they've been born again? No, we're offended. You know why? We'd like to think there's something physical about it. Come to this church. Join this church. Get baptized in this church. Take the sacraments. Do whatever. You say, my church is as good as your church. Trouble with that church out on the hill is they think they are the only one’s right. Well, the trouble with this church is we think God is the only right One. That means there's a standard. That means some people are wrong. Everyone who disagrees with God is wrong. If I disagree with God, I'm wrong. You can attend this church from birth to grave and die and go to hell. You can be baptized in this baptistry and die and go to hell. You can teach Sunday school in this church and die and go to hell. You could give a million dollars, not a bad idea, but you still go to hell. What can I say? It would do wonders for a stewardship campaign to sell heaven. You can't do it. You can give all your money and still go to hell. You know why? It's not physical things. It's not physical connections. It doesn't matter who your parents were or weren't. This is a spiritual birth.

Nicodemus, called the teacher of Israel in John chapter 3, didn't understand it. He scratched his head and said, "How can a man be born again?" Some people read that and try to read baptism into it. That you have to be “born of water even the Spirit.” Jesus defined what the water is in John 7, the water, even the Spirit in John 7:38 and 39. But we always want to bring the physical in. Why? Because I'd like to know. I bring my little baby down to the front. He'll get baptized. That means his sins are washed away. Uhh, I can breathe easy. I get him confirmed. We take the sacraments and all these things. Forget it. It's not a physical matter. It's a spiritual matter. You can't do it for someone else. You can encourage them. You can present the truth to them, but it's a spiritual transaction between and individual and God. We have to remember that as parents in this church. There's nothing we can do to make your children saved. All we can do is what? Testify to the truth as John the Baptist did. To present the Word of God, to model as parents, as believers, godliness in our lives, and to pray for our children. But ultimately they'll come to that time in their life where they have to confront the issue of Jesus Christ, their own sin and bow before Him and trust Him as their Savior. There is nothing magical about it and it can't be done by following a physical formula. You have to be “born of God.”


"The Word became flesh," verse 14 of chapter 1, "and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." The concept comes from the Old Testament. He dwelt among us. That word is a tent, to dwell in a tent. It takes us back. If we were the Jews reading this in John's day from the Old Testament, where did Jesus dwell among His people? In the tent of meeting. And the glory cloud dwelt over that tent. When Moses went in to meet with God and he'd come out his face would be glowing. So here now we're told the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He's tabernacled among us. "And we beheld His glory,” saw His glory, “glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Colossians tells us, "In Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form." Think about that. All the fullness of deity dwells in Him in bodily form. Everything that God is as God dwells in that human form of Christ. It's remarkable. It's what we saw in Hebrews chapter 1 where He is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature, His very being.

So John says we saw His glory. John was one who walked and was an eyewitness of Christ's presence on earth. He saw it. Even though many who did not believe did not see it because they did not want to hear and accept the teaching. Even the miracles did not impress them. We see that in John 11 and John 12. There even the Jewish leaders said you can't deny He's done mighty miracles. Well, we have to put a stop to it or everybody will believe in Him. So Caiaphas, the high priest, says, well, you don't know anything. You're stupid. We kill Him, we put an end to it. But he didn't know that God was using even him as a mouthpiece. Because he says it's important that “one man die for the nation.” Really he was speaking of what Christ would do. God was using him even though he didn't know it.

He's called the “only begotten.” Most modern Greek writers tilt toward the idea that you're talking the only one of a kind rather than being born, birth. So you can translate this, "Glory as of the only one of a kind from the Father." Even if it's "only begotten," the point is the same and it doesn't mean the only one born to Him. It's used of Isaac, Abram's son, in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 17 when Abram offered up his “only begotten son.” The problem was Isaac wasn't Abraham's only begotten in the sense he was the only one born to Abraham. Abraham had a number of other sons born to him but he was the unique son. He was the only one of a kind. He was the only one in whom all the promises of God to Abraham could be fulfilled. That's the significance of only begotten. The only one of a kind, he's unique. He's the only one to reveal the Father like this. He's the only member of the Triune God who has taken upon Himself humanity or ever will take upon Himself humanity.

John testified verse 15 saying, "This is He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" It's another statement of the preexistence of Christ as John the Baptist declared it. It's a reminder that's the connection here. John the Baptist's testimony. Because you understand John the Baptist is six months older physically than Jesus Christ is. When John the Baptist said He existed before me, he's not taking about His physical existence because John the Baptist was conceived and born six months before Jesus Christ. He's talking about His preexistence as God.

"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." That's what He has come to do. In Him we receive the grace of God. We like to move it to physical things. The sacraments as they are called. We call them sacraments. We don't in this church but many do because they are supposedly means of grace, means by which grace is communicated to us. You do not find that in Scripture. We always want to move everything to the physical realm so doing something physical will bring about a transaction. No, it's a personal matter in the heart and mind of an individual in response to God and His Word.


"The law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." There was grace in the Old Testament. But even the grace in the Old Testament was dependent upon the coming of Jesus Christ. In a certain sense you could say the Law, that was God's grace in making Himself known, but the Law could not save. It could only condemn. The Law was given to reveal our sinfulness. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Even the grace and truth of the Old Testament was dependent upon the coming of Christ. There would have been no salvation in the Old Testament if Jesus Christ was not coming to be the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. People were saved by faith in the revelation God gave of Himself in the Old Testament. They were believing God. But God's forgiveness for them was based upon the salvation that would be accomplished through the death and resurrection of His Son. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

There is no grace and truth found anywhere else. I was reading a brochure before I came in and they get all religions of all kind together as though we're all learning from each other and doing things together. You know, we pool our ignorance because grace and truth are only found in Jesus Christ and believing what God has said about Him. Period. That sounds so narrow, so exclusive, but that's the way God is. We don't want God to be God. That offends us. We like to tell God how it is. When God says, this is the way it is, even when He's offering the free gift of eternal life to all who will believe in Him, people are offended because He’s saying this is the only way. Now we understand why Jesus was crucified. He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but by Me." That's exclusive. If I imply to you anything else, I'm a liar. I'm corrupting what God has said. "There is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus," Paul wrote to Timothy. That's the way it is. If I don't like it, that's still the way it is. If you don't like it, that's still the way it is. God is God. I am not. God said it's this way. This way only. Israel didn't like it. People don't like it today.

"No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." It’s a great verse. "No one has seen God at any time," the only begotten God, the unique God, He's the onlyGodofakind God. That Person of the Triune God who’s become a man, who is God in the flesh, the One in whom all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, the One who is in the bosom of the Father. That's the relationship of intimacy. At the last supper, John, the writer of this Gospel, reclined on the bosom of Christ. That was a place of closest relationship. So God the Son is the One who is in the bosom of the Father. He has the closest, most intimate relationship with God the Father.


"He has explained Him." We get the word "exegesis" from this Greek word. He has exegeted Him, interpreted Him, explained Him. We talk about the exegesis of a passage. We are breaking it down and explaining it so we can understand it. That's what Jesus does to God, for God. He is the explanation of God. Do you know why some people don't like Jesus Christ? They don't like God. That's what Jesus will go on to say in the Gospel of John. You don't like me. You don't like my Father. You don't know Me. You don't know my Father. You reject me. You reject my Father. People don't want say I hate God so they say I hate Christ. They don't say it but they just don't want to be confronted with Him and they are offended when you do.

What we really want is we want to be God in our own way, in our own world. That's why the present teaching is so popular. Build your selfesteem. Think highly of yourself. That really appeals to me because I like to be God in my world anyway. I always did think I was better than you and I like to be told that I ought to think that. No wonder it grabs on to everyone in the world. Now I'm justified in going around concentrating on me and worrying about me. Then we wring our hands and say, why is the family breaking up? Well, Dad thinks about himself. Mom thinks about herself. There's nobody left to think about the kids. It’s too bad the government can't provide a place for them. Pretty soon the marriage breaks up. Why? The man decides, I don't need her and this baggage anymore. That’s the way it goes more often than the other way. I think about myself and besides, I'm god in my own world anyway.

The reality of it is there is only one God and we must all bow before Him. Some day we will bow, either in this life for salvation or in the next life for judgment to eternal hell. Praise God the message of Christ is there's hope. He's come. He's been born. There's light. You can have life in Him. You can become a child of God. You can be born again. But you can only do it on God's terms. Recognize that you're a sinner. Turn from that sin and bow before the One who is the Son of God. Believe that He died for you. Trust Him alone as your Savior and you will be born again. You will be made a new person. You'll be forgiven your sins. You will enter into the understanding and knowledge of God as it is unfolded in His Word. Life will be radically and totally different. What a salvation! You’d think everybody in the world would be saying, "I want it." It's free. It's eternal. But it means I can be God any longer. "Oh, no thanks." It’s sad. How stubborn we are in our sin. Let's pray together.