Jesus is the Word of God - John 1:1-3

1:03Well, on my way in this morning, somebody came up to me and said, I'm glad you're going through John. I need Jesus in my face. And that's really to a large degree. I need to see Jesus. I need to have my mind focused on Jesus. And that's exactly what John does. He puts Jesus in your face. And the The person of Jesus is so important to him, and his view of Jesus is so elevated, as with all New Testament writers who really came to know him.

1:42But as we think about our own time, our own life, where we are here today, I want to ask you a question. What is your view of God? Or let me ask it like this: What comes to mind when you hear the word God? We just sang a song, Mysterious Unknown. I would take exception with that. In that one phrase there, beautiful song, but he is not mysterious and unknown if you know the scriptures. John knew him and seeks to make him known.

2:19And you've heard me say this before, but your view of God is the most important thing about you. Your view of God will shape and determine everything about you. And I like to think of this as concentric circles about what is God like? I mean, what are some of the views of God out there? We can think of at that first big circle as the atheist says there is no God. Well, John invites the atheist to come and to take a look at this God who you don't believe in. Get to know this God who you don't believe in. The agnostic. Would say, I don't know in our society, I don't really know about God. I don't know what to think. And John invites you to come to look at this God who you don't know how you should think about. Then there's a secular view that would probably see Jesus as a good teacher, an important figure, a revolutionary, or some sort of secular way of looking at him that just puts him in his place in history. And John invites you to come and look at the Jesus that he walked with and talked with. And then there is another circle within that concentric circles. There are those who may know a lot about Jesus, but they understand him more through the lens of a false teacher or a false Christ. There are many out there like that. And John invites you to come, understand more clearly. Let me declare to you the true Christ. And then there are those who may even be believers in Christ and followers of Christ. You would fit in that category. I'm a real follower, but I'm confused. Still can't quite get my mind around Jesus. John invites you to a close, upfront look so that your confusion would disappear. And then there is many of us here today that would. Fit in this category of having a small view of Jesus. I mean, how big is your view of Jesus? How big is your view of God? You see, a lot of you have a lot of big problems in your life because you have a very small Christ in your life.

4:47Your problems overwhelm you, the thoughts trouble you, anxiety, you have bad dreams at night. What is it about you? Are you fearful of things? The reason you have all these is because you have a very small view of God and a very small view of Christ. Well, what John wants to do is to enlarge your view of Christ. He wants to enlarge your view of Jesus. And in so doing, he wants to not only enlarge your view of Jesus, he wants to enlarge your view of God so that you don't have to sing, you're mysterious and unknown, but we do know you.

5:31Well, the first 18 verses of John is really John's overview of his whole gospel. People call it the prologue to John. It's 18 verses, and we're going to work through these 18 verses over three weeks. Three weeks, just walking through, and we'll do two, then I'll be gone to Africa and come back and finish. But we're going to walk through these. I want to take some time to understand. What John is saying in these 18 verses because it really is a window into his whole gospel. In fact, we have a foyer, right? You come into the foyer. One person likened these 18 verses as a foyer. You come into the foyer. If you sit back there and you stay in that foyer and you read the literature that's there, or you look at our brochures, our handouts, you'll get a good idea of what this church is all about just right there in the foyer. The same is true about John's gospel. If we get our minds around what he says in these 18 verses, we'll get a good overview of everything that's going to come. It can also be likened to an expert witness. I like to think of these 18 verses as John's expert witness of the person of Christ, his true testimony, his sworn testimony. I remember being called in on a case where I had to give my expert testimony as to a certain event. Actually, it was a lawsuit that was going on in the engineering world. And I was called to sit before a bunch of attorneys and go through a deposition and give my expert opinion and sworn testimony as to what I thought, what I knew, and what I had seen, and what I believed took place. And that's, to a large degree, exactly what John is doing. John is that expert witness to the true Jesus. And in these 18 verses, he gives us his summary testimony. But I only want to look at the first three today. I want to take some time, get our minds around it, marinate in it, read it, reread it, come back to it. I want it on our minds for the next month because it really is Jesus in your face in a way that will breathe life and light to your life.

8:01Read these words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In these three verses, John makes four direct statements about the person of Jesus Christ. Very simple, very straightforward. In His simple vocabulary, He sets them out there: four statements in three verses, and He does so that your view of Jesus will be enlarged. He wants to enlarge your view of Jesus, and He's going to do that throughout this whole gospel. So, I want to look at these four statements, but before I look at these, I want to spend some time looking at the way John refers to Jesus in the first verse. Jesus is the Word in the beginning. Was the Word. And it's clear that this is Jesus. He'll get to it in verse 14. You see this? And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. So the Word is not just an abstract principle. And then by verse 17, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. So the Word is the same word in verse 14, is Jesus Christ in 17. It's clear he's talking about Christ here, and he starts, he's talking about Jesus here as being the word, and he will make this clear. And this is clear as he goes on. But why? The question is, why does John refer to Jesus as the Word? The Word? And so I want to answer this question in two parts. First, I want to consider how John's readers would have understood this title, the Word, the Logos of God. And then I want to probe into what was going on in John's mind. So what would the readers have understood? And what was going on in John's mind as he referred to Jesus as the Word, the Logos of God? Well, thinking about John's audience, there's two primary audience people that are going to be reading this, right? There's Greek and Hebrew. That's in the context largely Greek, but as we saw last time, His audience, he was writing to Jews.

10:35But certainly, the audience, the Greek mind, would have picked this up, and they would have read the phrase, in the beginning was the Lagos, the Lagos of God. And many would have instantly connected that to the whole Greek philosophical system and understanding of the universe of the day. And the term Lagos of God was used quite a lot. In fact, it was a concept that was deeply ingrained into the Greek understanding of the universe. Going back as far as 560 BC, one of the philosophers said that the Lagos of God is the only constant in the universe. And later, the Stoics interpreted or understood the Logos to be the rational principle by which everything and everyone existed.

11:31And that everything sprung from the seeds of this logical principle, this Lagos. Philo, who wrote during the first century and was heavily influenced by Plato, referred to the Logos of God as the ideal world, which is different from the real world in which we live in, an ideal world, the Lagos. This is what we're trying to get to, that kind of thing. But the idea. Is that the term logos had a deep meaning in the history of the Greek philosophy? But in every case, the logos of God was an abstract principle. It was not a person. There was no personality to this force, through this principle.

12:27And the Logos certainly did not become incarnate. And so John understood, he understood the Greek mindset. And he understood the gravity of the term Logos in Greek philosophy. And when he declared Jesus to be the Logos of God, he was appropriately beginning at a starting point to begin proclaiming the gospel to the Greek mind. Let me take you to that unmoved mover, to that, let me take you to that, which you would say as the underlying principle. Let me take you to that and let me explain him to you.

13:08However, as I've already said, John was a Jew and he was writing to Jews. And so the use of the term logos needs to be understood from a Hebrew context, not the Greek context. How would John's Hebrew audience, specifically an unbelieving audience? Audience. As we've already seen, his purpose is to reach his people with the gospel, with the good news of Jesus Christ, and for them to come to know who he is. How would this Hebrew audience understand the Logos of God? Well, certainly a number of thoughts would have come to mind. The Word of God was the instrument of creation.

13:55You see that on the very earliest pages of Scripture. In fact, Psalm 33:6 says, By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made, and by the breadth of his mouth, all their host. In Hebrew, the word is Dabar. And when the Greeks came along to translate the Old Testament, they translated the word Dabar into Lagos. So the Greek Septuagint would read, By the Lagos of God, by the Lagos of the Lord, the heavens were made. So the Word was seen as an instrument.

14:32And there is no question that John is making a link. When he says, in the beginning, what other book begins with in the beginning? Genesis. Genesis 1:1. And what is in the beginning, God? Here's John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. He's making a link to the mind, for sure, to those who understood Scripture. Let me just read it to you. In the beginning, God, Genesis 1:1, created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. And then God said, Let there be light. And there was light. So the very first verses in Scripture, you see, the Spirit of God and the speech of God. And from that, everything came to be.

15:32So the word, certainly to the Hebrew mind, was the power and the wisdom of God in creation. And you go through Genesis, the pattern, let it be, and it was so, let it be, and it was so. Finally, he says, Let us make man in our image, and it was so. It's kind of like today is my wife's birthday. So be sure you wish her a happy birthday. I'm sure you'll get an opportunity for that tonight. But anyway, a couple days ago, I said, Okay, kids, let's have a kids' council. Everybody come in. Let's talk about this. I want this to be a birthday Nancy can remember. Let there be a birthday that she will remember. Wow, that started a whole bunch of things into motion. All of a sudden, the craft room was opened up, paper was cut into strips, a bunch of different colors. They were stable. Together and linked these big chains, so we had these big, beautiful chain links. And then, of course, we had to then somebody said we had to buy her the flowers that she likes the most. So, let's go buy some flowers. Oh, and by the way, we absolutely have to get to Charlie's Charming Charlie's. Someone said, We have to go to Charming Charlie's because she loves stuff in Charming Charlie's. So, we went to Charming Charlie's, and then we got the flowers, and then we go in and we see this big balloon that says, Happy birthday. And one of the kids said, We got to get that. So then we got that. And so, and Nancy woke up and came in this morning and saw this big display and said, That's the biggest balloon I've ever seen.

17:15But all that started with, I want this to be a party or a birthday celebration that she will remember. And it's set into motion. And God said, the instrument of his word did just that in creation. It set into motion everything. Genesis 1, God's word was the power and the wisdom of God to create a magnificent and fearfully wonderful universe. A universe so amazing that Einstein, as he explored the cosmos and the natural law, would say this. He's not a believer in Christ, but he said this: the scientist's religious feeling takes the form. Of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law. The harmony of natural law. I'm amazed at it, which reveals an intelligent of such superiority that compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is utterly insignificant.

18:23Incidentally, he also said, I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon or in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know his thoughts. The rest are details. It's a shame he didn't pick up the Gospel of John, because there are certain things about God you cannot know unless he chooses to tell you. You can see a lot about God from his creation, but there are certain things you can't take in or even correctly interpret about his universe unless he comes and tells you. How God expressed himself in creation. You know, one of the fascinating aspects of art is that it expresses something about the artist. Now, sometimes after the service, I come through here and I find pictures, drawings. And I don't know if it was done by children or adults, whatever, but there's drawings. But let me quiz you. Let me quiz you.

19:28Suppose I pick up a Little picture, and on it you see hearts and flowers and brides and grooms. What do you think? Who do you think wrote this or drew this? Probably a little girl, right? Right now, okay, so I think you're batting a thousand. Let me give you another one. If I pick up this little piece of paper and there's this artist rendering of some dinosaurs, fire truck, a battleship, war. What do you think this says about the artist?

20:16It's probably a little boy, right? That's going to go into combat one day. But the Word of God is the medium. Just think about a paint. Paint, just like a paint is, paint is like a medium through which an artist will express himself on a canvas. Think about the word of God as the medium through which he expresses himself. That medium through which he makes himself known. He is an expressing God, and he expresses himself. And so we see that he did so in creation. So the word of God. As a Hebrew picks this up and he says, In the beginning was the word. The word of God expressed something about God in creation, power, and wisdom. But as you go on through the scriptures, the word of God has a lot more to say about other aspects of God's being.

21:18Salvation. In Psalm 107:20, the Word of God was seen as the instrument of salvation. He sent His Word, His Logos, and healed them and delivered them from all of their destructions. The Word of God is also seen as the instrument of judgment. Psalm 29, 3, the voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of glory thunders. The voice of the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, majestic. Picture of him in judgment. So the word of God expressed something about God in creation and salvation and judgment.

22:02But also, the word of God was that instrument through which God brought revelation and knowledge and understanding. Remember in Psalm 119.05, and I hope you remember this. We spent a lot of time there. Your word is a lamp unto my feet. And then in verse 130, the unfolding of your words gives light. And we spent months, right, in going through Psalm 119. And there, the Word of God, by the way, I did that on purpose. My whole Psalm 119 series was really to set us up for the Gospel of John. If we can understand the written word and what God was doing through the written word, we would have a lot better, we would be in a lot better position to understand the incarnate word because it follows the same things, just a more perfect expression. But you remember, we saw that the Word of God came in a variety of forms in Psalm 119. It came in the form of his law and his testimonies, his precepts, his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his ordinances. And through all of these, God expressed himself to the psalmist.

23:15And the responsibility of man, and certainly we saw this in the psalmist, is to receive the word. And our psalmist in Psalm 119 did receive the word. And that was evident by the way he meditated upon it, by the way he desired to obey it, his commitment to walk in it, and his tenacious confidence in it. And out of that came many, many blessings. The word brought a purity of way, brought life to his soul, brought light to his path, confidence before kings, a delight in the future, and an understanding in it and ever-increasing wisdom and an awareness of his personal. Need for a shepherd. All that, the written word brought. So the word of God to the Hebrew man was God's powerful, God's wise, God's sometimes frightening revelation and judgment, but also the word of God was his gracious expression of himself. You put all that together, what is the word of God? It's God's self-expression, God's expression. The logos was an instrument. The word of God was an instrument through which God expressed himself. Always has.

24:45And so all of this would have come to mind. Blessings, life, light, creation, judgment, power, wisdom, healing, deliverance, strength, all of this would have been associated with the concept of the Word of God. But what was going on in John's mind? Now we've looked at what was going on in a Greek mind. We looked at what's going on in a Hebrew mind when they read this phrase. Now what's going on in John's mind? What is he, why did he choose to refer to Jesus as the word?

25:20Well, we know that John had a very unique and up-close perspective of who Jesus really was and really is. We know that John wants us to know. Who this Jesus really was and is. And so we know that John chose the best words to communicate the true Jesus to us. And don't be surprised that he doesn't fit any other description because Jesus is unique. And so he's going to use unique terms or he's going to use concepts that are existing and then he's going to build upon them. And that's exactly what he does. He wants us to know the true Jesus. And it's no accident that he begins his gospel with Jesus being the word of God.

26:14But we know that John's concept is anchored in Scripture. He understood the word. He had walked with the word. He understood the concept of the word. And yet he understood the person of the word. And so what's going on in John's mind is saying the Greek view of the word, the Hebrew view of the word is partial. Let me give you the full orbed view. The word of God is a person. The word of God is a person.

26:52Jesus is the perfect personification of all the Old Testament manifestations of the Word of God. That's what he's saying. The word is God's perfect expression of himself. And it's clear. Look at verse 2. Notice how in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. And then, verse 2, notice how the word takes on a person. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him, nothing was made. Do you see that he moves from an abstract principle to a personality? So John identifies Jesus as God's ultimate self-expression, and he writes using terms that will connect us to the true Jesus.

27:42And Jesus isn't going to fit in our conventional framework. And that's why he's going to have to use so many terms: the Word of God, the life of God, the light of God, the I am, and he's going to go on, the Lamb of God. He's just going to go through and paint this picture, give us an understanding of who Jesus is. But it would have been inappropriate for John to begin his gospel in the beginning, was Jesus. Because we know that Jesus, as the flesh and blood, incarnate God, came in time and space. The conception of Jesus was the Creator stepping into his creation. And Micah speaks about this.

28:34As for you, Bethlehem, you're too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you, one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. So from you, Bethlehem, your king is going to emerge, but his goings forth are from long ago, from days of eternity. So John begins with a reference to Jesus that totally encompasses his preexistence. So now that we've looked at this, I know you think, okay, is that the introduction? It is, but the four statements come really quick, and we'll look at them and we're going to understand them simply. But now that we've looked at the way John refers to Jesus, I want to look at these four statements. Four statements. Four direct statements from John's testimony. Look at the verses. They're right there. You should see them, and I want you to see them. In fact, you need to see them because they're John's words, breathed by God's Spirit. First of all, first direct statement is that Jesus existed before creation. He existed before creation. Look, in the beginning was the word. And what is the beginning? It's the reference to the absolute beginning of everything.

29:50This would encompass every being, every earthly creation, every creation in the spiritual realm. And there really boils down to. Two categories. There's the category of the Creator and the category of the creation. Jesus is on the side of the fence with the Creator. You see that? He's there in the beginning. He was. The absolute beginning of everything. Jesus already existed. He's there. The Word existed. Second. Look at the second. And the Word was with God. He was in the beginning. In the beginning was the Word. He already was there. And the Word was with God. So not only did He have no beginning, He was already there in the beginning. Not only did He have no beginning, but He shares this eternal existence with God. He was with God.

30:54And the preposition with certainly implies that He was in the presence of God, but it implies more. It implies a unity of being. Now keep in mind, nothing else is there. Nothing else. There's only the Creator, and He's there with God. And this with God speaks of a unity of being. In fact, a correct interpretation or a correct translation could easily read this. And the Word was toward God. Toward God. Now, if you think about this, Where he is oriented toward God. The word, oriented toward, we speak a lot about orientation these days, being oriented in a certain fashion and a direction. Well, this one was oriented to God.

31:48He was oriented in mind and heart, in soul, and in being. So the word of God was co-eternal with God. That is, he existed in the past, an eternity past, present with God, communing with God, in intimate and personal relationship with God. He's there. You know, incidentally, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and he started calling people to follow him, we can expect that the orientation to the Father didn't change, right? He didn't change. And it will show up, this orientation to do the Father's will, which so drove him, will show up in those who are oriented to follow him. Do you see that? So there will be a orientation, those who are oriented to follow Christ will start showing up, will start exhibiting characteristics of one who follows, or one who is oriented to the characteristics of God.

33:00The orientation didn't change when he took upon flesh. Third, not only did he exist before creation, he existed with God. John makes it clear that he existed as God. Jesus existed as God. Now, as the Word of God, Jesus, as the Word of God, He was God. Look at the phrase. Look at that last phrase of verse 1. And the Word was God. Again, a word-by-word translation would read, and God was the Word, emphasizing the godness, the God. The subject is still the Word. The Word is God. He existed as God. But the emphasis is upon God because there is, well, just this last, this third one is very striking. In the beginning was the Word. Okay, He pre-existed. We get that. He existed with God. Okay, so there's a distinction there. We can get our minds around that. But then John was clear that he, and he was concerned that people would mistake and think, okay, that he's different from God. So then John makes this third statement: he and the word was God. So he was with God, implying a distinction, and yet he was God, implying no distinction.

34:28Very God, a very God, a union of essence and nature. Yeah, here's the word. He's got a distinction. He was with God. And yet there is a distinction that he was God. No distinction. And that's how John sets forth Jesus. And look, don't think that Jesus is going to be a simple individual to get our minds around. And what John is saying is, you must understand that he is distinct, but he's God and not distinct from God. A person within the framework, within the essence of God.

35:12And it's important to understand that John is not confused. John is not being ambiguous or vague. John is clear. There is a distinction and there is not a distinction. We can think of it just like in my language. I'm speaking to you now. You hear my word. What goes forth from me is my word. It is of essence me. But it's not comprehensively me. Right? My word is fully me, and yet it is distinct from me as well. And John, using terms, says, okay, understand God in this way, his word, instrument, distinct and yet the same.

36:02Fourth, he created all things. So, not only did he exist before creation, not only did he exist with God, not only did he exist as God, but he created all things. All things were made through him. The word of God is that medium through whom God created everything. He created everything, all things. He created. He is not an impersonal force, principle, concept. He is a person, a unique person, one who is in the bosom of the Father, like a word comes from the bosom of an individual. He is there.

36:44And all things. This is where it gets very personal. All things include you and me. The origin of your being is here. John is bringing you face to face with your Creator, the one through whom everything was made. What's incredible about this is that he gave thought to and carried out his intentions. And here you are. He conceived of you in his mind. He thought and he created you. He made from one man every nation and determined where you'd live and when you'd live.

37:30He lets you know that the very hairs on your head are all numbered. And he says, Don't fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows. Therefore, everyone who confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father. Responsibility is to receive the word. Receive him. So, John, in these three verses, and this just begins to wet our minds: John's four statements: Jesus existed before creation, Jesus existed with God, Jesus existed as God, Jesus created all things, and it takes us to one conclusion: Jesus is God, your God, He created you.

38:25Well, you get the picture that John wants to kind of enlarge your view of Jesus. You remember in the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis's masterpiece. You remember the Prince Caspian? Lucy goes and she meets up with Asland again. And Asland is that lion, that Christ figure in throughout the Chronicles of Narnia. And Lucy again encounters. Asland. And Aslan says, Welcome, child. And Lucy says, Asland, you're bigger. Aslan replies, that's because you are older, little one. Lucy says, not because you are bigger?

39:23Aslan says, I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger. What's your view of Jesus? John is going to enlarge your view of Jesus. And so, enlarging your view of Jesus, he will enlarge your view of God and understand so that when you hear the word God, there will be a person, a personality that will accurately explain him to you. The question comes: why does John want to enlarge your view of Jesus? He's already told you. He's already told us so that you will experience life in his name. So that you will experience life in his name. Last night, as I was studying, I heard this wonderful sound outside: thunder and lightning and heavy rain. How many of you just, I mean, having a rain like this in August is just so nice. It's cooler than the morning, but the whole ground got saturated. Wet, and my crept myrtle trees, which were totally wilting. I went out this morning and they were just had come to life. Their leaves were strong and healthy and standing up. And that's exactly what a high view of Jesus will do to the soul. It will bring life, it will bring vigor to who you are. And so John puts Jesus in your face. And as we go through John, he's going to keep putting Jesus in our face. Because by believing in him, you will have life, life in his name. So, John's testimony, or my exhortation to you, is as we approach John and start walking our way to this masterpiece, this holy of holies of Scripture, do not have a foolish and unbelieving heart, but believe John's testimony. Receive the word. Receive the word. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for these opening words. Father, we thank you that you have chosen to keep speaking to us, that you have revealed yourself in your Son. Father, and as we continue to look and understand Him, Father, we grow, and you grow, He grows. Until you consume every aspect of our being. And, Father, it is good that it is this way. So, Father, we invite you now to come into our lives, enable us to believe. We know that that is your work to bring about belief, and we ask you to do that, work the work of God in our midst, that we would believe this testimony. In Jesus' name, amen.