John 1:1-18: “Introduction To
John / Jesus Is The Word (or ‘logos’) of God”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
Background for the gospel of
John
1.1.1. Authorship :
Through a combination of internal and
external evidence there is no doubt that the apostle John, one of Jesus’ twelve
disciples, is the author of this gospel writing.
1.1.1.1.Internal
Evidence :
1.1.1.1.1.Though there
is no claim of authorship in the book, the author does speak a few of times of
one referred to as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” and it is believed
that this is a reference to himself, the apostle John, one of the ones referred
to in the gospels as “the sons of thunder,” sons of a man named Zebedee. The term “sons of thunder” is not
complimentary and reveals the quick temper of these two men which was seen when
they requested Jesus that He send down fire from heaven in Luke 9:51-55 to
destroy a village of Samaritans who would not provide lodging for Jesus’ party
as they were traveling through the country side on the way to Jerusalem. These two disciples were also ambitious and
power hungry initially as seen in Matt. 20:21 when they coaxed their mother to
approach Jesus and ask Him if they could be on both His right and left hand
when He came into His kingdom.
1.1.1.1.2.Though
initially an ambitious and power hungry “son of thunder,” in his old age
the apostle John became “the apostle of love” when the patience and
loving character of Jesus had greatly infused his life.
1.1.1.1.3.The “disciple
whom Jesus loved” is seen in the gospel of John :
1.1.1.1.3.1.In John
21:2-7 after Jesus’ resurrection when Simon Peter, Thomas, Nethaniel, and the
sons of Thunder went fishing, this disciple was present with them. Which one of the group then was he? Remember, James the other son of Thunder was
martyred in 44 AD so he was not of this group.
1.1.1.1.3.2.Seated next
to Jesus as the Last Super (John 13:23-24) and therefore had to be one of the
twelve.
1.1.1.1.3.3.At the cross
with Jesus (John 19:26) and of the twelve only John and Simon Peter are
mentioned as being there
1.1.1.1.3.4.He was not
Peter for in John 21:7 he speaks to Peter.
1.1.1.1.3.5.Probably the
same one referred to as “the other disciple” in John 20:2-10 who ran
ahead of Peter to the tomb on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection and then in
John 18:15-16 went with Peter and witnessed Jesus’ trial (when Peter denied
knowing Jesus).
1.1.1.1.4.Peter, James
and John (the sons of Thunder) were part of the inner circle of three of Jesus’
disciples, and as such they alone were allowed to be with Him in the raising of
Jairus’ daughter, His agony at the
1.1.1.1.5.The author
mentions in John 1:14, “We have seen His glory,” which indicates that he
was a person eye-witness of Jesus.
Coming from personal experience the author even tells us in John 21:25
about how that the world could not contain all of the books that could be
written to detail all of the things that Jesus did, “25 And there
are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in
detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that
would be written.”
1.1.1.2..External
Evidence :
1.1.1.2.1.The early
church fathers of the second century wrote of the apostle John as the author of
the book. In the Bible Knowledge
Commentary, Edwin A. Blum has
written, “Polycarp (ca. a.d.
69=ca. a.d. 155) spoke of his
contact with John. Irenaeus (ca. 130=ca.
200), the bishop of
1.1.1.3.Author’s
other writings :
1.1.1.3.1.The apostle
John also penned the three epistles of John as well as the book of Revelation.
1.1.2. Date of writing :
1.1.2.1.The date for
the Gospel of John is believed by most to be somewhere between 85 and 95 AD.
1.1.3. Place of
writing :
1.1.3.1.Tradition
has it that in his later life that John lived in
1.1.4. Purpose for
writing :
1.1.4.1.The author
states his purpose for the writing of this book in John 20:31, “31 but
these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
1.1.4.2.A number of
other reasons for the writing of this book have been surmised from those who
have studied it, many which have some credibility and others which do not. Edward A. Blum has written the following
about other proposed reasons for the writing of this book, “Some have argued
that John wrote against synagogue Judaism, or the Gnostics, or the followers of
John the Baptist. Some think John wrote to supplement the other Gospels. John’s
Gospel has a clear evangelistic purpose (as do the other Gospels), so it is no
accident that it has been greatly used in the history of the church for that
purpose.”
1.1.4.3.The gospel
books of Matthew, Mark and Luke are what are called “synoptic” gospels
because they all follow a similar historical structure approach to Jesus’ life
and appear to have been written using some original common source writings
available during the period of the early church. However, the gospel of John is completely
unlike the other gospels because it seems to approach the telling of the story
of Jesus from a theological perspective rather than a historical perspective, as seen for instance in the fact
that many of the stories of Jesus’ life found in the other gospels are left out
of this gospel. For instance, there is
no mention in the gospel of John of Jesus’ birth, genealogy, youth, sermon on
the Mount, temptations, parables, Olivet discourse and the tribulation period. Many miracles and teachings of Jesus found in
the other gospels are not found in John.
There is also much in the gospel of John that is not found in the other
gospels. Edward A. Blum states that 93%
of the gospel of John is material not found in the other gospels. The gospel of John has been called “the
spiritual gospel” (a term first penned by the early church writer Clement
of
1.1.5. Themes in
the gospel of John :
1.1.5.1.In the
gospel of John, the author uses some interesting and unique methods for
teaching spiritual truths as this quote from the Teacher’s Commentary shows, “The
Gospel of John is distinctively different from the other three. They tell the
story; John interprets through lengthy reports of Jesus’ discourses. Only John
focuses on distinct theological themes, contrasting throughout his writing such
terms as life and death, light and darkness, belief and unbelief, truth and
falsehood, love and hate.”
1.1.5.2.Harper’s Bible Dictionary comments on the
distinctiveness of the gospel of John, “In the Gospel of John, Jesus delivers
no Sermon on the Mount (or Plain). He tells no parables, heals no lepers, does
not instruct his disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and does not institute
the Lord’s Supper on the night of his betrayal and arrest. In short, the kinds
of moral teaching and religious instruction associated with the Jesus of the
synoptic Gospels are almost completely absent from John, as are his typically
brief and epigrammatic sayings (e.g., Mark 2:27; 12:17).”
1.1.5.3.The story
that John tells of Jesus’ life primarily relates around discourses not found in
the other gospels that Jesus taught as a result of signs that He performed, as
well as Jesus’ “I am” statements.
1.1.5.3.1.The seven
signs (attesting miracles) that Jesus performed :
1.1.5.3.1.1.Changing
water into wine in
1.1.5.3.1.2.Healing an
official’s son in
1.1.5.3.1.3.Healing a
crippled man at the pool of
1.1.5.3.1.4.Feeding the
5,000 near the
1.1.5.3.1.5.Walking on
the water on the
1.1.5.3.1.6.Healing a
blind man in
1.1.5.3.1.7.Raising
Lazarus from the dead in
1.1.5.3.2.The discourses
of Jesus found in the gospel of John :
1.1.5.3.2.1.On the new
birth : 3:1-21.
1.1.5.3.2.2.On the water
of life : 4:4-26.
1.1.5.3.2.3.On
resurrection and life : 5:19-47.
1.1.5.3.2.4.On the bread
of life : 6:26-59.
1.1.5.3.2.5.On the deity
of Jesus : 8:12-59.
1.1.5.3.2.6.On the
shepherd and flock : 10:1-21.
1.1.5.3.2.7.More on the
deity of Jesus : 10:22-38.
1.1.5.3.2.8.On
redemption : 12:20-50.
1.1.5.3.2.9.On life
while Jesus is gone : 13:31-14:31.
1.1.5.3.2.10.On union
with Jesus : 15:1-16:33.
1.1.5.3.3.The seven “I
AM” statements of Jesus :
1.1.5.3.3.1.I am the
Bread of Life : 6:35.
1.1.5.3.3.2.I am the
Light of the World : 8:12
1.1.5.3.3.3.I am the
Gate for the sheep : 10:7
1.1.5.3.3.4.I am the
Good Shepherd : 10:11,14
1.1.5.3.3.5.I am the
Resurrection and the Life : 11:25
1.1.5.3.3.6.I am the
Way, the Truth, and the Life : 14:6
1.1.5.3.3.7.I am the
True Vine : 15:1.
1.1.5.4.The
Christology of John’s gospel.
John, more than any of the other gospel
writers, emphasizes the deity of Jesus, as seen in His beginning the gospel
discussing that Jesus is the pre-existent word of God from all eternity, as
well as his recounting of Jesus’ “I am” statements.
1.1.5.5.The key word
in the gospel of John is “believe” (pisteuo in the Greek) which is found
98 times in John and used because of John’s strong conviction of the importance
of placing one’s faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, plus the
importance of personal dependence upon the Lord for all that He promises us in
His word.
1.1.6. Chronology :
According to the Teacher’s Commentary
the author seems to hold to a historical chronology in the book of John though
some stories and details are left out.
1.1.7. Outline of
the gospel of John by chapter (from the Teacher’s Commentary) :
1.1.7.1.The Word
becomes flesh : 1.
1.1.7.2.Testimony
about Jesus : 1-2.
1.1.7.3.Jesus on the
new birth : 3.
1.1.7.4.Jesus and
the Samaritan woman : 4.
1.1.7.5.Jesus’
discourse on life : 5.
1.1.7.6.Jesus’
discourse on the Bread of Life : 6.
1.1.7.7.Jesus faces
opposition : 7.
1.1.7.8.Jesus claims
to be God : 8.
1.1.7.9.Jesus heals
a man born blind : 9.
1.1.7.10.Jesus as the
Good Shepherd : 10.
1.1.7.11.Jesus raises
Lazarus : 11.
1.1.7.12.Jesus
predicts His death : 12.
1.1.7.13.Jesus washes
His disciples’ feet : 13.
1.1.7.14.Jesus’ Last
Supper discourse : 14-16.
1.1.7.15.Jesus’ High
Priestly prayer : 17.
1.1.7.16.Jesus’
crucifixion : 18-19.
1.1.7.17.Jesus’
resurrection : 20-21.
2.
In the verses that we will study today, we will see
the following :
2.1.
John tells us that Jesus is
the full expression of God to man.
2.2.
John tells us that Jesus was
pre-existent before any creation
2.3.
John tells us that Jesus was
with God in the beginning before anything was created.
2.4.
John reveals Jesus as being
God the Son from all eternity.
2.5.
John tells us that in Jesus
was life and the life was the light of men.
3.
VS 1:1-2 - “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” - John tells us of the
pre-existence and deity of Jesus, the Word of God
3.1.
As was mentioned, the other three gospels are called
the ‘synoptic gospels’ because they have a similar format in the way
that they tell the stories about the things that Jesus did, and they also
include many of the same accounts of Jesus’ life. However, the gospel of John is much different
than these gospels. Whereas the other
three gospels begin with the story of Mary and Joseph and Jesus being born,
this gospel begins with the pre-existence of Jesus.
3.2.
Being written much later, towards the end of the first
century and after the apostle John had lived a long life and thought long and
hard about all of the things that Jesus said and did he wrote this gospel. John was sort of the dreamer among Jesus’
disciples, and as such he evidently thought more deeply and intensely about the
things that Jesus said and did. Having
been called the spiritual gospel this book shows the spiritual origin of Jesus
and His message and purpose.
3.3.
The ‘beginning’ mentioned here means the
beginning of all creation. Christ was in
existence before the creation of any creature.
3.4.
Christ is called in this book the ‘word’ which
is a translation of the Greek word ‘logos.’ The word ‘logos’ comes from the Greek
verb ‘lego’ which means to speak in an intelligible manner about
something.
3.4.1.
There is another Greek word for speaking, which is ‘laleo’
which means simply to speak. To speak in
tongues was to speak in an unintelligible manner, and thus the Greek word used
was ‘glosslalalia,’ from this second Greek word ‘lalelo.’
3.4.2.
However, Christ, the ‘logos,’ is the
communication from God which is rational and intelligible, and thus He is from
all eternity the ‘logos’ of God.
3.4.2.1.The book of
Hebrews begins in chapter 1 declaring to us the nature of this communication of
God to us through Jesus Christ, the ‘logos’ : Hebrews, “1 God, after He spoke
long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2
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. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory
and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by
the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at
the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much
better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. 5
For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I
have begotten You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me”? 6 And
when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And of the angels He says, “Who
makes His angels winds, And His
ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God,
is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of
His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated
lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God,
has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”
10 And, “You, Lord,
in the beginning laid the foundation of
the earth, And the heavens are the
works of Your hands; 11 They will perish, but
You remain; And they all will
become old like a garment, 12 And
like a mantle You will roll them up; Like
a garment they will also be changed. But
You are the same, And Your years
will not come to an end.”
3.4.2.2.You see, if
you want to know who God is and what He is like, all you have to do is look at
Jesus Christ, for as the author to the book of Hebrews tells us, He “is the
exact representation of His nature.”
3.4.2.3.Being the ‘logos’
of God, Jesus Christ also came so that we could come to know God through the
laying down of His life as our sin bearer so that the full debt of our sin
could be paid in full and we could be come to have eternal life through Christ.
In this way Jesus Christ is the ‘word’ (logos) of God to us, the intelligible
communication of God to mankind.
3.5.
If Christ was before any created thing, then He must
of necessity be the eternal God Himself.
3.6.
The latter part of this verse says, ‘the Word was
God.’ However, God exists in three
persons, therefore the second clause of this verse states that Christ, ‘the
logos,’ was with God. As God the
Son, He was not only with God, He was in intimate communion and oneness with
God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
3.7.
In beginning his gospel writing with the pre-existence
of Christ John is attempting to show the special glory and fellowship Christ
had with the Father from all eternity, as he above all others seeks to explain
the true essence of Jesus Christ.
3.7.1.
To best explain the essence of Christ, John realizes
he must begin to explain Christ’s existence even before anything was created.
3.8.
We as Christians ought to make it our life’s goal
above all other goals to know this one who is the rational and intelligible expression
and communication of God to us. God will
reveal Himself to us because apparently His utmost goal in creation of this
world is, ‘to reveal Himself to every
man through His Son Jesus Christ.’
3.9.
In response to those who would follow the Gnostic heresies
of John’s day concerning the pre-existence and deity of Jesus Christ, in verse
2 John reiterates what he had said in the first verse, and shows the personage
of Christ in his pre-incarnate state saying, ‘HE was in the beginning.’
4.
VS 1:3 - “All things came into being by Him, and
apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” - John tells
us that Christ is the creator of all that exists
4.1.
John says that Christ created everything that has come
into being, and then states the negative saying that apart from nothing came
into being that has come into being.
4.2.
Christ again must be God, as only God existed before
any creation, and only God has created every creation. There are many things that God might delegate
to one of His creations, however creating itself is an act that only God can
perform.
4.3.
Paul wrote in
5.
VS 1:4 - “In Him was life, and the life was the
light of men.” - John tells us that in Christ was life which
is the light of men
5.1.
Christ is and always was embodied with ‘life.’
5.1.1.
Because of this, while on earth Jesus could heal, for
life flowed from Him.
5.1.2.
Jesus also has the keys of ‘eternal life,’ that
life that comes into all Christians when they are born again.
5.1.3.
Jesus Himself said that He is the ‘way, the truth,
and the life.’
5.1.4.
Jesus truly was and is the embodiment of all that is
life, and to know Him is to know ‘life.’
5.2.
This ‘life’ in Christ was also the ‘light of
men,’ for in it is revealed the knowledge and mind of God.
6.
VS 1:5 - “And the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
- John tells us that the light ‘shines
in the darkness’ which does ‘not comprehend it’
6.1.
We might think that everyone would see such a
remarkable thing as the light of Christ which shines in this world, however
this was not the case. Today, people
still do not comprehend the light of Christ until God opens their eyes to the
truth.
6.2.
This light of Christ is mentioned in the present tense
in this verse, for it is constantly shining, however it shines in some minds
which have no light and are therefore in darkness. These minds do not receive, appreciate, or
comprehend it.
6.3.
In Jesus day, the Jewish leaders and most of the
Jewish people did not comprehend the light which shone through Jesus
Christ. Even those who were Jesus’
closest followers were very slow to comprehend this light for there is much darkness
in this world which has caused the minds of all men and women to be obscure to
the light to differing degrees.
6.4.
We Christians need to beware that we are not those
like who do not comprehend the light of Christ as it shines upon us each
day. We need to pray that we never
harden our hearts as the Jews and unbelievers in Jesus’ day did. It is easy to be blind to the very light of
Christ in our lives.
6.5.
Oh you who call yourself Christian, let me ask you how
much of that very ‘life’ of Christ do you believe that you experience
daily in your life? I challenge you to
consider today how you might be able to make your heart and mind ready to
receive and comprehend more of the ‘light’ of understanding of Christ
and His ways!
7.
VS 1:6-8 - “There came a man, sent from God, whose
name was John. He came for a witness,
that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through
him. He was not the light, but came that
he might bear witness of the light.” - John tells us of how that John the Baptist was
sent to bear witness to the light of Christ
7.1.
John the Baptizer was just one of God’s many servants
who were (and are) called to go and bear witness to ‘the light of Christ,’
the ‘logos.’ He came to prepare
the way for all people, but especially the Jews, to be able to believe in
Christ unto salvation.
7.2.
The Lord had not spoken to His people through the
prophets for 400 years prior to this time, and the people’s minds had become
dull and their hearts had become hardened to the Lord and their priests and
scribes had become corrupt and worldly, therefore it was very important for
John the Baptist to come on the scene to wake the people out of their slumber
and preach to them to repent of their sins and re-commit their way to the Lord.
8.
VS 1:9 - “There was the true light which. coming
into the world, enlightens every man.”
- John tells us that Christ was the
‘true light’ which enlightens every man
8.1.
There are many so-called ‘points of light’ in
this world, as one of our nation’s leaders has said, however Christ is the
genuine light of God, for in Him dwells truth about the nature of God and how
that man may come to know God in a personal type of relationship.
8.2.
Mere men may reflect the light of Christ, but the
actual or ‘true’ light is Christ.
8.3.
Christ enlightens every man for He reveals God and
truth to the consciences and understanding of all men.
8.3.1.
Romans chapter 1 says, there shall be ‘no excuse’
for those who are unbelieving, because that which may be known of God has been
revealed to them.
9.
VS 1:10 - “He was in the world, and the world was
made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His
own did not receive Him.” - John tells us that though Christ had made the
world, when He came in the flesh to the men of this world they did not know Him
9.1.
It seemed incomprehensible to John, that the ‘logos’
who had created all things and was Himself the light of God to all men, should
come into the world, and not be known by His creation, especially those who were
called ‘His people,’ the Jews.
9.2.
Jesus said that the reason people did not believe in
Him was that they loved the darkness because their deeds were evil (John 3:19),
and this is the only conceivable explanation for why men did not recognize
Jesus as the Christ (or Messiah) when He appeared to them, and why today people
do not respond to the gospel preaching about Jesus Christ.
10.
VS 1:11-13 - “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, who were born not of blood.
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” - John tells
us that as many as personally received Jesus into their life, those born of
God, to them God gave the right to be children of God
10.1.
How should men respond to Christ? They should receive Him into their hearts as
their Lord (master) and Savior (save them from the penalty of their sins). To as many as do that, He gives the ‘right’
or ‘privilege’ of becoming the children of God.
10.2.
To receive Christ into one’s life, is to have Christ
come in and take up residence inside you as you reciprocally believe in His
Name (and all that it stands for) and are born of God, or “born again.”
10.3.
To be born of ‘blood’ probably refers to being
born of a woman through normal childbirth, a bloody though marvelous
experience.
10.4.
One is simply born of God by grace through faith as it
says in Eph. 2:8,9, “8 For by grace
you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God;9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”
10.4.1.No work or ‘willing’ of the flesh
could ever cause one to come to know Christ, therefore John writes that men and
women are born again not by the ‘will of man.’ Those who are drawn by God to Jesus Christ
will be saved, and Jesus told us that of all of those whom the Father draws to
Him that He will in no wise cast anyone out.
10.4.2.In 2 Cor. 5:17, it is written that when a person receives Christ that
he becomes a new creature and that all things become new in his life, just as
if he had been reborn into a new life, “17
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Since all things become new in our
life then when we are born of God we receive a new:
10.4.2.1.Heart.
10.4.2.2.Will.
10.4.2.3.Spirit.
10.4.2.4.Mind.
10.5.
It is a tremendous privilege to know the grace of God
as a Christian, and to have become a ‘child of God’ through simple faith
in and commitment to Christ.
10.6.
Oh Christian, can you imagine what would have happened
to our world if John the Baptist had not been faithful to bear witness to the
light of Christ. How faithful are you to
bear witness to the light of Christ to those you come into contact with daily? Your life counts for Christ just as John the
Baptist’s life counted for Christ.
10.7.
To you the reader or listener, have you come to be “born
again” through trusting in Jesus Christ as your sin bearer and surrendering
your life in repentance to Jesus Christ?
If you have not done this, you have an incredible experience awaiting
you, one with eternal consequences.
11.
VS 1:14 - “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.” - John tells
us that the Word of God became flesh when Jesus was born and they beheld His
glory, the glory of the only begotten from the Father
11.1.
John explains the incarnation of Christ. This eternal ‘logos,’ the pre-existent
God the son (second person of the Trinity) became a man of flesh. This verse was evidently given to controvert
the “dualism” teaching of some of the Gnostics who said that Christ only
appeared to be a man. They taught that
matter itself was evil and only spirit is good, therefore Christ being God
could not have shared in true humanity.
The Gnostics believed that deity came upon Him at His baptism but left
Jesus before He went to the cross.
11.2.
John points out how wrong the Gnostics were, for
Christ became flesh and dwelt or ‘tabernacled,’ as the Greek word should
be translated, among us. The use of this
word is an obvious reference to the tabernacle which God instructed the
Israelites to build, and where upon completion, the shekinah glory of God came
to dwell. Jesus was and is the glory of
God shining to all in this world who are willing to see.
11.3.
The glorious eternal ‘logos’ likewise came to
dwell in a human body, and in Him the glory of God was beheld by His followers.
11.4.
Peter, James and John saw the true glory of Christ
much more clearly than anyone else, for they were with Him on the Mount of
Transfiguration, when He momentarily transformed into the glory which He had
from all eternity. This glory of Christ
so separated Him from other creations, that John writes in this verse that it
showed that He was the ‘only begotten from the Father.’
11.5.
Jesus was that only and unique ‘son of God.’ All other sons of God (such as those who
receive Him) are sons only because of the grace of being adopted by God as His
sons. Jesus was the Son of God from all
eternity who became flesh through immaculate conception from the Holy Spirit
into Mary (see Luke 1 and 2).
11.6.
Jesus was also ‘full of grace and truth.’ These godly qualities of ‘grace’ and ‘truth’
were in Jesus not in small portions, but rather they existed in complete fullness,
and without measure. In Him dwelt all of
the fullness of deity Paul wrote in Col. 2:9, “9 For in Him all
the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
12.
VS 1:15 - “John bore witness of Him, and cried out,
saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘’He who comes after me has a higher rank
than I, for He existed before me’’’.” - John tells us that John the Baptist told his
followers that the Christ had a higher rank then he for Christ had existed
before him
12.1.
John the Baptist, though he didn’t understand all that
the new covenant in Christ would reveal of His person, understood the
pre-existence of the Messiah, and thus His pre-eminence over all men, including
even himself.
13.
VS 1:16 - “For of His fullness we have all
received, and grace upon grace.” - John tells us that of Christ’s fullness they
(all true believers) had all received, and it was grace upon grace
13.1.
The apostle John writes this verse in the present
tense when he says that of Christ’s fullness, ‘we have all received.’ The richness of Christ has permeated the
lives of all of God’s servants, thus John refers to Christ’s ‘fullness’
which we have all received.
13.2.
The word ‘grace’ means ‘undeserved merit.’ Everything that any of us have received from
God has come to us because of God’s grace, for none of us deserves any of the
blessings of God in our life. We have
all transgressed and trampled all over God’s laws and therefore what we deserve
is judgment and condemnation. However,
Jesus came and died upon the cross for our sins so that we will not perish for
eternity in the hell we deserve but instead have eternal life with God if we
receive Him.
13.3.
Everything we receive from the Lord is yet a new grace
(or gift) which we have not deserved in any way, and His grace is constantly
being ‘lavished’ upon us.
14.
VS 1:18 - “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of
the Father, He has explained Him.” - John tells us that no one has seen God in
this life, however Jesus who is in the bosom of the Father has explained or
revealed Him
14.1.
No saint of any time has truly seen God as He is, for
we read in the scripture that He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16).
14.2.
All of the revelations made to the Old Testament
saints revealed only glimpses of the glory of God, for no one could truly see
God as He is, while in this dwelling of flesh.
However, Christ who is ‘the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of
the Father,’ that is the relationship of the eternal Son to the Father, He
has revealed and explained God to man.
14.3.
This verse reveals the necessity of the incarnation,
for in the revelation of Christ to man is God most fully explained and
revealed. Without that essential
revelation of Christ to mankind then every man would have his own idea about
who God is and what He might be like, and none could truly know who God is.
14.4.
As was mentioned, if you want to know what God is
like, take a long look at Jesus Christ for He is the exact representation of
His nature (Heb. 1:3) and is filled with all of the fullness of deity in bodily
form.
14.5.
In the Old Testament the revelations of God to men
were at the least terrifying, but through Christ is truth and grace revealed to
men in the most apt and efficient means.
14.6.
Isn’t a wonderful thing oh saint to see the glory of
God revealed in the Jesus of the scriptures, the one who is full of grace and
truth?
15.
CONCLUSIONS :
15.1.
John tells us that Jesus came so that all who believe
in Him could have the right to become a child of God. May I ask you today if you know that if you
died today that you would go to be with God in heaven? Do you have that complete assurance, or would
you say that this is something that you are still unsure of?
15.1.1.If you are not sure that if you died
that you would go to heaven or if you think that you might but you are hoping
that your own goodness might be enough to get you to heaven, I would encourage
you to consider that why God sent His only begotten Son to this earth. Jesus came because we are sinners and cannot
save ourselves. “All have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:20) and if we are not trusting
completely in that work that Jesus came to perform on our behalf (the reason
that He was sent to earth) in dying for our sins on Calvary’s cross, then we
are not going to make it to heaven.
15.1.2.I invite you today to place your
complete trust in Jesus Christ and what He has done for you to save you, as you
also repent of all of your sins telling God you are sorry and by His strength
will not do them again. If you will do this
you can be sure that you will go to heaven and spend eternity with the Lord,
and, you will become a son or a daughter of God..