IN THE BEGINNING – Jesus is the Son of God in human flesh.

JOHN 1:1-14

MEMORY VERSE: JOHN 1: 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A hundred years after the Jews had returned from captivity, Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, spoke. Malachi stated the new Elijah/Moses will come and reconcile the people to God the Father and each other. He would turn the hearts of the children to their fathers and the fathers to their children. Four hundred years would pass before God spoke again. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world, was coming into the world from the throne in heaven. Jesus Christ was God the Son – co-eternal, and co-existent with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The baby of Bethlehem was the eternal God who took on human flesh to save human beings from their sins.

The apostle John wrote his gospel between 80 and 90 A.D. The Gospel’s ultimate audience was to unbelievers. John wanted the lost to understand who Jesus was so they could believe in Him and be saved. John shared his heart. His language resonates with seekers who want more than mere facts of events. His gospel reveals who Jesus is, but also why He came and why He did what He did. John wrote his gospel so people would feel Christ’s love as John knew it – an overwhelming, unrelenting, sacrificial love – and then believe in Him. He wanted readers not merely to know theological truth. He wanted people to know and embrace Jesus, the Subject of that truth, so they could experience eternal life.

John’s prologue contains four evidences for Jesus’ deity. First, Jesus is God because He is eternal. While Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us, He existed as God before time began.

Second, Jesus is God because He is the Creator. Genesis began with the pre-existent God creating all things. Jesus was with God at creation, but He also was God the Creator. John declared that everything came into being through Him.

Third was Jesus’ incarnation. The “Word” (Jesus) assumed human flesh and dwelt among the people for whom He would die. As one of the Twelve, John had seen Him, touched Him, heard Him, and walked with Him. (1 John 1:1-4). He knew from first hand experience that Jesus was the only begotten of the father, the One who lived among His people, full of grace and truth.

Fourth, God sent a special witness to prepare the way for Jesus and to point others toward Him. John the Baptist refused to accept the favor of people who wondered if he was the Christ. He simply pointed them to Jesus who was the Light of the world.

JESUS WAS THE WORD (JOHN 1:1-5)

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

John never got over Jesus’ love for him. Consequently, his Gospel contains more than a historical account of Christ’s life. In it, John pours out his heart so readers can understand the wonder of God becoming flesh and dying for our sins.

Using the term “Word”(Logos in the Greek), John focused on Jesus’ divine nature. The Hellenistic world used it to represent idealized rationality. But John employed logos in a specialized sense to reference Christ. In his prologue, logos described the eternal Christ who became a man.

John described three aspects of Jesus’ divinity. First, He was “in the beginning”. Following the example of Genesis, John set the scene before time began. Christ already was present and always had been.

Second, Jesus did not come into being subsequent to God but was “with God” in the beginning. John wanted readers to understand that the Son has been eternally present just as the Father has existed forever in eternity. Christ was in total communion with the Father as God Himself.

Third, John declared “the Word was God”. Some cults misrepresent this statement to further their agenda. They imply that Jesus was only “a god”. Studying the normal use of the Greek language will easily refute their error.

One aspect of Hebrew parallelism emplys repetition of an idea for emphsis. John used this in verse 2: “He was with God in the beginning”. John wanted readers to make no mistake. This same “Word”, described in verse 1, was present in the beginning and (as he would explain later) had come to earth in human form.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Christ was not only God because He existed eternally, but also because He was the Creator. “Through him all things were made”. “All things” leaves nothing out. Every aspect of existence came into being as a result of Christ’s deliberate action.

John again employed Hebrew parallelism to emphasize the universality of Christ’ creation action: “without him nothing was made that has been made.” John indicated that all things were created directly by God and that nothing was made without Christ. Any theory that diminishes God’s creative work and the active role of Christ in creation should be rejected. Jesus was God Himself and took an active role in creating everything.

A third aspect of divinity is self-existence: “In him was life”. As God, the Son possessed life in Himself (John 5:26), and Christ claimed to be “the life” (John 11:25; 14:6). The word for “life” can be used to describe the totality of existence – physical as well as spiritual. All living creation has derivative life, but life was inherently in Christ. He needed no external source.

“That life”, the life found in Christ, not only existed but also served as “the light of men”. The concept of “light” can encompass several ideas. It may mean physical light. When God said, “let there be light,” Christ created light even before the making of the sun, moon, or stars. But John primarily meant spiritual light. Christ is the only source of true spiritual illumination. Christ’ light shows the reality of the human condition and the path to reconciliation with God.

This life of Christ “shines in the darkness”. Darkness symbolizes moral evil that opposes God’s righteousness but is never equal to it. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah who said those living in darkness would see a great light in the Messiah (Isa. 9:1-2). Spiritual darkness can never “overcome” the light of Christ. Evil may appear to advance temporarily, but Christ always prevails in the end (1 John 1:7).

MADE KNOWN (JOHN 1:6-8)

6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.

In addition to His eternality and creative power. Jesus’s deity was attested by “a man”. This particular man was prophetically prepared to be the forerunner of the Messiah. Note several important aspects of this witness. First, he was a person. God sometimes used angels to herald Christ, but to prepare the way among human beings, God employed another human.

Second, this man was “sent from God”. God commissioned him in the manner and purpose of Elijah to make Christ known (Mal. 4:5; Matt. 11:14). Third, his “name was John”. This name was somewhat common but the man was not. He became known as John the Baptist, and he provided a powerful witness to Christ and His purposes in the world.

7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.

8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

John’s preaching and baptizing were not ends in themselves, but they served as a “witness”. This term comes from the Greek word for “martyr,” which seems appropriate since John died for his fearless testimony against wickedness (Matt. 14:3-10). Prior to his death, John preached for two purposes. First, he wanted “ to testify concerning the light”. This phrase refers to Christ personally and to His spiritual righteousness, which, by its existence, condemned wickedness. Second, He preached so “all might believe through him”. John’s goal was the salvation of human beings through faith in Christ.

John repeatedly affirmed that he was “not the light”. Rather, he “came to testify about the light”. Like John, believers are messengers sent to tell others about the Light. Being a witness for Jesus is not complicated. We merely tell others what we have discovered about Jesus, how He brought life and light into our lives, and how He can do the same for them.

IN THE FLESH (JOHN 1:9-14)

9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

Christ was the “true light”. The “true light” contrasts all false religions and philosophies that claim to illuminate humanity. John used this phrase to describe the spiritual and moral light that can only be found in Christ. John portrayed the infinite light taking up residence in a finite world. In doing so, the true light gives light. Christ dispels the darkness of spiritual wickedness and provides spiritual illumination to everyone.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

A tragic irony is noted. The Creator walked among His creation, yet His creation “did not recognize him”. People failed to identify Him properly. In general, humanity saw Jesus merely as a man. Many believed Him to be gifted and good, but He was still only a man to them.

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Israelites were His own. They were God’s chosen people, created to be a missionary nation for Him. Through His incarnation, Jesus was not only born into the human race, but He also entered the Hebrew family. While embracing Samaritans and Gentiles, Jesus’ ministry primarily happened among the Jews. Sadly, most of his own people did not receive him.

While many people accepted Jesus as a teacher or healer, they did not welcome Him as Messiah and Lord. Certainly, crowds were attracted to someone who made the lame to walk and the blind to see. However, the Jewish rulers were not the only ones who rejected Him. Thousands followed the miracle worker who fed them with loaves and fish, but they abandoned Him when He turned their attention to faith and called them to repentance (John 6:28-60).

Jesus promised never to reject anyone who came to Him (John 6:37). Instead, Jesus gave believers the “right to be children of God”. Possessing all power in heaven and earth, Jesus has that right to make that promise (Matt. 28:18). They receive eternal life from God as a free gift that is found only in Him (John 10:28, Eph. 2:8).

Becoming a child of God means having a relationship with God as Father. The Jews thought they were God’s unique children because of their ethnic and religious heritage. John quickly dispelled that notion by describing a different way of entering God’s family. God’s true children are not born of natural descent, a term that could literally be interpreted “bloods” or “bloodline.” Jesus denounced those who appealed to ancestors like Abraham or Moses for some level of spiritual merit (Matt. 3:9).

The will of the flesh or the will of man implies human choice or determination. God’s children are born of God. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus gave Nicodemus an in-depth lesson on the necessity of being born again through God’s Spirit (John 3:5-8)

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14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John summarized Christ’s incarnation with three grand statements. First, though Christ was eternal God, He took on the form of humanity in the person of Jesus. Second, He dwelt among us. God was not distant and unknowable. In human form, Jesus lived among the people He came to save.

Third, we observed his glory. John and other followers of Jesus witnessed His life and ministry firsthand. The term “glory” refers to the revelation of God’s person, purity, and power. It is the manifestation of God that evokes worship and praise. John and other apostles could speak to this with authority because they had seen it with their own eyes.

Fourth, Christ’s glory was full of grace and truth that honored the Father (John 12:28).

Faith in Jesus secures a person’s place in God’s family. It cannot come through human effort or intellectual assent. It is only available through the power and gift of Jesus Christ. And it requires complete acceptance of Jesus as God the Son, who died for us and rose again (Rom. 10:9).