The Book of John - 2

Introduction: We began last week with looking at the profound statement found in verse 1.

The depths of just this first verse, we would all have to agree, surpasses our ability to fully comprehend.

And yet, the Holy Spirit has communicated to us such marvelous truth!

You and I have the wonderful privilege of learning more and more about our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Prologue - The Revelation of the Word 1:1-14

A. The Word vs. 1-5, 9-14

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”

The eternality of the Word. vs. 1

“In the beginning was the Word...”

Henry Ironside said this concerning verse 1. “The Word never had a beginning. The Son is as truly eternal as the Father. To teach otherwise is to deny the very foundations of our faith.”

Charles Spurgeon commented this as well concerning these opening verses, “We cannot describe the deity of Christ in clearer language than John uses. He was with God. He was God. He did the works of God, for he was the Creator. If any doubt his deity, they must do so in distinct defiance of the language of Holy Scripture.” Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1421.”

The co-existence of the Word. vs. 1-2

“…and the Word was with God...”

Verse 2 tells us, “The same was in the beginning with God...”

And while this statement looks to be a repetition, it expresses yet another attribute of God, which is His immutability.

He is the same from all of eternity.

The book of Hebrews beautifully declares this in Hebrews 13:8 “8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

In John’s first statement in the second clause of verse 1, he expressed the co-existence of the Word with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Here John declares that the Word has always been coexistent for all of eternity with God.

“The same was in the beginning with God.”

Albert Barnes stated is this way, “He now expresses that idea, and assures us that that union was not one which was commenced in time, and which might be, therefore, a mere union of feeling, or a compact, like that between any other beings, but was one which existed in eternity, and which was therefore a union of nature or essence.

The deity of the Word. vs.1

“…the Word was God.”

Micah 5:2 aptly declares this as well when it states this concerning Jesus Christ, “2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

Isaiah 9:6 tells us, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

There are some that will try to convince you that this should be translated “…the Word was a God.” The are two objections to this. First, it goes against what the God tells us in the rest of His Word. And secondly, the same folks do not use this same standard in the rest of John.

John Butler had this to say Concerning this false translation, “Basing their remarks upon what is actually an absurdity, they teach the inferiority of the Son. However, the same “teachers” are inconsistent because they do not apply the same rule throughout the entire chapter. By the same standard they should read, “There was a man sent from a God whose name was John (verse 6). “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of a God” (verse 12). …” “the text teaches exact opposite of what they suggest. It would appear as though someone had anticipated their doctrines…”

The Bible tells us there is no other God other the triune God. In Isaiah 45:5 “5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, There is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:”

Isaiah 46:9 “9 Remember the former things of old: For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,”

And so again very plainly the Bible gives us this declaration concerning the deity of Jesus Christ and is put forth as the prologue we need to this Gospel record.

The Creator God: the Word. v3

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

As we consider this third verse, we are thrust back to the creation account in Genesis chapter 1.

Here, we have in the book of John, a display of the Word’s omnipotence.

As the originator of all things, the Lord Jesus Christ once again is shown to be Almighty God.

Further we have in this text, a marvelous revelation of truth .

The Word of God here in verse 3, denotes not just all things, but all things individually were created by the Word.

Marvin Vincent in His word studies stated this concerning this phrase, “The reference is to the infinite detail of creation, rather than to creation as a whole”

When we begin to think about not just the fact that God created, but all the complexity in His creation, it is staggering.

The infinite detail of creation really “declare[s] the glory of God...”

Just as we cannot take in the infinitude of our Almighty God, we cannot even comprehend what He is created from nothing.

All fields of science are engaged in trying to understand all that God has created. And yet for all of the knowledge and wisdom God has allowed us to have, scientists are still marvelling at the complexity of all the material universe that we see with our eyes.

By the way, this does not even account for that which we cannot see.

The Bible tell us in Colossians 1:16 “16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

This becomes even more amazing when we begin to see that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...”

John Philips in contemplating this stated this, “The scientist takes his or her telescope and focuses it on the outer reaches of space. Out there are distances so vast that a special unit of measurement is needed with which to express those concepts. The astronomer’s yardstick is a light year: the distance light travels in one year ( at 186,273 miles per second--- the equivalent of circling the equator seven and a half times). In round numbers that is about six trillion miles. Our sun, by that yardstick is eight light minutes away. But out there in space there are stars and suns believed to be billions of light years away.

…turn from the world of the infinitely large to the world of the infinitely small. The building block of the universe is the atom, an entity so small that each one of them is less than one hundred fifty millionth of an inch in diameter. If the molecules of a single drop of water could be converted into grains of sand, there would be enough sand to build a concrete highway half a mile wide and one foot thick all the way from New York to San Francisco.

That is the world of inanimate things. When we turn to living things the complexities that confront us on every hand are incredible. Each cell in a living creature contains two hundred billion molecules of atoms.”

When we consider this, it really baffles the mind.

Jesus is the Creator of all things…that were made.

He is the only non-created being.

God is non-contingent.

All else is contingent upon Him.

Hebrews 11:3 tells us, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

“the word” in Hebrews 11 does not mean the Logos, but rather, it confirms what is recorded for us in Genesis 1; how that God spoke all that is into existence.

In Isaiah 48:12-13, we find these words

“12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, And my right hand hath spanned the heavens: When I call unto them, they stand up together.”

Further we discover this, as we study the Scriptures, that all things are held together by the word of His power according to Hebrews chapter 1:3.

Though these statements are so profound, the Gospel record of John continues to teach us about our wonderful Savior and our God the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we think about this, we should understand that God loves us so much, that He has given us this passage of Scripture that we might know Him.

This verse in John 1:3 not only tells us that all things that were made were made by him, but it also tells us that all things except Him were made.

The last clause of this verse shuts out the possibility of anything else that is contingent being brought into being any other way.

It further refutes the idea that is taught in other religions and philosophies of matter being eternal.

When confronted with the philosophies of this world men trying to explain our existence, man has has devised many myths to try to discount the existence of God and our accountability to Him.

One of these ideas is to report that matter is eternal, that it has always been.

Thus by saying matter is eternal and not created, God can be taken out of the picture.

And this view of man to exclude God from the picture is explained to us in John chapter 3 where it states, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

The Bible is emphatic in declaring to us from the Creator that He created all things.

In other words, all that exists is ascribed to God’s creative power.

Sadly the Bible reports,“10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” (John 1:10)

5. The Word is life and the Light. v4

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

David Sorenson in his commentary stated this, “Jesus Christ, the pre-existent Word of God is life. He is the source of life. He is the Creator of life. He is the giver of life, both physically and spiritually. (John 14:6)”

That verse, John 14:6 is what immediately came to my mind as well. “6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

All of this that is given to us in these opening in verses is the pre-information to us seeing the ministry and life of the Lord Jesus Christ after the incarnation of the Word.

This revelation is necessary for us to grasp the Gospel of John.

When we come to the fourth verse, we already have been taught of the eternality of the Word, the coexistence of the Word, the deity of the Word as well as the Word as the Creator of all things.

Now the Bible tells us that, “…In him was life...”

He is called further in the fourth verse of 1 John that He is called the Word of life.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;”

Jesus Christ as Creator has given us physical life. Jesus Christ as the Redeemer has provided Himself as the way for spiritual life. And Jesus Christ as Savior provides eternal life for those who receive Him as Savior.

Remember it was the Lord Jesus Christ who declared this to Martha in John 11:25 “25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”

As we stop here for this Sunday, consider our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the Light. Consider Him and this phrase, In Him was life....

When we come back next week we will look at these things further.

But what we have described for us here concerning our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is astounding!