The Glory of the Father revealed in the Person, word, and work of His eternal Son.

Isaiah 6:1 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”

John 12:41 “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him.”

John 1:1–18 (LSB)

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

2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

6 There was a man having been sent from God, whose name was John.

7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

8 He was not the Light, but he came to bear witness about the Light.

9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11 He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

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.

15 John bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’”

16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Introduction.

If you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time you’ve without a doubt encountered John’s gospel account. If you’ve been a Christian for some years now, this is a book that you have become very familiar with. Perhaps it’s even become your favorite book of the Bible. This is one of those books that every new Christian is directed to, we point people to it who we are evangelizing to, or people that ask questions about the faith. There is a weightiness and heaviness to John that we want people to grasp and feel. But there is also this simplicity and clarity in it that can be grasped by babes. An elephant can swim and a child can wade in this gospel at the same time.

John is unique, and memorable amongst the gospel’s. Not only in it’s contents but in it’s Johanine literary style and vocabulary. The meeting with Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the upper room discourse, are just a few. Beyond this though, I believe(along with countless others) that it is further set apart because of it’s loftiness, the heights to which it takes us are extraordinary. There is a majesty in John that is incomparable.

John is taking up on Eagles wings to behold the glory of our Lord. John’s view of Christ is the same as Isaiah’s. He saw the Lord exalted and lifted up. He saw the glory of Jesus in His person and work( with a emphasis on the glory of His person). And he wants us to see, and believe and experience the same.

1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

In connection with that, Johns explicit purpose statement is found in John 20:31 “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.”

So as we move forward, we need to be reminded -or challenged is maybe the better word- that in this gospel, we are treading on holy ground, and we need to remove the sandals form our feet- we approach with reverence and humility. And we need to gird up the loins of our minds as we tread through some deeper waters.

As we do this and with the Lords blessing and help, I believe we will come to a greater love, greater adoration, and be moved more fervently to worship our triune Creator and Redeemer, both together as a body, and in our homes as well and personal lives as well.

The Prologue.

Now to our text. Labeled by most as the prologue or a word before, I like the thought of it as an overture, serving as an introduction to an opera or some great composition such as Handel’s Messiah. Or, as one writer put it, “to change the imagery, the prologue is like a foyer of a theatre where various scenes from the drama to be enacted inside are placarded. But, beyond these two illustrations, the prologue is foundational for how you read the gospel account. I think it’s the key to understanding every part of the gospel. As we move through the gospel, every discourse, every scene, every encounter will have a referent back to the prologue.

Our plan is to make our way through the entire prologue this am, and in many ways I feel I am robbing you of some of the riches that are to be plumbed here, but at the same time, I feel that the benefits of working through the prologue as a whole outweigh that consideration.

And we’ll consider the prologue under the following seven heads:

1) The Eternal Word: God with God, Creator of All things vv1-5.

2) Witness to the Light vv6-8.

3) The Light in the World vv9-11.

4) The Gift of God vv12,13.

5) The Word become flesh v.14.

6) Witness to the Word become flesh vv15-17.

7) The invisible God seen v.18.

The Eternal Word: God with God, Creator of All things

Verse 1,2.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

“In the beginning”

This is not any beginning, but the beginning. It is a definite beginning and immediately evokes the creation account in Gen 1. Unmistakably, God is placed on the other side of all creation, of all time and space. It takes us to eternity. Whatever this Word is, it’s existence is not to be counted amongst those who belong to time and space. And this is further backed up by the word,

“Was”

The Word “was”. There is no when in was, as the verb implies always was. Always was and continues to be. This is an eternal “was”. It could be compared to the several “I am” statements in this gospel that go back to Exodus 3:14.

“The Word”

Again, like the beginning, this Word is a definite Word, not “a” word, but “The” Word.

We have to ask 2 questions:

1) Why did John use Word?

2) What is a word?

First, very short answer. The thought world of the apostle many ideas of “Word” were going around, some further some closer to what he gives us. This was a way for him to grab his hearers attention. Second, many were repulsed by the phrase Son of God, using Word could serve as a bridge for his later articulation.

Well a word expresses thought. What I’m telling you right now is something that has been born out of my own thoughts. And there is both an internal and an external word. The word I speak externally goes out and expires. But the internal word stays with me. Most of the things I’m preaching here I could repeat back to you in just a few minutes after morning worship. Though this illustration is helpful, there are far more ways our words are unlike this eternal Word. Our words have a beginning, the eternal Word does not.

This is the eternal Word born from the eternal mind of God. It’s the Word from the Father, and though it comes from him it’s always with Him, eternally. From eternity to eternity it is The eternal Word of the Fathers mind, The eternal Son from the Father before all ages, the brightness of the Father’s glory( Heb 1).

And at it’s core, its truly inexpressible. To be more adored than grasped. We might think of it this way: we cannot express what it is, but we do confess that it is. And heartily at that!

An eternal Word born from an eternal Thought.

And the Word is with Him!

“The Word was with God”

The same one who was in the beginning was with God. This word with has to do with intimacy, communion, closeness, in fellowship with. The paraphrases have been such: face to face with God, at the side of God, etc. We’ll come back to that, but what’s important now is the fact that we have the Word who is both eternal, and with God at the same time. He has no beginning like God, yet he is distinct from God.

And we ask the question now: when was the Father ever without His Word? When was the Father ever without His Son? When is the Father ever without His Radiance( Heb 1:3)? Never. The Word is always with God the Father.

“And the Word was God”

This Word shares the very essence of God. He is of the same substance. Whatever it is to be God, the Word is that in it’s fulness.

“Note on JW.”

Contrary to the JW’s and others who may adopt their view, the absence of the article in theos(God) of Jn 1:1c puts ‘theos’ in the predicate nominative position-describing the essence of the Word to us( ie., He is God). Further, it guarantees that the Word is not the only person in the divine essence. If John would have included the article(ό θεος), he would have disrupted the distinction he made in the previous clause( 1:1b - και ό λογος ήν πρός τόν θεόν) and would be forced into some kind of modalism( says there is not distinct persons in God but modes, showing himself as the Father here but then switching to the mode of the Son later, etc.)

Simpler terms: The only way to affirm that the Father is God and that Jesus is the same God with the Father is to put it the way he did.

One commentator said that there was no other way in the greek to put it; with it’s affirmation of Christ’s deity, and refutation of Arianism and Modalism. Brilliant!

The beauty of this passage is found in its simplicity, power, and conciseness. It abundantly bears the marks divine origin. Who else but God himself could deliver such a sublime Word to us. Poetic and concise. Upholding the faith at the foundations. Refuting heterodoxy from multiple angles. Glory to God!

“The Same one was with God in the beginning”

Two reasons for this: 1) It’s a chiasm 2) often times in poetry, weighty truths are repeated for emphasis. 3) It’s transitioning us to the creation of all things through “the same one”.

Listen to one commentator here:

Ask the sun, if ever it were without its beams. Ask the fountain, if ever it were without its streams. So God was never without his Son.

Proverbs 8:23-31Proverbs 8:23-31 “From everlasting I was installed, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. “When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs heavy with water. “Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth; While He had not yet made the earth and the fields outside, Nor the first dust of the world. “When He established the heavens, I was there, When He marked out a circle on the face of the deep, When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became strong, When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not pass over His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was a daily delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in the world, His earth, My delight is in the sons of men.” Proverbs 8:23 (LSB)

Summary.

In poetic and concise brilliance, John has just given us the foundation upon which our salvation is built, and refuted the immediate and future attacks upon the person of Christ. These opening two verses hold so much weight for us. We have no salvation apart from these truths. If Jesus is not God, how can he live a life and die a death of infinite value? If He is not God, how can He supply us with every spiritual blessing from heaven, even now? How can He complete what he started in us if he be not God of God? But He is God, He did live our life and die our death, and He does even now supply us abundantly with all our spiritual needs from heaven by His Spirit!

Verse 3.

Is John just stacking up credentials or is something more going on? I think he is doing both, but the emphasis is on the fact that the very one I’m introducing you to is the one who made you dear reader. Yes, it demonstrates his deity but it is also going to serve to the irony and delight in the verses ahead.

John 1:3 “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

By the same one all things exist. More emphatic, not one thing that exists has it’s existence apart from Him. Not one thing that has createdness was created apart form him.

What does all things include?

Colossians 1:16–17 (LSB)

16 For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 

17 And He is before all things, 

And in Him all things hold together.

It’s the prerogative of God to create and it’s the prerogative of God to have life and light.

Verse 4,5.

He is the source of life and light. He has these of himself.

The thrust of this portion is that not only is he the source of physical life, but spiritual life and light .

John 5:26 (LSB)

26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;

1 John 1:1 “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—”

Jn 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”

1 John 5:11 “And the witness is this, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”

Jn 6:33 ““For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.””

Jn 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

Jn 5:21 ““For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”

He has life in himself, which includes His ability to give physical life, but what’s primarily being communicated here is that of Spiritual life.

Light

And when we think of light, we think of an illumination or understanding of things. Any understanding anyone has of the created universe is because of the light of the Word. He’s given all light and understanding to all throughout all history. Any philosopher that has come to any truth about God and His world, have done so through and by the Light. How much more are we dependent for spiritual illumination.

Verse 5

John 1:5 “And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”

What is the darkness in v.5?

“Darkness”- ignorance, sin, misery.

What does overcome mean?

“Overcome or Understand”

There is a double meaning here, one of John’s favorite devices.

1)The darkness, does not understand the Light. In our sinful nature, we are incapable of understanding spiritual realities.

2) It did not overcome the Light. The wiles of Satan and the devils, and the unbelieving world did not and will not overcome God’s Messiah.

Look at the OT through to the cross. The darkness will not prevail over Yaweh, and Satan and death will not prevail over Jesus. The Light shines on in the darkness.

This is the devastating reality with relation to this truth. This is the state that our sin has brought us to. The saving illuminating light of our Creator and Savior that should have been received wasn’t, because of the darkness of our sin. The darkness, sinful fallen humanity, doesn’t understand and moreover they try to overcome Him.

Nicodemus will be the first test case if you will. He comes in the darkness of his understanding and cannot comprehend the Jesus.

Listen to John Gill:

and yet, such was the darkness upon the minds of men, that they could not very distinctly apprehend it, and much less fully comprehend it,

Apply.

We are not detached observers when considering this darkness. That’s us. We are the fallen miserable, dark, and rebellious creatures that the Light came to. We don’t just point the finger at Adam. We fell in Him and with him! We rebelled against God with Him. And still do until the Lord Jesus set us free!

Even now, if we be in Christ, we still feel the effects of our sin, and we still are surrounded by a world of unbelievers and hostile forces of darkness.

John 3:19 “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”

We don’t come naturally to the light and men don’t come naturally to the light because our deeds are evil and light exposes that. My brother was converted a year before me, and when I watched the way it changed his behavior and demeanor, I didn’t want anything to do with it. He and another Christian man and my dad would hold a little Bible study after work and I wouldn’t even go near the office where they held the study. Why, because my deeds were evil and I knew that they would be exposed the minute I put my self anywhere near Christian men talking about the Word of God. The Lord would graciously save me a year later and that aversion to the Light would go away, and I would experience the same aversion from those close to me who did not want their deeds exposed either.

Summary of first section.

So we have the eternal Word with the Father, Creator of all things, having all life and light by nature, but the dark, fallen world doesn’t understand/overcome.

Witness to the Light

Verses 6-8.

John is a prophet, and what do we know of a prophet; he is called, sent, equipped, he is to bring God’s message to the people.

But John the Apostle, wants to emphasize that John the Baptist is also a witness, a witness to the Light. He came that all might believe through him. It’s not as though john were not a light. John is referred to as a “bright and shining lamp”. Why? because he is lit by The Light.

This is the roll we are all called to if Christ is in us. We are lamps lit by the true Light to bear witness to Christ.

A witness is to be humble pointing away from themselves and to Christ.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

And we know that there’s a real sense in which we are greater witnesses than John. You know why? Because the fulness of revelation that we have recieved. John understood great things about the Light but they were still dark as through a glass.

The Light in the World

Verses 9-11.

John 1:9–11 (LSB)

9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11 He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.””

Jesus is the Light of the World. All saving light and life are found in Him as mentioned above. And he has been the light from the beginning until now. Any spiritual light that shown in the OT, was this light, and every encounter in this gospel is that same light shining that saving light for all to see and embrace. But there is a deep and tragic irony here. And it progresses as we move forward. It begins with coming to the “world”. Now in John’s letter’s world almost always has negative connotations.

D.A. Carson has some helpful words on World in John:

the vast majority are decidedly negative. There are no unambiguously positive occurrences. The 'world', or frequently 'this world' ...... is not the universe, but the created order (especially of human beings and human affairs) in rebellion against its Maker..........Therefore when John tells us that God loves the world (3:16), far from being an endorsement of the world, it is a testimony to the character of God. God's love is to be admired not because the world is so big but because the world is so bad.

So when world is repeated 3 times in v. 10 it’s to emphasize the blindness, fallenness, and rebelliousness of the world.

In v.11 he gets more specific. And it calls to mind the rejection of His own people. The Jews were the ones who should have especially received him. Rom 3:1-2 “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.”

They had the covenants, the types, the shadows, they should have recognized and believed him. Nicodemus is again a telling example of this, “are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?”

He came to His own creation His own people or possession and they did not receive Him.

And this brings us to the central point of the Prologue. And the question that should be lingering right now for some is maybe; is anyone gonna believe? And another question should immediatley follow is; what is the difference? What’s the distinction?

The answer is the gift of God!

The Gift of God

Verses 12,13.

Now, as shocking as it is that the one through whom all things were made has been rejected as such, even more astonishing is what’s given to us in vv12,13. The fact that there are some who believe. And this is the center point of the prologue, and book ends with with the purpose statement at the end of John. “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.”

What does believe in His name mean!

To trust in him. To believe to the full extant of who He and the Father have revealed Him to be. That is the promised Messiah who has fulfilled all of God’s promises, and them eternal Son of God. What He has said about his work and person. Embracing all that the Father says about His Son with your heart.

Now what is the difference between the believing and unbelieving?

First, it is not from any created thing. Three times John lets us know this. You are not born into it with regard to a bloodline or a believing parent, nor is it willed into being.

1) To be born a Jew won’t do it,

“Do not say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our Father. For God is able from these rocks to raise up Children for himself.”

2)To have a believing parent won’t do it, and the power of persuasion won’t do it.

What a difficult reality to grasp, we so naturally tend toward these false views of salvation. We want it to be in our power, our ability to convince, how well we rear our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

But alas, it’s not the case. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Yes, God uses means, and we are called to be faithful, and diligent, and constantly striving to be living and verbal witness to the Love of God inChrist. But that’s all, we do, the planting and watering are ours, but the fruit comes from God.

So what’s the difference?

It is of God. This is one of those But God statements. You have a not this, nor that, nor that , “But, of God”.

The faith you’ve been given, the birth you’ve been given is all of God. All of His grace. When I was converted, I was walking into the gas station and an acquaintance from High School yelled out from the gas pump he was at, “Hey Tobler, I hear your a holy roller now!” I was a recent convert, so I had no idea what to say, I just sort of froze up said something like, “Yeah, see ya later.”

If I could go back, the best I could have said was I believed in Jesus and you should too.

But upon further reflection, I look back and think, I didn’t do it to myself, I know I was living like this, and thinking like this, and talking like this, but God came in and disrupted my life. And now I read his Word, and it’s a delight, and I understand it and want to read it and learn more about it. And I want to be rid of my sin and be more conformed to Christ. I started looking ahead at the glory to come. And I want to be around others who have experienced this grace, this new birth. That’s whats going on here. They were born of God. We will learn more about this in a few chapters when Jesus converses Nicodemus about these things.

So what’s the difference, It’s a supernatural birth!

One more consideration here before moving on:

Just as not one thing in all creation came to be apart from the Word, so no new creature, will come into being apart from the same Word brining light and life to his or her soul. The creation didn’t ask to be born. It wasn’t God waiting for the creation to take that one step of believing that it will come to be. He spoke in His Son, and it was.

The Word become flesh

Verse 14.

The word flesh is in stark contrast to the Nature of God. It has to do with all the characteristics of man as opposed to God.

Consider the fall and what man tried to do.

“He became”

He wasn’t turned into flesh, nor did He just appear to be flesh. The idea is that the Word “became” flesh. And He is made flesh while never ceasing to be what He always was. The one who became flesh still upholds the world and governs all things.

Here’s the point; He’s going to be with His people in a more intimate way than ever before. The same glory of God that filled the tabernacle, has now come down in the person of Christ.

This is the trajectory of all of redemptive history. From the fall, up until now the question has been; how and when is God going to dwell amongst His people. I will be your God, and you shall be My people is the promise and anticipation of the OT saints. God is now fulfilling that promise in the Word. He is dwelling amongst His people in His Son, and by His Son He will bring his people into His presence for eternity.

Rev 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,”

And the bookend here with the word Word In 1:1-3 again highlights the fact it’s going to take a the same Word to bring about the new creation. Word, creation, darkness, Word, new creation.

“We have seen”

In contrast with darkness. John and the other apostles have seen the glory of God in Christ. The entirety of His person, words, and works, yes. But John was also a witness to the transfiguration. There sight of His glory was greater than Moses sight, greater than Isaiah’s. “Full of grace and truth.”

Witness to the Word become flesh

Verses 15.

John testifies again to the Word but this time of His superiority to John. John acknowledges that Jesus ministry was after his, but yet declares that he was greater than John because he was before him. He’s after him in terms of His ministry, but before Him and greater than Him because of His eternal existence and the blessings and grace he brings.

Verses 16,17.

Verse 16.

The church speaks now for the first time. And the church now along with the Apostle in verse 14, speak more than just the Light they’ve been given , but the experience of the grace and reliability of Jesus. Light has been given, but grace and truth have been pored out in abundance. Waves of grace have washed over them and now they speak of it. And this is what we are to be a speaking church, a witnessing church to the grace of God in Christ by the Spirit.

I don’t know what that looks like for each one of us. But one thing I know, that we are to be regularly looking for ways to tell others about the way in which God has stacked grace upon grace in us from the fulness of Jesus Christ. We must love and live lives that show that love, but we must also speak.

1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

Verse 17.

What about the contrast to Moses

The abundance of the revelation, the abundance of clarity, of the Spirit, of the Fathers will toward them revealed in this gospel. Think about it this way: was there grace and truth under Moses? Yes. Could Moses and the people of Israel have recieved this gospel account with any great benefit. I don’t believe so. In God’s timing, they weren’t ready for the substance. This is the sense of verse 17.

The Invisible God seen

Verse 18.

John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

God is incomprehensible. No one can see God and live. Whatever our views of him, they always come to us in His gracious condescension to our capacity as human beings. But the paradox here is that we do see him, we see the Father in His Son.

John 14:7-9 ““If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

John 17:6 ““I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”

As we’ve already discussed in the first verse, the Son is with the Father and is the eternal expression of the Father. He reflects the perfect image of the Father. And that’s what the apostle is telling us Jesus has done in His life and ministry and in this whole gospel account. He has reflect His perfect image, spoken His perfect mind, made known His perfect will for us. He can do no other as He is the exact representation of the Father. One commentator said that the word “explained” means “To tell the whole story”. Jesus told the whole story of the Father to us.

As we conclude I want to stay on this theme of the Father and Son. We are to have exalted view’s of Jesus. And I hope those views have increased today. But we need to continue to remind ourselves that it’s in His face that we see the glory of God the Father. We see the glory of His Love, His plan to redeem, His sending His Son. “Have I been with you so long and you say to me show us the Father?” And I remind you of that because, there’s a sense in which that is difficult for us. Maybe we have hard views of the Father. Maybe we don’t think much on Him, but we should, and the same with the Spirit. He won’t officially come into the picture until Ch 14, but he’s there all along. Revealing the Son to those whom the Father has given to the Son.

The Father in love sends the Son, and the Spirit as gift of love sends us to the Son and through the Son to the Father. This is our triune God. This is our Salvation.

Lets pray.