The Word

Introduction

Well, good morning!

Listen, I don’t know about you but I’m excited…I absolutely love Christmas…I love being able to just focus on the Christmas story and what God did in restoring us back to Himself. It’s a powerful story…it’s why we put so much emphasis on Christmas. It’s a story worth telling over and over again…because listen, every time we hear it, it should leave us in awe, right? It should fascinate us! And so, I’m just excited as we jump into this series, looking at the Christmas story through the eyes of John.

But listen, before we do that, let’s recite our mission verse together. Remember it’s Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. We have a few more weeks reciting this verse before we learn another one at the start of the New Year. And so, if you’re ready, I’ll get us started, you finish us up.

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alrighty…if you’d keep your Bibles open to John chapter 1, that’s where we’re gonna be hanging out over the next several weeks. And if you were with us as we walked through Genesis chapter 1 together, you’re gonna notice a ton of similarities initially as we start this new chapter.

And so, Christmas…obviously most of us, we know what’s so important about this time of the year…or at least I hope most of understand what’s so important. This time, it’s a season for us to reflect on the work God did in redeeming us from sin. Of course, the start of this story, it started with a baby in a manger, born to a virgin…there’s shepherds involved, angels, we got some wise men. But have you ever stopped to ask, “Who was Jesus?” Like, why’s He so important in this story? Why did God need a baby to redeem us? What’s the significance of this baby Jesus?

Years ago, Time Magazine, they actually asked that question on the cover of their magazine, “Who Was Jesus?” They went on to ask more questions in their article:

How is Jesus to be understood? Did he stride out of the wilderness 2,000 years ago to preach a gentle message of peace and brotherhood? Or did he perhaps advocate some form of revolution? When did he realize his mission would end with death upon a cross? Did he view himself as the promised Messiah? Did he understand himself to be both God and man?

Guys, when it comes to Christmas…and quite frankly our salvation, these are questions we have to ask and answer. We live in a culture where they’re becoming more and more spiritual but yet they’re not willing to commit to one absolute truth. To many, even within the church, Jesus was just a good teacher…or a prophet…He was simply and only the Son of God. Some see Him as just a good man with important things to say. There’s all kinds of views on who this man was…which is exactly why John starts his gospel off the way he does. Before he gets into anything else, he shows his reader exactly who this man, Jesus, was and is today…and listen, according to John, he shows us in these first 5 verses that Jesus is God…Jesus is Creator…and Jesus is light…which is our three points this morning.

Understanding Christmas…understanding it’s significance…it’s understanding exactly who Jesus was and is today.

And so, with that…let’s jump into our first point together.

Jesus is God (vv. 1-2)

Jesus is God.

Now listen…I’ve said this before but sometimes, if you wanna understand a book…if you’re a weirdo like me, if you wanna see if you’re gonna even like it…sometimes you gotta go to the end of the book to kinda see how things play out, right? I mean there’s no sense in reading something all the way through if you realize you hate it when you get to the end. That’s Pastor Steven’s weekly wisdom for you…but listen, when we get to the end of John’s book…it’s kind of interesting, instead of giving us his purpose in the very beginning, he gives it to us just before he closes. He says in John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31:

John 20:30–31 (ESV)

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And so, as we look at the first chapter of John over this Christmas season, we have to understand that the purpose of writing his book, it was to give witness of Jesus Christ. That’s the main character of John.

And so, rewind back with me to chapter one. John says in verses 1 and 2, “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.”

And so, according to John…the main character of his book…it’s the Word…which of course we just determined is who? It’s Jesus, right? And so, everything we see about the Word here in this chapter, it’s a direct reference to Jesus. And what you’ll notice if you read through John chapter 1, there’s actually a pattern and a theme here. In the first 5 verses, John talks about the Word…and then verses 6 through 9 He’s the witness…in verses 10 through 14, He’s the Word again…and then 14 through 18, the witness. There’s a purpose to how John writes and why he describes Jesus the way that he does.

If you were with us back when we went through Genesis, you’ve probably caught some of the similarities. Genesis chapter 1, verse 1…its starts with, “In the beginning...” Fast forward to John chapter 1, verse 1 its the same thing, “In the beginning...” And listen, back in John’s day, anyone familiar with the Scriptures…they would’ve immediately thought about the opening verses of Genesis. That was John’s purpose.

Listen, setting the stage for Jesus…this baby born to a virgin…the Christ…the Messiah, John, he reaches back…even farther into eternity past to speak about Jesus’s origins. In the beginning…before there was the world…before there were angels and heaven…before the plants and the stars and all the living, breathing beings of the earth…before man…there was the Word. His point here…its that in the beginning…even before creation, someone already existed along with the Father…and that person was Jesus.

He goes on and he says, “In the beginning was the Word.” Listen, if you remember back in Genesis, in the nothingness of the vast space that God took up…A single phrase echoed through that vastness…“And God said, Let there be light.” In other parts of the Old Testament, the psalmist and the prophets, they wrote about God’s Word in a very personal way. Isaiah described God’s “word” as coming down from heaven and returning to him after achieving the purpose for which it was sent in Isaiah 55, 10 and 11. The psalmists, they describe over and over again, delighting in God’s Word…Psalm 1, Psalm 119, they’re great examples of this. Other parts of the Old Testament, they proclaim about a coming Messiah and One who’ll save us from the grips of sin. John, he, takes these Old Testaments beliefs about God’s Word and he takes it one step further. No longer is God’s Word merely spoken of in personal terms, it’s now appeared to us in person…through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word’s the very fulfillment of what’s been spoken by the Old Testament prophets. They proclaimed of a coming Messiah…now, in John 1:14, he says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” We no longer have to talk about His glory…we get to see it and experience it for ourselves. Jesus is the very fulfillment of the word spoken in the Old Testament.

John continues in verse 1, “And the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Now this is a verse that some religions try and distort…Jehovah Witnesses they say that “the Word was with God and was like God.” But notice what John says here…The Word, Jesus…He was with God and He, Himself, was God. Listen, the Greek word John uses here for “God,” it’s actually the same word in the Hebrew for ʾĕlōhîm which of course tells about a plural God. We believe in one God, made up into three persons. Jesus is the exact imprint of God. That’s why the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 1:3:

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

And so, having distinguished the Word here in his opening verses, John, he shows that the Word, Jesus…He’s actually God. Together, the Father and the Word, or as we’ll talk about in a few weeks, the Son…they’re one…and together they make up who God is. Guys, John’s not saying that Jesus is simply a god…he’s claiming that the Word…Jesus is in fact wholly and entirely God. And of course, to further prove this point that John was trying to tell us…he even placed a definite article before the word theos which equated God and the Word as equals. They’re different but they’re also one in the same.

John summarizes what he said in verse 1 by saying in verse 2, “He [Jesus] was in the beginning with God.”

Guys, I want you to try and just wrap your minds around this for a second. John’s opener here, its shallow enough for a child not to drown…but it’s also deep enough for an elephant to swim. The challenge, its for us to try and plumb the depths without getting lost or drowned. And the way we do that, it’s to keep in mind the main idea of what John’s writing about here.

He’s giving us the identity of Jesus. He was with God in the beginning…before anything was created…He was God…meaning, before there was a baby and a manger and the Christmas story as we know it…there was Jesus, who’s always existed. And John says He was God.

Guys, what John shows us here…it changes everything about the Christmas story. Jesus wasn’t just some man…He wasn’t just some good teacher…He wasn’t just our Savior and Messiah…He wasn’t even just the Son of God…of course He was all those things…but above everything, Jesus was God…and Jesus is God today. Meaning, at the first Christmas…God gave us Himself. He, who’s existed for all eternity, He stepped off His throne to provide us with salvation.

That’s why Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11:

Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV)

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

John MacArthur wrote, “Confusion about the deity of Christ is inexcusable, because the biblical teaching regarding it is clear and unmistakeable. Jesus Christ is the preexistent Word, who enjoys full face-to-face communion and divine life with the Father, and is Himself God.”

And so, who is Jesus? He’s God…He’s always existed…He’s always been there.

That’s the first point.

Jesus is Creator (v. 3)

The second point, according to John…Jesus is Creator.

Look at verse 3 with me again. John says, “3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

What John’s saying here…its that Jesus, the Word, through Him, all things were created. And as startling as that is for many…its not the only place that affirms this. Paul says in Colossians chapter 1:

Colossians 1:16 (ESV)

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Paul, he even adds, not only did Jesus create everything that’s been created but that all things were created for Him…for His glory.

Guys, do you see what John’s doing here? Jesus, the child born in a manger…He’s the one, true God Himself…in the flesh…because only God’s capable of creation. Again, Jesus isn’t just a god…He’s the only God. He wasn’t just present at creation…Jesus was active in creation. He created “all things!” And listen, John, he could’ve phrased this in a way that focused our eyes on the universe as a whole…almost like throwing open the doors to a warehouse and saying, “He made all this,” right? But notice what he does…he uses a word here that looks at each created thing individually and he says that Jesus designed it and created all of it. Instead of opening the door and saying, “Jesus created all this,” its like John takes us around and gives us a tour and says, “Look at this here…check out the details there…Jesus, He made it all.”

Guys, just think about this for a second…from the largest whale in the ocean to the smallest micro organism…Jesus created it. From the sunflower seed to the redwood tree, from the sunset to the tiny lightning bug, Jesus, He designed it and created all of it.

And listen, what this means for us…it means that baby, it wasn’t just any baby…He wasn’t just our means to salvation…He wasn’t just our Savior from our problems…He was our maker…He created us, intimately…He handcrafted us in His image. And what John’s telling us here…the reason Jesus went through so much for us…the reason the Word became flesh…on our behalf…it’s because He’s been invested in us since before time began. He created us through Him and for Him…we were His handiwork. The work He does in redeeming us, it’s because He created us…and for that reason He desires us and loves us.

And when it says that we must be reborn in John chapter 3 to receive salvation…we can trust in the work Jesus does…because as John states here, He created us to begin with…and there’s nothing more trustworthy or capable than Him.

And so, going back to the Christmas story…God didn’t send just anyone to redeem us…He sent the Creator…the One who’s been invested in us. He’s not some king that sends a knight to do His business…He sent Himself because this is His kingdom…He created it…and He’s the only one that could redeem it.

That’s the second point…Jesus is Creator.

Jesus is Light (vv. 4-5)

The third and final point…Jesus is light.

Closing