Jesus is the Reason

John 1:1–5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.”

Intro

Apologetics became a passion of mine, from the first course I took in seminary. Apologetics I, taught professor Eric Sigward, was life changing. It answered questions that I didn’t even know to ask, and it answered the most critical question of them all: how do I know (and subsequently show) Christianity to be true? The thought of my daughter, who was not even out of diapers when I took that first course, often comes to mind. How do I teach her about the Faith? How can I possibly prepare for all of the challenges that she will face in learning the Truth? Can I save her from the years it took me to In as much as I have studied to honor God and win souls, right along side these reasons was my desire to prepare to protect her.

The verses that were read are part of what is known as the “prologue” of John’s Gospel, which actually extends further to verse 18.Before i go into the text, I want to take a few minutes just to talk about the Gospel of John as a whole.

John’s Gospel is unique among the 4 Gospel accounts. The other 3 Gospels, known by the names of their authors- Matthew, Mark and Luke- follow a similar pattern; the spoke of the events prior to Jesus’ ministry- His geneology, His birth, His childhood, and the inauguration of His ministry, summing up all of these events in similar fashion. This is why they are called, “The Synoptic Gospels” (it means, “a general summary”). Not John. While he does cover some key events in the life of Jesus, nearly 2/3 of John’s account is focused of the last week of His life. John begins his account with an adult Jesus

John arguably contains the richest theological text found in any of the Gospels. The first verse alone kept theologians busy for 3 centuries- that’s right, they wrestled for 300 years to understand what John was revealing about the person and nature of God. John records the largest discourse of Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit.

John’s Gospel is is an apologetic defense of the diety of Jesus. John is laying out an argument and defense of the revelation of Jesus the Christ (His most frequent title, when means “Messiah”). As Dr. RC Sproul puts it, “John answers the questions we typically ask whener we meet some one: ‘What’s you Name? What do you do? Where are you from?’” Who Jesus is and what He did- referred to often as the Person and Work of Jesus Christ- is not only the core of the Christian faith it is the sum total.

So right away, John starts his account with this profound statment in verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Dr. Sigward showed us something amazing when looking at this verse in the original Greek- I want you to hear just the A clause of verse 1:

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος (In the beginning was the Word). This phrase is where we get the word “archeology (arche- ha- logos=archeology) which is defined as “the study of human history and prehistory”. Early scientific philosophers knew that if you were going to truly study man’s origins you would ultimately have to go back to the originator- God Himself.

John’s phrasing is a deliberate allusion to Gen 1:1, referring to “when all things (e.g. the universe and all creation) began” His point is this if you want to study human history, you must begin with God Himself- the source of all things, and God began all things when He spoke. “In the beginning was the Speech, and the Speech was with God, and the Speech was God.”John introduces Jesus as “the Word” (logos) active, spoken with great power and efficacy. Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.” It was a part of Jewish thought then, as it is a part of the Christian thinking now, that when God speaks, something happens. Not some of the time, not most of the time but always. And when He speaks, creation obeys. As it was then, so it is now. Why does any of this matter? “Can’t we just believe in any God, and try to live good?” There are many issues with this way of thinking, but I want to mention just 2 problems with this approach:

Most religions are incompatible- they do not make the same claims, offer the same solution to our sin problem. In fact, most either say, “keep trying to free yourself- good luck!” . None say it doesn’t matter what you believe

Other beliefs try to reach God by human efforts, but only Christianity offers the good news (which is what the word “gospel” means), that instead of you attempting to reach God, which would require perfection, which is inattainable- God instead reaches out to you. The Good News of the Gospel says that you cannot fix your situation of separation from God, and you need someone to cross the divide for you. You cannot earn what God offers- it is the free “gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Following rules, stacking up achievements, moral living or rituals cannot save you. Jesus, who is God, became a man and died in your place, rising again to conquer sin and death. Sin separates us; Jesus closes the gap, paying our debt with His sacrifice.

Jesus claimed to be God. Jn 14:6. People might say that Jesus was merely a good, moral teacher and never claimed to be God. Yet, He showed in words and actions (miracles and the resurrection) that He is truly God. He both did and said things that clearly alluded to His deity, things the Jewish religious leaders did not miss. Jesus claimed to be the bread of life (Jn 6:35), a point that he accentuated prior to this claim by miraculously feeding five thousand (John 6:1-14) with more left over than what He had to begin with; Jesus claimed to have authority over sin, which only God does (Mt 9:1-2); He said He was one with the Father (Jn 10:30); and He said that He would sit at the right hand of God (which only one who is equal to God as could do) and come on the clouds of heaven (Mk 14:62), the way only God arrives in all the rest of scripture. As C.S. Lewis put it, “You can deduce that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.” He can only be one of those things. It’s an all or nothing proposition- either all of Jesus claims are true, or none of them are.

I want to conclude with 3 summary claims that we can see clearly in John’s the prologue alone:

Jesus is the reason we exist, and the reason the reason the we live. Jn 1:3-4

Jesus is the reason that it is possible for us to know God. Jn 1:7-9

Jesus is the reason that it is possible to have a relationship with God- in time, and in etermity. Jn 1:12-13

This message is not for those who are assured in their Faith. You may not need any of the things I’ve reviewed to be convinced that Christianity is true- but your loved ones, your friends & neighbors just might. My intent is to equip most of you to do as Peter says to be ready to give an account (i.e. to explain) the hope that lies within you (1 Peter 3:15).

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