The “One” John 1:1-5:10-14

Copyright December 23, 2024 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Sometimes, you will hear people talk about someone saying, “I found ‘the one.’” They mean they believe they have found the person that seems to be their perfect match; the one they were meant for. I have said that about my wife. She is my soulmate, my “One.”

Tonight, on this quiet night, we turn to the Gospel of John. John is different from the other gospels. Part of that is because John was written after the other gospels, and he fills in some “gaps.” However, John is doing something different than the other gospel writers. Matthew starts with a genealogy, Mark starts with John the Baptist, and Luke begins with the calling of Zechariah and Elizabeth as the parents of John the Baptist. These gospels were designed to tell the story of Jesus’s life.

John tells the story, but John makes an argument for Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah and continues it throughout the book. He wants people to see that Jesus was not just a person of history; He was the One, the One whom God promised, He is God’s rescue plan. John’s argument begins in his first words, where He calls Jesus “The Word.”

The most frequent title for Jesus is “Christ”. It is used so often that many people think “Christ” was his last name. Instead, “Christ” means Messiah. It would be most proper to say that Jesus is the Christ. The second most popular title of Jesus was “Lord” or “Master.” The third most popular is the name Jesus used for Himself. He called Himself the “Son of Man.” Most people believed Jesus was saying He was human and identified with us. That may have been part of it, but it is more likely that Jesus meant a great deal more than this.

In Daniel 7:13-14, we read these words,

13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

This is a much different picture of the Son of Man than merely someone human. Jesus was claiming to be God! He is the One whose rule is eternal and whose kingdom will never end.

John starts his gospel by calling Jesus “the word”. The Greek word translated “Word” in this passage is Logos, and it was common in both Greek philosophy and Jewish thought of that day. By calling Jesus “the Word” He points to the Old Testament, where Word was used to speak of God’s actions (i.e. He created the world “with just a word”) and God’s promise. John claims that Jesus was the one the Bible talked about from the earliest days. In fact, he was not only the one who was promised . . .He was also the One who made the promise. Listen to what He says,

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

The first thing he says about the Word is that He was at the beginning of what we know as life and time. The Son of God was already there when our world was created. Then John takes it a step further (as if He is hoping we can absorb this a little easier in stages) and says God did not create this Word. The Word was (or is) God!

This is where the doctrine of the Trinity comes in. The doctrine confounds the deepest thinker and tongue-ties the most profound theological minds. The Trinity affirms the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have always existed. Three distinct persons, yet wholly unified in their purpose, plan, and thinking. They are One in their rule. You cannot divide them or pit them against each other. Any analogy we try to use from this world to illustrate the Trinity falls woefully short and is insulting to the richness and beauty of the godhead. God’s nature is bigger than our minds can conceive!

We are told that the Son, who was Jesus in His earthly existence, is the member of the Trinity for whom, by whom, and in whom all things were made. Tim Keller said,

What is John teaching? He’s teaching us that in the beginning, in the nature of God, in the essence of God, there was loving communication and coordinated creativity. Two things going on inside the Godhead from all eternity were loving communication and coordinated creativity. Loving communication is seen in this little, tiny, but extremely significant word, with. The Father was with the Son. The Son was with the Father. The word with is very important.[1]

John is arguing the Lord deserves our devotion. He is our creator and gave life to everyone. He also gives light to everyone. It is interesting how John uses “Light” and “Darkness” for those who walk with Christ and those who choose not to. When you walk in the light, you can see clearly. You can see obstacles, other people, and can enjoy the beauty of life. But when you walk in darkness, you can’t see anything! You are likely to trip, go the wrong way, and be disoriented. And according to Jesus, you may also end up in Hell.

Have you ever gotten up in your own home and walked into a wall because of the darkness? The darkness disoriented you. Or maybe you tripped over toys or a chair that was not pushed in. This is because you couldn’t see the obstacle. And if you have never done this in your home, you have certainly done it in a hotel room if you had to get up at night.

This is a picture of what it is like to live without Christ. You are forced to stumble your way along. You become self-absorbed because you don’t see others; you often find yourself in a real mess because, even though you thought you were doing the right thing, you made the wrong choice.

I like to say with many others that when I came to faith in Christ, it was like ‘the lights turned on.’ For the first time, I understood. I heard the words of the gospel.. I saw my own sin and realized why Jesus died on the cross. He did it for me. The Bible calls this the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It is when the Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eyes and heals us from blindness.

And here is the thing: all the darkness in the world cannot put out the light. Think about this . . . darkness has no power over light. When light shows up, darkness is gone. It doesn’t matter what strange things are taught in our world, or how much society looks down on the Christian faith. The darkness cannot put out the light!

The Choices of Christmas

During this Christmas season, we chose what to buy for various people and how to express our love and affection. Some of us are exhausted from all those choices. But there is one more choice that you have to make. And John looks at this starting in verse 10,

10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Verse 14 is the key verse. This Word, that is God, the Creator, Sustainer . . . became flesh. This is called the Incarnation, which we celebrate each Christmas. Notice what it says about Him: He is full of unfailing love and faithfulness. Some translations say “full of grace and truth.” The point is that He came to reach out to us. His purpose is not to condemn us but to save us.

John says, “Not only did He come to earth. . . we actually met Him and saw what He did.” John also wrote the letters of 1,2,3 John. At the beginning of 1 John he wrote,

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

John affirmed that what he was writing is not some theological or philosophical document, he’s writing as an eyewitness to the coming of Christ. He saw His power, heard His wisdom, and witnessed His death and resurrection. Jesus is real! He is no made-up superhero. John was so convinced of this that he determined to live the rest of his life for the Lord’s glory and honor.

In his gospel, John said even though God came into the world with grace and truth, only some have embraced Him. John says, “he came into the very world he created, but the world did not recognize Him.” What is worse, He came to those who are called God’s people, the Jews, and they rejected (and crucified) Him.

People still reject Him today and they do so for several reasons. First, and perhaps most common, is simple indifference. People are distracted by many things. They are distracted by their jobs, family demands, hobbies, work, and our many amusements. We can be distracted by podcasts, music, Instagram, etc. In all the noise of life, and don’t notice Christ.

Have you ever started to do something and then got drawn into watching various videos, reading different posts on Facebook, reading multiple news stories, or filling your free time with blogs and podcasts? You may look up and find you have followed this trail for over an hour! It is indicative of our times. We are amusing ourselves to death!

Second, we turn away from the Messiah because of our love for sin. We don’t want to submit to the Lord’s definition of right and wrong. We would rather create our own form of Christianity, a form that says, “Hey, whatever you choose to do, whatever path you choose to take, God is on your side!” That sounds loving, but it is not. It is a false religion hiding under the name of Christ. It’s not even honest.

Such a belief system (which is all too prevalent in our country) makes us God. We are the ones who have the authority to define sin and holiness. But only One does this flawlessly, and it is the Lord God Almighty. We either obey Him or are against Him.

When people do not submit to the will of God, they proclaim that their way is superior to His. They say they are a better judge of right and wrong than He. And no matter how noble you make it sound, you are spitting in the face of the Almighty! You are making the Incarnation of little importance in your life.

There will be many who hear this message and say they are celebrating the birth of Christ while at the same time refusing to submit to Him. When you refuse to follow Him as Savior and as Lord, you show that you are more in love with your sin than your Savior.

The Consequence of Our Choices

Christmas calls us to a decision. Will you embrace Christ and live under His leadership and Lordship, or will you put on a spiritual mask, talk about God and how much you love the Word of God, while at the same time completely ignoring His commands?

John does not stutter here,

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

Some people say, “We are all God’s Children,” but that is not biblically true. We are all created by Him, and we are all created in His image, but . . . only those who receive, embrace, and follow Him are His children.

What does it mean to believe and accept Him? It means we recognize that He alone can save us, not just from sin, but also from ourselves. God is not looking for merely an intellectual belief but one that yields a commitment. It is like the difference between believing you could be happily married to someone and marrying that person! Or the difference between a person who says they love America and cherishes freedom, and the person who cherishes it so much that they get involved. They serve in the military, run for office, and write letters to their congressmen.

People love to pray to receive Christ and then live their lives pursuing the same they always did. They want to spend eternity with the Lord (rather than the lake of fire) but don’t want to be bothered with Him right now. To such people, the Lord will say, “Depart from me, because I have never known you.”

True belief, says John, means we are reborn of the Spirit. We have a new orientation. We want to please Him rather than ourselves. We understand that if we really want to be fulfilled, we can only do it by following Him. He is the light and life of men.

Sadly, there is another side to this choice we are called to make. In John 3 we are told,

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (3:17-19)

Many believe everyone is going to be saved in the end. They believe God is too loving ever to condemn someone to Hell. That sounds nice, but it is not the message of Christ. It is not the message of these verses. These verses teach us that it is not so much that God condemns us; we choose condemnation because we will not agree to His offer of salvation. If you are drowning in the water and refuse to take hold of the life preserver that is before you, it is your fault, not the fault of the lifeguard, if you drown.

C.S. Lewis in his book THE GREAT DIVORCE wrote,

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”

John wrote his gospel for a specific purpose:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 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. (John 20:30-31)

So tonight, we invite you and plead with you to recognize Jesus as “The One” who alone can save you from indifference, false religion, and eternal condemnation. He is the One you have been looking for all your life. Christmas is meant to point us to the Light and to the life we have all longed for. Any other celebration of Christmas is pagan and an offense to God. It is to turn away and reject the One who came to save us.

If you have not already done so, make this the most important Christmas in your life. Recognize Christ as your Savior and Lord. Surrender to Him, and then follow Him with the wisdom and strength He will provide through the Holy Spirit. And if you do that, Christmas will no longer be about a frantic consumer sprint; it will be a celebration of the day you met the most important person in your life.

And if you have already begun following Jesus, make sure to let others know what Christmas is all about. Point to Him in any way you can so that those you will love will live with Him and will join with you in joyful celebration, through all of eternity. Christmas is a great celebration, but it is nothing in compared with the great celebration that will go on forever and ever in Eternity.

[1]Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).