John 1:1-5 | Eternal Love

Today we are starting a brand new series.

And the way this was designed was that we would look at the birth of Christ through Christmas, and then move into the story of his life.

This will be an expositional systematic study.....

meaning we will walk verse by verse through this book, in the order the verses are given.

Each Sunday will consist of a new section of Scripture, so this is not one lesson split into the time alloted in the service, but rather a new theme each week, pulling the lesson and teaching from the section of scripture we come across.

The book of John has been known as the the most important book in scripture....

It is the place that most will hear of Christ for the first time

For the new believer it is often the first book of scripture they will read

It is the account of the life of Christ, written by one of his closest friends on earth, one of his disciples, John

Now John is known as one of the 4 gospels, however it is very different than the other.

Matthew was written primarily to the Jewish people, and focuses on him being the Messiah and King of Israel.

Mark was written primarily to the common gentiles, and focuses on Jesus’s sacrifice.

It consist of bullet point type lists, recording who Jesus was and what he did.

Luke was written to the Roman administration and pagans in the temple.

It is highly detailed, and is written from the research and study from accounts of a variety of different people.

But John is different. John seems to aimed more at the Greek intellectuals, philosophers, the educated.

The goal of John is to show us who Jesus is and what he came to do. It presents Jesus as the son of God, divine, holy, and perfect, who came to take on the sins of man to bring salvation.

Because of this unique focus, it serves as the perfect launching point for anyone desiring to know more about Jesus from the beginning.

While Matthew is excellent to understand history and context in light of the OT.

and Mark is great for quick reference and a bird’s eye view

and Luke is great for the specific details that add to the story

John is focused on the mission of Christ, understanding who he is, what he came to do, and how we respond.

Now John never refers to himself in the book as the author, instead he refers to himself as the one who Jesus loved.

and this this is really a testament to the theme of the whole book.

The word love would be used over times in the book of John, compared to Luke and Acts which uses the word Love or love related verbs only 15 times.

This really is the overall theme of the book of John, the love of Christ.

In fact it is at the end of the book John would tell us exactly why he wrote this.

John 20:31 NKJV

but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

This is the reason for this writing, and it is from the very start of the book that we see a unique theme compared to the other gospels.

Matthew begins with a genealogy of Christ

Mark begins with the story of John the Baptist

Luke begins with the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth

But John begins with some of the clearest and most profound 5 verses of doctrine you will find in all of scripture, and it serves as the foundation that the rest of the book would sit on.

John 1:1 NKJV

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

It is here in John 1:1 that we have a callback to another very important verse in scripture.… Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1, the first verse of the Bible, says this...

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Every Jew at the time would have known this verse by heart.

It is the account of how all things came into being.

And this verse alone is one that has been consistently challenged among unbelievers and christians.

Scripture is clear, that God created the heavens and the earth.

The heavens describe everything that is outside of earth, and earth describes the world we live in.

It is at this point that ALL THINGS are created.

Not just the earth, not just the planets, not just the stars, and not just the pieces of matter needed to explode into a new creation.

It is at the point that God created ALL THINGS, by the word of his mouth.

And if we continue to read through Genesis we will see the day by day account of how he created each aspect of our universe by his own words.

Now this is not a topic I have covered a lot, however I think this is a good time to quickly address this.

What our schools, and our entertainment, and our sources of knowledge today would teach is the story of how our world was created, is not another theory, it is heresy.

I will make this statement and I think its an important one to make....

I think it is nearly impossible to simultaneously believe in Christ for the salvation of your sins, and in the theory of evolution.

Let me explain why....

To believe that all things came into existence from a cosmic explosion, that then evolved over billions of years into what we have now is to totally reject the entire plan of the gospel itself.

To believe in evolution as a whole, the sudden random occurence of the big bang, and the theory of evolution in its entirety, and God at the same time, is to say that God woke up one day with a big light outside of his window, and all the sudden there was a universe, and then billions of years later he looks again and that tadpole he saw a few million years back is now a person, so he sends his son to earth to die for the tadpole man because he loves him for some reason.

Can I name a few doctrines that you cannot believe in if you believe in the big bang and evolution.

Imago Dei - that mankind is made in the image of God

If we are not created, we cannot be created in his image, therefore we are NO DIFFERENT THAN THE ANIMALS, and scripture is clear that Christ only died for mankind

Ex Nihilo - that the universe was created out of nothing

If the universe was not created out of nothing, and instead was created from God rearranging pre-existing matter, or causing a big bang to occur that set off the chain of evolution, as some believers would say, then God is not sovereign over creation, because there was creation before him

This leads to another very important doctrine that is negated by a belief in evolution

The Omnipotence of God

God cannot be all powerful, if he did not create all things out of nothing

If he didn’t create it out of nothing, that it existed before him, and if it existed before him it existed apart from the sovereignty of God

While I could continue, I would challenge you to find one core doctrine of scripture that could hold up in light of a belief in the theory of the big bang and evolution.

Now I say that I believe it is NEARLY impossible to belief this and in christ at the same time, becasue I think there is a great amount of ignorance in this topic.

I think many will be taught the big bang and evolution their entire life, and they aren’t aware that there is even another argument, and they believe on Christ, and this topic may not be challenged for some time.

Or when it is challenged it is done incorrectly and for a period of time the new believer stays ignorant to the true account of the creation of the world.

BUT I THINK A TIME COMES WHERE A TRUE BELEIVER MUST SAY - THIS DOES NOT ALIGN WITH WHAT I SAY I BELEIVE

Now you say Zach, but what about all of the science.

It seems like every year there is more and more evidence that the earth is much older than we think.

While there are old earth theories and other ways of looking at creation that may attempt to explain this, in my greatest knowledge there is one aspect of creation that is rarely mentioned that I think is the key here.

First I want to say this in regards to how we look at science and the Bible.

We should adapt the Bible to fit science, rather we should adapt science to fit the Bible.

We should never upon some scientific discovery, go to scripture and start changing it around to fit what we have found.

Instead we look at scripture and we say this is true, and look at scientific discovery in this light.

EX: an example of how I think this is done in regards to creation is in the Old Earth Creation theory

Upon uncovering what appeared to be scientific evidence that the earth is in fact billions of years old, scholars immeidately went to scripture to try and rewrite what had been commonly believed throughought all of history.

Even though scripture says God created the earth in 6 days, with all linquistic evidence pointing to the fact that these are 6 literal 24 hour days, scholars decided that the only way this makes sense is that these days must not have been 6 literal days, but instead 6 metaphorical days, and creation lasted over the span of billions of years in 6 different ages.

The problem with this, is it is not what the Bible says

And this is a clear result of twisting the Bible to fit what we think is scientific evidence, instead of looking at science in light of the Bible

But can I give you in my opinion is the greatest practical result that allows for what appears to be a potentially older earth, and still stay true to the Genesis account.

EX: If you were to walk in my office here at the church, you would find some really old stuff.

On my wall I have an original page from a Bible printed in the year 1611.

I have a coin on my shelf that is from the time of Jesus.

I have books nearly 150 years old and I have books that were printed in the past few years.

Now when I first viewed the church building, the office was mostly empty.

There was a ping pong table, a desk and the bookshelves.

Now imagine if the realtor who showed the church to us walked into my office today, it would look a lot different than the last time he had seen it.

Before it was nearly empty, hardly any of the thing things there now were there before.

Now what if he said wow, look at all of these brand new things you put in this office.

What if in his mind he thinks, well that 1611 Bible page wasn’t there before, but now it is, so it must have just come into existence

What if he said, wow all of these books weren’t here before, but now they are, so somebody must have just now written all of them

This would not make any logical sense

Just because something is present for the first time, doesn’t mean it is brand new

Now this isn’t a perfect example but I hope you can get the picture.

When God created the world, if we would have taken you and dropped you in it on day 6, you would not immediately thing, wow, look all this new world.

You would see a world that appears to have been lived in

Its not like when God created the world he planted a bunch of tree saplings, and he planted a bunch of grass seed, and all the animals were newborn, and the mountains were all short, and then over time it grew into what we know as the world.

No God created the world with age built in.

So if you were dropped in this world, and you look beside you and there is a tree, you would look at that tree and upon examination, you would uncover that the tree was potentially 10-50 or maybe even 100 years old, even though it was just created

So I think with this in mind, it would actually make no sense whatsoever that the age of all things was dated to only 6 thousand years, because the appearance of the age of the earth was not 0 at creation.

So does this mean the earth is billions of years old and we need to beleive in evolution, not at all, but I think it does tell us that trying to determine how old our earth is by looking at a falsely dated world, will not give us any substantial evidence, especially to rewrite our belief in the creation of the world.

But still, how all things came into being will continue to be debated on all different fronts, and Christians will continue to be led into deception, but it is not in Genesis 1 that we find the theological significance of how things came into being, that would be found in John 1:1

In a verse that mimics the first verse of Genesis, we see what appears to be the theological point coinciding with the practical in Genesis.

And its all based around this one idea = the word

In Genesis God created all things by his voice

But now in John we see a similar idea

John 1:1 NKJV

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

Now is this talking about the voice of God in creation? Yeah sorta

You see we actually get a introduction to this verse, John 1:1 all that way back in Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

So we see God here referring to himself in a plural manner

He says Let US make man in OUR image

This is commonly believed to be a reference to the trinitarian nature of God

God is three persons in one

God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

Three different persons, one God, distinct, but not separate

So God says, let US make man in our image, meaning that this US had an equal part in the creation of the universe

So in light of this, now lets look at John 1:1 again

John 1:1 NKJV

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

What we see in John 1:1 perfectly coincides with what we see in Genesis 1:26

In the beginning there was this word (notice Word is capitalized, this is a person, a title), and this Word was with God, but this word also WAS GOD.

17 words

these 17 words are the foundation to not just the book of John, but the gospel entirely

these 17 words have served as the center of debate and division since the time they were written over 2,000 years ago

Look at verse 2 and 3, we get more insight as to who this is.

John 1:2–3 NKJV

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

So if there was any question as to what this Word was, we see in verse that it is in fact a person, a man, and if it wasn’t clear enough we see it mentioned again that this man called the Word was with God in the beginning.

But he wasn’t just with God, he participated in the creation of the world. All things, not just the world, or the stars, or the plants, or a part of all things, but all things were made through him, and nothing was made without him.

But we already read in Genesis 1:1 that God created the heavens and the earth...

So this reaffirms again what we read in John 1:1, this man called the Word, was with God in the beginning, and he participated in the creation of all things, which also makes him, God himself

John 1:4 NKJV

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

So this Word, was a man who was present with God in the beginning, he was God, he created all things, but now we see the crucial answer to the question.… why does this matter to me.

If you were reading this without context you might think, well that’s cool, there was this guy who is somehow God himself and he created everything, and he is called the word, but what does that have to do with me.

Well John 1:4 tells us.

This Word is not just the creator, he is not just God himself, he is life.

When John wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote it intentionally to remind us of Gensis, the creation account.

And this was so important because it shows us the gravity of what is being referenced here.

I said earlier that I don’t think you can knowingly believe in Christ, and in the big bang and evolution as it is commonly taught, and here is the main reason why.

There is one word that I want you to focus on in John 1:4 that radically effects our understanding of who God is.

And that is the word “was”

It says that in him WAS life, and the life WAS the light of men.

Now he is not writing in the past tense because this person is no longer the source of life and the light of men, but rather because he was then, at the beginning.

Now I am almost done, but I need you to track with me here.

This person, the Word, was the source of life and the light of men, BEFORE SIN ENTERED THE WORLD.

Can I ask you this question....

What need is there for a savior if there is nothing to be saved from?

What was this reason for this person to exist as a source of life, and a light to men, when man didn’t even exist yet, and when they did for a time there wouldn’t even be any sin?

Is it becasue God knew that mankind would sin so he created an insurance policy to save man once they decided to rebel against him?

Well that would make sense except John 1:1 tells us that this Word was not just with God, he WAS GOD.

And God was never created, he is eternal in past and future

So if this is the case, from the beginning of time, existed this Word, this person who served as the source of life and the light to man that didn’t even exist yet, WHY?

Well there is one verse in John, that we will continue to come back to.

This verse is well known. Many would say it is the most popular verse in all of scripture. I think this is the case because it really serves as the top of the mountain that everything points to.

Any question in scripture can be pointed to this one verse for an answer.

John 3:16 NKJV

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

You may respond with the question well yeah I get that God loved the world, but that doesn’t tell me why he decided to make it in the first place, that just tells me he loved it after it came into being.

And this here is the fundamental misunderstanding of who God is that John 1:1-5 reshapes for us before we get into the rest of the book.

God did not create the world out of necessity.

God did not need creation. God did not need man. God did not need redemption.

and a father doesn’t need a child.

So why create them, because there exist a love present within a person who desires to give it to someone else.

A father doesn’t have children so that he can hopefully love them once they are born.

He has children because he has a love that he wants to share.

And within the very fabric of who God is, within this triune nature, was not just the potential for love, but rather the fulness of love itself.

Creation was not the beginning of love, it was the result of love, the overflow of love.

From all of eternity past God existed in love and perfection, and he chose to create a being in his image, that he could share that love with, and when mankind chose sin instead of him, that love didn’t go away, but instead it responded in even greater love, through the word.

The Son of God

Jesus Christ

And it is the same Word that spoke mankind into existence in Genesis, that would give his life for mankind in John 3:16.

And its because of John 1:1-5 that we can begin to grasp the nature of the love of God.

That it is not reactionary, it is eternal. That sacrificial love existed before there was anyone to save.

Now this would make a great ending to the story.

Like if you were to read through the story of Jesus and then you read this at the end that would be the perfect cap at the end of the story.

But this isn’t the end, its the beginning.

And that is because without an understanding of the love, the story means nothing.

Without this eternal love, there is no need for the story.

But because of this love, we have to know what happens next in light of this, and John 1:5 serves as the launching point into the book.

This is the conflict that needs to be resolved.

John 1:5 NKJV

And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

And as we work through this book, however long it takes, we will uncover the greatest story ever told, the story of how God showed in its entirety this perfect eternal love to mankind.