The Deity of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Does anybody know how many libraries there are in the United States?
According to the American Library Association there are more than 9,000 library systems in the United States which include more than 17,000 public libraries. There are also almost 100,000 school libraries, 3,700 academic libraries and 9,170 Special libraries. That’s a lot. And that doesn’t include all the libraries that are all over the world.
In these libraries there are over 732 million physical books and serial volumes. That’s a really, really, really big number. That doesn’t include eBooks and all the digital information that isn’t necessarily printed and stored in a library for use. And the amount of information that is being stored away for future use is growing very quickly.
So where am I going with this? Well the Apostle John ended his Gospel with this statement: John 21:25
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.
Considering that 2,000 years ago the number of libraries and books would have been much smaller. John’s idea of what he was saying must have been compared to a much smaller world view. But, could this still be true? Jesus has been around a long time and He has been at work in the world for a long time. We don’t even know all the stuff He has done.
But just where did all of this work begin?
The Apostle John says it this way:
Passage: John 1:1-5
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 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Transitional Sentence: This is the beginning of what John recorded. The beginning of:
The Gospel of John. So, here’s the who, when, where, why and how of this gospel.
a. So who wrote this Gospel? Tradition holds that John the son of Zebedee one of the original 12 Apostle’s wrote this Gospel. It was known and used authoritatively since the beginning of the church as it grew and spread across the known world at the time. It’s use can be seen in early writings by Ignatius of Antioch (ca. 110-115), Justin Martyr (ca 150), Theophilus of Antioch (ca 180) and Irenaeus (ca 180). “Irenaeus says, “John, the Disciple of the Lord who also had leaned upon His breast did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.”
That leads us to:
b. When, Where and Why this Gospel was written. Tradition holds that the Gospel of John was written in the AD 90s. This belief is almost universally accepted. But some scholars would push that date back further to some where in the 70s.
The location of its writing is held to be Ephesus because John was located there later in his life. He was there overseeing several churches in Asia Minor, which included Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. If you know the book of Revelation you should recognize these churches.
But why would John endeavor to write such a document? Just as the other Gospels, John is painting a picture of Jesus, based on his first hand knowledge and what he witnessed during his walk with Him. John himself tells us why he did it. John 20:30-31 says:
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
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.
That brings us to the final idea - How.
c. How does this Gospel work with Matthew, Mark and Luke? Well Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels. This book is called “The harmony of the Gospels.” This particular version is the New International Version of the Bible.
The first part of the explanation of this book says this: 1. The text of the Gospels The text of one, two, three, or four gospels, depending on how many describe each episode, is found on each page of the Harmony. The gospel text is arranged in columns, and material in each column is placed so as to be adjacent to similar material in other columns. The width of the columns varies in accordance with how many gospels record the events of each section. The order of the gospels from left to right, is the same as that in the modern editions of the New Testament.
Which means if you take these three Gospels and put them together in-line, in columns, they have complimentary writing. A lot of the text is generally the same. The three of them talk about many of the same events but from a slightly different point of view. The Gospel of John however, is generally very different. That doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with John’s or that it is contradictory to what the other three say. It’s quite the opposite, John’s Gospel compliments the other three and shows Jesus and His life from a different point of view. It actually strengthens the others by showing Jesus in an entirely different light.
So let’s take a look at some of what John says about Jesus in this passage.
2. In the first three verses of his Gospel John points to the Deity of Jesus as the Son of God. First of all he says:
a.
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.
In the Beginning. The beginning of what? A definition of beginning is: the start, origin, or first part of an action, event, or object, representing the point where something enters into being. The beginning of me according to western thought is the day I was born and according to eastern thought, like in Korea, it would have been the day I was conceived. But what beginning is this talking about? This verse is talking about the beginning of the world. The temporal beginning of the universe when all things came into being. Genesis 1:1 says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” But this isn’t just the point at which all the physical stuff was created. God was also creating time. Genesis 1:5 says: “God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” And then there was a second day, and a third and all the way up to the 7th day. A week.
This is important because John says that Jesus was there with God before all of this stuff and time was created. So Jesus was present when all of this was created. He is timeless, eternal. He is not confined to this realm. He is of another place. He is the Son of God.
John goes on to say that Jesus is:
b. The WORD.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Word here in the Greek is LOGOS. Logos is an ancient term with a range of meanings, primarily translating to “word,” “reason,” “thought,” or “principle.” In philosophy, it represents the divine, underlying rational order and intelligence governing the cosmos. In theology, specifically the Gospel of John, it represents the divine expression, personified as Jesus Christ. In other words John is using the Greek philosophical idea that there is a rational order and intelligence governing the cosmos and Jesus is it. Jesus is the hand of God working to control creation.
Think about it. Did you know this the first time you read the Gospel of John? I didn’t. I didn’t know it the second or third time either. But when I finally learned that there is more behind this then just the idea of Jesus being the word of God a light bulb went off in my head. I finally got it. I finally understood that the English word: “Word” does not carry the same meaning behind it. It doesn’t carry the idea of Jesus being the divine power behind everything in the cosmos.
And so we have to rely on our English version to tell us that Jesus is the divine power behind all of
c. Creation.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
All things. This does a good job of telling us just what came into being - everything. And the idea of things coming into being carries the idea of creation. Something from nothing. “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” God spoke and it was so. But it came about through Jesus. A definition of through is: to continue in time toward the completion of a process or period. So Jesus was there as the process began, and continues working in the process as it moves through time to the end.
And then the rest of the verse points to the truth that there is nothing that Jesus hasn’t touched. There is nothing that Jesus didn’t bring into creation. He had a hand in it all. Even when we think that we created something new, we didn’t. We simply mix stuff together in a different way. The knowledge and ability to do it came from Him. He leads and directs the hands of all as things are discovered and learned.
Jesus is the divine spark controlling all that is in the cosmos.
And this divine spark is:
3. Life and Light.
a. John 1:4 says:
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
This Greek word for life is zoe which means life source or the inherent capacity for producing (and maintaining) living beings; especially understood as a life characterized by healthiness, happiness, exuberance, energy, vitality, and the like.
This is a life driven by the Spirit. The Spirit of life is the Spirit of God. In God is the capacity for producing and maintaining living beings. In God is the capacity for maintaining Himself. John 5:26 says:
26 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
God has no need of outside support for continued life. This capacity for life is also in the Son. God gave His Spirit to the Son that He too may have zoe. Jesus has life in Himself. Life that is eternal and complete. It lacks nothing.
This life is the light of men. This life is given to all those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This life is eternal life but it’s more than that. This zoe is for the here and now too. Jesus doesn’t want to just save you for eternity. He wants to give you a life characterized by healthiness, happiness, exuberance, energy and vitality. Did you notice what I said? He wants to give you a life that is full of energy and vitality. This life is a gift. A free gift.
Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The free gift of God is eternal life. Life is a gift. It is the same life that dwells in Jesus. This life dwells in all those who call upon His name. It is the Spirit of God. It is the one and only gift that is free. Those who believe receive it as a gift and we can give it to others as a gift so that they too may walk in the light.
We receive many gifts through out our lives. Gifts that can be cherished and put on a shelf to admire. But this gift isn’t meant to keep. This gift is meant to give away. The more you give it away the more you get back. The more you give away this life the brighter things will be.
Because this life is the
d. Light.
This Greek word is phos which means anything that provides illumination. So this life that Jesus has is a source of illumination.
Have you ever contemplated a light that is turned on all the time? During the day in the light of the sun you hardly notice it. But as the darkness of night sets in the illumination of that light becomes much brighter. Nothing changed with the light bulb, it has been on the whole time. But as its surroundings darken it shines out and provides light to everything around it.
As it is with Jesus. His light shines and illuminates everything around Him. The darker the space He is in the brighter His light will be. This light is a beacon to attract people to the Kingdom of God. John 8:12 says:
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
You will have the light of life if you follow Jesus. But the light of life isn’t visible light. The light of life is the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings life. Spiritual life. You will begin to truly live when you accept Him and His Spirit begins to dwell in you. If you do not accept Him you will continue to be dead in your sins and will be walking in darkness.
But what is the
c. Darkness? Darkness is the absence of light which makes seeing difficult or impossible. However in this verse darkness is the absence of God. Darkness is the absence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Darkness is evil, sadness and ignorance. Darkness is also considered a domain, a place of evil and the demonic. Jesus came to rescue you from this place of darkness. Colossians 1:13 says:
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Ultimately darkness is separation from God for eternity.
46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
“These” - the unrepentant, and those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior go away to eternal punishment. That eternal punishment is separation from God for all eternity. Eternal punishment is hell, a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Exit: So stop walking in darkness. Believe and have life in His name. Jesus is the life. Jesus is the light. Jesus shares His life and light with all those who call upon His name. His command to those who accept this gift is to freely give as you have received. This isn’t a gift to be stingy with. This is a gift you are supposed to give away. You aren’t supposed to bottle up the light that He gave you and keep it for a rainy day. You are supposed to give it away to others.
Each one of you is a candle in the darkness. Each one of you is capable of passing on your little bit of light. So some time this week pass your little light on to someone else. You all know the song:
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
Prayer:
