The Word Was Made Flesh

The Word Was Made Flesh

May 4, 2008

John 1:1-18

I would like to begin this morning by reading a passage from Henry Blackaby’s daily devotional, “Experiencing God Day-By-Day. This is the reading from April 7: Meditation means “to think deeply and continuously about something.” For a Christian, this means remaining in the presence of God and pondering each truth He reveals about Himself until it becomes real and personal in your life. This takes time. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus accused certain would-be followers of calling Him “Lord” and yet never doing what He told them (Luke 6:46). They had the correct truth in their heads, but it had never translated into obedience. When you meditate on Scriptures, the truth moves from your head to your heart and results in obedience. As the Psalmist said: “Your word have I hidden in my heart, / That I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11).

When you know God's Word in your mind but not in your heart, it means that you have learned the principles and concepts and doctrines of God, but you have not come to know Jesus personally. You can reject a doctrine, or ignore a concept, or challenge a principle, but it is much more difficult to ignore a Person. You can have Scripture in your mind and still sin against God. There are those who can recite long passages of Scripture and yet live ungodly lives. However, you cannot have Scripture fill your heart and continue to sin against God. When God's truth is allowed to touch the deepest corner of your soul, the Holy Spirit will transform you into the image of Jesus Christ. Don't just read your Bible, meditate on God's Word and ask Him to change your heart.

Please turn in your Bibles again to the book of John, chapter one. I will begin reading at verse one:

 “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 nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

I have chosen this text again with some fear and trembling but I did not want to do an injustice to it by treating it with one sermon. But I choose it for two reasons. One is that even though Christmas is 250 days away it does our hearts good to remember the beginning of Christ’s life on earth. The key verse that shows this Christmas orientation is verse 14: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." This is the meaning of Christmas. God has come into the world, born of virgin, in the person of Jesus Christ. The second reason I have chosen this text is because it is so full of particular truths about Jesus Christ that we desperately need to know and embrace. You may well wonder why I’m speaking about Christmas. Well, messages about Jesus birth are appropriate and, if we were to be faithful to the Scriptural timetable, Christmas should be celebrated in spring not winter, because that’s when Jesus was born. So, there!

This is especially important today he because even the major non-Christian religions of the world are speaking these days as though they esteem and honor and, in some sense, believe in Jesus. You hear this especially from Muslim leaders who want to draw the fact that they even honor Jesus more than we do because they do not think God would allow him to suffer the ignominious death of a criminal on the cross. So it is crucial that Christians know Jesus Christ’s birth, death, and ministry very well, and that you can tell the difference between the Christ of the Bible and the Christ which other religions claim to honor.

So what I would like to do with this great paragraph about Jesus Christ, written by the one who knew him on earth more intimately than anyone else, the apostle John, is to point out and explain and exult over five truths concerning the Word made flesh, and then contrast two starkly different responses that you might give to him this morning. My aim is that you might see Jesus for who he is and be moved to receive Him as your Lord and your God and your all-surpassing Treasure. And if you have already received Him, I pray that you will embrace him, and treasure him and delight in him and follow him and display Him more than you ever have.

So let's begin with five truths about the "Word-Made-Flesh" in this passage.

First, the Name of the Word-Made-Flesh on Earth Is Jesus Christ

Verse 17: "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

"Jesus" was the name Joseph was told to give the child by the angel of the Lord because it means "savior." "An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.'"

"Christ" was the title that referred to the long-awaited king of the Jews, the Messiah, the Annointed One, who would give victory to the people and bear the government of the world on his shoulders. When Andrew, Peter's brother, told Peter that he had met Jesus he said (in John 1:41), "'We have found the Messiah' [and John adds] (which means Christ)."

So the person we are speaking of in these verses is known in the Bible and throughout the world as "Jesus Christ." And each name carries tremendous meaning: He is Savior and King.

Second, the Word-Made-Flesh Existed as God and with God before He Was Born as a Man on Earth

Verse 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

There have always been sectarian groups who have resisted the mystery implied in these two phrases: "the Word was with God," and "the Word was God." They say, in their bondage to merely human conceptuality, you can't have it both ways. Either he was God, or he was with God. If he was with God, he wasn't God. And if he was God, he wasn't with God. So to escape the truth of these two sentences, sometimes they change the translation (as the Jehovah's Witnesses do) so that it reads, "The Word was with God, and the Word was a god." But there are good grammatical reasons as well as contextual reasons from other parts of the Gospel of John and other books of the Bible for why the Christian Church has never accepted such teaching as true and orthodox.

What verse one teaches is that the one we know as Jesus Christ, before he was made flesh, was God, and that the Father was also God. There are two persons and one God. This is part of the truth which we know as the Trinity. This is why we worship Jesus Christ and say with Thomas in John 20:28, "My Lord and my God." And, this is why in the Great Commission all three members of the Godhead are mentioned: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Once again, the first truth in the “Word  Made Flesh” passage is the Word-made-flesh is Jesus and the second truth is that Jesus is God. The third truth is:

Before He Became Flesh, John Called Him "The Word" As I’ve already preached on this, I will just mention a few more thoughts.

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Why was he called "the Word"? One way to answer this is to ponder what he might otherwise have been called and why this would have been. For example, he might been called "the Deed": "In beginning was the deed and the deed was with God and the deed was God." One of the differences between a deed and the Word is that a deed is more ambiguous. If we think our words are sometimes unclear and subject to various interpretations, our deeds are far more unclear and ambiguous. That's why we so often explain ourselves with words. Words capture the meaning of what we do more clearly than the deeds themselves. God did many mighty deeds in history, but he gave a certain priority to His Word. One of the reasons, I think, is that he puts a high value on clarity and communication.

Another example is that John might have called him "the Thought." "In the beginning was the Thought, and the Thought was with God and the Thought was God." But one of the differences between a thought and a word is that a word is generally pictured as moving outward from the thinker for the sake of establishing communication while thoughts remain hidden Jesus is no longer hidden. God is no longer hidden. God is revealed in Jesus. I think John wanted us to conceive of the Son of God as existing both for communication between him and the Father, and as God's communication with us.

A third example is that John might have called him "the Feeling." "In the beginning was the Feeling, and the Feeling was with God and the Feeling was God." But again, I would say, feelings do not carry any clear conception or intention or meaning. Feelings, like deeds, are ambiguous and need to be explained – with words. So it seems to me that calling Jesus "the Word" is John's way of emphasizing that the very existence of the Son of God is for the sake of communication. First, and foremost, he exists, and has always existed, from all eternity for the sake of communication with the Father. Secondarily, but infinitely important for us, the Son of God became divine communication to us. One might say, in summary, calling Jesus "the Word" implies that he is "God-Expressing-Himself." I Greek the Word is Logos. Logos expresses the idea of reason and creativity and revelation – encapsulating word, thought, and deed. The fourth truth found here is:

All That Is not God Was Created through the Word

John 1:3: "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

There are at least two reasons John says this about Jesus. One is that it underscores that he is God. When we think of God, we think immediately of Creator. God is the origin and explanation of all that is except God Himself.

The other reason comes out in verse 10: "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him." The point here seems to underline the seriousness of the world's guilty blindness, and the greatness of the world's evil in rejecting Jesus. Jesus comes to us as our Maker, and still the world will not receive him.

In his Daily Study Bible, William Barclay has this to say: When John said that no one has ever seen God, everyone in the ancient world would fully agree with him. People were fascinated and depressed and frustrated by what they regarded as the infinite distance and the utter unknowability of God. In the Old Testament, God is represented as saying to Moses: `You cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live' (Exodus 33:20). When God reminds the people of' the giving of the law, he says: `You heard the sound of words. but saw no form; there was only a voice' (Deuteronomy 4:12). No one in the Old Testament thought it possible to see God. The great Greek thinkers felt exactly the same. Xenophanes said: `Guesswork is over all.' Plato said: `Never man and God can meet.' Celsus laughed at the way that the Christians called God Father. because 'God is away beyond every-thing.' At the best. Apuleius said, men could catch a glimpse of God as a lightning flash lights up a dark night – one split second of illumination, and then the dark. As the New Testament scholar T. R. Glover said: 'Whatever God was, He was far from being within the reach of ordinary men.' There might be very rare moments of ecstasy when someone caught a glimpse of what might he called `Absolute Being', but ordinary people were the prisoners of ignorance and fancy. There would he none to disagree with John when he said that no one has ever seen God.

But John does not stop there; he goes on to make the star­tling and tremendous statement that Jesus has fully revealed to us what God is like. What has come to us is what Archbishop J. H. Bernard of Dublin called `the exhibition to the world of God in Christ'. Here again, the keynote of John's gospel sounds: 'If you want to see what God is like, look at Jesus.'

Why should it be that Jesus can do what no one else has ever done'? Wherein lies his power to reveal God to men and women'? John says three things about him.

(1) Jesus is unique. The Greek word is monogenes, which the Authorized Version translates as only-begotten. It is true that that is what monogenes literally means; but long before this it and had come to mean unique and specially beloved. Obviously an only son has a unique place and a unique love in his father's heart. So this word came to express uniqueness more than anything else. It is the conviction of the New Testament that there is no one like Jesus. He alone can bring God to us and bring us to God. He is unique. And,

(2) Jesus is God. Here we have the very same form of expression as we had in the first verse of the chapter. This means that in mind and character and nature, Jesus is one with God. Jesus is divine. To see him is to see God.

(3) Jesus is in the bosom of the Father. To be in the bosom of someone is the Hebrew phrase which expresses the deepest intimacy possible. It is used of mother and child; it is used of husband and wife; a man speaks of the wife of his bosom (Numbers 11:12; Deuteronomy 13:6); it is also used of two friends who are in complete com­munion with one another, hence the phrase “bosom buddies.” When Between Jesus and God there is complete and uninterrupted intimacy. It is because Jesus is God and is one with Father God that He can reveal God to us.

In Jesus Christ the distant, unknowable, invisible, un­reachable God has been revealed; and God can never be a stranger again.

So far then what have we seen about the Word-Made-Flesh? 1) He is Jesus Christ, Savior and anointed King. 2) He is God, the second person of the Trinity. 3) He is the Word – God-in-Communication, God-Expressing-Himself. 4) He is the Creator of all things. And now my last point,

The Word-Made-Flesh Has Life in Himself, and That Life Becomes the Light of Men

John 1:4: "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men."

All life originates in the Word. That is obvious because, as we have seen already, he is the Creator of all things. But here the focus is probably on spiritual life. In other words, there are two overwhelming problems we humans face: we are spiritually dead and spiritually blind. Jesus is the remedy to both of these problems: He has the life we need, and the Light we need.

John 5:21 says, "The Son gives life to whom he will." In other words, he does for us spiritually what he did for Lazarus when he stood before Lazarus' tomb and said to the dead man, "Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:43).

And how does that life, given by Jesus, relate to light? First, it enables us to see. When dead people are given life, they see. Or, to change the image, when you are born, you see. So it is spiritual sight. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Jesus gives new life and then that life becomes light – the ability to see spiritual truth.

Jesus himself is the Light that is seen. What, after all, are we blind to, when we are unbelievers? We are blind to the truth and beauty and worth – the glory – of Jesus. So when John says, "In him was life and that life was the Light of men," he  means that Jesus Christ, the Word-Made-Flesh, gives the power to see spiritual splendor which is Jesus’ glory..

That's what verse 14 says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory." And that is what Jesus prayed for in John 17:24, "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory." And that's what he claimed when he said twice, "I am the Light of the world" (John 8:12; 9:5). So the Word-Made-Flesh has life in himself, and that life becomes the Light of men. He is the power to see the splendor of God.

Summing up, we have seen five truths about the Word-Made-Flesh.

Finally, then what are the responses you might give to this revelation about Jesus Christ, the Word-Made-Flesh?

One Response was: I Do not Know Him and I Do not Receive Him

This response is described in verses 10-11, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. (11) He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." You might hear this and say, "I do not know him and I have not received him." That is a very frightening things to say about your and your Life and your Light. At the very least I plead with you. Today is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2) and there is salvation in no other than Jesus (Acts 4:12)

The other Response was I Know Him and I Receive Him

The other response is found in verses 12-13, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, (13) who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." This is the response I pray for you this morning. Receive this great Word-Made-Flesh. Receive him as Savior and King and God and Word and Creator and Lord and Life and Light. And you, too, will become a light-bearer to this dark world.

 Today God sending his Son into the world to find all the Bin Ladens of the world, hiding in the caves of darkness and death. Instead of throwing flames into the caves, Jesus stands at the mouth of the caves and says, "Come out into the light for I have died on the cross for sinners; if you will receive me as your God and your Substitute and your Treasure, my death counts for your death and my righteousness counts as your righteousness, and you will have eternal life."

I’d like to close by reading something I read to you on February 3. It is of vital importance that we know the truth. This comes from Henry Blackaby’s daily devotional of January 18th

2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Blackaby says, You do not become a Christian by asking Jesus into your

heart. You become a Christian when you are born again. Jesus said, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Saying a prayer or making a public commit­ment or signing a decision card will not save you. Only being born again will do that. The apostle Paul said that when you are "in Christ," the old things pass away. In the moment of your sal­vation, every sin you ever committed is forgiven. Healing for every hurt you have ever suffered is available. Love and accep­tance are yours despite every failure you have ever experienced. Your past, no matter how difficult or painful, is completely and thoroughly provided for.

You’ve had three months now since I last read this to consider this question. The question, again, is this – have you truly been born again? If so, how do you know? It’s important because only those truly born again will enter the kingdom of heaven. I’m still very interested in hearing your answers!