Knowing God through Understanding Christ

"John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (John 1:15-18, KJV)

Introduction:

Apart from Jesus Christ, John the Baptist is probably the most theologically significant figure in the Gospels. As was the case with Jesus, his birth was meticulously recorded (Luke 1:5–25). His entrance into the world was marked by angelic proclamation and divine intervention (Luke 1:57–80). John’s birth not only parallels that of Jesus, but echoes the momentous occasion of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 17:15–22; 21:1–7). John is clearly a pivotal figure in the salvation history of God.

Although his formative years were lived in obscurity in the desert (Luke 1:80), his public ministry ended nearly four hundred years of prophetic silence. John was that voice crying in the wilderness preparing the way for the coming Messiah (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:2–3; Luke 3:3–6). In this sense his message and ministry marked the culmination of the law and the prophets, but heralded the inbreaking of the kingdom of God (Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16). So John was truly a transitional figure, forming the link between the Old and New Testaments. He spans the ages with one foot firmly planted in the Old Testament and the other squarely placed in the New.

The central theme of his ministry was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt. 3:2). He was called “The Baptist” because his practice was to baptize those who responded to the message he proclaimed and sincerely repented of their sins (Matt. 3:1; Mark 6:14; Luke 7:20).

John was an end-times prophet. He conducted his ministry with an eschatological authority that demanded immediate action. He taught that judgment is at hand. The axe is laid to the roots and God will thoroughly purge his threshing floor (Matt. 3:10–12; Luke 3:9, 17). And the authenticity of repentance was evidenced in very practical terms: share with those in need, eliminate graft, and prohibit extortion (Luke 3:11–14).

John’s lifestyle was as austere as his message. He was an ascetic living in the wilderness, clothed in camel hair and subsisting on locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6). Unlike Jesus, he expected people to come to him, rather than he going to them (Matt. 3:5).

John was no “crowd pleaser.” He willingly confronted the hypocrisy of the religious establishment (Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7). He did not hesitate to expose the immorality of Herod and chose to die a martyr’s death rather than compromise his convictions (Matt. 14:3–12; Mark 6:17–29).[1]

John starts his account of the life of Christ by explaining to us about Christ. Let me continue this idea with this fact. Your knowledge factually, about Christ does lead you to know Him. Your level of understanding about Christ will lead you to different levels of actually knowing God. If you only perceive God as only a distant cosmic force, your actually knowledge of will be of great difference than those believers who see God as a present influence and power. In other word, if you do not really see God as an omnipresent Lord but a distant force; than you will not live your life as though everywhere that you go God goes with you. If you do not really see God as the omniscient Lord; than you will not live your life under the understanding that God, with wisdom, orchestrates everything that happens in your life. All of these things, if they are not understood, factually, will hinder or aid in you actually knowing God.

Here is the difference that you must understanding because I do not want you to think that factual knowledge is not important, yet at the same time I do not want you to incorrectly perceive that factual knowledge is enough. Both factual and actual knowledge are vital to really being able to know God. Here is want I mean. Someone who really does not know God but just knows facts about God is someone who does not allow what he knows to change his life. Yet the person who really knows God takes the facts that he understands about God and allows it to change his life. If I were to define it, that is the difference between just knowing facts about God and really knowing God. Does want you know about God change the way that you live or not and that is the test as to whether or not you know God or that you just know things about God.

John helps us in our understanding about God, which can and must lead to a life-style change if we are going to know God. John reveals some keep aspects of God, that if we will allow these things to change our lives, it will lead is to actually know Him.

I. Christ- The Great One (vs. Jn. 1:15)

In this point, John focuses on the greatness of Christ and focuses on his inferiority to Christ. John uses two key Greek words to describe the greatness of Christ. The first is the word “γίνομαι” and it literally speaks about the origination of Christ. We know that John is speaking here about the eternal existence of Christ because John uses the words, “he was before me”. Now, know that John was not speaking about hid physical birth because, John was older than Christ. So for John to be speaking about Christ chronological age would have inconsistent with the public knowledge that John was older that Christ. So we know that he was speaking about the eternality of Christ. Does this make Christ great? You bet!! Since Christ existence was something that John saw as always being the case, that means that we have a God that formed everything and knows how everything works, because He made it to work the way that it works. If I will live by that fact, I can actually know a God that knows how I work. If He knows how I work that He can give me what I need. I can live with that. The second word is “πρῶτος” which means “chief”. If I will take John’s words and actually know that Christ is “chief” is will realize that he is sovereign, and if sovereign than that will change the way I view Christ as my master.

II. Christ-The Gift-giver (vs. 16)

“Fullness” is the word “πλήρωμα” and speaks of completeness. Doesn’t John do a wonderful job here of describing Christ. We need to actually know Christ because He is completeness, everything is fulfilled in Him. And because of that we have χάρις ἀντί χάρις, everything that we have is in Him because He is complete in everything. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17, KJV). To know God more, we must actually know that He is complete, that everything that we will ever need or want is found in him. "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;" (Ephesians 1:6-8, KJV)

"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:5-10, KJV)

III. Christ-the Grace Giver (vs. 17)

Understanding grace means that we understand our need. We know Christ best as we understand how great our need is. The law brought guilt and the acknowledgment of our sins, but through Christ came grace and truth. To know Christ, we need to see that Christ is grace. He gave us what we did not deserve, knowing that will change your life.

IV. Christ-the God giver (vs. 18)

I like this phrase in the Greek “εἰς πατήρ ὁ κόλπος” at the Father’s side. “ἐξηγέομαι” made known, because Christ is by the Father’s side He has made the Father knowable to us. There is nothing in us that makes the Father knowable; it is because of Christ being at the side of the Father that He has made God knowable to us.

These are things that we must take into account. Christ is great, Christ is the gift giver, Christ is the Grace giver and Christ is the God giver. This is intellectual knowledge that if we really believe will help actually know Him.

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[1]Elwell, W. A., & Elwell, W. A. (1997, c1996). Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology (electronic ed.). Baker reference library; Logos Library System. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.