He Planned to Come!
Notes
Transcript
As we approach our celebration of Christ coming this Christmas season, I desire for us to focus on the passage from John 1:1-17. As we look at it over the next three times together we will look at:
How He Planned to Come
The Light in the Darkness
The Mess He Came To
Each time asking the questions:
When
Who
Why
The Gospel of John was written for a purpose John 20:30-31
Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 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.
The other gospels record more of the miracles (20 in Matthew, Mark has 18, 20 in Luke, and John has 8)
Verse 31 delivers it clearly...
This baby we celebrate is the Son of God and He is the one who brings life!!!
Let’s read together John 1:1-17 as we contemplate His plan…
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.
Our focus today in this passage is… Jesus Planned to Come and we will ask WHEN, WHO, and WHY
Consider the When...
Consider the When...
Go Back to creation and we read Genesis 1:1 “in the beginning God...”
Matthew goes back and declares Jesus’ Davidic Kingly line
Luke goes back to Adam
Mark jumps right into the proclamation that the promised Messiah came
But John goes back to the beginning… BEFORE anything was there was God
Before we look further at the WHEN I want us to look at the WHO...
Consider Who...
Consider Who...
WORD… Logos the content of God’s revelation and as a verbal echo of the use of the verbs meaning ‘to speak’ in Genesis 1 and in many utterances of the prophets—‘Word, Message | Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 399). New York: United Bible Societies.
Follow John’s logic here John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
The Word is eternal
The Word is in relationship with God
The Word is God
John then added that the Word was God. Jehovah’s Witnesses translate this clause, “The Word was a god.” This is incorrect and logically is polytheism. Others have translated it “the Word was divine,” but this is ambiguous and could lead to a faulty view of Jesus.
Jesus Christ is GOD! Consider all Jesus says and does with the reality He is God… He did not come into existence in Bethlehem, or when the angel visited Mary. NO! Jesus has been from eternity past God! And He became Immanuel “God with Us” John 1:14
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.
Verse 14 states the Word became flesh… He added humanity to His deity, yet Christ Himself did not change.
“Dwelt among us” … made His abode, lived with for a while, made His tabernacle with us
Consider the When & Who...
Consider the When & Who...
His Powerful & Passionate Plan Genesis 1
Verses 3-5 God creates time! (Day 1) Knowing one day He would step into the restrictions of time
All God creates in creation is spoken (The Word) into being except one…
Mankind is formed by His hands… Day six knowing man would sin
In the consequences He offered hope… a Messiah… a Promised One
The Word would become Flesh
Life is breathed into us (John 1:4 life spiritual and physical)
Verses 14-19 He creates the sun moon and stars…
Did you know we can send a rocket to Mars because everything is exact
God is a God of order… when He breathed out the stars and set orbits He made sure there would be a star to declare to gentile wisemen the Son of God has come! He knew (being God and all knowing) the moment He would breath His last on the cross as an eclipse darkened the earth.
Verses 9-13 recount the third day when God brought about vegetation and trees… knowing one day the exact tree that He caused to grow knowing He would hang on it after it was cut down and fashioned into a cross.
IF… the baby Jesus lying in the manger is God, and IF… He was instrumental in all creation, and IF… He knows all things… THEN we have to realize that He planned His coming for you and me from the beginning!
The leaves us with our final question of why
Why...
Why...
Would the Word Come???
The WORD: God has been communicating with us from the very beginning
He communicated His promise
He communicated His Law through Moses
Through the prophets He communicated His will and warnings
Through the scriptures He communicated His heart...
BUT… through His Son He communicated His love, a free gift to ALL mankind
John 3:16-17 answers the why this way in the Words of Jesus Himself:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
John wrote these things “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
What an amazing powerful and passionate plan God had when He sent us His Son… a baby lying in a manger.