The Eternal Word is Our Life and Light
Notes
Transcript
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There’s a certain amount of trepidation whenever a preacher of the gospel steps behind the pulpit because it’s too easy to give his own opinions without realizing it and to declare them as if they had the authority of “thus saith the Lord.” But the text I’ve chosen for tonight brings even greater hesitation than normal. Why? Because it deals more distinctly with the deity and person of the Son of God than any other passage.
And all of this is complicated even more by the fact that tonight’s passage has been somewhat controversial. The controversy focuses on the last five words of verse 1: And the Word was God. In our translation the word God is capitalized to make it clear that Jesus Christ is true and eternal God, equal to his Father. Two thousand years of orthodox Christian belief confirm this. But the New World Translation of the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses says something else. It says, “… and the Word was a god” with a little ‘g,’ suggesting that Jesus was some kind of lesser deity.
This is a huge difference. But just like the doctrine of creation, if we don’t get the starting point of our doctrine of Christ right, nothing else follows. Unless Jesus is essentially God, he cannot be Immanuel because Immanuel means ‘God with us.’ Salvation also evaporates because it lacks the power of God, who is the only one who can save us. And this leaves us entirely without hope.
So, when John penned the words we’re considering tonight, he wrote some of the most powerful words that mankind has ever heard. They’re words that have changed the history of the world. They’re particularly powerful for us because they’re the foundation of eternal life and hope and peace.
Turning to our text now, my goal is just to follow the outline that’s there. The first two verses introduce the Word and tell us who he is. Verse 3 tells us what the Word did in the beginning. And verses 4 and 5 explain how the Word relates to men.
The Word
The Word
It’s true that the first two verses have been controversial, but they’re also puzzling. Why did John introduce Jesus Christ as the Word or the Logos. We know that he was talking about Jesus because of what follows. John the Baptist bore witness to the Word (v. 7). The Word enlightens every man (v. 9). And most importantly, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (v. 14). There’s no one else about whom these things can be said.
But why the Word? Some commentators think John borrowed this from the first-century philosopher Philo, who mentioned the Word at least thirteen hundred times in his writings. But the problem with this is that Philo doesn’t seem to have had a clear idea of what he was talking about. Sometimes he spoke of the Word as an attribute of God in mind (like his goodness or eternity), sometimes it was a bridge between God and the world, and sometimes it was something similar to both but actually neither. Further, he often spoke of the Word as an allegory that could have just about any meaning.
No, for the answer to why John called Jesus the Word we have to turn to the scriptures of the Old Testament. There we find that the Word is as a person. Psalm 33:6 ascribes to him the power of creation. It says,
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Without saying too much at this point, note how this ties in with our second point from verse 3, viz., that the Word made or created everything that has been made. The Word spoke and the world came into being.
This takes us to the root of what a word is. A word is that which embodies our thoughts and communicates them to others. And that’s exactly what Jesus did. He fulfilled his Father’s plan both in creation and in redemption. Being of the same mind as his Father, he also communicates his Father’s will to us. Hebrews 1:1-2 says,
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
John 1:18 puts it like this:
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
He could do so because he expresses the glory of God fully and perfectly. The next verse in Hebrews says,
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
But where has Jesus communicated to us the glory of his Father? The obvious answer is that he spoke to his disciples while on earth. But please don’t limit his communication of God’s grace to the words that came out of his human mouth. He also communicated to his people through the Old Testament prophets. His Spirit was in them. And he continues to speak to his church today in the Bible. There is no divine speech anywhere else.
Further, note how John was so careful to describe the Word for you. His description is nothing less than amazing. Consider what he wrote about him:
First, the Word was in the beginning. That is, he was there before there was a there. He’s eternal. There never was a time when the Word didn’t exist.
Second, the Word was with God. Here the preposition translated with literally means ‘face to face.’ That is, the Word was in constant fellowship and communion with the Father and the Spirit. He looked into their eyes as an equal. None of the divine persons is greater than or less than another.
Third, the Word was God. Here, as I said earlier, much is made of the absence of the definite article before the word God, but this really isn’t the problem that some try to make it. It’s just an idiom that any first-century Greek would have understood. In fact, exactly the same idiom occurs in John 19:21, where the chief priests asked Pilate to change the accusation of the sign on the cross. They wanted it to say, He said, I am King of the Jews. Not even the New World Translation translates this as ‘He said, I am a king of the Jews.’ Likewise, what John intended in our text is clear: the Word was God — eternal and true God, very God of very God — not a lesser god. The Word is what God is. He is all that God is and nothing less.
And fourth, verse 2, though it sounds a mere repetition of phrases from verse 1, actually brings them all together and applies them specifically to the one who was just declared to be God.
So, who’s John’s gospel about? Who brought salvation to men? Who reveals that salvation to men? God did. More specifically, God the Word — the second person of the Trinity — did.
The Creator
The Creator
Verse 3 goes on to explain the Word’s role in creation. Being eternal God, he made all things. He created the universe out of nothing. John wrote,
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
There are some, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, who claim that Jesus himself is a creature. There was a time when he was not. God made him and gave him the power to create other things. He then made everything else. But the second part of this verse doesn’t allow this. Why? Because it literally says that Jesus made everything that has the nature of having been created. William Hendriksen put it like this: “Apart from him not a single thing that exists came into being.” This means that Jesus would have to have created himself, which is both impossible and ridiculous.
Otherwise, there are plenty of passages that prove that Jesus made all created things. Earlier we cited Psalm 33:6. We could also have quoted Proverbs 8. But perhaps the clearest of all is Colossians 1:16, where the apostle Paul wrote,
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
The whole universe — physical and spiritual, seen and unseen — is his work and he can do with it whatever he pleases.
The Light
The Light
But since creation isn’t my main concern tonight, I want to move on to verses 4 and 5 to emphasize what the eternal Word is to us. He’s our light and life. Look again at what John wrote:
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Life was in the Word when he made all things. The preposition in is important. It tells us that Jesus is the source of life. It’s not merely that life passes through him to us, but that our life is derived from him. Our spiritual life in particular comes from his death on the cross. John 6:53 says,
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
And to Lazarus’ sister Martha he spoke most plainly of all. It’s not just that life is in Jesus like we store jelly in Mason jars, but that he himself is life. John 11:25 says,
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
A few days later he said the same thing to his disciples. John 14:6 says,
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And if you look at this evening’s text again, you’ll see what I’m saying there as well. John defined life in verse 4 as the light of men, a light that cannot be overpowered by darkness. This is what John the Baptist bore witness to. And it’s this light brings God’s people unto himself. To put it as plainly as I possibly can, the light is Jesus Christ.
Life and light are used interchangeably here. Both belong to the spiritual world. So, when John wrote that life and light were in Jesus Christ, he mean that the Lord Jesus, being fully and eternally God, brings God’s wisdom, truth, holiness and love to men. He tells us about the Father to lead us into fellowship with him.
And the Word did as he planned. Verse 5 says, The light shineth in darkness. In fact, his coming put an end to the reign of darkness. First John 2:8 says, The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. The whole world was once under the spell of darkness because of sin, but in Jesus Christ the light of the gospel promise beams forth forth. It always has. Yet, his incarnation two thousand years ago made it even easier to see. Literally for a while and figurative thereafter, believers see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).
I don’t want you to be deceived, though. Although the reign of darkness has ended, darkness itself, i.e., the forces of evil that are at work in the world, refuse to give up. They engage in what verse 5 pictures as a life-and-death wrestling match. To this day, darkness still tries its best to comprehend the light. It wants to throw it down and pin it to the mat. It wants to conquer it and subdue it. But thankfully, darkness cannot win. Why? Because it’s completely outmatched. It’s not fighting an ordinary enemy with limited power and skill. It’s fighting against the Word — the same Word that’s eternal, the same Word that fellowships with the Father and Spirit on an equal footing, the same Word that is true and eternal God. It’s fighting against the one who made all things, including the darkness, and uses everything in creation for his own glory.
So, while it’s true that the prologue to John’s gospel is fearful and controversial and puzzling, I hope you can see that it’s also comforting. It’s comforting for the same reason that it’s fearful. It teaches us about the Son of God, who is eternally one with the Father and Spirit. And what can be more comforting that knowing that this God is mine — “That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me, that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must work together for my salvation. Wherefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready henceforth to live unto Him” (HC 1)? Amen.