John 1:1-18
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Introduction
Introduction
Christmas gifts are a big part of the Christmas season.
The festive wrapping. The shiny bows. The name tag with your name on it!
Don’t you just wonder what’s underneath the wrapping?
But Christmas gifts have a way of disappointing.
Sometimes it’s not what you wanted.
Sometimes it’s the wrong size or the wrong color.
And the new always wears off over time.
Christmas gifts are often as disappointing as these I have here with me this morning.
Beautifully wrapped but with nothing inside.
Jesus, however, is different.
Jesus is a gift sent from God, but He didn’t come wrapped in beauty.
John 1:14 says that He came in the flesh, which means a human body like yours or mine.
Isaiah 53:2 says that He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
But while Jesus wasn’t beautifully wrapped, He was filled with everything.
John 1:1-18 tells us who Jesus is beneath the wrapping, beneath the flesh.
And who He is beneath the flesh explains why it’s so significant that He came wrapped in flesh.
In this passage John introduces us to the eternal Jesus, the all-powerful Jesus, the glorious Jesus, the full-of-grace-and-truth Jesus, the only-begotten-God Jesus!
This is the all-glorious, the wonderful One who became flesh and dwelt among us!
[TS] Let’s notice the wonder of Jesus in three respects in this passage…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: Notice the Wonder of Jesus the Word (vv. 1-3)
#1: Notice the Wonder of Jesus the Word (vv. 1-3)
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.
[Exp] I think John used the term “Word” for Jesus because it was a term used both by Greeks and Jews.
Greek philosophers used the concept of the “word” to describe the impersonal but eternal reasoning or rationale that made the world understandable.
Jewish people used “the Word” in reference to the Word of God, which brought the world into being. Psalm 33:6 says…
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
John says this Word is Jesus.
It’s not impersonal—He’s Jesus!
He was with God in the beginning and was God in the beginning.
That statement speaks to God’s Trinity and Jesus’ divinity.
How can Jesus be with God and yet be God? Doesn’t that mean there are at least two gods?
No.
The Bible presents God to us as One God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This is beyond our comprehension but each Person in the Trinity is totally God and yet there is only one God.
And if we believe what John says, we see the Trinity right at the start of creation...
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
God the Father decides.
God the Holy Spirit moves.
And God the Son, the Word, goes forth to make the light.
Jesus is the Word that went forth to make the light—and everything else!
John says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being,” (John 1:3).
[Illus] In the children’s Sunday School of another church a long time ago, there was a homemade poster that had at the top as a theme: Things God Made.
The children had listed things like trees, goats, lions, waterfalls, and human beings.
They were correct on every count except one. On this poster that said, Things God Made—one child had also written, Jesus.
I very calmly pulled out my pen, marked through that heresy, and wrote “wrong.”
John 1:3 says, “All things came into being through Jesus…,” and then listen to this, “…and apart from Jesus nothing came into being that has come into being.”
Jesus is, and yet, He did not come into being. Therefore, He must be eternal.
He must be—not creation—but Creator.
[App] Creator God came and dwelt among us wrapped in human in flesh—Jesus the Word.
Is this the Jesus you celebrate this Christmas?
[TS] …
#2: But also notice the Wonder of Jesus the Light (vv. 4-13)
#2: But also notice the Wonder of Jesus the Light (vv. 4-13)
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. 6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 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. 12 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.
[Exp] Light and life are connected in the OT. Psalm 27:1 says…
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?
Likewise, Psalm 36:9 says…
9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
Jesus Himself connects the light and life a little later in John’s gospel, saying in John 8:12…
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.”
To walk in darkness is to walk the path of death—it is to walk ignorant of God’s holiness and ignorant of one’s own sinfulness.
Jesus, however, came as the Light to shine the light of God’s holiness in a sin-darkened world.
Even with John the Baptist pointing to Jesus as the Light, the world did not know Him (John 1:10).
Even the Jewish people failed to receive Him (John 1:11).
Indeed, the Light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
The darkness did not want to comprehend it…
20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But notice again John 1:12-13…
12 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.
Would you be a child of God?
You must receive Jesus!
Would you escape the deadly clutches of sin?
You must believe in His name!
Would you have life everlasting?
You must come to the Light!
It is your responsibility to come, but if you come, know that you come by God’s grace!
All those who come to Jesus the Light are born again not because of human lineage, human procreation, or human decision—they are spiritually reborn—spiritually brought to life—by the grace of God through faith in Jesus!
6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
[Illus] The other night—just a couple weeks before Christmas—we were asleep in our house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse, when suddenly there arouse such a clatter, t’was the alarm going off… which almost made me empty my bladder.
Seriously… I jumped out of bed looking for my phone and looking for the light switch, but in the dark, neither of those was easy to find.
It turned out that one of the sensors on one of Dalton’s windows had fallen off.
Maybe it just became unattached or maybe Dalton was sneaking out to get a taco or something, but either way it was nothing to worry about.
But as difficult as it is to find something like a phone or light switch in the dark, it’s not impossible.
I did eventually find those things.
But it is, however, impossible to find God in the dark.
It’s impossible to find God without the Jesus the Light.
[App] I know that various people say there are many ways to God, that every spiritual journey leads to salvation.
That’s not true.
The only path that leads to salvation, the only enlightened path to God is the path lighted by Jesus the Light.
Only Jesus shows us true knowledge.
Only Jesus shows us true holiness.
Only Jesus shows us true love.
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.”
Is this the Jesus you celebrate this Christmas?
[TS] …
#3: Finally, Notice the Wonder of Jesus the Son (vv. 14-18)
#3: Finally, Notice the Wonder of Jesus the Son (vv. 14-18)
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. 15 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.’ ” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
[Exp] The word “begotten” in this passage has caused much debate. Some have said that we shouldn’t use the word “begotten” in translating the Greek word mo-no-yen-Es (monogenes), which means one (mono) of a kind (genes).
Personally, I like the way the NIV translators put it in John 1:14…
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the one and only Son, the only begotten God! There is no one like Him!
He is perfect in glory just as God the Father is perfect in glory!
He is full of grace and truth just as God the Father is full of grace and truth!
He is eternal just as God the Father is eternal!
He is very God of very God just as the Father is very God of very God!
But only He became flesh and dwelt among us!
And only He who is in the bosom of the Father, at the Father’s side, in closet relation to the Father—only He has come and made God known to us!
[App] Is this who we think of when we think of Jesus as a baby in a manger?
Do we think of very God of very God in that manger?
Is this who we think of when we think of Jesus resisting every temptation in the wilderness?
Do we think of very God of very God in that wilderness?
Is this who we think of when we think of Jesus giving His life for us on the cross?
That’s the Word on that cross!
That’s the Creator!
That’s the Light of the World bleeding to death for me and for you!
That’s Life giving His life for us!
That’s the only begotten of the Father, the one and only Son paying the price for our sin!
Is this who we think of when we think of Jesus rising from the dead!?
“Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes!”
Of course the Father would accept His sacrifice—He was perfect in holiness!
Of course death could not hold Him—He’s the Author of Life!
Of course through faith in Him we are raised to new life with God—He is the Resurrection and the Life!
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
Is this the Jesus you know this Christmas!?
[TS] …
Conclusion
Conclusion
What a wonder He is!
Jesus the Word!
Jesus the Light!
Jesus the Son!
Became flesh…
…a babe born in a manger…
…but with no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him…
…but underneath the wrapping, Jesus does not disappoint.
Jesus is everything!