JESUS: THE WORD | THE GLORY OF GOD

PRAYER: Lord, Remove the veil from our eyes and hearts, and let us see Your Glory!

KEY VERSE: John 20:31, “…but these things 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.”

KEY THEME: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, if you believe in Him, you will have eternal life.

John 1:1-3, 14

INTRODUCTION:

In 1 Kings 8:27, King Solomon asked, “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

Moses, Solomon and the children of Israel were familiar with the glory of the Lord dwelling on the earth.

The children of Israel had the glory of God leading them in the desert and over the tabernacle. “So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.” (Exodus 40:38).

Moses observed the glory of the LORD filling the tabernacle

“Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34-35).

Solomon experienced the same thing in the temple

“When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.” (1 Kings 8:10-11).

John tells us that Jesus came in glory (John 1:14).

Hebrews 1:3 fills in the rest of the story.

A. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

B. Jesus is God’s final “Word” to man, READ Hebrews 1:1-3.

1. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, (Revelation 1:11), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

JESUS: THE ETERNAL WORD. (John 1:1-2)

A. Of all the verses in scripture that speak of the Deity of Christ and the triune Godhead, this is probably the most plan and persuasive.

B. Jesus existed in the beginning, not because He was created by the Father, but because He is eternal, He has no beginning and no end.

1. He is God and He was with God.

a. Jesus himself declared in John 8:58, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

i. This is the Gk. equivalent to Exodus 3:14, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

ii. Exodus 6:3 - YHWH (6,720)

JESUS: THE CREATIVE WORD. (John 1:3)

A. Jesus created all things

1. There is a parallel to the creation account, Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God…” and John begins by saying, “In the beginning was the Word…”

a. “God said, “Let there be…’”

b. Psalm 33:9 says, “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”

B. God created all things through Jesus Christ.

1. Colossians 1:16, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.

a. Paul starts this verse by saying Jesus created all things.

b. He ends the verse by saying, “all things have been created through Him.”

C. Jesus is the Eternal God.

1. John 14:6 Jesus taught, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life…”

2. Read 1 John 5:20-21

a. John echoed these words and proclaimed that it is in Jesus that we can know God (He is the way), Jesus is not only the Truth, but is the True God as well as the source of Life Eternal!

b. John after proclaiming that Jesus is the True God warns us to guard ourselves from idols.

i. Anyone who worships a Jesus who is not the One True God is worshipping an idol!

JESUS: THE INCARNATE WORD. (John 1:14)

-Athanasius (an early Church Father) said, “He became what we are that He might make us what He is.“

The only begotten means: He is unique, the only one of His kind.

1. The Gk. word monogenes means only one of its kind.

2. The word teknon, which means child is never used to describe Christ.

3. This does not speak of Christ’s point of origin but rather of His unique position as the God-man.

A. Some deny the humanity of Christ.

1. There are some that believed Jesus came in the form of a spirit and he appeared to have a body of flesh, His body was just an illusion. Those who would hold to this assertion are called Docetists; this group was among the first to be labeled as heretics along with Gnosticism and Marcionism (these two groups also denied the humanity of Christ). There are still groups like this today.

2. Anyone who denies this is a deceiver; 2 John 7, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

B. John and the disciples affirm the humanity of Christ.

1. They had seen and touched the Word of Life (Jesus).

a. READ: 1 John 1:1-4

2. John points out that Jesus had many human experiences like us:

a. He was weary (John 4:6)

b. He was thirsty (John 4:7)

c. He was troubled (John 11:33)

d. He wept (John 11:35)

e. He was thirsty on the cross (John 19:28)

f. He died (John 19:30)

g. He bled (John 19:34)

h. He had a real body after the resurrection (even though it was a glorified one) (John 20:24-29).

C. The Scriptures affirm the humanity of Jesus.

1. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

a. Immanuel means “God is with us” -- C. H. Spurgeon in Morning and Evening: “Emmanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendor.”

2. Matthew 1:18-25

3. Luke 1:26-38

Warren Wiersbe says, “He took on Himself sinless human nature and identified with us in every aspect of life from birth to death. ‘The Word’ was not an abstract concept of philosophy, but a real Person who could be seen, touched, and heard. Christianity is Christ, and Christ is God.”