Sermon Tone Analysis
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God is a God of Revelation
Have you ever participated in a secret gift-giving party, maybe a Secret Santa event at school or work?
In this event, you receive a name and secretly give gifts to someone who doesn't know who it is until the big reveal.
It can be a lot of fun to disguise yourself and then see the surprise on the person when you reveal yourself.
The revealing, along with the gifts, is the main part of this activity
The gospel reveals that God is in the revelation business.
But He is not like a Secret Santa.
He wants to communicate who He is and who we are with and without Him.
If we read the Bible from cover to cover, we can see how God has consistently made an effort to inform us.
All creation broadcasts His glory.
Psalm 19:1
And the prophets were messengers of God's Word.
God continued His revelation through John the disciple and John the Baptist, who introduced to us the full and final revelation of God.
We know this revelation as Jesus Christ.
God has something for us that is far better than any gift we could receive.
At the essence of every human being, there is the desire to know our Creator and His purpose for us.
God gives the gift of a relationship with Him.
As we study this section of scripture, consider the ways John describes Jesus as revelation.
Jesus is the Word, the True Light, the One who reveals God and His purpose for us.
The Word
John does not use the name of Jesus until verse 17, but rather chose to use the term "Word" (logos).
We might find this confusing, but to John's original audience, they would have understood his meaning.
The concept of "the Word" had roots in the Old Testament as the action of God in this world.
Psalm 33:6-7
It also was used to describe God's communication to people (the word of the LORD).
And in the culture of the time,
The Greeks had used the term logos in their philosophical explanations regarding the functioning of the world.
The logos was for them an impersonal ordering force, that which gave harmony to the universe.
The logos was not personal in their philosophy, but it was very important.
John takes the term and redirects our thinking to see that God's communication is not only personal but a person, Jesus Christ.
And the big surprise is, the Word is God!
How can the Word be God?
John gives us a couple of reasons.
The Word was:
in the beginning
in fellowship with God
was God (eternally) the Creator
But how do we know that John was careful to make this distinction of the Word as God? James White explains the careful use of the verb "to be".
Throughout the prologue of the Gospel of John, the author balances between two verbs.
When speaking of the Logos as He existed in eternity past, John uses the Greek word ἦν, en (a form of eimi).
The tense1 of the word expresses continuous action in the past.
Compare this with the verb he chooses to use when speaking of everything else—found, for example, in verse 3: “All things came into being through Him,” ἐγένετο, egeneto.
This verb2 contains the very element missing from the other: a point of origin.
The term, when used in contexts of creation and origin, speaks of a time when something came into existence.
The first verb, en, does not.
As we see from these opening verses, God has consistently revealed himself with His past revelation and continued to reveal himself through Jesus Christ.
John’s next illustration of revelation is described as light.
The Word is Light
If you listen closely to the opening verses, you will hear the echoes of the opening of Genesis.
Genesis 1:1-4
Just like the formless darkness is interrupted by the Words of the Godhead, "Let there be light".
The only way to counteract the effect of darkness is with light.
Even the smallest amount of light can be seen in the darkness.
But John has a tremendous light in mind that not only appears but emits a powerful brightness that darkness cannot fight against it.
The darkness does not dim the light, but rather the light changes the darkness because the light is always more powerful.
The Bible identifies human darkness in a couple of ways:
without knowledge or understanding of God Psalm 82:5
living in rejection and rebellion of God - Psalm 107:10-15
The only solution for darkness is light.
Now let’s consider the ability of sight.
The human eyes are amazing parts of the body.
Eyes were created to receive light so we could see shapes, color, and depth.
We depend upon our eyes to "see".
But even if our eyes are fully functioning, we cannot see without light.
But here is the big question, if a light shines brightly and eyes are functioning, why do people still not see?
Jesus has come to the world He created.
He comes like a bright light for all people to see.
But some eyes still don't see, or rather, some eyes refuse to see.
Eyes do not see because they do not receive it.
Receive - to take, accept, to receive willingly something given that is physical or abstract.
Think about this, you may have received a present that you didn't like, or maybe you found it offensive (exercise equipment, cleaning supplies, deodorant).
You may smile and receive it, but you might re-gift it, return it, or throw it away.
The gift is there, but you really don't receive it.
Is that what the gospel is like to some of us?
Is that why those around us don't believe it as we do?
The problem is not with the Gift giver, nor the gift.
It is the receiver.
So it is with the Light.
Neither the Giver of Light nor the Light is the problem but the one who sees the light and refuses to receive it.
The Word is Revealed
John declared that the Word became flesh.
We know this as the doctrine of the Incarnation.
Incarnation: The act of grace whereby Jesus came to earth and took on a human nature into union with his divine nature becoming “God incarnate” for the purpose of our salvation.
Jesus existed as God before the World began.
He created all things.
He is God.
We can't have the Incarnation without the Trinity.
These two doctrines form an inseparable truth that is part of God's salvation.
The Word "dwelt among us".
At first glance, we may miss the theological background to this phrase.
The term “dwelt” is the same term used to describe "to take up residence, dwell as in a tent".
Looking back to the Old Testament, we see the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle.
There is no coincidence that John used this word to describe the coming down and dwelling of Christ as God did in the Old Testament.
But this time it was not a physical tent nor a visual effect of fire or smoke.
It was through the heartbeat of a human body.
The Light of the world presented himself in a tangible way.
It may have appeared ordinary at a glance, but those who encountered Jesus describe it as "glory".
But not all received, but those who do receive the right to become children of God.
So should we change the nature of this glorious light for others to receive it better?
Should we give it a different hue or dim it a bit?
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