A Portrait of the King

I want us to get into the mindset of the 1stcentury Jew as we read today’s scripture and hear from the Word. What would they have thought? What understanding would they have brought to the table? They were a verbal culture, so they would have had a rich imagination every time they heard the scriptures. They memorized the scripture, so it would have saturated their understanding. By the time a Jewish child was 13, they would have memorized the Pentateuch and other books of the OT.

John 1:1–18 CSB

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. There was 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. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”) Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.

Read again to see the repetative words

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was 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 The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

From the Pillar Commentary –

the Prologue summarizes how the ‘Word’ which was with God in the very beginning came into the sphere of time, history, tangibility—in other words, how the Son of God was sent into the world to become the Jesus of history, so that the glory and grace of God might be uniquely and perfectly disclosed. The rest of the book is nothing other than an expansion of this theme.

Outline

God & Creator

Life

Light

Creator & God

Eight “I Am” statements in the book of John

(just to plant a seed for later)

“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51)

“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)

“I AM” (John 8:58)

“I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7,9)

“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)

“I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11, 14)

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1, 5)

First off, notice that John bookends this prologue with Jesus’ God-ness. He is crystal clear

See this in the repetition of the words John uses. It’s pretty clear in English. It is even clearer in Greek. [read bolded words in passage]

Parallels to Genesis 1 are unmistakable and intentional

Frozen 2 – going back to the beginning to weave in new details so a new story can be told

Genesis has 2 members of the Trinity. John shows the 3rd member was there also

In the beginning…

Let there be light / Light shines in the darkness

God created life (in all its forms) / All things were created through Christ and in Him was life

Adam was created / The Word became flesh

Tabernacled among us… This would have been a vivid mental image.

Example – 9-11, Never Forget. What comes to mind when I say that? Planes hitting the Twin Towers? Terrified, ash-covered American citizens in the streets? The exact time and place you were when you heard the news…

This would have been equally as stimulating, like a movie flashback.Jesus came and tabernacle among us – BOOM – The Israelites are in the wilderness. God’s glory comes in and settles over the Ark. God comes and dwells among his people in an earthly vessel. God is here now in like-manner.

Other references to Jesus’ divinity in John:

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58

“Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.” John 17:5

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation John 17:24

APPLICATION

· For the 1st century Jew, this would have been mind-blowing.

· This Creator Jesus was the same Jesus that walked this earth in their parent’s generation!

· John connected that Jesus was indeed Emmanuel – God with us – the same God of OT

TAKEAWAY – Jesus isn’t just a good teacher, historical figure, your bestie, or British. Our culture has tamed our King. He is the all-knowing, sovereign creator of the world. He is God – 2nd person of the Trinity – who was face to face with the Father from the dawn of creation.

TRANSITION – So, Jesus is our Lord and Creator, but John doesn’t stop there. He also introduces other attributes of Jesus that carry throughout his gospel account and epistles, and while we don’t have the time to look at all of them, there are two that are highlighted throughout and which have big implications for us today.

Life

(50+ in gospel & epistles)

In the Genesis account, the 1st three days of creation were spent preparing spaces for life (cosmos, sky/ocean, land), and the last 3 days were spent filling them with life (sun/moon/stars, birds/fish, animals/man).

Picture of Harmony

Life was pure and untainted by sin. There was perfect harmony with their Creator and with each other. It was the only true utopia. Again, picture the scene in your mind as the 1st Century Jew would have. Walk in the garden with Adam. Feel the coolness of the breeze on your skin. Look at all the lush foliage. Wonder in the harmony you see: No death, Lion and Lamb walking side-by-side in harmony. Mutual peace among all of God’s created beings. The Author of that level of life was among them. He spoke with and delighted in Adam. There was a purity and quality of life here that we could not even begin to imagine.

Now, let’s turn to John.

All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

There is a point John is making here.

First, he re-iterates that Jesus is the author of physical life. All life on earth, and specifically, life to mankind.

Then, moving to verse 10, we see this life in a different light:

10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

Something about the nature of life has changed. This isn’t the same portrait we see in the Genesis account. The harmony between the Creator and the Created is missing. Now, the Cosmic Jesus stepped down into human history and was rejected by his own. Sin had marred the original design.

Now, this ‘life’ has a new property. Not only is there physical life, but there is spiritual life – not of the flesh – but of God. Now, there is a redemptive element to LIFE that wasn’t there in Genesis 1.

We see this in the prologue, and we also see it throughout his gospel account:

In this life

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10

I AM statement: “I am the bread of life,” John 6:35

In the life to come

For God so loved the world… John 3:16

For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40

Woman at the well: Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” John 4:13-14

24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. John 5:24

APPLICATION – This IS the gospel message. Come to Jesus and live. The author of life is also the Messiah spoken of in prophecy. The lost need to hear it so they can pass from death to life. New life in Jesus. But we also need this for daily living. We can have true life living in harmony with our creator, but in order to have that, we must move away from sin and toward him. The closer we move toward the giver of life, the more abundantly we will have it.

We feel the lack of that today, don’t we? We feel the disparity in our world.Covid quarantines showed us our need for human contact. We see the horrors of evil on the news every day. People are fleeing from Afghanistan, fearing for their life because the Taliban wants to take it from them. We constantly chase after things that we think will enhance our lives but it always ends up being empty and hollow.

TAKEAWAY – Where sin has brought death, Jesus brings new life – here on earth now, and eternally in the life to come.

TRANSITION – Life isn’t the only thing Jesus brings, however. There is another attribute that is tightly woven with life and we see it in verse 4: In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

Light

(20+ in gospel & epistles)

Let’s go back to Genesis another time. In the Genesis account, darkness exists. It is over the deep and is penetrated by this newly formed (or revealed?) light. In this narrative, darkness is simply the absence of light. In our mind’s eye, we see a darkened cosmos and a raw, unformed, watery world that is instantly illuminated when God said – let there be light. Sin had not yet entered God’s creation, so there wasn’t anything malevolent about the darkness. It was just void of light and used for the cycle of life and nature. Day and night…

But, in John 1, darkness becomes more than that. It also becomes the active presence of evil.

5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it… 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

This shows Jesus as the hero of the story, the darkness as the villain, and the battle between the two. In other passages of scripture, it is even described as the Kingdom of Darkness and the Kingdom of Light. Scripture shows the reality of an all-out war between these two Kingdoms.

In contrast, light just doesn’t permeate darkness to illuminate God’s forming creation, but now, as we saw with LIFE, it takes on a redemptive property.

Contrasting elements - God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7

The only true source - “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12… it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. John 8:17 OT understanding of 2-3 witnesses – parallel to the Trinity.

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:5

Battle- “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” John 12:35-36

This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. 21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” John 3:19-21

Imagery – cockroaches scurrying into the fleeting darkness when a light is turned on.

APPLICATION- This is a harder truth for us, because it reveals something about us. Before Christ, we were in the Kingdom of Darkness and enjoyed the sinful pleasures of darkness. Our deeds were evil and we rejected the light. But for those of us who believe, we were rescued from it and freed from it’s power, but that doesn’t mean we are perfect people now. We still struggle with sin and must take intentional steps toward light so that more darkness is removed. Unfruitful branches are pruned. More dross is drawn to the surface and removed in the heat of the crucible so that our gold shines more brightly.

TAKEAWAY - When this light shines on us, it will expose us and that experience will either harden us or refine us.

TRANSITION – So, the truth of John’s introduction provides a true portrait of Christ, but there is one more crucial point we need to grasp today and it will affect every part of our lives.

Lord

To answer the question asked at the beginning- Who is Jesus? – we can now answer:

Yahweh God of the Old Testament

the almighty creator of heaven, earth, and us

the giver of physical and spiritual life

the light of the world in which we have truth and life

This is who Jesus is according to the opening verses of John’s Gospel. Now that you and I know this, all of these attributes lead us to a decision.

There is one more “L”. LORD.

The term Lord implies ownership and submission. Jesus rules as Lord over all creation (heaven and earth as Matthew tells us), and we, as his creation, willingly submit ourselves to his rule.

That is… if you are His.

Paul tells us in Romans 5 in no uncertain terms that all have a relationship with God. Either in Adam and therefore under His judgement, or in Christ and therefore under His grace.

If you don’t truly know Jesus, you don’t truly have light and life. You can come to him today and have both.

FINAL TAKEAWAY: If you do acknowledge Jesus as Lord, it requires nothing less than total submission. Submission here isn’t a bad thing. Our culture doesn’t like that word, but in this context, it brings true freedom, and as we see, it comes with the ultimate benefit: 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name.

The closer you move toward life and light, the more abundantly you will have it. The further away you pull away from it, the less you will have. It is a daily choice.

Not just arbitrarily on a high level: “I give myself you to, Jesus.”

But on a applicable, granular level: I submit my schedule, free time, thought life, children, time with my spouse, mornings, evenings, career… to you.”