Beheld Glory!
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Life, light, some thoughts
Life, light, some thoughts
What is the purpose of the Gospel of John, do you remember? I think as we continue to look at this book to bring belief that you will see life, light are some key themes. May we be reminded a few things as we get started tonight.
I want you to sit back for a few as I journey through a few things to get our minds, hearts set for the finish of the prelude into the gospel. Open your bibles to John 1, we will be there shortly.
Life, this theme is expressed 36 times throughout the gospel with the most important (Jn20:30-31)
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these 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.
What is essential for human life?
Light, air, water and food
Jesus is the light of the world (Jn8:12)
jn8:12 “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.””
Without light everything would die, nothing would be able to grow.
Jesus is the Sun of righteousness (Mal4:2)
mal4:2 “2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”
Jesus is the the Son of righteousness that Malachi spoke of! Better than sunlight he is the Son of light and life.
Jesus is the breath of life (Jn3:8, 20:22)
jn20:22 “22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Through Jesus breathing life into man (Gen2:7); He breaths Holy Spirit as noted in Jn20:22
Jesus is the water of life (Jn4:10)
jn4:10 “10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.””
Jesus is the bread of life (Jn6:35)
Jn6:35 “35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
Jesus does not only give life, but He is life and all life is through Him.
Light and darkness are recurring themes in the gospel
He is the light of men (Jn1:4)
Jn1:4 “4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
God is light (1Jn1:5)
1JN1:5 “5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
God created Light (Gen1:1-3)
Gen1:1-3 “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.”
New life begins with light (2Cor4:3-6)
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 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.
The coming of the True light brought conflict with darkness (Jn1:5)
Jn1:5 “5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
Darkness did not comprehend the light. Such spiritual truths like (Let me just reference some) maybe you want to make a note of these
The temple being the body (Jn2:19-21)
The new birth (Jn3:4)
The living water (Jn4:11)
Eating His flesh (Jn6:51ff)
Death as sleep (Jn11:11-13)
Jesus lived, demonstrated his life, his love. They heard his words, they observed His life. But yet they did not grasp the truth and walk with Him. He is the light, He is the Life and yet they crucified Him.
We need not make the same mistakes they did then, even though they beheld His glory and that is what we are looking at today.
The word glory means majesty, dignity, splendor according to Barnes notes commentary. When it comes to Jesus it is his personal excellence or majesty.
Here is what I hope to cover tonight.
They beheld His glory (Jn1:14-18)
And we too can behold His glory today (various scriptures)
They beheld His glory
They beheld His glory
Do you remember holding your child for the first time, grandchild? That was beholding something great, wasn’t it? This is speaking to the people in Jesus day who had the opportunity to behold the glory of God.
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.
What did they see (v.14)? (also ref Lk9:28-32; 2Pt1:16-18)
His glory, the glory of the only begotten that was full of grace and truth from the Father
Such glory, splendor cannot be obtainable from anyone. This glory was displayed, seen at the transfiguration
Lk9:28-32 “28 Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. 30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.”
Now that I summarized that look at
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
His signs manifested His glory (Jn2:11)
11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Manifested the glory of His grace
14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
As we continue in our passage now, grace and truth came through Jesus
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.
Important facts about this grace and truth are seen testimony of John the baptizer (v.15-17) what do you see?
He who comes is higher rank, existed before
Through him we have grace upon grace. Grace and truth realized through Jesus Christ
So, maybe I better back up some about this glory of the only begotten, and the glory.
The glory of His deity (v.14)
The glory of His grace (v.14, 16-17)
That brings us to the next one:
The glory of His truth (v.17)
Barnes states “he was also full of truth. He declared truth and is truth. In Him was no falsehood.
We know there are false prophets and even false Messiahs who were proclaiming things that were not the truth.
We also know he is not like the “types” we read in the O.T. He is the fulfillment for He is the truth, the glory of God’s truth in the flesh. That is why He could be
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
This leads to to
The glory of His preeminence (v.15)
15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ ”
The preeminence as noted by John the Baptist (Jn1:27, 29-30)
By virtue of His preexistence
Jn1:27 “27 “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”” and then a few verse later
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’
Paul noted his preexistence and creative powers (Col1:16-17)
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. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Oh, we are not done with the beheld glory, now our next one.
The glory of His revelation (v.18) (ref: Num12:8, Isa6:1-13)
18 No one has ever seen God. The unique God, who is close to the Father’s side, has revealed him.
Please don’t read into this to mean that no one has witnessed the manifestation of God. For he did to Moses and the prophets (Num12:8; Isa6:1-8)
8 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?”
Or that beautiful passage in Isaiah, I suggest you read it all, but let me give you an overview
Isa6:1-13 “1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
Isa6:8 “8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
I could go on and on, but I want to bring it to now, that we can behold His glory today.
We can behold His glory
We can behold His glory
By faith, by actions we can know, behold and display His glory today.
We can in this life
Behold His glory, deity, grace and truth
Through the words of His eyewitnesses (2Pt1:16-18; 1Jn1:1-4, 5:11-13)
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”—
18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
By beholding the results are
Transforming (Rom 12:1-2)
ROm12:1-2 “1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Transforming that is continual (2Cor3:18)
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
What are we beholding according to (v18) and what is the results of the beholding?
Transforming that happens when we have the right mindset (Col3:1-2)
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Oh, wait, hold on, there is more, for we have hope, right? Hope, we have hope in something in the future, how about
When He comes again
We will behold His glory upon His return (Col3:4)
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
When He returns to be glorified in His saints (2The1:10)
10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.
All will behold his glory, see His glory (Rev1:7)
Rev1:7 “7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
When every knee will bow, every tongue confess (Php2:9-11)
Php2:9-11 “9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
(Transition/conclusion)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
Do you believe in the beheld glory of God who came in the flesh?
Do you behold the glory of God today, through the word, and by your faith in his promise to return?
A prayer for your consideration as we close
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Prayer) (Exit)