Power Moves!

John 1:1 NRSV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:2 NRSV

He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:3 NRSV

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being

John 1:4 NRSV

in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

John 1:5 NRSV

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Intro:

Freedom family…….

……everyone of us in here has an opportunity to Re-Present Jesus Christ to those who are searching for a reason to believe in something greater than themselves.

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Our lives are too jam packed with PowerMOVES to suggest that we are inadequate in representing the Christ that we Re-Present!

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……….the key is articulating our Faith in ways that are relevant and impactful!

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Background -

Within 30 years of Jesus’s death......

.....Christianity had travelled all over Asia Minor and Greece and had arrived in Rome.

....by AD 60 there must have been over 100,000 Greeks in the church for every Jew who was a Christian.

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And so now......

......there is a problem to be considered in how is Christianity going to be presented to the Greek world?

“The progress and spread of any idea depends on predisposition to receive the message”

- Scholar quote

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John is fascinated with this problem.....

.....and discovers a way to introduce Christianity to the Greek world by discussing conversation around the concept of “The Word”

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To the Jews....

....a word was more than just a sound.

…It was fearfully alive, and had an sense of actuality

Meaning....

.....Words made moves

and....

.....Words make things happen

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Which is why....

.......in the Hebrew language there are fewer than 500,000 words contrasting the English language which has 1 million words and the Greek langauge that has 5 million words.

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So in the mind of a Jewish person I would imagine the phrase......

“sticks and stones may break my bones.....

.......but words would never hurt me.”

......sounds absolutely absurd!

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Because for them there is this......

Power - filled existence in words!

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And it is in the book of Genesis where in reading the creation story.......

........at every stage of creation we read the words,

“And God said,”

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Because to the Old testament reader.........

.......there is creative power

......there is an existence of power that fills the voice of God that gives birth through consonants and vowels that build......

......grass in Florida and granite rock in mountains all the way over in Colorado

……..are created when,

God speaks a word!

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Psalm 33:6 NRSV

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.

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And so there is an influential understanding of words in the mind of the Jew......

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And the Greek term for word is Logos...

But not only does Logos mean word, but it also means reason.....

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And so....

when John and other thinkers used this word Logos, they are using it with the realization that they are speaking of,

The word of God

The reason of God

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Now from the Greek persepective....

There is a question that asks,

How can there be any sense in a world where there is constant change and variability?

And.....

......the Greek philosopher Herioclitus awnsered this question by saying,

All of this experienced change is not uncontrolled......

......but it is controlled and ordered by a continous pattern

......and this pattern is controlled by the Logos. (word/reason of God)

And so.....

.......the mind of God is controlling the world and everyone in the world.

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It is God therefore, who makes the day and the night happen in an unalterable order.

It is God who keeps the stars on their cellestial course.

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And so......

.......there is this cognitive reality in Greek thinking that suggests the Logos is a leader, and a guider that orchestrates the power of God...

And then.....

John comes to the Greeks and says,

For years you have been imagining, and scripting ideas and thoughts about the power which made the world that you call Logos.....

......the power that sustains the order of the world

.....and brings you into contact with God

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John says......

Jesus is that Logos!

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John 1:1 NRSV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:2 NRSV

He was in the beginning with God.

And so according to John......

The Word is not a created thing........

......but the Word was there before creation.

......it is not a component of time

....but it is a part of eternity, and was there with God before time begin spinning off of the fingertips of Gods intentions.

.....before the Earth knew how to have seasons

.....and before the Sun knew how to communicate with the Moon’s timing.

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And what John is trying to say to us is that......

The Pre-existence of Christ is the PowerMove before we saw power move!

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Freedom.....

......the entirety of New Testament reading speaks to us in a way that suggests God was always like Jesus!

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In other words.....

God did not start a thinking process towards us that says I love them in the book of Matthew.......

........but even before creation in the book of Genesis

.......God was loving us!

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Watch the text.....

“and the Word was with God”

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And in my spiritual imagination.....

I see John describing how intimately intertwined God is with the Word...

......helping us to see how

....nobody can express

.....nobody can explain

.....and nobody can example

.....Gods love for us like Jesus!

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And I don’t know about you but.....

I’m standing inside of God’s love story that was communicated to my life by Jesus Christ....

....and my testimony is simply,

“POWERMove!”

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John says.....

“and the Word was God”

(slight pause)

The word for God in the Greek is.......Theos

But.....

In the Greek language when they speak of God....

.....they don’t just say Theos

.....but they add a definite article to the noun that creates a phrase called “ho Theos”

.....and whenever they leave off the definite article it turns the noun into an adjective....

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Well John says......

“I’m not trying to communicate that Jesus is similar to God......

......so let me just make it plain by saying,

“and the Word (Jesus Christ) WAS God!”

...........#PowerMOVE

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meaning.....

Jesus is so perfectly the same as God......

....in heart

.....in mind

......in being

..........that in Him we perfectly see what God is like!

.........#PowerMOVE

And the reason we needed.....

......Jesus to be the same as God

.....is because anything else would have just been a move!!!

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But because.......

“The Word.......WAS GOD!”

......Every move Jesus makes on our behalf is filled with POWER!

(pause and expound)

Watch the text......

John 1:3 NRSV

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being

Freedom......

John has to be specific with his words.......

....because their is a group of people who believe in what’s called Gnosticism.

.....and they believed

.....that God was a pure spirit and that a pure spirit could never touch matter under any circumstances.

.....so they felt that God had to perform creation from a distance that kept increasing called “enamations”

.....and they also believed

.......that the God of the OT was a different God from that of the NT.

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And so.......

John is in a timeframe where this type of belief is widespread....

A belief that also suggests that the world is eveil and an evil god created it.

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And so......

......John comes against this teaching that says,

“Standing right behind everything that was created......

......there is a FAITHFUL, LOVING, UNCHANGING GOD

.....that Creates out of CHAOS!!!

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John says......

“All things came into being through Him.......

............this is God’s world!

and......

.........we are God’s creation!

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Look at it......

John 1:4 NRSV

in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

The text says.....

....The Word is the Source of life...

Life is (Zoe) in the Greek which means Real/True life.

and so....

Jesus Christ gives Real Life to all things.....

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Which really means.....

.....the quality of our existence is enhanced when God rules our lives.

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and the text goes on to say,

“and the life was the light of all people”

That word Light in the Hebrew is Desirable and Pleasant

The word Light in the Greek suggests the Power of Good

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And so John is saying...

If you are looking for something desirable or pleasant....

and....

If you are looking for power that can produce something good.....

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Jesus.....

is the source of what you are looking for!

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Watch this....

John 1:5 NRSV

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

In Johanine thought......

Darkness is the antonym of Light!

....so everything that darkness is......

Light is not that......

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And everything that Light is......

.......darkness is not that!

(pause)

And John says......

“The Light Shines”

(pause - Here it is!)

Notice......

......that the light is not shining in a past tense.

But instead....

......the light is shining in a present tense.

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And because the light is shining in the present tense.......

........in my spiritual imagination

....John is saying,,

Nothing can stop.......

A POWERMOVE!

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Watch this.....

because the text says.....

“and the darkness did not overcome it!”

In other words.....

Darkness.....

......Has never put out the Light!

(Close - Come on DJ/Rod)

And in my spiritual imagination.....

I hear John saying,

Darkness has never figured out how to OVER POWER the Light

and it has never concluded how to OUT DO the Morning Experience!

and.....

Darkness.......

......could not OUT THINK the light!

Because......

God always has another POWER.....MOVE when it comes to Gods creation!

.....and that’s why when we move

......we move in POWER

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Because........

when the Word became flesh

.......Jesus Christ overcame everything we could not and then,

....handed us the POWER!

And Freedom I just believe………

…..that our lives should be Re-Presenting the PowerMOVES of Jesus Christ.

(slight pause)

…….because there is some darkness in your life

…………that no matter how hard it tried

……..could not overcome you!

……………………….Expound and CLOSE………