John 1:1-18 The Deity of Jesus
by Dan Ahlenius
INTRODUCTION
Please open your Bibles
to JOHN 1: 1. Last week we began a series
considering some of the heresies that are found in
Dan Brown's Best-selling Book, THE Dl VINCI CODE,
which is also scheduled to come out as a movie.
Well, we began our series on this heretical book by
affirming that the Bible, that we have in our hands,
consisting of 66 books, is indeed the Holy and
Inspired word of God. Having established that
conviction, it is now time to consider the nature
and identity of the man prophesied to come all
through the Old Testament as the Messiah and Savior
and who is also the clear emphasis in the New
Testament, none other than Jesus Christ. And to
begin we must consider what we believe about this
man named Jesus. Was he merely just a great teacher
who performed a bunch of miracles, or was He who He
claimed to be God Himself, being completely Divine
and completely human? Focus on what you think about
who Jesus really is to you. Then we will look at
what the Apostle John has to say who he believes Him
to be.
READ JOHN 1:1-18
I. Jesus is Eternal
(vs. 1-3,15)
A. The Word Was in the
Beginning (vs. 1-2)
1) The Apostle John
doesn't waste any time in his Gospel account of the
Lord Jesus' life here on Earth, instead he comes
straight out and shares his firm belief that Jesus
Christ, as the Word, was in the Beginning.
2) Now, if you are
familiar with your Bible you might be thinking back
to the very first verse in the Bible, back in
GENESIS 1: 1, where it says, "In the beginning God
created the heavens and the Earth."
3) The same thought is in
mind here in the Gospel of John, whereby John
believes that the Word was actually there before
time began because, in fact the Word was with God
and even greater than that the Word was God.
4) Consequently, in verse
1, we have a very clear and explicit statement about
two people in the Trinity, about God the Father and
God the Son, otherwise known as Jesus Christ.
5) No man or woman can
truly explain the Trinity of God completely because,
in a way, it is a mystery beyond our comprehension.
6) However, the best way
that I can explain it is to say that God is God as
One God but He has three personalities that relate
in three different ways with mankind and all other
creation.
7) For example, I am your
Pastor, I am my mother's son, and I will one day be
my child's father. Thus, I have three distinct
relationships, but somehow I relate and approach all
three groups differently.
8) God the Father, is
invisible and cannot be seen, but Jesus came so that
Men might know what the Father is like, then the
Holy Spirit confirms in believers hearts about sin,
righteousness, and judgment and also teaches us from
the Holy Bible about God so that we might know Him
better.
9) Then in verse 2, John
sums up his statements from
Verse 1, by making sure
there is no misunderstanding among his readers
concerning how Jesus Christ was eternally divine, or
was God Himself as deity.
10) Jesus Christ did not
just happen upon the scene some 2,000 years ago,
rather He has always been pre-existent as part of
the God-head.
11) READ v. 15, whereby
John the Baptist testifies that Jesus Christ was
greater than he and that he was before him.
12) Back in READ LUKE 1
:35-37, whereby Jesus' mother Mary had a relative
named Elizabeth who gave birth to John the Baptist,
Jesus' own cousin which would mean that John the
Baptist was physically born before Jesus.
Nevertheless, back in JOHN 1: 15, we read that John
knows that Jesus was always before him probably
because he realized that Jesus was not simply his
cousin, but was the promised Messiah that the Jews
had been looking forward to for quite some time.
13) Consequently, if we
hold that the GOSPEL OF JOHN, has been inspired by
God as a trustworthy and true account about Himself
then we must concede and believe that Jesus Christ
is God eternal as the Word of God existing before
the Creation of the World.
B. Jesus is the Eternal
Creator (v. 3)
1) Once again, John comes
straight out and informs us that all things were
created by Jesus Christ, because He is God.
2) Now, typically in the
Bible we read that God the Father is the one in
GENESIS, that was responsible for creating the
Heavens and the Earth, however, if Jesus Christ is
God, then He surely was working with God the Father
in the Creation activity.
3) For someone to
stubbornly say no God the Father is the part of the
Trinity who does the active creating is like
splitting atoms, or hairs, because the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit are closely, and tightly intertwined
and are truly one God.
4) Moreover, John even
uses reverse thinking and claims that if Jesus did
not create, or make anything, then nothing would
have ever been created.
5) READ COLOSSIANS 1:
15-17, whereby the Apostle Paul confirms the teacher
of John by explaining that Jesus Christ created all
things for Himself and without Him nothing would
have ever been created.
6) Consequently, not only
is Jesus Christ Co-eternal with God the Father, He
is also Co-creator.
7) But, you might ask
yourself, "What is the Big Deal Pastor, if I already
believe that Jesus Christ is God divine and eternal
and that He created all things?"
8) Well, the answer goes
back to the Heretical Book and upcoming movie, THE
DA VINCI CODE, because the author buys into the
ancient heresy of Gnosticism, which believes that
Jesus Christ was merely a good man and could not be
God because matter, or flesh, is evil and only the
spirit is good.
9) The idea is that God
is good and perfect and in order for Jesus Christ to
be incarnated in the flesh as a man, He must have
been like a Demiurge, in that he was a copy, of the
copy, of the copy of God way down the line so that
He was only partly divine and mostly evil human.
10) What Blasphemy!!!
John clearly teaches us that Jesus Christ was God
and that He was God in the Flesh, not merely a
hand-me down copy of the original God in Heaven.
11) Next, let us consider
how Jesus Christ is said to be Light.
II. Jesus is Light
(vs. 4-9)
A. Jesus' Life Brought
Light (vs. 4-5)
1) In verse 4, John tells
us that Jesus Christ demonstrated true life and He
was able to bring real light into the minds and
hearts of men so that they might be able to
comprehend spiritual truth and apply it to their
lives.
2) Without Jesus Christ
and what He has taught and done for us we all would
still be in the dark spiritually trying to find our
way to God the Father.
3) Next, in verse 5,
Jesus came shining in the darkness of this fallen
world and yet the darkness, or the world has not
understood Him.
4) It should break our
hearts that the vast majority of the people in this
world still live in spiritual darkness when they can
accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and
enter the Light of God's fellowship and Love.
5) Jesus came to open our
eyes so that we might see the Truth of the Gospel
and so that we might not have to live in the dark
any longer.
B. A Witness to the Light
(vs. 6-9)
1) In verse 6, the
Apostle John reminds us that God had sent John the
Baptist to testify and prepare people's hearts for
when God would send His light into the World.
2) And as verse 7,
declares John the Baptist faithfully tried to
prepare the way for the coming of the Light in the
Darkness that men might believe in Jesus Christ when
He came.
3) Consequently, in
verses 8-9, John the Baptist recognized that his
purpose was merely as a testifier, or a messenger
preparing the way for the promised Messiah, who just
happened to be related to him on his mother's side
of the family.
4) Therefore, John
prepared the way for Jesus to come and give light
and life to all who might recognize and accept Him
as their Lord and Savior.
III. Jesus Was in the
World (vs. 10-14)
A. Rejected By His Own
(vs. 10-11)
1) In verse 10, we are
told that Jesus was in the world meaning that He
came into this world as described by the term
incarnation, as He clothed Himself with the physical
body of a human being while retaining His divine
nature.
2) However, Mankind that
He created failed to recognize Him for who He was,
their Creator, Savior, and God.
3) And as verse 11, tells
us even the Jews failed to accept Him when they had
the privilege of being able to know God and know
about all His plans for them and the world.
4) Thus, on the surface
God's Plan to be born as a human baby boy to relate
to and talk to mankind seemed to backfire, because
the majority of Jews and other people refused to
recognize Him as God divine stepping out of Heaven
to give them light to see clearly their only path to
God the Father, namely repenting of their sins and
asking Jesus Christ to forgive them because of His
substitutionary death on the Cross of Calvary.
B. Some Still Receive Him
(vs. 12-14)
1) The Good new in verse
12, is that all who do believe in Him and accept Him
as Lord and Savior are given the right to become
children of God.
2) And as verse 13,
explains it, God Himself gives birth to them
spiritually as He accepts them into His Eternal
family.
3) It is not our ultimate
decision, but it is God's as He has the right to
offer His grace to whomever He so chooses.
4) Next, in verse 14,
John reminds us that Jesus came in the Flesh and
lived among us, experiencing most of what we humans
experience here on Earth.
5) Moreover, John
declares that he and others had seen Jesus' glory,
which is probably a reference to the Mount of
Transfiguration READ MATTHEW 17:1-8.
6) Also READ JOHN
14:9-11, whereby Jesus tells His disciples if they
have seen Him and know Him then they will know God
the Father and Jesus are One.
7) Back to JOHN 1: 14,
John declares that Jesus is full of Grace and Truth,
meaning that He overflows with blessings on others
and there is not one iota of falsehood in the One
and Only Son of God because He is truly, or really,
surely, and genuinely God Himself.
8) Next, we will briefly
consider how Jesus' motives for being incarnated as
the God-man was focused on the best interest of
mankind.
IV. Jesus Came to
Bless (vs. 16-18)
A. Jesus Christ Showers
His Blessings On Us (vs. 16-17)
1) In verse 16, God in
His overflowing goodness has an immeasurable amount
of blessing that He wants to shower upon those who
love and seek Him.
2) God's unmerited favor
has been repeatedly poured out upon believers
because God delights in taking care of His children.
3) Consequently, the
Apostle John can probably look at his own life and
confess that Jesus Christ had poured blessing upon
blessing upon his life beginning the salvation of
his soul on down the line of God's continual
providence in his life.
4) Now, I am not
preaching a name-it, claim-it Gospel, but I do
believe that God delights in blessing His children
that are living in obedience to His commands and who
are fellowshipping daily with Him and other brothers
and sisters in Christ.
5) Next, in verse 17,
John reminds us that God the Father had sent Moses
to teach the people the Law that they could never
fully obey, but then He sent Jesus Christ who
brought grace and truth for God's people.
6) Jesus Christ, is God
in the Flesh, and He came as the ultimate Gift of
helping men understand and appreciate the Creator
God and His love for us.
B. Jesus Makes the Father
Knowable (v. 18)
1) In verse 18, we read
about how simple Jesus' ultimate mission was, namely
that He might prepare the way so that men might come
to know God and love Him.
2) But, in order for that
plan to materialize men have a need to see God,
therefore, Jesus is the physical manifestation of
God the Father so that we might know Him more fully.
3) READ 1 JOHN 3:1-2, whereby one day we will be
able to see Jesus in the flesh, or physically
because God the Spirit is not capable of being seen
here on Earth.
4) Consequently, Jesus
Christ is God and men can look at Him to better
understand God the Father.
CONCLUSION
Overall, this morning we
have looked at how the Apostle John shared with us
his strong and earnest convictions about Jesus
Christ. That He is the Word of God existing
eternally before time. That He is the Light of the
World enabling men to see spiritually in a dark
world. That Jesus Christ indeed took upon a frail
human body in what we call being incarnated so that
He could relate to our human condition. And finally,
that Jesus Christ was incarnated so that God might
bless us immensely, with the most important blessing
being that we can relate to an invisible God based
on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, Jesus Christ, according to the Bible, is
not just any ordinary human being, rather He is
truly the One and Only God that delights in blessing
us with His presence and goodness.
(c) 2005 Message by Dan
Ahlenius. Dan is a graduate of William Carey
University, B.A., New Orleans Baptist Theological
Seminary, Master Divinity.
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