The Word was God

The Word Became Flesh

Book of John 1:1-14

Some things we know about John the Apostle of Jesus Christ:

1) John was one of the very first disciples.

2) John was a fisherman along with his brother James.

3) John left everything he had behind to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

4) John was called the "beloved disciple".

5) John was the disciple that Jesus committed the care of His mother.

6) John was said by Paul to be one of the 3 pillars of the church. Paul considered James the brother of the Lord Jesus, Peter, and John to be the 3 pillars of the early church. We cannot dispute the Apostle Paul, but I believe he was also a pillar of the early church, at least for the Gentiles.

7) John was the only apostle that died of natural causes.

When John was old and feeble his only sermon was "Little children love one another".

When asked why he would continue with this sermon he replied, "It is the Lord's command".

We sometimes forget that we are certainly commanded to love one another, and it is not a request, it is a command given to us by the Lord our Christ, our Messiah.

John shows throughout all his writings that the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John states that "before", there was even one thing created by God, God had a plan of salvation and this plan would be followed until the very end!

We know that all the Word of God has been brought to us by specific men chosen and tutored by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will always lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ.

John said the Old Testament is so full of words that describe the birth, the life, and the death of the Messiah, He could actually be called the Word!

It should be obvious that the Word was distinct from God, so we can see the beginning of our understanding of the Triune God.

The Godhead was clearly revealed in the Old Testament.

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

God the Deity and God the Shepherd in the flesh, are two parts of the Triune God. We know the Holy Spirit is the third!

The Messiah is to be a Shepherd and when we acknowledge this truth, the Lord who came in the flesh, is truly our Shepherd.

Our Shepherd existed before creation had begun!

The Book of John was certainly written to the lost and to the Jews but, until the Word of God came along, the Gentiles knew nothing of a Messiah.

The Messiah, God in the flesh, is the very center of Christianity and the Book of John will lead us to this truth.

The Jews saw words as not just a sound, but something alive and existing and John begins with this statement, the "Word was God" so the Jews could easily understand the truth of the Messiah.

We will see that God has given us much more than the Holy Scriptures, God has given us Himself in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ!

When we read the Word of God we can see the ultimate character of God and this same character was in Jesus Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ lived the words that were written of Him!

Jesus Christ was not created of God because He is God in the flesh, one third of the Holy Trinity!

Psa 90:1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

Psa 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Since Jesus Christ is the God of the Bible, then we must clearly understand, "that sin is far more abominable in the sight of God", than most of us see it to be.

We have made sin to just be bad behavior, but sin is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord!

Therefore the Scriptures teach us to hate sin, but we are never to hate the sinner.

We should understand that when God speaks, things happen and "we can be made new", if we will listen to what God has to say and apply it to our lives!

Faith does not mean much unless it brings with it action!

*****Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.

There are many times that God repeats Himself to show the importance in what He had just said.

God wants to point out to us the importance of His character as the Triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Not three Gods but One God in three persons.

John wants us to clearly understand that the Word, the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and the Father in Heaven are one and the same person!

1Jn_5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

It must be clear to all the world that we have an "Amazing God" who loves us enough to make us His home until we can get to His heavenly home!

Most of this world see Jesus Christ only as some man and it is true that He took on the fashion of a man, but each believer sees Christ for who He is, the very substance of God in all His perfect being!

Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the Word of God and therefore self-existent and eternal, the Son of the "Living" God!

The Word is the way God chose to introduce Himself to mankind, His greatest creation. Why?

God knew that many would look at His creations and call them accidents that just happen to have happened. Even a fruitcake can see the that our world is in too much order to have happened by accident.

The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed God in visible action!

After all if Jesus Christ is then God then He would also be our Creator!

*****Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

We should understand that all things, but God were created. Our world had to have a Creator and to believe otherwise is foolishness!

Verse one and two describe things the way they were before any act of creation took place!

We must all understand that "all things" were made of God and without God there would be no creation and we would not exist.

God created everything we see and that we cannot see in the first six days of our beginning because we know God rested on the seventh day.

Not because God was tired but because he had completed what He had set out to do!

There are no creations by man because if man makes anything then he must use something that God has already made.

If our Savior and our Creator creates anything new today, it would be that "Born Again" child of God that only He can make new!

The Word of God is a reality, it is truly the Word of God.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the glue that binds this world together!

Jesus Christ's greatest creation is life, the living things there is nothing on this earth made that is not teeming with life.

A man once wrote "the basic difference between man and beast is speech. Animals cannot speak to man as they speak to themselves"!

We should understand that this world belongs to God and He does with it "as He pleases"!

We should understand that God is not far off removed from His creation but is very near showing great concern for the welfare of His created beings.

We should also understand that the problems in this world do not come from God, but they come because of sin!

The answer to these problems cannot come from man because only Christ Jesus has the answer to all our problems.

God is all about life and life eternal.

*****Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

We cannot know true life without the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ led a life of perfection to show us that it is possible for us to yearn for perfection in our own lives!

From the beginning in the days of Adam, God has proved He wanted to be up close and personal with His creation.

The knowledge of Jesus Christ is to be our light in this world that belongs to Him.

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

The message of God is really very simple. He says come let us walk together and I will be the light of your path!

*****Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

We live in a dark world made darker by our own sin. When Satan was booted out of Heaven he came to this earth and he brought darkness with him!

Much of world wants to remain in darkness forever but God is not going to allow that to continue much longer.

Jesus Christ has shown us the way to escape this darkness because He has no darkness within Him!

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

When the Light of Christ shined on this world then darkness fled and Satan hides in his darkness because he does not want us to see the "nobody" that he is!

Turn on your light in a dark room and you will see darkness flee to hide until the light goes back off.

When we walk with the Lord we become a light ourselves and then we can shed that light on our families, our neighborhood and then our cities.

Mat_5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Without Jesus Christ there would be no life and then there would be no light.

It is Jesus Christ who gives us purpose.

It is Jesus Christ shows us the meaning of life.

It is Jesus Christ who shows us the significance of our life.

After John has made us aware and the understanding of the Triune God, He then begins to tell us about the life of our Savior, from a man(John) that spent much time with Him and loved Him while He was upon this earth and he will begin with the forerunner, John the Baptist.

Our life improves when we fall in love with Jesus the Messiah!

We are cautioned not to forget what we have just learned.

*****Joh 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

The Old Testament will lead everyone to Jesus the Messiah, when we take the time to study the Scriptures as God commanded and it is these same Scriptures that tell us about a forerunner paving the way for our Master.

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

That man was John the Baptist.

There is also this Scripture in the Book of Isaiah:

Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Did the Lord need someone to go before Him, I don't think so, but the Scriptures must be fulfilled according to the way God intended them?

There is a purpose for every Word, every dot, and every tittle, in God's written Scriptures

There will be a complete fulfillment of the Word of God!

Mat_5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Jesus the Messiah was before the beginning of creation, John was just a man, called of God with a special calling.

This was a part of John's sermon:

Joh 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

Joh 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Messiah, also had to live his life as close as he could to perfection!

Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

John was to bear witness of the truth of God.

*****Joh 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

The Old Testament teaches that the Messiah was coming.

John the Baptist job was to tell the world that the Messiah was now here.

It is the Church's job not only to a witness of the Gospel but to also tell the world that the Lord will return to fulfill all the Scriptures.

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

John the Baptist was the first ambassador for Jesus Christ!

2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

It is sin not to look forward to the Second Coming of Christ!

It is sin, to ask Jesus into your heart and fail to repent!

It is all our job to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ and not just be pew sitters!

Our ministry is the ministry of reconciliation!

The same as John the Baptist.

John the Baptist did his job so well that many thought that he might be the Messiah.

*****Joh 1:8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

We can say the John the Baptist was the first Christian!

John's purpose was to lead mankind to the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Say what you will but these things are to be true of every Christian. (Forgive me Lord for my failure to be more like Christ)

John could have allowed the people to make him great, but he said:

Joh 1:27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

A man once wrote that "at the point that we quit testifying for Jesus Christ we have chosen to betray Him".

We are not that Light, we are sent to bear witness of the Light of the Lord!

It seems that this is the world we live in today.

All those sitting in the pews motionless and emotionless "are actually betraying the Lord".

This is a hard saying but it is the truth!

Light reveals.

Light opens up the truth of darkness and reveals a brand-new world, a brand-new life!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The truth is "Our Creator stepped out of Heaven and came down to spend some time with His creation".

*****Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

1) Our world is so dark that when the Lord came, people closed their eyes to the truth.

2) Christ Jesus came as a Jew in the line of King David and He was rejected by His own nation.

God cares deeply for His creation especially mankind!

God is actively working to help this world throw off the burden of sin.

God made man in his own trinity, the flesh, the spirit, and the soul.

It is an unforgiving sin to those who reject the Living God.

Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

This world we live would rather recognize the works of Satan, so that the world does not have to change its evil ways!

*****Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

What is the will of God?

2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, "not willing that any should perish", but that all should come to repentance.

God has done and continues to do all He can, (besides force) to persuade the world of the truth of Jesus Christ.

To reject these things is to bring damnation upon yourself!

The new birth is of God and God only!

Yes, we are washed in the blood of Jesus and are made clean, but it is not the blood that saves us in that sense!

It is only by the Mercy and the Grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ that we can be saved and be part of this New Birth!

This New Birth is not a natural birth it is a Spiritual Birth!

This New Birth is necessary to become a child of God!

This New Birth is a true experience!

This New Birth is a radical change in our lives that can only be brought about by the Love of God, and His power to save!

It is not our own flesh that brings us to salvation, it is Holy Ghost conviction.

There is no man on the face of this earth that has the power to make us a child of God!

It is only by God's power that the new birth can take place and we are welcomed into the family of God!

We must understand it is also our Holy God who has broken the barrier of race! There are only believers and non-believers!

There is only one truth of those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

What is the complete truth of our Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son?

*****Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is a reality!

Those that believe in God:

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Those that believe in God must also believe that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is God in the flesh!

1Jn 2:21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

1Jn 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

1Jn 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

The flesh of mankind today is not what God created it to be!

Our flesh no longer exists in the image of God because of sin. The same sin that began with Adam! Disobedience.

Jesus Christ had to come in the flesh to give us that example of what God intended for us all.

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Joh_15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus Christ became flesh to correct and then counteract the corruption of sin, which mankind did not understand until God revealed Himself in the Scriptures!

It is by the "Grace" of God that He took the time to give us the truth of His creation when He did not have to.

We are a foolish people if we ignore what God has to say!

It is the will of God that we should believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, so God's "Grace" can come to its fulfillment and we can be saved.

There is no other way period, for anyone to be adopted into the family of God!

We must understand what God is saying!

If Spiritual life comes by receiving the truth of Jesus the Messiah, then there must be death in rejecting Him!

Amen

Let's Pray!