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!
