Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

1000 Illustrations.

A family had gone to the mountains for vacation.

Their cottage overlooked a friendly lake.

After a swim and dinner, it was bedtime.

Tenderly, the mother prepared her little daughter for the night, heard her prayers, kissed her, and left the room.

Immediately, the young daughter called for her to come back.

The child raised some difficult questions about God.

Patiently the mother listened, and then said reassuringly, “We’ll be on the porch.

There’s nothing to hurt you.

God is in the dark as well as in the light.”

Sadly the child replied, “But I can’t see Him in the dark, mom.

I want a God with a face.”

[1]

1000 Illustrations.

A family had gone to the mountains for vacation.

Their cottage overlooked a friendly lake.

After a swim and dinner, it was bedtime.

Tenderly, the mother prepared her little daughter for the night, heard her prayers, kissed her, and left the room.

Immediately, the young daughter called for her to come back.

The child raised some difficult questions about God.

Patiently the mother listened, and then said reassuringly, “We’ll be on the porch.

There’s nothing to hurt you.

God is in the dark as well as in the light.”

Sadly the child replied, “But I can’t see Him in the dark, mom.

I want a God with a face.”

[1]

So do we all.

We live in a dark world.

When night comes, trouble knocks, disappointments punctuate the day, and problems pyramid, we all crave a God with a face.

In our anxiety and agony, we join David in saying: “Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob” ().

And yet, God does have a face, assuming that you accept that Jesus Christ is God.

And it is that point that John so clearly articulate in the first few verses of his gospel.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God” ().

It is within the first two verses that he declares the deity of Jesus Christ, and in the following verses he offers evidence for Christ’s deity.

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” ( ESV).

In these three verses (3-5), we see two evidences to Jesus Christ divine character.

(1) He created everything, and (2) He is Life, giving life and light to a darkened world.

Purpose Statement.

In seeing Christ as divine, we both worship him and submit to his rule.

The Word in Relation to Creation

In verse 2, the Word is declared to be God; and in verse 3, proof is offered of His divinity.

He created everything.

John offers us the positive, “All things were made through him;” but then just to be sure there is no confusion, he as well offers the negative, “and without him was not any thing made that was made” ( ESV).

This creative genius and power is attested to God in the Old Testament.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, ( ESV).

God is the creator of all, and here in John, as well in Hebrews we see that Christ is the divine creator.

“In these last days he (God) has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” ( ESV).

I would like to draw our attention to a passage in Colossians, in which Paul develops this theme in a little more depth.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

( ESV).

All things created BY Him.

When Paul uses this word throughout his epistles, he almost always is expressing the idea of sphere.

Friberg writes in reference to this word, “expressing an occasion or sphere of activity at, in, on the grounds of . .

.”[2]

This might be better understood “all things were created in Him.”

In the same way that believers were created in Christ, similarly to Paul’s writing in Ephesians.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” ( ESV).

We think it more likely, then, that this opening line [of John] is claiming that Christ is the one “in” whom all things were created.

As so often when we confront Paul’s “in Christ” language, it is difficult to put into words the precise point that is being made.

But perhaps our problem is that we are seeking a specificity that Paul does not intend.

He wants to make the very general point that all of God’s creative work took place “in terms of” or “in reference to” Christ.[3]

The extent of this creation.

(1) The Invisible Heavens, (2) The Visible Earth (3) Thrones, Dominions, Rulers and Authorities.

To what do “Thrones or Dominions or Rulers or Authorities” refer?

While many believe that these forces speak of any type of angelic being, many people would conclude that these thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities at least include evil forces if not speak solely of evil forces.

Consider that point in light of the fact that “all things were created for Him.” We’ll look at that point momentarily.

All things created THROUGH Him.

All things being created through Christ points to Christ as being the cause of all created things [a. of the efficient cause in consequence of, by, on the basis of, on account of; b. of the intermediate agent of an action by, through, by agency of].[4]

This is what John is referring to when he writes in our passage, “All things were made through him” ( ESV).

As well, the author of Hebrews writes, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands” ( ESV).

All things created FOR Him.

Not only was everything created within the sphere of Christ’s power and ongoing sustaining, not only was everything created by means of Christ, but everything was created for Him.

The word for “indicate reason for, because of, in view of . .

.”[5] “For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever” ( ESV).

“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” ( ESV).

All things sustained by Him.

Paul continues in Colossians.

A few verses later he writes, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” ( ESV).

In this case, before implies “primary importance.”

He is above all.

But not only is he above all and the most prominent over all, he “holds all things together.”

All creation continues to “exist, have existence, (or) continue”[6] as a result of Christ’s sustaining power and work.

Christ was the agent of creation and as well continues to hold his creation together.

Jesus is the creator.

If he is the creator, He is as well God.

This means a couple of things.

(1) I am not God and shouldn’t act like it.

(2) He has the right to do with me as he so desires and direct me in any way he may choose.

The Word in Relation to Mankind

Light into Creation.

First, Christ literally brought light and life into a darkened and void form in creation.

Consider this in the context of the first 3 verses of Genesis and Christ’s act of creation.

“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” ( ESV).

On the fourth day God declared that there should be light in the heavens, light to separate the day from the night.

“And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.

17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth” ( ESV).

The lights that guide our lives and sustain life in our world are the direct result of Christ’s creative energy and declaration.