Jesus Christ
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As you can see from our title today, we’re not going to be in Ecclesiastes today...
We’re actually going to be coming out of Ecclesiastes, and beginning to make our way through the gospel of John.
I had given much thought into continuing with Ecclesiastes, but as I looked ahead...
…i continued to see Solomon go back to topics that he had already covered...
…and in some cases, it be the 3rd time he visited those topics...
And so, I feel like ending last week where we did, was a good ending point.
The theme throughout the book - as we kept seeing was - Everything under the sun is - Vanity!
and then last week, summing it up with the Fear of the Lord...
We were able to see OVER the SUN…and see Christ - the one we serve...
And so - this week, we’ll begin making our way through our first gospel together…the gospel of John.
Of the 4 gospels, John was written last…around A.D. 85...
…whereas the other 3 were written in the 50’s and 60’s timeframe.
I think it’s interesting to note that in chapter 20 of this book, we can actually read why this book was written...
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
This book was written to persuade people to believe in Jesus!
And so let’s get to it...
1 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.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 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.
This section of Scripture, really verses 1-18, are some of the most important, Christianity-distinguishing verses in all the Bible...
John begins his book here with a bang!
If we get this wrong...
If we don’t understand, theologically, what these verses are teaching...
We will come away - NOT knowing the true God...
NOT knowing who Jesus Christ is...
And we’ll walk away with a different religion all together.
If you think that’s an overstatement, then you don’t know how other religions HANDLE this text.
Certainly there are aspects within the Christian Theology that we are NOT to quarrel over...
what type of music should we sing in church (old hymns, new contemporary)
what color carpet should we have in church
what should we wear to church
There are PLENTY of NON-ESSENTIAL things that should not take up space in our brains, or find themselves spewing from our opinionated lips...
BUT - there ARE truths which we SHOULD defend...
SHOULD stand up for...
And our text today is ONE of THESE types of truths...
As Dr. Walter Martin once said...
“If you get your doctrine of God wrong, then it doesn’t matter wherever else you are right. If you have the wrong God, then you have a God that cannot save you”
~ Dr. Walter Martin
And so these verse we’re walking through today are VITALLY important.
If you ever plan on spending any time at all speaking with Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses...
you will at some point come to these verses…to defend who Jesus Christ really is.
And so - one of the most quoted verses in the Bible...
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
When we look at this verse here, and we see “the WORD” being the main subject...
It’s important to know what “the WORD” means in this verse.
On the surface, it may seem difficult to understand what this verse is referring to, but if we just glance down quickly to verse 14, we find out rather quickly what “the WORD” is referring to...
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The WORD became flesh.
SO - pretty obvious here that “the WORD” is actually referring to Jesus Christ...
NOW - back to verse 1 - what do we find out about the WORD - Jesus Christ...
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Ok, “In the beginning was the Word”...
What we see from this is - point 1
SLIDE: Jesus Christ as The Word: Had No Beginning
Jesus Christ as The Word
Jesus Christ as The Word
The phrase that we see here....”In the beginning”...
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
is a phrase that we’ve seen before…specifically in Genesis 1:1
where it says that - “In the beginning, God created...”
In Genesis 1:1 - that phrase (in the beginning) is pointing to a SPECIFIC point in history...
Why do we know that - Because tied to that phrase in Gen 1:1 is CREATION itself...
Tied to that phrase (in the beginning) is the creation of TIME ITSELF!
So in Genesis 1:1 - we see (In the beginning - at a SPECIFIC point in the past)…God created EVERYTHING!
But here in John 1:1 - there is NO reference to specific point in the past...
It’s just - In the beginning - and the next word is HUGE - WAS…the Word.
It doesn’t say - In the beginning - the Word CAME into being...
It doesn’t say - In the beginning - BEGAN the Word...
NO - in the beginning WAS - the Word...
In the beginning - THERE - was the Word...
This is saying that the WORD - Jesus Christ - was NOT created!
He had NO BEGINNING! from Everlasting...
What else do we see?
SLIDE: Jesus Christ as The Word: Fully Distinct
Jesus Christ as The Word
Jesus Christ as The Word
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word was - WITH God...
So we had just seen that Jesus Christ - the Word - has always existed…fully eternal....
And HERE we see that Jesus - eternally - COEXISTED…with God the Father!
We see this truth throughout Scripture...
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
And so, it’s crystal clear that Jesus…in Scripture…is DISTINCT from the Father!
Jesus is NOT the Father...
But what else...
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
SLIDE: Jesus Christ as The Word: Is God
Jesus Christ as The Word
Jesus Christ as The Word
And so here’s the thing…other religions in this world…will get the book ends of this verse wrong...
They’ll misinterpret (In the beginning was the Word)
And they misinterpret (and the Word was God)...
We’ve seen so far that Jesus Christ is ETERNAL…from everlasting...
We’ve also seen that Jesus Christ is DISTINCT from the Father...
And finally....
we see that Jesus Christ (the Word) is God.
Now:
Muslims
Mormons
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Hindu’s
Scientologists
JUST to name a few....do NOT believe that Jesus Christ IS God...
Every other RELIGION will do their best to UNDERMINE the deity of Jesus Christ...
And they will add words to this verse…specifically - - they will ignore this verse…specifically
But what they fail to understand is - there is AMPLE evidence, outside of this verse to show Jesus Christ IS GOD...
Let’s go OT -
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Think about who wrote this...
Isaiah wrote this - a monotheistic Jew wrote this…he believed that there was ONE God...
For to us a CHILD is BORN…(what does that mean)?
A human being - someone like you....like me...
And His name shall be - Wonderful Counselor....Mighty God!
This Messiah he says - this Messiah that’s coming - is the Mighty God! (El Gabor - in the Hebrew)
What’s Awesome to see - is that just 1 chapter later in chapter 10 of Isaiah...
verse 20-21
We see the same phrase “Mighty God” (El Gabor) being applied to Yahweh!
In chapter 9 of Isaiah we see the Messiah (Jesus Christ) being called Mighty God...
and in Isaiah chapter 10 we see Yahweh being called Mighty God...
Let's look at Micah 5...
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
From Everlasting is the Christ...
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.”
Why did they try to stone him? Because he claimed to be God Himself...
All throughout the Scripture we see the teaching that Jesus is God...
Matthew 1:23 - “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Isaiah 44:6 - (God is the Redeemer)
2 Peter 1:1 (Jesus is the Redeemer)
Isaiah 44:24 - (God created the world by Himself alone)
John 1:3; Colossians 1:16 - (Jesus made all things)
John 8:58 - Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 10:30-33 - Jesus answered them, “I and My Father are one.” Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
John 20:28 - And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Acts 20:28 - (God purchased us with His own blood)
Revelation 1:5-6; Revelation 5:8-9 - (Jesus' blood purchased us)
Jesus is God!
1 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.
Jesus Christ as the Word:
Had no Beginning
Fully Distinct
Is God
And BEING God - we see this
SLIDE: Jesus Christ as The Word: Is Creator
Jesus Christ as The Word
Jesus Christ as The Word
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Clearly, Jesus created all things...
Now, again, if you ever speak with a Jehovah's witness...
They don't believe this to be true...
they believe that Jesus HIMSELF was created...
But this isn't the only verse that tells us this...
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 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.
Jesus Christ is - Creator
And so He was active in Genesis 1...
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
In the beginning, God (PLURAL), created the heavens and the earth!
Jesus is creator...and this plays into our next point...
SLIDE: Jesus Christ as The Word: Is Life
Jesus Christ as The Word
Jesus Christ as The Word
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
With Christ as the Creator...
And Jesus Christ BEING Life himself...
Then all of LIFE - owes its existence - to Life...
Life does not come from Non-life...
Only LIFE can create LIFE....
And so let's look at a familiar verse with this in mind...
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus says - I am THE LIFE...No one comes to the Father except - HOW?"through me"
Where else have we seen this concept - THROUGH Christ?
All things were made - THROUGH HIM....through Christ!
All of LIFE was CREATED - THROUGH Christ...
Does this just apply to PHYSICAL life?
NO It applies to the Spiritual side as well!
Jesus says = NO ONE comes to the Father (which is SALVATION) - except THROUGH the LIFE CREATING SON of GOD!!
Life is found - where? IN HIM!
He IS - LIFE! And HIS life is - the LIGHT of men...
4 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.
The world will do all that it can to try and convince you that mankind is inherently GOOD...
That deep down...at our core...man is - DECENT...
that there really is a LIGHT inside of mankind...
And that the EVIL that we see in the world is due to - the OUTLIERS...
But - ONCE we see that God DEFINES what GOOD is...
That God DEFINES what EVIL is...
We see that we all are - GUILTY!
BUT...
For those who believe in the Son of God - for all that HE is for them...they RECEIVE His Spirit...
And so IF THERE IS ANY light at all in man...
it must be GIVEN to us
It must come from OUTSIDE of us...
There IS a war that is waged on the battlefield of the soul, and we were ALL once SOLDIERS of darkness!I
It is only BY FAITH in Jesus Christ (the Light of the world) - that we obtain LIFE, and therefore begin to - SHINE in the darkness!
The call for us Christians?
Remember Matthew 5:16-17?
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
I threw verse 17 up here as well, because there's a connection.
In the Bible - they actually break these 2 verses apart...and start a new section with verse 17...
But what does it say:
verse 16 - let YOUR light shine before others...
verse 17 - Jesus came to fulfill the law…
Yes - fully in His life - BUT NOW - THROUGH US - as His LIGHT now shines in us (through us)...
Is this your mission in life...?
Is this what you think about - ALWAYS?
What have we seen today?
SLIDE: Summary
Jesus Christ as The Word:
Had No Beginning
Fully Distinct
Is God
Is Creator
Is Life
But remember - As we’ll see coming up in this book...
if Jesus Christ is God - then He’s in charge…He has Authority...
But where there is authority - there pride will be warring against it
And if Jesus Christ is Life - the death is His enemy...
And where there is LIFE - there death will be warring against it...
Jesus Christ:
Had No Beginning
Fully Distinct from the Father
Is God
Is Creator
Is Life
Let’s pray