Sermon Tone Analysis

*“THE LIFE AND LIGHT OF CHRIST”*

*John 1:3-5*

* *

*/"/**/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.

/**/The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

(John 1:3-5ESV) \\ \\ /*

INTRODUCTION:

 

In verses 3 – 5 John finishes his opening words, his opening comments concerning the subject, the theme of the gospel that bears his name.

The subject of the book is of course the “Word” as John identifies Jesus Christ.

Last week we examined verse two in which John dealt with the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son.

Now beginning in verse 3 John turns his attention to the relationship between the Word and creation, between Jesus Christ and creation.

The relationship as described by John is an important one because it is another of the proofs, it is another piece of evidence introduced to verify the claims that Jesus made about himself while he lived here on the earth.

It would be good for us to remember that John’s gospel is a biography of the life of Christ.

This biography is written by one who personally witnessed the life of Christ.

John is not making assumptions about Jesus Christ; John is making truth statements based upon his own eyewitness observations of the life of Christ.

What then is the relationship between Jesus Christ and creation?

*1.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SOURCE OF CREATION*

 

John’s thinking is logical in its flow.

He has already linked the Word, Jesus Christ with creation when he opened the book by stating that “In the beginning was the Word…”  The words “in the beginning” take us back to the creation account in the very first book of the Bible the book of Genesis.

A popular children’s catechism asks the question “Who made you?”  “God did!”  “What else did God make?”  “God made all things!”

The Christian belief is that God is the source of creation.

Now what does John say in verse three?

“All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made what was made.”

Taking each of John’s statements about the Word where do they lead us?

They lead us to only one conclusion that Jesus is God! 

 

Let’s follow John’s line of reasoning here.

1.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

2.  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God

3.  All things were made through him (Word) 

 

Logically it follows if each of those statements are true then the only conclusion that can be drawn is that Jesus is God.

If Jesus is the Creator he cannot be among the created!

Therefore if you are going to deny that Jesus is God you are going to have to also deny that God is the Creator.

What is my point?

More importantly what is John’s point?

You cannot separate The Son from the Father.

You cannot separate Christ from God.

Is creation a legitimate source, a legitimate proof for the existence of God?

I believe that it is.

There are many who do not necessarily embrace the Christian faith who when they look at creation they arrive at the conclusion that the creation had to have a creator.

For instance the scientist Francis Collins wrote in his book /The Language of God/ “I can’t imagine how nature, in this case the universe, could have created itself.

And the very fact that the universe had a beginning implies that someone was able to begin it.

And it seems to me that had to be outside of nature.”

One of God’s intended uses for creation was to provide a visual testimony of his existence.

For instance Romans 1:20 teaches us…

 

*“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”*

As we look at the world around us, according to the Bible it is right to assume that what we can see (creation) was created by one we can’t see (God).

What is Jesus Christ relationship to creation?

He is the source of creation.

The Father worked through the Son to both create and sustain the creation.

John is offering his creative power as a proof of the divine nature of Christ.

As Calvin says /“Having declared that the Word is God and proclaimed His divine essence, he goes on to prove His divinity from His works.”/

The theme of Christ as the Creator is a common one in the New Testament.

In Col. 1:16-17 Paul says that all things were created “by him” and even “for him”, and that in him all things hold together.

The author of the book of Hebrews informs us that the Father working through the Son has made the world.

Rev.

3:14 describes Christ as the beginning the originator of creation.

MacArthur writes /“That Jesus Christ created everything offers two further proofs of His deity.

First the Creator of all things must himself be uncreated, and only the eternal God is uncreated.

(Second) that Jesus is the Creator also verifies His deity because God is portrayed throughout the Bible as the Creator.”/

QUESTION: If God created this world what happened to it?

It is obvious that the way the world is now is radically different from God’s original good creation.

(See Gen. 1:31) 

 

What happened was the entrance of sin into God’s good world.

That event is known as the fall.

The effect of the fall was universal.

Every part of the creation was affected, not just people but all of creation was corrupted by the fall and awaits the coming redemption.

Since Jesus Christ is the source of creation then John’s next statement logically follows.

*2.

JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE*

 

*/John 1:4/ “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”*

* *

Since Jesus Christ is the Creator it logically follows that he is also the source of life.

Now for the first time John introduces two prominent themes of his gospel – life and light.

But how does John use them?

What kind of life is John referring to?

If we keep in mind that we are examining Christ’s relationship to creation then I believe it would be safe and proper to assume that the life that John is referring to is physical life.

Notice the way, notice the words, the phrasing that John uses, “In him (the Word, in Christ) was life.”

Who is the source of life?

Jesus Christ is!

But should we, or did John intend to limit the life that was in Christ to purely, or only physical life?

I don’t believe we should, nor do I believe that John intended the use of the word life to be limited to physical life.

Andreas Kostenberger writes “John asserts that life was in him (Jesus).

He is the source of life, both physical and spiritual.”

Just as there is no physical life apart from Christ, there is also no spiritual life apart from Christ.

This is important for the time we live in.

We live in a day and age that emphasizes spirituality, but it is a false spirituality, because according to the Scriptures there is no spiritual life, there is no genuine spirituality apart from Christ.

Life is one of John’s characteristic concepts in his book.

He uses the word 36 times.

Leon Morris writes “Life in John characteristically refers to eternal life which is the gift of God through His Son.

Here however the term must be taken in the broadest sense.

It is only because there is life in the word that there is anything on earth at all.

Life does not exist in its own right.”

The Gospel constantly associates life with the Word.

For instance in John 10:10 Jesus tells us that he came so that we may have life and that we may have it abundantly.

John 3:16 tells us that Jesus died so that people may have everlasting life.

Jesus gave his life for the world (John 6:51).

Jesus said that only those who come to him have life.

Twice Jesus said that he is the life.

(John 11:25, 14:6)

 

The Bible teaches that the coming of the life forces those who have seen the light to make a choice.

As far back as the Old Testament days the Lord said to the people of Israel.

*/"/**I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.