Sermon Tone Analysis

Have a friend designing an invisible airplane… Cant see that taking off.

Hopefully at 11:59:59 on Friday Night you all lifted your left leg.

That way you’d start off the year on the right foot.

Lets get this started

Who: This was written six times in only this book… who Jesus loved

and then in John 21:24

So its John… we know he’s fast, or maybe Peter’s slow… we know hes a man’s man… because he wrote himself up… John 20 1-10

He will also tell us later that the writing was divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit in John 14:26

Audience: Believers and non-believers… Mostly Jews, but some Greeks as well.

Purpose: John tells us his purpose… right in the book… look at what it says…and this is where the subtitle of this series comes from....

This does not mean that its only for non-believers… we point this to new christians but its so theologically deep, and its not just for those who do not believe…so that you may believe… da.

John 15:4

So the book isn’t for just the non-believers to believe but it has a sense that it is for us to KEEP believing to keep us in him we need this kind of learning, so we have to

Alright, now we are done with a little background information and we can jump into it, are you ready....

Here is what he says in verse 1

And in the beginning was the word.... so lets stop right there… you may see where this is going and how fast we are going to get through this...

Gentiles: They saw this idea of the Word more philosophically, They looked at the world and didn’t see it as chaotic, but orderly.

Everything had it’s place and moved or grew in an orderly fashion, the stars above and the vegetation below.

The Greeks had the idea that behind the world was a mind, a reason, a power that made and kept things in place… This unlimited power was said to be the WORD.

It was also what they thought gave them the ability to think and reason.

It was the power that brought light and understanding into the world.

Not only that it was the power that allowed me to come into contact with God… and expressed their feelings to God

So this is an idea that they would have understood....

Jews: The Jews saw the word as something more than a sound… It was something active and existing… it was something that had the power to express something to do something… You can see this in the OT where the Word of God was seen as the creative power of God… the power that created the world and gave light and life to every man.

And these are just a few examples, but immediately they would have understood it...

But not only that… this whole structure goes so much deeper for the Jews...

And in essence what John is telling us is that Jesus was there… thats the word… Thats what we learn from that quotation in Psalms… the Word of the Lord created it… the trinity right from the very beginning of the gospel is being declared.... and what John is trying to tell us here is that Jesus is that word… and he is calling on all of these people to see Jesus as the answer to the question.... he is showing the Jews… that beginning you were talking about.... it was Him… the one you are waiting on… and I am about to tell you all about him… to the gentiles he is saying… the word… the thing that you are hoping for… it is Jesus he will tell us in verse 14… its not just a word… it became FLESH.... thats good stuff… that should get you excited...

So what he is saying from the very beginning of this Gospel is Jesus always was..He is the son of the Living God.

It took John a few years to really understand the deity of Jesus and who he was and he doesn’t want it to take that long for us to understand what is going on… he wants us to get it from the very beginning.

So John 1:1

This idea, that the word WAS god… that Jesus was God… is going to be central to the theme of John, and what gets Jesus killed...That first with has this idea of not only being with but acting toward… so Jesus was with and acting with him… its participatory… its got the idea that you’re doing the thing together in the greek.

So it shows the father and son had this relationship from the beginning working and acting and being with one another… which is what he says in verse 2

This is really important to those people you have to remember he is trying to prove to them that Jesus is God, that he’s the messiah so what he is saying is look… to the greeks that thing you believe… that there is this higher word… that it was what you needed and gave a higher view… listen its Jesus… he’s God… he was with God from the very beginning.... don’t you see the thing you thought about it was him!

and hes about to go and tell us more about it… in fact look at what it says in 1 John about the same thing

And this is deep theology today… we are learning about the trilogy.. John is saying Jesus is of the very nature and character of God the father… but he is not God the father…he’s a distinct character… but is the same… and we cannot even wrap our minds around how this is possible.

and he is telling us when we see Jesus we are seeing a person that is God....

So he is wanting us to see that Jesus was eternal, and if you think about this it is not that hard to understand… just follow me here… what is time?

A measurement… No? Yes… a day is a measurement of the time that we are moving around the sun etc… so before the world Jesus, the trinity existed so it isnt really difficult to understand when you think about it that way… and he is wanting us to know that so we can understand how powerful and majestic he is… s

He is trying to show them, look he was not like you and I… he is not just a mere man or one of your Greek gods that you think of but he comes from nothing…

Look at these amazing statements… all things were made through him.... and as if that isnt enough he follows it with NOTHING was made without him.

He is trying to let you know that everything came through him.... that mountain over there… he did it… that body of water… thats him… you…EVERYTHING… remember where this is going… he wants you to believe … and hes getting there… hes showing you how powerful he is… hes letting you know that he created it… He is an active participant in it all...

Hes not some far off God....because he created it… it means he cares about every person in the world… and while the problems of the world aren’t his problem but the problem of sin, he is the answer to all of those problems… he is the one that can fix it all

He is showing us that Jesus is life… and that life was supposed to be the light for men to follow… to illuminate what our life was supposed to look like… and all of this goes so clearly with what John will say later...

Lets look one last time at John 1:5

THIS is a promise of goodness to you… The light shines in the darkness… in the darkness of your life… while your family member passed away too soon… while your kids are running off the deep end… HE is the light in that situation… what does that mean… that means he is the way you go for answers… when you dont know what to do you follow him… you dont just walk aimlessly around like we tend to do… you just push into him…

We cant just stop this study without Jumping to verse 14,

He came and dwelt among us, and i seent him… This my friends is what made it all different… he came and became one of us… and becasue of him we know how to live...