Mankind has developed some pretty crazy notions about God. We’ve made gods of “birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:23) We’ve mystical forces divine, or we are all gods, or nature is god. Religions have been set up honoring a god that commands the subjugation, persecution, torture and even execution of unbelievers. [“slay the idolaters wherever you find them.” (Sura 9:5, Quran)] Another posits a system of death and rebirth earning karma [salvation points?] through many lifetimes until one become worthy of achieving nirvana – which is a state of complete freedom from all desire, all entanglements, all sorrow…..and oh yeah, all happiness. But behind all false religion – that which has not been revealed by God Himself, is a desire to become like God. That’s been the temptation since the days of the Garden, when Satan offered Eve the fruit, telling her: “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5) That has been at the root of mankind’s quest from the beginning. And still the search goes on, often foolishly – purposefully ignoring God’s proven offering of His revelation to us through the only means possible; through His Son Jesus Christ. But for those who search for Him, and seek the TRUTH with their whole heart God has revealed Himself through the person of His Son. And nothing brings this together better than the Gospel account written by the Apostle John.
PART II: GOD REVEALS HIMSELF
The Apostle John was a little excited about Jesus. Just look at the words with which he begins the writing called First John. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” He had seen the very Son of God and his enthusiasm could hardly be contained.
John knew of whom he was writing, and in his gospel he wastes no time laying out the full significance. There is no case building going on, proving that He, Jesus, was the rightful King / Messiah, or declaring His authority through the evidence of miracles – (though John certainly uses these in his account.) – or like Luke, revealing His nature. John’s message is simple and to the point. John tells us who Jesus really is: He reveals His Godship! Here is the start of that most elegant and philosophical of gospels. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
To start with John tells us that “In the beginning was the Word,” or Logos. This parallels nicely with the opening of the Bible in Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) So this Word, this Logos was in the beginning, always existed, was with God…..at the creation event. In the very first sentence, John is telling us that this Jesus is God. And it is his use of the word Logos that really drives the point home, for both Jews and Greeks. “In the beginning was the word (logos), the word (logos) was with God, and the word (logos) was God.” So what does this “Logos” mean?
In the 6th century BC, Heraclitus first used the word in reference to a fixed principle in a world of change; it was his expression of God. In the Stoic school of philosophy, Logos was the power that controlled and ordered the world. Philo, a Hellenized Jew, used the Logos to mean Yahweh. In Old Testament thinking, it came to mean ‘God in Action’, especially with regard to creation or deliverance or Divine revelation. So look what John is communicating to his audience. Let’s paraphrase those first verses. ‘In the beginning was the Divine Fixed Principle that controls and orders the world, the very Divine Revelation. And this Divine Revelation was with God and was God and this Divine Expression of God was Force behind the Creation so that nothing was made without Him.’ So right there in the first sentences, he’s saying, this Jesus is God, the very Expression of the Divine. John ain’t foolin’ around. This is God’s revelation to us.
Let’s look at the next few verses, John 1:6-13. “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Now the “Light” identified was God the Son, the Logos. Isaiah 9:2 reads: “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” In Isaiah 49:6, the Prophet speaks of the then ‘coming’ Messiah, as not just the Saviour of Israel, but also “as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” That was made possible because He was rejected by His own, the Jews. Verse 12 of John 1gives us the key to become “children of God.” This privilege is reserved for those who “believe on His name.” Paul confirms this in Galatians 3:26 when he writes: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” That provides a finishing argument against universalism – and an impetus to spread the Good News of the Gospel to all the world. And when verse 13 points out that we must be “born of God,” it anticipates the full explanation of the necessity of being ‘born again’ found in John chapter 3.
Here are the inspired words of John 1:14-18 to finish off this incredible chapter. “And the Word became 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. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son,[f] who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” YES! God came and dwelt with men, fulfilling the prophecy found in Isaiah 40:5. “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
From this one short, rich chapter we’ve learned so much. We found that Jesus / Logos is eternal – He was there “In the beginning.” He is the Creator – “without Him nothing was made.” He is the Source of Life and Light and is the Logos, the Active Word of God. And finally, find our salvation and connection with the Father, through a relationship with Him.
Paul strikes a similar theme in his letter to the Colossians. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:15-17) Now that’s a God worth searching for…..and finding…..and worshiping…..by surrendering to Him our entire being!
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