John 1:1-18

In Jesus as the Word, God has made himself audible

John 1:1-5 NIV • In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning. (3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The gospel of John was written for a purpose• John 20:30-31 NIV Jesus did

many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. (31) But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 1:1-18 is the most profound text on incarnation

• In Jesus as the Word, God makes himself audible

• In Jesus as the Light, God makes himself visible

• In Jesus as the Life, God makes himself tangible

• In Jesus as the Son, God makes himself knowable

John begins before the beginning

• Mark begins with the ministry of Jesus

• Matthew begins with the birth of Jesus

• Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist

• John 1:1-2 NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning.

Jesus’ story is older than the world

• John 1:3-5 NIV Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

Foretold by the prophets

• Isaiah 9:6 NIV For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

• Zechariah 2:10-11 NIV "Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD. (11) "Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.

Affirmed by Jesus• John 8:56-58 NIV Your father Abraham

rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." (57) "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" (58) "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

• John 17:4-5 NIV I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. (5) And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Declared by the apostles• 1 John 2:14 NIV I write to you, fathers,

because you have known him who is from the beginning.

• Philippians 2:5-8 NIV … Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, (7) but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!

Evident in creation• Hebrews 1:2-3 NIV but in these last days

he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (3) The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

• Colossians 1:16-17 NIV For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (17) He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Jesus is God!• John 8:58 NIV "I tell you the truth," Jesus

answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

• Exodus 3:14 NIV God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

• John 1:1-2 NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning.

• John 20:28 NIV Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus is Life!

• John 1:4 NIV In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

• John 5:21 NIV For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

• John 11:25 NIV Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

Jesus is Light!• John 1:4 NIV In him was life, and that life

was the light of men.

• John 12:35 NIV Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

• John 8:12 NIV When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The tragedy is that light does not illuminate everyone

• John 1:5 NRSV The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

• John 3:19-20 NIV This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (20) Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

John 1:6-8

In Jesus as the Light, God has made himself visible

John 1:6-8 NIV

• There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. (7) He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. (8) He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

We’ll see see this John next week

• John 1:19-20 NIV Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. (20) He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ."

John was not the only witness to the Light

• 1 Peter 1:10-11 NIV Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, (11) trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

More than 300 prophecies of Christ

• Luke 24:25-27 NIV He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (26) Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" (27) And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

John 1:9-13

In Jesus as the Life, God has made himself tangible

John 1:9-13 NIV

• The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (10) He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (11) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (12) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- (13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Jesus is the light of life

• John 1:4 NIV In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

• John 8:12 NIV When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

• John 12:46 NIV I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Not everyone saw the light

• John 1:11 NIV He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

• Deuteronomy 7:6 NIV For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

Some did see the light

• John 1:12 NIV Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

• 1 John 3:1 NIV How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Born of God

• John 1:13 NIV children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

• John 3:5 NIV Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Born of God

• Titus 3:4-7 NIV But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, (5) he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, (6) whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

John 1:14-18

In Jesus as the Son, God has made himself knowable

John 1:14-18 NIV

• The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'" (16) From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. (17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (18) No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

The Word became flesh and lived among men

• Abrupt change of pronouns in John 1:14– Everything before is 3rd person – He, him, they

– Now it becomes 1st person – We, us

• John 1:14 NIV The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We beheld his glory• Reminiscent of the tabernacle

– Exodus 40:33-34 NIV Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work. (34) Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

• Seen on the mount of transfiguration– Luke 9:29-32 NIV As he was praying, the appearance of

his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. (30) Two men, Moses and Elijah, (31) appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. (32) Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.

We beheld his glory• 2 Peter 1:16-18 NIV We … were eyewitnesses of

his majesty. (17) For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (18) We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

• The glory of Jesus is the glory of God

We received his grace

• John 1:16-17 NIV From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. (17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

• He has given us what we could never deserve – but what we desperately needed – mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance, and blessings

We see God in him

• John 1:18 NIV No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

• Jesus manifested God as no one had before!– John 14:9 NIV Jesus answered: "Don't you know me,

Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

– John 17:6 NIV "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

– John 17:24 NIV "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

We see God in him

• Colossians 1:15 NIV He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

• Hebrews 1:1-4 NIV In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, (2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (3) The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (4) So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

As we gaze on his glory, we become like him

• John 1:14 NIV The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

• 2 Corinthians 3:18 NRSV And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

When Christ comes, we will be glorified together with Him!

• 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 NIV With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. (12) We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Jude 1:24-25 NIV To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- (25) to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

So, John tells us that in Jesus

• As the Word, God has made himself audible

• As the Light, God has made himself visible

• As the Life, God has made himself tangible

• As the Son, Got has made himself knowable

• As Word, Light, Life and Son, God has made himself accessible

Take hold of the one who has made himself accessible to you

• Titus 3:4-7 NIV But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, (5) he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, (6) whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.