Scripture John 1:1-5, 14; 8:32
John 1:1-5
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.
John 1:14
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.
John 8:32 “Then you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free."
God and the word are one and have been so from the beginning
In
the beginning was the Word…
…and
the Word was with God…
…and
the Word was God.
In the
beginning was the Word…with God…who is God! Therefore the Word spoken of is not
an impersonal entity like we think of when we talk about “words” This Word is a personal living being. Next
sentence starts with a personal pronoun: “He”…
2 He was with God in the beginning.
All we know at this point is that the He is a personal being
and is referred to as the “Word”
A little study of the original language (Greek) shows that
this (logos)
Word who was in the beginning is eternal – “Beginning” is in the imperfect
tense – meaning a time before creation with a continued timeless
existence; so now we know this personal Word who was with and is God has an
existence in eternity past.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was
made that has been made. (Nothing was going to become
something once the Word decided there should be something, then went ahead and
made something out of nothing.) That just took us from God’s beginning which is
eternity past to our beginning which is CREATION. Vs 1-2 are timelessness before
creation – Vs 3 is the time of creation. Everything that came into existence
did so at his command and in his presence (without him nothing was made that has been made,
but THROUGH HIM all things were made). Great and creative things
happen when the “Word” is present and working.
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.
In the “Word” was Life (zwn) = the power to make something alive (Ezekiel /
Valley of Dry Bones) – pointing to a particular part of the Word’s
creation – mankind. And embedded in that life was light = the ability to
recognize where the life has come from – ie. the Word = a personal GOD! That
light never stops shining – even in the darkest darkness!
All that being true – is there a way to know the
“Word”?...this always existing - creation making – life giving – light bearing
- personal being? Of course – if I
didn’t know the answer, I wouldn’t have asked the question. Jump ahead to vs.
14.
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.
This always
existing Word/God who created us has now himself become one of us. How do we know
who he is? John tells us by revealing
the entire reason he wrote all this: John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in
the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 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.
Therefore –
the Word John referred to is none other than Jesus! Jesus is the personal Word
who existed in eternity past, brought about creation, gave us life and light
and became one of us so he could do what none of us are able to do without him
– receive “Life” (that is life in eternity future) = eternal life!
The synoptic
gospel (Mt Mk Lk) see life and death, heaven and hell, temporal and eternal
life in a vertical sense “This age and the age to come” relating more to
time. John, however sees those things in
a horizontal sense: “This world and the world above” relating more to place.
Both are correct – time and place and the reality of the Logos is where those
two meet at the center of the cross!
We are
looking more at John’s perspective today. He sees the world we live in (earth)
as evil whose ruler is the devil and the world above (heaven) as good whose
ruler is God. He begins his gospel by clearly stating that the good God of
Heaven has broken through time and place to enter our dark world with his in
comprehensible light!
What does
this have to do with Easter? Nestorius (5th c.) writes: “Is the Logos risen from the dead? And if the life-giver
(Logos) died, who then could give life? The mystery of godliness must, however,
be expressed in this manner: ‘One thing is the Logos who dwelt in the temple
formed by the Holy ghost, and another is the temple itself, different from the
God who dwells within it.’ This acknowledges the unity of the combination
[trinity], but the duality [triality] of the natures and substances.”
Maximus (7th
c.) writes: “All visible
realities need the cross, that is, the state in which they are cut off from the
things acting upon them through the senses. All intelligible realities need
burial, that is, the total quiescence of the things which act upon them through
the intellect. When all relationship with such things is severed, and their
natural activity is cut off, then the logos, who exists alone in himself,
appears as if risen from the dead. He encompasses all that comes from Him, but
nothing enjoys kinship with Him by virtue of natural relationship. For
salvation of the saved is by grace and not by nature.”
Luke 15:31-32 "My
son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is
yours. But we had to celebrate and be
glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found."
Once the Word
became flesh – EVERYTHING changed! For thousand’s of years the Jews had been
waiting for the Word to become flesh. Creation was groaning for the creator to
physically walk on that which He created. God was no longer just Spirit and
Voice but had become flesh and blood with all the possible frailties of every
human – including death. One might have
imagined that when the messiah were to come, it would not be possible for him
to die or be killed. Jesus blew up everyone’s theory of how God would act in
history and how people could know God and be granted life eternal with Him in
heaven.
If that
wasn’t enough to caused a severe migraine to comprehend, then he did in fact
die – was murdered by the Roman government at the urging of the Jewish
religious leaders – as if the whole world were against Him. …But
wait it gets better…
Acts 2:22-24 "Men of Israel, listen to this: God raised
Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because
it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Acts 2:32-36 God has
raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the
right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and
has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven,
and yet he said, "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." ' "Therefore let all Israel be assured of
this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
CONCLUSION
I believe
that this Jesus is the always existing - creation making – life giving – light
bearing - personal being who alone can forgive us of our sins and grant us
eternal life! ALL glory be to the WORD –
the risen living Logos – to Jesus…Jesus…Jesus!
O GLORIOUS DAY
One day when Heaven was filled with
His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed
Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day
John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
One day the grave could conceal
Him no longerOne day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed
Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day
John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again. O GLORIOUS DAY!
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