05/05/26

John 1:1-5

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I told y'all it was gonna be in John 15. Talking about the vine. That's where God started this message. That's where he put this this this uh passion of what we're doing here on my heart was John 15, 5. When he said, I am the branches, and uh He said, I am the vine, you are the branches, he that bideth in me and I and him the same bringeth forth much fruit. But uh and and there'll be a time for that, but I was studying this week, and the Lord said, No, we're gonna go to John 1.1 and and uh that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna dig into John 1.1 Um and just we're gonna go about verse by verse. And I looked up today, and there's 879 verses in the book of John. So y'all can go ahead and do your math and make your predictions if you want to laugh or make a prediction of how long it's gonna take me to get through the book of John. Uh y'all go ahead. But uh I take on what he said Saturday uh basketball game.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

A year?

unknown 0:55

A year.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yeah, probably a year and a half. But hey, we're gonna dig in and get what God's got for us. He put it here for a reason. We're gonna dig in and find every bit of it. That's that's what we we searching to do. But uh I'm gonna pray and we're gonna get started right quick. Lord God, we love you. We thank you, Lord, for this day. I thank you for your word. I thank you for the way that John wrote this word, dear God, that you inspired him to put it down exactly like he did. And look, Lord, we thank you for it. Now open our hearts, open our minds, and may you open your word to us, dear God. And I pray that we see what you want us to see so we can go out and be who you've called us to be, God. Lord, I pray I decrease and you increase, and I pray this word is about you tonight, Lord. Lord God, I pray you're glorified. And Lord, I pray when we leave here tonight, dear God, we know that we made you smile because we did what you've called us to do. Lord, I pray for your will right now, not my God. And I'll be careful to praise you for it in Christ's name. Amen. And he said in verse number one, he said, In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God, and the word was God. In the beginning. Um, when it says, in the beginning was the word. And we need to understand before we go any further and understand to start with that know that I'm not a great great theologian, and if I sit here and try to explain to you these first two verses, I would drive myself crazy. But to deny who Jesus Christ is and not accept him as my personal Lord and Savior and say, you know what, I just I'm not gonna accept this stuff like some people have in our lives, some people that you know that have, listen, you can't deny Jesus Christ. If you deny him, you know what happens. Hell's before you. But for the us that are sitting here, if you're that person that's sitting here tonight and say, you know what, I've accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, then you ain't got that to worry about. Because you know he is indescribable. He's unexplainable, but he's awesome. Because he's my God. And he died on a cross for our sins. That's what he did. But you look right here and it says, in the beginning was the word. And we understand right here, and I'm gonna say the next part, and the word was with God. Understanding there's two people right here: there's God, and it says the word. It said, the word was with God. Jesus Christ was with God. When the beginning of the beginning ever started, the beginning was already there. The guy that begun it, he was already there. Jesus Christ was there with God when everything started. We don't know if it was two million years ago, two thousand years ago, when it was, but we know one thing that Jesus Christ was with God in the beginning. And it says, and he was with God, and the word was God. And that that is that is hard to even wrap my mind around how was you God? How was you Jesus? How did you become born of a burden? How did you do all this? Like I said, he's unexplainable, but he's undeniable. And he's worth serving. But by faith, we trust in Jesus Christ. By faith we trust that he is who he says he is, and one day he's coming back to get us. And we should get excited at knowing that Jesus Christ is coming back to get us one day. So I want you to think about what it says in Genesis 1.1. As this this will take you back to Genesis 1.1. It said, in the beginning, God. So I want you to go back to your beginning. I'm not talking about the day you were born. Your physical birth. I want you to go back. If you're sitting here as a saved child of a king tonight, I want you to go back to the beginning. I want you to go back to that night, that morning, that day. I want you to go back to that time when you were born, when you were spiritually born, when you understood that that blood that was shed on that cross was for you. I want you to go back to that spot, that time, in the beginning. God. I want you to think about that for a moment. In the beginning of when you got saved and your testimony started, God was number one. Jesus Christ was the one thing that you got up for. In the beginning, in the beginning, he was God, he wasn't just a gesture. In the beginning, he was awesome, but now you think he's angry. In the beginning you thought that he was Jesus. Now you look at him like you think he's your judge. And God said, I'm not come to, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not being that. Man, he said, I come not. He said it in John 3.6, I meant John 3.17 right here. He said, for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He's trying to show us how to be saved. And that's why he left the throne and then he was born of a virgin. That's why he came here, so he could paint that picture for you, so he could show us how to live that sinless life that he lived. You say, Well, brother back, I can't live a sinless life. No, you can't live a sinless life. But you can try, you can press toward the mark, you can do those things, and that's what God is saying to us. He came down to show us the way. Because he told us he's the way in John 14, 6. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He told us that. And he's teaching us that. That's what he's trying to teach us tonight. Listen, I am the way. So at the beginning, I want you to look at the beginning when it says in the beginning was God, what God. And I want you to look at the beginning of your relationship. Number one, your relationship with God. Now I want you to think about where your relationship is right now. You say, Brother Mac, I'm on a Tuesday night, man. I'm here, you know? That doesn't matter. You can be as you can be as lost as a golf ball in high weeds, chasing it, man. Not understanding that God's not first in your life. You can you can be saved for a minute or you can be saved for 20 years, and you can still be out of God's will, still not saying, God, you are first anymore. But number one, your relationship with God. Number two, your relationship with your wife. Where's it at? In the beginning. In the beginning, in the beginning, you did what you did to make her happy. Now you do what you do to pacify her. Come on now. Now you do what you do just to make her happy, so she'll quit nagging at you. Anybody? And I ain't putting them down, I'm just being honest. That's just what we do. Because we get complacent, men. I'm just being honest. We get complacent as men, and we don't treat our wives like we ought to. You're like, well, she ain't doing what she used to. Well, guess what? You probably aren't either. In the beginning, there was love for Christ. In the beginning, there was love for your wife. In the beginning, there was love for that job. In the beginning, there was love for different things. But what did he say to that church at Ephesus? He said, I've got somewhat against you because you've left your first love. That's what he said. And it's so simple and so easy for us to leave those things and say, Man, I didn't want to. I didn't mean to. And I was listening to the song this morning, me and the boys were going to school, and we were listening to that song about casting crowns, and I mentioned it so many times. Man, it is a slow fade. It isn't something you meant to go see in. You didn't mean to take a second or third look. You didn't mean to click. You didn't mean to go. But it happens. And that's what God is saying to us tonight. It happens because God becomes not number one anymore. Because it goes back to Matthew 6.33. He said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. But too many times we seek ye first what we want and how we want it, and God can come in to fill in the blanks if there's something left of the day. Let's be honest. That's where we're at many times. In the beginning. In the beginning, the word in God was enough. So is it enough now? Is Jesus Christ enough in your life? Or is he just something that fills in the blanks of your life? Is he enough? That's what he's saying to us tonight. So I've got to thinking about the word. In Revelation 1.8, in Revelation 1.8, it says this. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. So understanding what a word is. A word is something that you've got to have every single day. You've got to have a word. And let me ask you a question. What have you got to have to have a word? You've got to have letters. You've got to have letters. And Jesus Christ just said, I'm the A and I'm the Z. He said, I'm everything that you need. He said, I'm the beginning of your life and I'm the end of your life. If you'll just trust me in your life and everything in between, I'll provide for you till you can get the Z. But you've got to commit the A. You've got to commit to the Alpha. You've got to understand that he's the Alpha and you're not. You've got to understand just because you go to, just because you come home at night and you're called daddy, don't mean you're the Alpha man. You've got to look the Alpha, Jesus Christ Himself. You've got to look to the one that started you, the one that is everything, and you've got to say, okay, God, you lead, I'll follow. That's what he's saying to us right there. I was sitting there studying one night last week, getting ready for this message tonight, and the Lord laid this on my heart. He said, each word has letters. He said, and I'm the Alpha and the Omega. He said, I should be your first thought and your last good night. But where am I at? And that hit me. Because God, lots of times, you're not my last good night. God, sometimes I wake up in the morning and you're not my first my first thought. And that's wrong of me. That's wrong of us not to put God first. But he's called to be the Alpha and the Omega. And he gave me this as I was sitting there and I wrote this down in about five minutes. He just started popping it off to me, and I said, okay, God, I'm going to write it down. And I'm going to share this with these men tonight. So I'm going to give you what God is to me to me from A to Z. He's the almighty Savior and the Blessed Assurance. He's my constant, my companion, my comforter, my concrete. He's my deliverer, my daddy, my director, and my decision maker. He's the eternal God and everlasting Father. He's my father, my friend, and my forgiver. He's the God of yesterday, today, and forevermore. He's good and he's great. He's the heavenly father, my healer, my hands that picks me up. He's holy. He's indescribable, he's infinite, and he's into me. He's Jesus of Nazareth, the judge of judges, and he's Jehovah. He's the King of the Jews and the King of my heart. He's magnificent, he's masterful. He's the manna from above, and he's my Messiah. He's noble, never ending, and he never leaves me. He's omnipresent, he's omnificent, and he's overwhelming. He's my Prince of Peace, and he's the peace that's unexplainable. He's Peter's rock and he's perfect. He's the quencher, which is way better than Gatorade, and he's the quality of life that never that's never seen. He's the ruler of the world, he's my redeemer, and he's my rock. He's the savior of the world, the sweetness of my life, and he's sinless. He's the truth, he's the triune God, he's timely and he's trusted. He's unshakable, he's undescribable, and he's undeniable. He's victorious and he's valuable. He's my witness and my way maker and my wonderful of the word. X marks the spot where the nailed where they nailed him to the cross. He's your choice and he's Yahweh. Z is everything in my life, and he is the end that never stops. That's who he is to me. That's who he is to me. He's my end Z. He's everything in between. And if you'll trust in him, that's what he'll be for us. That's who Christ is to me. And then it says in verse number three, it said, All things were made by him. And you get to thinking about, let's just take, let's just take Bethlehem for a moment. Let's just take that Jesus was God in the beginning. Let's just think about, man, when he started creating everything, the heavens and the earth and people and all these things, he started creating, hey, he was already creating, he was already creating a seed for a tree that was going to build a manger that he was going to lay in one day as a babe when he comes, come, comes on this earth and he shows us how to live that sinless life. Man, he made it all. And that's awesome to me to think about the man. Hey, he was thinking about you way before you was even thought about. Amen. He made everything. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. He did it. I said it last week when the boys were sitting here. Dude, he's him. He's him. People can say all their life, man, that guy's him, or that guy. Jesus Christ is him. And there should be nobody compared to him. And he says in verse number four. Verse number four it says, In him was life. In him was life. I want you to think about someone that was a role model in your life. You got him? They were everything to you. You looked up to them. And the moment that you lost them, how did you feel? You probably felt like these people did on the map on the on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24, 32. And they said, and did not, and they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us, by the way. In him was life. We can all go to that person that, man, we just thought that they hung the moon. I thought my papa hung the moon. I thought he was indestructible, he would never die. I thought he was everything to me. And I well, my world was over. I didn't understand it. I couldn't fathom why somebody I'd have to lose somebody so great. Because in him was life to me. There was life no better as a child. And you get to thinking about whoever your role model was in life, and man, they were life to you. And when you lost them, it hurt. It stung. It burnt. And to some of you, it still does. But what he's saying right here is in him was life. The life that everyone needed was Jesus Christ at this very moment, verse number four. He was life. And I'll bet, I would be willing to bet every single one of you that's sitting here, you've lost someone close to you, you found life again. Not that life filled that gap, but Jesus Christ can fill that gap. He can get you through there. He can get you through those hard times. He can help you through those hard times. But what he's trying to paint the picture right here is in him was life. And the life was the light of men. In him was life. The question is, don't you look at that, those four words. In him was life. Is he a was or an is? Don't you look at that verse again? Is he a was or an is? In him is life or in him was life? That's what he's saying right here. That's what God spoke to me as I was studying this. Is he an is or a was? Is he your life right now or was he your life at one time? That's what he's saying to you and I. What is your life? What lights your fire right now? Is it your job? Is it your wife? Is it the word of God? When you get to study God's word, what makes your light turn on? What gets your motor revved up, so to speak? But don't you look on at verse number four? And it says, and the life was the light of men. I want you to think about that for a second. Jesus Christ's life was the light of the men. His life, the way he lived his life, lit them up. It got them excited. It made them want to get up in the morning to go tell somebody else about him because he was the light, man. He was the light. They didn't need any other light. He was the light. And that's what he's saying right here when he says, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. We got to the point in our lives where we understood that you know what? He is enough. He is enough, and we ain't got to have all this other stuff that we add in to make it make the life be great. Man, Jesus Christ is great without the stuff that we add to him. It's Jesus plus nothing is everything. And that's what he's trying to teach us right here is, man, he was the light of those men, and they were lit up because of who he was. They seen him. You've got to remember, John's telling this story, and Jesus Christ is the. This has already happened. So John's telling a story that's already happened right here. It ain't like he's foretelling right here from the Old Testament. He's already experienced this. He's writing it down, man. He walked with him. We need to understand that. And it says in verse number five. And the light shineth in darkness. And the light shineth in darkness. So how many of you when you when you try to? I'm gonna finish that sentence. And the light shined in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. So when you're looking at this right here, it's painting a picture to me as you're trying to tell a lost person about Jesus Christ. Okay? The light shined into the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. So when the when the light's trying to shine in, it's kind of like it's kind of like you you was in the woods. Anyone ever been in the deer woods? In the middle of the woods, and your flashlight go out. It's kind of eerie feeling, isn't it? And then you go to trying to holler yourself out. And man, you you you you you really don't know where you're going. You're just trusting because you hear a voice that's hollered back at you, but you can't see them. You're just trusting the voice. It's kind of like faith. It's kind of like faith. But but you you you're you're listening for that voice and you're you're headed in that direction. You don't know what's in front of you. You're walking through vines, you're stepping over rattlesnakes, you're doing all this stuff because you hear a voice and you're headed toward it. And that's the faith that God has called us to be in right there, y'all. But now Then all of a sudden you see a peak of light. All of a sudden you see some hope. All of a sudden you see the light. And the thing that you've been hearing, now you're seeing that, hey, there's something there. And you're headed toward. And that light, man, you're wanting to get to that light because you know that that light's got something. The same thing in our own lives, man. God's trying to tell you and I, listen, there's something here if you'll just come and tag on to the light. And he's trying to draw us to the light. He's trying to draw us to him many times. But many times we're not comprehending it. We're not comprehending him what he's trying to say. How many times you tried to tell somebody about Jesus Christ and they just ain't hearing it? They're just not hearing what you got to tell them. Because many times the uncomprehended the uncomprehended light was because we showed the light with a lashing out, not love. I just try to preach it down their throat. Try to beat them over the head with Jesus, and Jesus said, man, just love them. How many times have we we steered somebody in the wrong direction just because the way we talk to them? You know? We just expect them to get it just because we got it. Do you remember when you didn't get it? Do you remember when you didn't have Jesus Christ and somebody told you about Jesus? You was like, dude, I ain't listening to that mess. You didn't get it until the light shined within you. See, the light had to shine within you. You didn't get it until that point. It's kind of like a good old boy. When it says that they didn't comprehend it. Kind of like a good old boy that's lived their life like a good old boy, and they think that, okay, then I've lived a good life. I think that's enough for me to accept Jesus Christ. That He'll let me into heaven because I've been good. I ain't never been bad to nobody. I've never wronged nobody, never stole from them, I ain't lied to nobody. I've been a good guy. That's kind of like what he's saying right here when he says you don't comprehend the light. You're living in darkness and you don't comprehend it. And that's what he's saying. That's what he's trying to teach us tonight is listen, it's kind of like a good old boy that thinks he did enough to get to heaven, but he doesn't comprehend that the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior, and accepting him as his personal Lord and Savior. But now that you've accepted the light, now that if you're you're saved here tonight and you say, you know what? I comprehend it now. You comprehend it because you got it. Because the light finally got within you. It finally got within you. How many of you are sitting here and thinking about somebody that you know what you've ever said or thought, you know what? That person will never, that person will never get saved. That person's too far gone. Anyone ever said that? We have. And that's your life, and you've put up that wall. Somebody's put up that wall. And I get to thinking about how great Jesus Christ's light is. He's like a torch. If you'll take that torch and you'll keep it on that metal and keep it, keep it going back and forth on that piece of metal over and over, before you knew it, that the back side of that, the back side of that metal starts starts glowing. It starts glowing. It's kind of like you working on somebody that's hard. It keeps glowing and you keep working over and over and over. And before you knew it, it blows a little hole through. Before you know it, you get a little bit of light going through that. Before you know it, you've worked in somebody's life because some you kept on and you kept on and you didn't quit praying and you didn't keep doing those things, and you kept on pressing toward. And because of that, somebody got saved. Think about how many people was praying for you when you thought you were done. When you thought, man, I don't want, I don't want this Jesus stuff. Man, just leave me alone. I got what I need in life. That's been many of us. That many times. Just didn't comprehend it. But you see, I'm gonna give you this example. It's kind of like this. If I told y'all that I went fishing last week and I caught a 30-inch trout, and man, it was an awesome fight. Man, that thing, it fought. I fought it for about 10 minutes, and I got him right there at the bank, and I got him up, he flipped off, and then I grabbed him right quick before he went in the water. Man, it was awesome. How many of y'all is gonna believe me? Some of y'all's gonna say, you know what? I got to see this fish. Before I believe this tail, I got to believe this fish. I ain't never caught a 30-inch trout, okay? I'm just being honest with y'all. Alright, so. But you wouldn't believe me till you've seen it. And see a lost person? They don't believe what you say until they finally see the light of Jesus Christ shine within them. So what God is saying is, man, don't quit. Don't quit and don't give up trying to shine that light. Listen, they might not comprehend it today, but think about you. Think about how many times somebody tried to win you to Jesus Christ, tried to tell you, and you you you kept on saying, I don't need it, I don't need it, I don't need it. But one day that light shined through, and then now they comprehend. Now they comprehend. They comprehend that listen, they don't need the darkness anymore. They need Jesus Christ, that light. Same thing that you and I need. We need the light, which is Jesus Christ. Um think about darkness and light for a moment. If you walk into a dark room and you flip on the light, you all of a sudden have light, right? The darkness leaves. So darkness can't be where light is, right? But what about spiritual light? So so the dark side and the spiritual side, they they can be right there together. So you've got to fight within that. You've got to fight when when when when the darkness is trying to come in. How many times have you seen a relationship where a husband's saved and a wife's not, or vice versa, when those things happen, and men they don't coincide because the light and the darkness are trying to fight against each other. You've seen it so many ways, we all have, but listen, what God is trying to say is, man, you do your best to put that spiritual light in front of somebody. It doesn't matter if they're lost, they're saved, whatever they are. Put the spiritual light in them so they can be what God's called them to be. So you give them that opportunity. That's just what we've got to do. We've got to put it out there. We've got to give them what God has given us. That's just what we've got to do. Um I think that's where I'm going to stop tonight. We're going to jump on. We'll jump next week into where. And I'll be honest with y'all, boy, this thing's tough. It's tough to it's tough to teach, it's tough to study. The first part of John is very tough for me. Um, but we're going to jump into verse number six next week when we start talking about John the Baptist. And uh how he's he's called to be the witness and bear the light of the true light, Jesus Christ. That's to come. Um we'll dig in, we'll we'll get through several verses next week. Uh I feel sure about that. But uh y'all just bear with me. I'm gonna struggle through it and I'm gonna I'll I'll get I'll get through it just the best I can. But uh some weeks are are harder than others, I can tell you. But uh anyhow, anybody got anything else than that? Anybody fool? Good deal. All right. D, would you close in a word of prayer?