Light That Teaches, Truth That Saves

What if the breath in your lungs is more than biology—it’s a sign of a grace that preceded your first thought and outlasts your best effort? We open John 1 and dwell on the staggering claim that the Word who spoke creation into being is the same Jesus who walked among us, full of grace and truth. The Logos isn’t an abstract idea or secret knowledge; He is personal, eternal, and creative, and His light still presses into today’s darkness.

We follow the thread from Genesis and the Psalms to the prologue of John: God’s speech makes worlds, orders storms, and lights the path of the faithful. Pastor Carl shows how this light is not just information but illumination that changes lives—and why so many fail to grasp it. Enter John the Baptist, the witness who points away from himself, preparing hearts to receive the One who comes after yet existed before. His humility and courage recast what true ministry looks like: directional, costly, and clear.

From there we wrestle with a vital distinction: bearing God’s image grants human dignity, but becoming God’s children belongs to those who receive and believe in Jesus. The Word became flesh confronts both ancient Gnostic errors and modern detachment, revealing a Savior who weeps, confronts injustice, loves outcasts, and embodies truth as a living presence. Grace upon grace doesn’t erase the law; it fulfills it, welcoming us into a relationship where truth frees and grace sustains. Join us as we seek deeper fellowship with the One who made us, saves us, and still holds all things together.

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Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com.

Chapters

• 26:00 Marker 01

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_01: 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02: 0:20

One way or another, his grace is shining upon you. The fact that you're able to breathe and that your heart is beating and that things just don't fall apart, that they're held together. It's a proof of God's grace that shines in the world. But in many ways, the world does not understand, does not comprehend, in fact, fights against it, which we'll see more and more as we go through the gospel.

SPEAKER_01: 0:47

Pause for a moment. Did you just think real hard so that your heart would keep beating? What about your breathing? Did you focus all your metal attention on your lungs with hopes that you'd draw another life-giving gulp of oxygen in? No! All these things happen automatically by the very nature of your creation. God, by his abounding grace, created you to live an abundant life without even thinking. This single fact should cause all people to worship him. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02: 1:21

We start out in the beginning. Now, what does that remind you of? That reminds you of the beginning of the Bible. In the beginning. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and God spoke, let there be light, and there was light, right? So right away, John is connecting what he's talking about with the beginning of creation, with the God of creation that started all things out. In the beginning was God, and now he's calling, in the beginning was the word. He's bringing in this phrase called the Word. Now, in the Greek, uh, this word is logos, which means word, which means spoken word, which means knowledge, which means in this town of Ephesus, where Artemis of the Ephesus was was the great God, and there was a great teaching of Gnosticism and a lot of sub-teachings of Gnosticism, which take this idea of the logos, and that that's everything. Knowledge is king, you know, to know, to learn, to get the deeper meanings of things. And John is taking this word that they're very familiar with, and not necessarily redefining it, but defining it the way it ought to be defined, as the word was defined in the beginning. This word is not just knowledge, but this word is a person. This word not only is a thought that changes you, but this word, when it speaks, it changes things. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He uses this idea of describing Jesus as the word to help describe his position in the Trinity. He's the second person of the Trinity. He is God, and he is one with God, and yet he's a separate personality. The Word was God and was with God. And he was in the beginning with God. As you'll see, there's a frustration that that goes through here that the Lord in his grace reveals himself to us, and yet we still can't grasp a hold of it. And so let me let me let me uh go back into the book of Psalms and share a few uses of this phrase as the word that I believe John is using in this way in his gospel. In Psalm 33, 6 it says, By the word of the Lord the heavens of met were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. And John is saying, Jesus is that word. Fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind, fulfilling his word. Psalm 148.8, describing that God, when he speaks, even controls the weather. This is the word that John is talking about. And going from the beginning and into the Old Testament that uses this phrase and all the way to the end of the word of God. John in Revelation chapter 19, verse 13, as he describes the return of Jesus, the the judge that comes to pour out his wrath on an unbelieving world. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. This is who we're talking about. And you can go deep into studying all the facets of this word, word, and what Paul, what John is trying to describe, trying to give us a vision of who he is. He is the word from the beginning that created all things that became one of us. And and he continues on to describe that. Verse 3 all things were made through him, and without him was nothing made that was made. Jesus, the man that was born in a stable as a baby, and grew up and became this great teacher and died for our sins on the cross. This man was the one who created everything. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. He brings life, he is life, he sustains life. And he is the light that brings this life, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. I think that last verse, verse 5, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it is most of the drive for the rest of his gospel message because he wants you to comprehend the light. He wants you to come out of darkness and to bask in his marvelous light. He wants you to be changed because that is the heart of God. God wants you to be changed by the light. Now, this light and life, he's also uh bringing in themes from the Old Testament. Let me show you a few psalms and proverbs that talk about light and life. Psalm 36, 9 says, For with you is the fountain of life, your light. In your light we see light. Without the Lord's grace shining upon us, revealing things to us, we would not see, we would not seek, we would be stuck in our sin, in the darkness. And he's just a fountain of life. Of course, we know this one, Psalm 119, 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. You show me the way to go, and your way is good. Proverbs 623 says, For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is a light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life. If we walk in his way, we find blessing when we find hope. But we know part of the problem, part of the challenge with the Old Testament law, though it is perfect, it is beautiful, it represents the righteousness of God. It also reveals to us our inability to keep it, our inability to fulfill it. And we take it a step further, recognizing that Jesus Himself is that lamp and that light that brings life. In fact, he is the law. When we are in him, we fulfill it as well. All these thoughts John is trying to plant in our heads as we go forward and hear his story about what he's seen and heard and experienced in his relationship with Jesus. Now he takes a little turn here and uh he starts talking about John the Baptist. Verse 6 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. John from early on, John the Baptist knew that he was called to be a forerunner for the Messiah, that he would make a way, that the Messiah was to come to save people, that he would bring light. Now he was called as a witness to this light. And witness um is is someone who declares, you know, a fact, who declares who Jesus is, but the same word, root word for witness, is in the same root word for martyr. That's interesting, isn't it? So both John was both a witness of who Jesus was, all the way to the point of being a martyr. He lost his life because of what he believed, because of what he declared. Now he was not that light. John the Baptist was not the light, but he was sent to bear witness of that light. His job was to point to Jesus. He didn't take credit for himself. He didn't say, Yeah, I'm the Messiah, come and follow me. No, he said, No, no, you need to come and repent. You need to prepare your hearts for the coming of the Lord, and he's coming. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. If you believe Jesus or not, you're a recipient of God's grace. One way or another, his grace is shining upon you. The fact that you're able to breathe and that your your heart is beating and and and that things just don't fall apart, that they're held together is a proof of God's grace that shines in the world. But in many ways, the world does not understand, does not comprehend, in fact, fights against it, which we'll see more and more as we go through the gospel. Now going back to who Jesus was, Jesus was in the world, and the world, the the world that was made through him, and the world did not know him. The one who created all things became part of his creation, and mankind did not recognize him as such. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. The line of of Abraham that he set up to bring his Messiah through, they for the most part did not receive him. And even today, many many Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. But it is promised that Israel would come to salvation. And that's one of the good things about these end times events that are happening. But as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name. Although many in the world reject or don't get delight, there are some who come and receive the Lord. They understand who he is, they repent of their sin and they turn to him. They believe the gospel, they believe in his name. And to them, Jesus gives the right to become the children of God, which brings up another point when you hear phrases like, We're all children of God. That's not true. If you've come to faith in Jesus Christ, you become a child of God, you become a brother of Jesus, you become adopted into the family of the Father. Now, every man and woman in this world has been created in the image of God. And there is an aspect of a dignity that every person should be given because of the image of which they've been created in. And in that instance, in that aspect, we could say we're children of God. I mean, that's probably what is meant by that. We are made in the image of God. Every man and woman and child are image bearers of the God who created them, if they know him or not. But if you know him, if you receive him, if you believe in his name, then you will become a child of God. These people who were born not of blood, they not just because they were in the right bloodline, not just because they were of the Jewish heritage, because Jesus has come to save the Jews first and the rest of the world as well. The Gentiles. He's come to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Nor the will of the flesh, it's not something that I can do. I really want to do this, I really want to be a child of God. I really want to be born again. You can't do that. You're not able to make yourself born. Nor of the will of man. This was something that was dictated by mankind. You have to be born again. No, it's the will of God, it's it's the power of the Spirit working in the lives of people who put their trust in Jesus. And in chapter three, we'll talk more about that concept. Verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. The word became flesh. Again, he's he's he's he's attacking the Gnostic teaching that that tries to address who Jesus is by saying Jesus was just an apparition, he was just a ghost, he didn't really have a physical body. He may have possessed a body at some time, but that wasn't his body, that was somebody else's body. And and John is saying that's that's heresy. The word became flesh. God, the creator, God of spirit, became part of his creation, became a man, was born of a virgin, and he dwelt among us. He was here, he walked with us, just like he walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Truth is not just a concept that you can grab a hold of. This is a truth that goes beyond what we can come up with as humans. Truth is a person, there's no darkness in him. He brings forth who he is. It's his nature to be truth. He is the truth. And grace is just this unmerited favor. It's giving us what we don't deserve. And why does he do that? Because of his love for us. John goes on and explains a little more of his experience in his first epistle. The first few verses of 1 John chapter 1 said, 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 may also have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. You want real, honest, full joy? You get it by knowing Jesus. And when you know Jesus, not just know about, get to know. It's a relationship with him. You have eternal life when you know Jesus because he is eternal life. And John and the other followers, they were with him. They knew him, they interacted with him, they had experience with him. But even that was nothing compared to the personal relationship when the Holy Spirit came upon them and opened their eyes, and they knew Jesus at a new level that they never knew before. And others that have that same relationship, you can have instant fellowship with him. And that is the desire that they that John would have, that you would know Jesus and that we would have fellowship with each other as a result. I mean, there's a lot here. You can dig deeper, and I and I wish that you would go deeper in this and see what John is trying to tell us. So going back to our study, John verse 15, John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, This is he of whom I said, he comes after me, and he's preferred before me, for he was before me. Now, John is going back to John the Baptist and and the declarations that that he made. And he's calling out, John is calling out John the Baptist, saying, You know, I am talking about this one who is coming. He comes after me because I'm preparing the way for the Lord, but he was before me. And of course, he's crying out to the the Pharisees and the Sadducees that are coming out to seeing what he's what he's doing out there, and why are all these people falling after him? And you know, how can they get him caught for false teaching and so forth? But he's saying, This Jesus that's coming, this Messiah that's coming after me was before me. And if they did just a little bit of study, they would realize that John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus. So Jesus came after him both ways. And yet John is not talking about this life, is he? He's talking about Jesus, who is the creator of all things. And even Jesus would later say, before Abraham was, I am. Before I was, John the Baptist says, This one who's coming after me was before me. He is the great I am. He is the one who had no beginning. He's been eternally God from eternity past. And even eternity is outside of time. So this idea that you know he was the creator, he is the creator. He is the great I am. He is God at this very moment. But that was before my time. And of his fullness, we have all received grace for grace. In another version, it says something along the lines of his blessed gifts of grace. Keep coming. Keep coming. When one seems to run out, there's another that comes after it. There's so much the Lord wants to pour upon us in developing his relationship with us and equipping us for the service that he wants to do and declaring his good news to the world. He keeps pouring out his grace upon grace, upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, and again, that's not saying anything against the law, but the law was very and rightly so, very elevated, very important. The Jewish people were the keepers of the law. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Grace and truth fulfills the law, grace and truth reveals the law, grace and truth reveals our need for him and makes us right with him, through him, because of him. No one has seen God at any time talking about the glory of God, the majesty of God. No one can stand before God and live. That's why we need resurrected bodies so we can stand before our Lord face to face. However, in God's grace, God became a man and he set aside all that glory to become one of us, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father as He has declared him. A very intimate, very familiar, poetic way of describing the relationship with the between the Father and the Son. He became us, but he was still in fellowship with the Lord, with with the Father. And in being one of us, Jesus declared, Jesus showed, Jesus revealed God to a world that could not stand before the glory of God. And then he moves away again from from describing just the indescribableness of our Lord. And he turns back to John. And this was this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. I'm not sure if they're asking him, Are you the Christ? But at least they're asking, who are you? And they know he's he knows that he's asking, Are you the Messiah that's supposed to come? Because you got a whole lot of people coming out here doing things, and who are you and what are you doing? And he confessed. He did not deny, but confessed. It's interesting. It's he's boldly saying, I am not the Christ. Um, he doesn't want anybody to even get the hint of thinking that he is the Christ.

SPEAKER_01: 24:07

You've been listening to the teaching of Pastor Carl from the Mountain Cross on Come On Up. We're in the Gospel of John, and there's much to explore in this exciting book of the Bible. Jesus does all kinds of miracles in the book of John, such as turning water into wine and raising Lazarus from the dead. These were signs that he was far more than human. He's God. However, Jesus didn't shy away from expressing his humanity on earth either. When his friend had died, he was sad and he cried. He experienced righteous anger, seeing people abusing and defiling the temple while taking advantage of the poor. He cleared out the temple area with a cord of whips and showed his authority. But he was also tender with children and compassionate to those who were considered outcasts. This is the juxtaposition of the book of John. Jesus was both God and man, and you get to fully appreciate it more and more by reading this rich book of the Bible. If you're enjoying the teaching on Come On Up, would you consider helping us get the word out to others? Simply visit themountaincross.com slash donate. It's a safe and secure way for you to give online. The Mountain Cross meets Sunday mornings at 10 at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville, North Carolina. If you are nearby and don't have a church home, we'd be delighted to have you join us this weekend. And be sure to come on up to the mountain with us next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.