Jesus The Logos

John 1:1-5

Transcript

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
was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light
of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear
witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light
but came to bear witness about the light. The true light which enlightens
everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made
through him yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own
people did not receive him but to all who did receive him who believed in his
name he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood nor
of the will of the flesh nor the will of man but of God and the word became
flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as of the only son
from the father full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried
out this was he of whom I said he who comes after me ranks before me because he
was before me and from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace for
the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God the only God who was at the father's side he has made him
known. Would you take a moment and we'll pray together. Lord God as we read
these words and as we begin to look at them we pray for your spirit's work
enlightening our hearts and minds helping us to understand drawing our hearts
into faith and to worship so we invite your spirit's work in our time as we hear
your word and we pray for it in Jesus name amen. So you probably picked this up
by now as we enter into the Christmas season we're taking a break for a few
weeks from the letter to first Peter which we've been looking at this fall and
for the next few weeks we'll be focusing on Advent the arrival of Jesus and
traditionally at Christmas time we take time to read the historical birth
accounts of Jesus that are in the Gospel of Matthew that are in the Gospel of
Luke and we will read through those on Christmas Eve but this morning we're in
John's Gospel and John's Gospel begins differently than the other three Gospels
instead of a birth narrative we we get like a theological background to who
Jesus is John 1 is almost like prequel or prologue to the birth accounts it is
kind of like a theology of Christmas time Matthew begins with a genealogy
Jesus's lineage who he descended from Luke begins with birth stories first of
John the Baptist Jesus's cousin and then Jesus himself they're both answering
questions of who Jesus is in terms of his identity and where he came from John
is also telling us who Jesus is but he's going back further he's explaining in
elevated almost poetic language what it means that Jesus became flesh and dwelt
among us so this morning 11 days away from Christmas we'll look at these first
five verses of the Gospel of John we read 1 through 18 but we're just gonna look
at these first five it is one of the deepest and most profound amazing texts in
all the Bible and we will see who Jesus is in this and as we do it it's good for
us to remember why John wrote the gospel in the first place at the end of the
gospel John 20 verse 31 he gives us one of the most direct purpose statements in
any biblical book John 20 verse 31 says but these are written meaning these
accounts everything I've just said in the last 20 chapters these are written so
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by
believing you may have life in his name that is why the Gospel of John is
written so that we would believe and so that by believing we would have life in
Jesus's name but this morning we're just gonna look at these first five verses
let me read them one more time 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 was not anything made that was made in him was
life and the life was the light of men the light shines in the darkness and the
darkness has not overcome it these are profound you could even say mysterious
things things in this passage that we made never completely fully understand or
that I won't be able to articulate fully and but while that's true at the same
time while we might not be able to understand everything in those five verses
these are some of the most precious truths that we have some of the greatest
treasures in Scripture so what what what we're gonna look at is just five truths
indicated in these five verses about who Jesus is as John describes him and what
this is really telling us is who this person is who came to dwell among us so
I'm gonna go through five five truths about who Jesus is from these five verses
we'll go briefly through each one but number one is this we're told that Jesus
is eternal and pre-existent look at that in the beginning was the word the word
in this passage is clearly referring to Jesus and John says that this word was
in the beginning that phrase is a clear reference back to the book of Genesis
which also begins with these words in the beginning and you know how at some
point we all often we all wonder things like how did I get here how did we get
here what is really kind of the purpose of my life is this is my is my life
random or accidental or is there some purpose behind it and the beginning of the
Bible Genesis 1 helps us Genesis tells us in the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth that tells us there is a creator God behind the universe
who created the world with intent and now echoing that language John tells us
that Jesus the Word of God was there at the beginning and what this means is
that Jesus was not created he is pre-existent he has always been Jesus Jesus's
existence did not begin when God created the heavens and the earth and it did
not begin in the Bethlehem stable it was before that in his earthly ministry
Jesus talks about this about the relationship that he has with God the Father
John 17 when Jesus is praying for the church he says now father glorify me in
your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed
before the ages began God the Father and Jesus the Son were in perfect and
glorious fellowship together and we see in John 1 there's this idea that there
is profound love and relationship and creativity at the foundations of the world
and you can think that sounds kind of abstract but think about how very
different a perspective this is on the universe than to think that the world
began through just colliding matter randomly floating through the cosmos but
think also about what a very bold claim about the identity of Jesus that John is
making this is written in like 90 AD there would be people who had been still
who have heard of Jesus as a historical character or who were even eyewitnesses
Jesus the word of God the historical person that John is writing about the
person who nobody believer or skeptic doubts or denies lived a real physical
life in the first century is being described in John's gospel as an eternal pre-
existent being this is something that the early church used to think about used
to proclaim and sing about they would say he is before all things and in him all
things hold together Jesus is eternal and pre-existent that's how John starts he
also says that Jesus is the logos I could spell that for you um it but if you
were putting this like phonetically in English it would be L-O-G-O-S but it's
not logos it is logos when the text says in the beginning was the word that word
in the original is the Greek word logos and that word has a wide range of
meaning but the Greek philosophers who predated John used to look at the
universe and speculate is there logic or meaning behind it they could clearly
recognize that there's order and reason in the world kind of built into the
system but they believe that the force behind the universe was impersonal so you
and I along with those Greek philosophers thousands of years ago can see order
in the world we could look at the changing of the seasons we could look at the
way that the stars and the sun and the moon are aligned we could consider that
our planet is hurtling around the sun and yet it is perfectly positioned for
life to thrive when all the other planets in our solar system are uninhabitable
but we can also wonder why why is that the case and the Greek philosopher Plato
in the fourth and third century bc he used to wonder about this and he said it
may be that someday there will come forth from God a word a logos who will
reveal all mysteries and make everything plain those Greeks were searching for
an explanation behind all the clear intelligence and design and logic that they
could see in the universe they could observe it but they didn't know why it was
there and then John comes along writing to a primarily Greek audience and he
says yes there is a logic there is a logos there is a rationale behind the
universe and it's a person it's Jesus Christ when the text says that Jesus is
the logos it means that he is the rationale the logic the meaning behind
existence so if you think about if you think about Genesis we see something
about the creation of the world and then in John using the same deliberate words
in the beginning we see something about the why of it all the logic or the
rationale of it all and I know the I know these are deep questions we talked
earlier about how we got here how we at times we think about questions like what
is life really for why am I here what's the purpose of my existence imagine
imagine if you gave to someone this Christmas an iPhone 17 because you thought
it would be helpful maybe you have a maybe you have someone that you were like
oh this would really be helpful to you you give them this and you come back and
check on them later and see they're only using it for a flashlight well it has
it has great potential but it's being badly misused because that person has not
figured out what it's for well our lives can kind of be like that how many
people are searching for meaning fulfillment purpose in their lives but they
also at the same time cannot figure out how to exactly unlock those questions
questions like how like how do I live the way that I should or what's the point
of my life or what's even the definition of a good life if you live out here in
the suburbs people might not state it like this but the unstated answer to the
common answer would be well it's comfort it's affluence it's security it's money
it's a nice house it's friends it's family it's being able to take a few nice
vacations it's being it's being educated and having a good job and then being
able to relax and some people essentially spend their whole life chasing that
and some find it and that's nice but they realize it's not ultimate fulfillment
it doesn't seem like it could be what life is really ultimately about but those
questions of meaning and purpose and fulfillment we have to ask is that up to us
to figure out for ourselves is that just up to my or your own personal
definition well according to john it's not and that's good news and you might
think this is this is all this is all fascinating to muse about map but here's
the takeaway if jesus is the logic and rationale behind the universe as john
says then it is only through a relationship with him that you will be able to
answer life's deepest questions genesis one tells us we're made in the image of
god which is why as augustine says our hearts will be restless until they find
their home in him we're made to know god to enjoy him to reflect him you know
the the hundreds and thousands of deer that are roaming all over amherst their
hearts are not restless they do not have an existential void they are cool
creatures in their own way but not made in the image of god so they don't
wrestle with these so they don't wrestle with these questions we are made in
god's image and we long for a relationship with god and jesus comes as the
divine word of god the logos and he makes the father known to us that's what
john 118 says no one has ever seen god the only god who is at the father's side
he jesus the word of god has made him known jesus the one in perfect fellowship
with god the father makes god known to us we can know god through the person of
jesus christ and jesus said whoever has seen me has seen the father if you want
to know what god is like look at the person of christ so john tells us jesus is
pre-existent eternal the logos he is also the creator of all things the text
says verse three all things were made through him and without him was not
anything made that was made this is amazing god carried out his creative acts
through jesus what the father ordained in creation was accomplished by the son
the word of god when you read genesis one you'll repeatedly hear the words the
phrase and god said ten times in the first chapter of the bible we read and god
said god works by his word that is to say jesus the word of god the son of god
that's what we read at the beginning of our worship service tom read hebrews 1 1
to 3 that says long ago at many times and in many ways god spoke to our fathers
by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he
appointed heir of all things through whom also he created the world that's why
in genesis 1 we see god say let us make man in our image it's an inter-
trinitarian dialogue psalm 33 says by the word of the lord the heavens were made
by the breath of his mouth all their hosts god's word jesus accomplishes god's
plan the father is ordaining and the son is accomplishing and in we see this
throughout scripture but in proverbs we see this beautiful poetic description of
creation where jesus is pictured as the divine wisdom of god proverbs 8 says
when he that is god established the heavens i was there when he drew a circle on
the face of the deep when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters
might not transgress his command when he marked out the foundations of the earth
then i was beside him like a master workman and i was daily his delight
rejoicing before him always rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in
the children of man the father and the son have absolute joy and delight in each
other to a degree that we are not able to really completely comprehend and yet
we know how joy works when you have it you have an almost automatic impulse to
share it and if you can't then it doesn't seem to be quite the same joy has to
be shared so the father the son and the spirit in perfect joy in perfect
intimacy that we're not able to calculate yet in their sheer grace open up the
life of the trinity to us that we might know god and in this we find or can find
spiritual life and light jesus is eternal pre-existent the logos the creator of
all things and the text also says he is the source of all spiritual life and
light verse four says in him was life and the life was the light of men if you
have ever read john's gospel in its entirety which you have not i would really
encourage you to do but if you've read john life is a major and repeated theme
that word gets repeated 36 times the most famous verse in john and perhaps in
all of scripture is in john 316 for god so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal
life and later on in john 10 jesus says the thief comes to steal and kill and
destroy i came that they might have life and have it abundantly jesus came
possessing life and coming to bring life and light and when we think about the
life that jesus brings it's so much more than just quantity our lives are so
short relatively speaking that we have a hard time comprehending concepts like
thousands of years hundreds of thousands millions of years when we think about
eternity it's extremely hard for us to grasp that our culture spends endless
time and money thinking about trying to extend life in terms of time but also
extend also improve its quality like this question of how can i live a little
bit longer but also enjoy a high quality of life while i try and do that how can
i also be strong and vital enough to enjoy those extended years it's very hard
to get quantity and quality at the same time for most people it really ends up
being a fruitless quest if you asked most elderly people if they would like to
live feeling exactly the way they do at the given at a given moment or maybe a
little bit worse but just push that out for four or five hundred more years they
would say no no i don't eternal life in that sense simply life going on and on
in a slightly decreasing way just endless quantity that would be undesirable the
life that jesus gives is so much more than simply quantity it's not just eternal
it's the life of god himself that we're being welcomed into the life that we're
welcomed into through jesus is not just long or endless it's qualitatively
different it's the life of god himself it's a life of boundless joy and vitality
it's that life of perfect love if you've ever spent if you've ever spent uh any
time with toddlers you might know a little bit about this older people when they
spend time with little children will say almost every time i wish i had that
much energy and when when i read a book to our two-year-old steven almost every
time when we get to the last page he will say read it again and i can only take
i can i'm i can only take so many books about trains or dump trucks or paw
patrol then recently i read this from the british author gk chesterton who was
writing about a hundred years ago and chesterton said because children bounding
vitality because they are in spirit fierce and free therefore they want things
repeated and unchanged they always say do it again and the grown-up person does
it again until he is nearly dead for grown-up people are not strong enough to
exalt in monotony but perhaps god is strong enough to exalt in monotony it is
possible that god says every morning do it again to the sun and every evening do
it again to the moon it may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies
alike it may be that god makes every daisy separately but has never got tired of
making them it may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy for we have
sinned and grown old and our father is younger than we the life that god invites
us into is his eternal life of joy and vitality so many people are going through
life just kind of staying out of trouble staying busy staying occupied but
especially as the years go by the zeal the energy the zest kind of trickles away
into it i guess this is what it is when we come to know christ and we receive
his life we receive the hope of eternal life and abundant life and that life is
not something that we would ever be able to tap into our on our own it's not
something that we could discover on our on our own we have it because he came
into our darkness to give us his life that he came into our darkness to give his
life away the father freely gave his beloved son to enter into our darkness and
to sacrifice his own life in atonement for our sins he gives life eternal it's a
quantity beyond what we can fathom but it's a quality a different completely
different quality as well it's the life of god that we're welcomed into okay let
me finish here jesus is pre-existent he's eternal he's the logos of god he's the
creator of all things he's the source of all spiritual life and finally and
simply he is our hope look at verse five the light shines in the darkness and
the darkness has not overcome it god's first recorded words in scripture are let
there be light and jesus into our enters into our world and isaiah prophesies
about it in terms of light coming into darkness isaiah 9 2 says the people who
walked in darkness have seen a great light those who dwell in a land of deep
darkness upon them a light that is light in the darkness a light has shown this
is the language that jesus uses in john 12 he said i have come into the world as
a light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness humanity lives
in deep darkness and jesus and when jesus entered into our world he overpowered
that darkness he was not overpowered by it and said he illuminated by it light
reveals what is hidden so the darkness of humanity was exposed when jesus came
into the light he was opposed by everyone by the satanic powers of darkness by
the roman government by the religious established even establishment even at
times by his own family one commentator said it like this or said you could
understand verse five kind of like this the light and the darkness came into
bitter and decisive conflict and the darkness could not prevail think about if
you think about the darkest places that you've ever been maybe you've explored
caves maybe you've been camping out in the wilderness maybe you've been in a
room with all the curtains down think about the pitch darkness of a tomb that
had been completely sealed it was not enough to hold him the darkness has not
overcome the light and life of jesus and that is our hope the word was with god
the word was god is god and when the savior was born it was light coming into
our darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it the scripture calls him
immanuel god with us coming to us to rescue us from darkness and when he was
sealed in the tomb in darkness jesus came walking out into the light of the
glorious morning he is our hope so jesus is eternal pre-existent the the logos
of god the rationale behind the world the creator of all things the source of
light and life and our hope this advent season and i know this is deep and
mysterious theology we can only scratch the surface of what this all means
they're truths that are meant to lead us to worship but when we think what does
it all mean for us let me just conclude with one very simple point of
application when we read this when we read john one when we consider what's
being said we ought to also consider the sinfulness of sin and resolve to walk
in the light when we read about who jesus is one with the father the source of
all light and truth and then consider this is the one the father sent to earth
it ought to make us grasp the sinfulness of sin because what we're learning is
no other sacrifice would have been sufficient to atone for our sins that's the
price that was paid for your sin in mind the father sent the son to earth the
word became flesh this was so you and i could be reconciled to god and stop
living according to our own rationale and logic but be restored to god through
jesus christ and for those of us who have trusted christ we know that sin will
still be continue to be part of our human experience but we ought to resolve by
the power of the spirit to walk in the light where christ is it ought to mean i
don't want to live in darkness hiding secrecy secret sins but to bring those
sins into the open and find freedom and forgiveness first john tells us this is
the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that god is light and in
him is no darkness at all if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in
darkness we lie and do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light as he
is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus his
son cleanses us from all sin let's pray lord jesus we praise you and honor you
as we reflect on the truth that we that we read about things that we can only
begin to comprehend but lord god we praise you for sending your son to earth we
thank you for your mercy and lord and lord jesus we praise you for your sinless
life and we just humbly acknowledge your love and what you have done for us and
i pray that by the power of the holy spirit you would compel each one of us not
to love darkness more than light but to come into the light where you are and to
live in the grace that's been freely given lord we pray for that in jesus name
amen will you stand with me now and we will respond to god's word by singing
together