The World’s Most Important Word - Part B

All of the darkness on earth cannot extinguish the light of a single match. And all of the darkness of hell cannot put out the light of Jesus Christ. Though they tried, and all the demons in hell, and Satan probably were thrilled when Jesus died on the cross, three days later they got to wake up God. The light is back brighter than ever before.

Welcome to Connect with Skip Weekend Edition. Words have tremendous influence. It's why we say things like, the pen is mightier than the sword, or try to pretend that sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It's why we remember that Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, because his words stirred us. However, there is one word that has shaped and changed this world more than any other, Jesus. And we'll take a closer look at why that is today here in Connect with Skip Weekend Edition.

But first, here's what we have for you this month at connectwithskip.com. The desire to fit in, to be thought of as normal, is a basic human instinct. But would you believe that children as young as three years old already want to follow the crowd and fit in with the group? That's what researchers found in a Duke University study. Yet in the Bible, we learn that some of the people who've made the most impact have done so by defying normal.

Here's Skip Heitzig. I think the Bible calls us to a holy defiance of the status quo. Paul the apostle said, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

So what does it take to go from conformed to transformed? Find out in Pastor Skip's book, Defying Normal. Our thanks to you when you give $35 or more to help expand this Bible teaching ministry. And when you give today, we'll also include the booklet, What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren.

Get your copies of these two bold resources when you call 800-922-1888, or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. We resume our study today in John chapter one. So turn there in your Bibles and let's join Skip Heitzig.

Jesus of the New Testament is God and any other ascription to him is making him less than who he is and it's a different gospel. Listen to what John says down in verse 10 and 11. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor bid him God speed. Not even a God bless you.

That's strict. Want to see something else? I want you to turn with me to Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one. This is Paul and you need to know that Paul and John agree on this. In verse six of Galatians one, Paul writes, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven, I guess even an angel with golden plates, we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

See, God is a special curse for those who deny the deity and Godhead of Jesus Christ. This is not something to play with that is dealing with the very essence of who he is, which matters from here on out what he does. In the beginning was the word logos and that word was with God in close, intimate fellowship with God. And that word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

Very, very clear. Let's go back to John chapter one. That's the word in relation to God. Now let's see the word in relation to the universe.

Again, a very simple statement. All things, how many things? All things were made through him. And without him, nothing was made that was made. You see how simple John writes, he states the truth first in the positive and then in the negative. In the positive, all things were made through him and then in the negative. Without him, nothing was made that was made. So he made what?

Everything, all things. The Bible affirms that the universe was created, created by a creator and that the creator is Jesus Christ. Of course, Darwin would disagree with this and others like him in the scientific community would disagree with this. They like to hold to the theory that random chance without any outside cause is responsible for the universe. That's what they like to believe, that living matter can replicate itself and then inexplicably grow in complexity, defying the very law of entropy.

I love what Adam or Alan Sandage, the cosmologist, said. Listen to this question. How is it that inanimate matter can organize itself in order to contemplate itself? Okay, just think about that and if you can answer that for me, hooray.

How is it that inanimate matter can organize itself in order to contemplate itself? Well, enough of that. We've dealt at length with evolution versus creation in the past. This is what this means to you and I personally. If Jesus Christ is the creator of everything, that means he's the one you and I can go to when something breaks down in our lives. He's the manufacturer.

If something goes wrong, the first person to go to is Jesus because he made us. My brother Bob was a brilliant mechanic. He could fix stuff. He could fix and my dad, who was an engineer, would go to him sometimes to fix stuff.

And if Bob couldn't fix it, he would create a tool to fix it. But every now and then there were things that even he couldn't fix that you had to go to the manufacturer itself to get fixed. There's a great story about Henry Ford and Charles Steinmetz who was his friend and mechanical genius. One of the mechanical geniuses behind Ford. He made many of the motors for Ford and he made the motors for the assembly lines for Ford Motor Company in Detroit. Well, one day one of the motors in the assembly line broke.

The assembly line was shut down. Ford's guys couldn't fix it so they called in Charlie Steinmetz. Charlie spent a few minutes tinkering, got it going, and then sent Henry Ford a bill for ten thousand dollars.

Now think ten thousand dollars back then when Henry Ford was alive. Well, he looked at the bill and he thought this is crazy. He writes his friend says, Charlie, I think this is a little steep ten thousand dollars for tinkering. So his friend Steinmetz wrote him back and he said, okay, here's the new revised bill for tinkering ten dollars. For knowing exactly where to tinker, nine thousand nine hundred ninety dollars. He had a good point, didn't he? It's not just tinkering, it's knowing exactly where to do that. Because you can see it in your mind's eye. You made it. So Jesus knows exactly where to tinker, doesn't he?

Exactly what to push, what button to push, what belt to loosen, what screw to tighten in our lives when something breaks down. Now would you turn with me to Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter one Colossians one sounds a bit like John one. This is again Paul the apostle agreeing with John about Jesus being God and the creator of everything. But there's something he leaves out, John leaves out that Paul informs us of. Verse 14, he's obviously speaking of Jesus in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, that's Jesus. But look at verse 15, he Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Now stop right there. When it says image it's the Greek word icon and the idea is to take something invisible and make it visible. That's all it is, image. And this is what it's like in photography. There's certain, there's something called the latent image. If you take a picture onto film, an image is produced in the silver bromide crystals of that film. You can't see it until you pass it through certain chemicals that reveal it. They develop the image.

Or in digital photography you have a sensor and the light forms an image on the sensor but you have to digitally convert it in order to see it. That's what Jesus did. He came to this earth and said if you've seen me you've seen the father. Simply because Jesus shared the same nature as being God. So he's the image of the invisible God making God visible, the firstborn over all creation. Verse 16, for by him all things were created that are in heaven and are on the earth. There's that truth again. Visible and invisible.

Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers those are unseen invisible things. All things were created, now watch this, through him and what? Oh for him. So Jesus isn't just the source of creation. Jesus is the goal of creation. Creation, including us, we were made for him. Revelation 4-11, same truth.

For your pleasure they were and are created. So Jesus is the goal because everything ultimately is designed to give him glory. Philippians 2, at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So let's apply that to me and to you. If Jesus created me and my purpose in life is to glorify him, I made for him, here's the simple question. Am I glorifying him? Is that true of my life? Is my goal in life to glorify him?

Am I living my life for him, pleasing him? When I was about two weeks old in the Lord as a Christian, 18 years of age, saved out of a lot of weird background, I came to Christ and I had this little Bible called Good News for Modern Man. It was a modern translation.

I'm reading it in my bedroom. I'm reading Matthew chapter 5, the beatitudes. And I came to that beatitude, we know it as blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

In this translation it was a little different. It said, happy is the one whose greatest desire is to do what God requires. And I stopped right there.

I couldn't read any further. Happy is the one whose greatest desire is to do what God requires. And so I thought about that. Does that describe me? Is that my number one goal right now is to do what God requires?

And I had to be honest, nope, it's not, and I want that changed. That was one of the first steps of real growth that I saw, is taking the scripture and now applying it to my life. So the Bible tells me in relationship to the universe, Jesus created everything, and the goal of that creation is for Him, for His pleasure.

So I need to ask, is my life being lived to give Him pleasure to glorify Him? Third and finally, in relation to mankind, let's see who the word is. Back to John chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, and we close with this. In relation to mankind, Jesus illuminates everyone, for it says, in Him, verse 4, in Him, in Jesus, in the word, in Him, was life. And the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend it. Now, these two verses, in relation to mankind, comprehend it. Now, these two verses describe the incarnation. Here's Jesus coming into our world, and here's our world reacting to Jesus coming into it.

Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Well, verse 4 says, first of all, that Jesus is the life of God, for it says, in Him was life. Now, you might read that and think, well, He's just sort of repeating what He said in verse 3. Verse 3, Jesus is the creator of everything, so it only makes sense if He's the creator of everything living, that He has to have life in Himself to do that. But remember the word I told you about last week for life is zoe.

There's one of the three words. This is the word He uses here, not beos, biological life, not tsuke, psychological life, but zoe, which is often translated eternal life, everlasting life, the quality of life enjoyed now that will last forever. 54 times in this book, John will use the term life.

Zoe, life, life, life. And to understand spiritual life, we need to understand spiritual death. It says in Ephesians chapter 2 that when you and I were born, get this, when you and I were born, we were born dead on arrival, dead on arrival. It's described as being dead in trespasses and sins. Okay, sort of like a corpse. You know, if there's a dead corpse in front of you, if you yell at that corpse, they're not going to respond.

If you say, how could you die? They're not going to say, well, the reason is you can punch that corpse. You can poke that corpse.

They can't respond. That's how it is spiritually. You can poke unbelievers who are dead in sin. The world is populated with dead people. You can poke them with the truth of Jesus Christ and they won't respond unless God does a work in their life.

They're dead in trespasses and sins. So Jesus comes into the world to give life, to fix that. And you read that throughout John. He will say, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. He will say, you are not willing to come to me that you may have life. He will say, I am the way, the truth and the life. He will also say, he who has the son has life.

He who does not have the son does not have life. So in him is life, this quality of life. And then Jesus comes into our world and that life, like light, illuminates. It shines.

It goes out. Verse four at the very end says, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. Now something else, 21 times in the Gospel of John, you're going to read the term light. Jesus is the life of God and like a light that shines forth from an origin and emanates out, Jesus is the light of God. He's the light of God. And who did it affect? Who did Jesus affect in coming into the world with his light-like life?

Answer, everyone. Verse nine, look at verse nine. This was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. Every person born has some kind of light that they must act on, at least enough to be responsible before God.

But you ready for this? You want to see the flip side of this? John chapter three, verse 19, Jesus said, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Did you get that?

I'll go back a little bit. Neither will they come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved. Men love darkness rather than light.

Isn't that sad? Sad to think what it costs Jesus Christ to make the way so clear, so illuminated, and people by and large go, no, don't want it, not interested, forget it. If you're living in darkness and if you are without Christ, you are living in darkness, he can give you light which will be life-giving, life-giving. Now, what does it mean when it says, and the darkness did not comprehend it? I just got to say, that's a difficult word to translate. And if you have different translations, they've given a stab at it.

It's the word katalambano, and it could be translated comprehend, overcome. Here's a better word, extinguish, extinguish. They couldn't put it out. Light came into the world and the world couldn't put it out. All of the darkness on earth cannot extinguish the light of a single match. And all of the darkness of hell cannot put out the light of Jesus Christ. Though they tried, and all the demons in hell and Satan probably were thrilled when Jesus died on the cross, three days later, they got a wake-up call. The light is back brighter than ever before. And now whether it was during Jesus' lifetime or you in your neighborhood or at school or, and that light is shining, the world cannot extinguish it or put it out. Now what you're going to notice, and I'm going to notice, is that with each verse in 879 verses of John, with each chapter, with each paragraph, the light becomes brighter.

Jesus becomes bigger, more exalted than ever before. That's what you notice. Those are the themes. You remember Chronicles of Narnia?

Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, where he takes this figure of Aslan the lion, which represents Jesus Christ and these three children. Lucy is one of them. Lucy hasn't seen Aslan for a while. And finally, she sees him again and looks up into that large, wise face. And Aslan speaks and says, Welcome, child. Lucy said, Aslan, you're bigger. Aslan replied, That's because you're older, little one. Lucy questioned, You mean it's not because you are? And Aslan says, I am not. But every year that you grow, you will find me bigger.

But every year that you grow, you will find me bigger. That's such a beautiful truth. The more you and I grow and are exposed to Jesus Christ for who he really is, he'll get bigger and bigger and bigger and grander and more trustworthy. And that's how John begins the Gospel with the biggest, widest possible scope.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and he was God. And then he'll take us through his life and show us those truths over and over again. So we've learned something today about Jesus. We've learned, number one, that he's eternal. Number two, that he's all powerful. And number three, that he's vital. Number one, he's eternal. In relation to God, he always existed. Number two, he's all powerful. In relation to the universe, he created it all.

And number three, he's vital. In relationship to mankind, he's the one that sends life like light in a dark place. The only question left is what will we do about it? Well, what will we do about it? Will we come to the light and go, yes, I want to be more enlightened and enjoy more of that life. Or will we say, no, frankly, I love my darkness more than light. That's the choice that God leaves with us as he sends out his light.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, there probably are a lot of words we need to know. Some think there are six or five or three or 1,200, but there's one we really need to know, and that is Jesus, the word, the word.

The one who is your son, the one who created everything, and the one who enlightens every single person coming into the world. So the big issue for everyone is what will you do with Jesus? I pray that we will come to the light in his name. Amen. 1888, or when you visit connectwithskip.com. Now, as we continue our study in the Gospel of John, next time Skip Heitzig encourages us to step into the sunlight, the S-O-N light, right here on Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.