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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. In fact, for God, they would never use his given name in the Old Testament, Yahweh. They wouldn't say Yahweh.
It was such an ineffable name, an unpronounceable name, a perfect holy name. They would either say Adonai, or simply say Hashem, which means the name. Or sometimes, in their writings, like the Targums, which are commentaries on Old Testament Scriptures, they would simply use the term Memra, or the Word, as a designation of God himself. So it was familiar among the Jews.
If you were to say the Word, they would think, that means God. But also, in that day and age, among the Greeks, they believed in what they called the Logos, the Word. And that was a term used by Greek philosophers for, you see, the Greeks understood that the world in which we live has a level of design, it would say, or at least predictable patterns. The light begins in the morning, ends in the evening. There are rotations and orbits of planets, etc.
There are seasons, there are lengths of days that you can, after a while, observe and thus predict. So then they would ask the question, what is the source and what is the origin of all of this ordered principle in the universe? Why the order? Why the symmetry?
Why the predictability? They said it must be because there is a first principle, an ordering principle, they called the Logos. The reason for the order in the universe, according to Greek philosophers, is because there existed a Logos, a Word.
So appealing to Jewish listeners, appealing to Greek listeners, remember, he's writing for the world. In the beginning was the Logos. In the first cause, God himself, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. A few years ago, I heard a knock on my door during the day, and I looked through my little eyehole in the door to see who it was. I was with little green bibles, green covers, and a little magazine that said, Awake. So I knew that they were Jehovah's Witnesses, Jehovah's Christian Witnesses.
So I thought, well, this will be interesting. So I opened the door, and we began having a conversation, and I'm pretty, I kind of know where the conversations go. I know their lines. I know what they're going to say. I know what they've been taught. I know how they've been disciples. And it finally got to the point where I brought up John chapter one, verse one, and they were ready. And one of them said, Well, you know, in the Greek, it says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. And I looked, and I said, Are you sure about that? Oh, yes. Well attested to.
It is. John showed me his Bible. Sure enough, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. So I asked a couple questions.
I always like to ask them. First question, can you provide to me a list of the translators of the New World Translation, your translation? They couldn't do it. And at that time, the Watchtower Track Society couldn't and wouldn't provide a list of their translators. I say, We didn't say that.
You're misquoting us. So when they told me that the Greek says the Word was a God, it piqued my interest, and I went and I grabbed my Greek New Testament out of my office. And I opened it up to the Gospel of John. I spread it out, and I said, Show me here in the Greek. Here is a Greek New Testament written in the Greek language. Read it.
Show me. Now, I'll admit, I was being a little persnickety, a little pesky, a little mischievous. You know, I'm no great Greek scholar, trust me. But I was during that time taking a Greek class from our resident Greek scholar, Dr. Stephen Collins. And so I was sort of right in the throes of that. And so, you know, I had been studying that passage. So I said, Show me where it is. And they both looked at it and said, We can't read Greek.
Right here. Okay. Now, you'll notice that last part that I just read, and you'll notice that there is no direct article before Theos, because and the predicate, notice that the predicate is moved to the front of the sentence, not typically in English, to the end of the sentence like we do. But notice that it's moved forward. And it's done that way to prove a point by the author. The author is trying to show the end of the sentence. The essence of something or someone. So it literally reads, in English, Kytheos en halogos, or and God was the word. That's how it is literally written. And that is because what John is saying is this, the word as to his essential being and essence is God.
He is in very nature God. That's how the Greek construction goes. The conversation ended very quickly after that. I tried actually to bring them in and I tried to go through other scripture and I could tell that one was discipling the other and said, No, no, no, we got to go. We got to go. And, and I under their breath, we're not going to be back. But you can rely on this translation in your English.
This is what it says. This is a faithful translation from the Greek manuscript. And the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. And without him, nothing was made that was made. In him was life.
And the life was the light of men. Jesus created all things. He is the creator. He is the source of life.
He comes to the earth, but he is the source and the origin of life. Every now and then science asks a logical question. The question is, if given enough time, can natural processes be responsible for animate life?
If given enough time, can natural processes be responsible for animate life? And what's interesting about that is a few years ago, the Wistar Institute assembled 50 mathematicians and biologists for a summer to analyze that issue. And the concluding statement without going through all of their stuff, just the same, based on our understanding of the laws of chemistry and physics, and what we know about randomness, mathematical randomness, there is no way that the complexity of life could just come about. The report goes on to say, for randomness to be responsible for life is a mathematical impossibility.
No matter how old you think the universe is, there just is not enough time by all the current models, not enough time for randomness to be responsible for it. And so, they sort of came to the William Paley's idea, the watchmaker idea. He was that guy from the 1700s who said, if there is design, it shows there's a designer. If there's a watch, you can be assured there's a watchmaker. It's sort of funny because I forgot my watch tonight. But if you see a watch, how foolish would it be to have, anybody have a watch on? Okay, so as you look, is that an Apple watch? Yeah, do you like it? Okay, so it has nothing to do with this.
So, what if I were to tell you about your Apple watch? Hey, you know, I know how that happened. I know how that came about. Millions of years ago, millions of years ago, there was a collision and an explosion and rocks flow down a stream and they hit each other. And then there was a volcano that happened and then more explosions.
And over millions of years, just the right chemicals, silicone and everything came together and out of the ground oozed that watch. You'd say, you're an idiot. That's stupid.
But if I go, you know, millions of years ago, there was an explosion and random things happened and we're here. We go, now that's so intelligent. Oh, that is so advanced. No, that's so lame. Because I am much more complex than that little Apple watch.
As cool as that is, by the way, you and I are just much more complex and advanced than that. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, God desires to work in and through your life as a believer. And he does this through the Holy Spirit who lives in everyone who places their trust in Jesus. We want to help you better understand the Holy Spirit by sending you the Holy Spirit then and now. A resource featuring two books by Chuck Smith, the Book of Acts commentary in Power, a biblical balance on the person and work of the Holy Spirit with an introduction by Skip Heitzig. This resource is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. So if there is a universe, there must be a universe maker because of the complexity of life within it, just as if there is a watch, there must be a watchmaker. So that's basically the idea of the Westar Institute, but John just tells us what happened. All things were made through him, through Jesus. And without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life. And the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. Jesus is the source of life. But are you aware that when the Bible speaks of life, when the New Testament speaks of life, it speaks of three different kinds of life. Today, most people think of life as just biological life. And the Bible does speak of that, though very, very sparingly, very rare to find that word in the New Testament, though it does speak of it.
So there are three words. There's the first word bios, B-I-O-S, like bios, biology. It means physical, biological life. Heart pumping, lungs breathing, that's bios, and the Bible does speak of that. But what's interesting is the New Testament, though it speaks of it and uses the word, it uses it sort of in a backhanded, almost negative way. Jesus spoke about the thorns that choke out the life of the seed, the biological life. There's a second usage of the term life in the Greek New Testament, and that's the word psuche, or we would say psyche, which sounds a lot like psychology.
That's where we get our term psychology. It means your inner mental life, the inner you, the inner satisfaction. Jesus said, if you want to save your life, psuche, you have to surrender your life.
The answer to finding peace of mind and peace of soul is from surrendering your life to Jesus Christ. But then there's the third usage of it, and by far it takes the lion's share of all of the usages for life translated from the Greek New Testament into English, and that's the Greek word zoe, zoe. Even though in our language zoe has been translated like zoology, zoe is a theological term that speaks of a quality of life that comes from God, a quality of life that comes from God.
Yes, it will last forever, but even more than just going on and on and on, it's a quality of life that begins now and continues throughout all of eternity. New life, new zoe, is the result of a new birth. Birth brings life, the new birth.
You must be born again. When you are born again, you get zoe, a quality of life that lasts forever. So in him was life. He's the origin of biological life.
He's also the source of inner satisfaction, psychological life, but he's the giver of everlasting life, eternal life, a quality of life, abundant life that goes on and on and on. Verse five was a verse that I used to question every time I read it, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. And I discovered I'm not the only one that has trouble with it because it's translated a lot of different ways. Sometimes it says, and the darkness did not overcome it. The darkness did not apprehend it.
Look at it this way. A fog has settled upon the earth. A fog has come upon Narnia. So everywhere you look, it's that cold wintery fog and Jesus Christ comes along and is like the flashlight, the fog light that dispels the fog. And when people see the light, they don't get it, they don't apprehend it, and they can't overcome it, though they would like to overcome it if they could. Have you ever turned on the light when somebody's been in a dark room for a period of time or you open the shutters early in the morning and it's bright and sunny and somebody's fast asleep and the first thing they say is, shut that light off. Close those blinds. The light can be so blinding, all they want to do is eliminate it.
They don't get it, they don't apprehend it, they don't want it. In him was life, and his life was the light of man. Light shined in the darkness.
The darkness did not comprehend, apprehend, or overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This is John the Baptizer. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe.
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. What do we know about John the Baptist? Well, we know his mom and dad. His dad was a priest in the temple. His name was Zacharias. His mom's name was Elizabeth. They were childless.
They were in their older age. And one day Zacharias goes into the temple to burn incense, and there standing at the right of the altar of incense is an angel who said he was Gabriel. And he said, Zacharias, you and your wife Elizabeth are going to have a baby. And he's going to be great in the sight of the Lord. He's going to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his womb. And he's going to turn many of the hearts of the people of Israel back to the Lord their God. He'll turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers. So Zacharias gets a vision from the angel Gabriel about he and his elder wife, going to have a child.
And I love his response to it. If you saw an angel at work, a bona fide, lit up angel, you probably wouldn't do what Zacharias did or say what Zacharias said. It would be just so amazing to you, you'd just go, oh wow, you tell everybody. And every Christian television show would want you on. You could write books about it.
Some do. But Zacharias says, well how do I know that's true? Dude, an angel shows up and you're asking that lame question? He said, I'll tell you how.
I'm Gabriel. And you're not going to be able to speak until he's born. Just shut him up.
Can you just see he goes home that night? His wife says, how do you never say anything? Well, he couldn't speak for months.
He had to write things out. And then John was finally born. Now, when Elizabeth, his wife, was five to six months pregnant, Mary, who had been conceived by the Holy Spirit in her womb, went to go visit because they were cousins to visit Elizabeth. And as soon as Mary came through the door and called out Elizabeth's name, the Bible says the babe leaped for joy in Elizabeth's womb. And that that baby was filled with the Holy Spirit from pregnancy onward.
Jesus said he was the greatest man who ever lived. Because his dad was a priest, John the Baptist should have been a priest. He would follow in his father's footsteps. The son of the priest would become a priest.
It's by bloodline. But you see, John was a little bit different. One day, his wife turned to her husband and said, sweetheart, have you noticed John lately? He's wearing camel's hair. His hair is awfully long. And he keeps eating bugs.
They fly into the house, he grabs and he's like, I don't know what the deal is. No, I don't know if they had that conversation or not. But we do know that he did probably take a Nazarite vow his whole life. He was separated.
His hair grew long. He didn't touch anything that had to do with grapes or wine or the fruit of the vine. He wouldn't touch a dead body or anything that defiled him.
That's how Nazarites lived. So he was completely separated for God's purpose and didn't want anything or any activity to contaminate or diminish his calling and his ability to preach God's message. That was John, John the Baptist. He was not that light. But he was sent to bear witness of that light.
That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world. The world was made through him. And the world did not know him.
He came into his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. I love the way John writes.
I love it. And this reminds me of what he said in 1 John chapter 1 verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have gazed steadfastly upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. Can you imagine hanging out with Jesus? And after a period of time, you're going to know, who is this guy? Where does he come from?
And then it dawns on you one day. He knows everything I think. He can do any miracle. He knows what everybody else thinks. He claims to be the fulfillment of Scripture. He does everything that I read about God doing in the Old Testament.
This guy, I believe this guy is God in human flesh. And then to say, we hung out with him. We heard him.
We scoped him out. We saw. This is the word of life. This is the source of everything. The memra, the logos, and the word became flesh. Now we know without a doubt that the word here refers to Jesus because the word became flesh. That's the incarnation. And dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Okay, go back to verse 11.
Notice this. He came into his own, and his own did not receive him. The first time it says his own, in the Greek language, it's in the neuter. You know what neuter is, right? It's not masculine. It's not feminine. It's neuter.
Neutral. The second usage of his own in that verse is masculine and refers to people. So it is probably best translated, he came into his own things, neuter, and his own people did not receive him.
That's how many translations take the spin on it. He came into his own things or his own creation, but his own people did not receive him. But as many as did receive him, he gave him the right to become children of God.
You get the point there? So here's what we discover. The word who made the heavens and the earth becomes flesh, and he comes to his own creation. And my, how his creation responds. Water is able to hold him up because he made that water. I don't understand the physics.
Don't need to. The creator just willed that so. Creation responded to the creator.
People who are dead come back to life because the creator can do that. He can speak life into them. He has control over every physical force. The creation, the physical universe is responding to him. He came to his own things.
When it comes to people that have a will, their own volitional capabilities, they did not receive him. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resource that will help you understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Our two-book bundle, The Holy Spirit Then and Now, with two books by Chuck Smith, is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can find full message series and libraries of content from Skip Heitzig on YouTube? Simply visit the Connect with Skip Heitzig channel on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to the channel so you never miss any new content. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
