Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you've joined us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig exists to connect you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times through verse-by-verse teaching of His Word. That's why we make messages like this one today available to you and others on air and online. Before we kick off today's teaching, we want to let you know that you can stay in the know about what's happening at Connect with Skip Heitzig when you sign up for email updates. When you do, you'll also receive Skip's weekly devotional email to inspire you with God's Word each week. So sign up today at connectwithskip.com.
That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. This is a term that has been translated like zoology. Zoë 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 zoë, 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 zoë, 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 just go, what? 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, 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 unto 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 this 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.
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, we want to tell you about this month's resource titled The Holy Spirit Then and Now, which comes with two books by Chuck Smith. The Book of Acts commentary will help you understand how the Holy Spirit worked in the early church, and Power, a biblical balance on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, will help you see how he works in you. You'll be inspired as you discover that the same spirit who worked in Paul, Peter and the early church is active and involved in your life today. We'll send you the Holy Spirit then and now as our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to reach people with God's love through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. His own people, the Jewish people, with all of those predictions made about their Messiah, his own people did not receive. The creation did. They were responsive. But the people of God who had the text of Scripture and the prophets who foretold him, they did not receive him.
Generally, but some did. And that's why it says, As many as did receive him, to them he gave the power or the right or the authority, it could be translated, 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. Now, I think there's something else you need to know and probably things then from now on when you read things like this, and 1 John, 2 John, 3 John are going to make more sense to you, at least I hope.
That's the whole purpose of me studying this and teaching you this. One of the things John was writing against when he wrote the Gospel of John in 1, 2, and 3 John was, at that time, a philosophy that was being believed in the church called Gnosticism. And without explaining it all to you, let me just say that part of Gnosticism said that Jesus Christ only seemed to be human.
He really wasn't. He was special and He seemed to be human, but they had all these stories like when He would walk, He wouldn't leave footprints in the sand. And all these things that said, you know, He wasn't a real human being, because God, when He created the world, created emanations, and an emanation was created that was so far from God it didn't even know God.
They have a whole hierarchical, weird teaching, weird structure. But they denied that Jesus Christ had a physical human body. So what I'm trying to get you to realize is that the first attack against Jesus Christ was not an attack on His deity.
It was an attack on His humanity. It's called Gnosticism. And one of the reasons John writes the Gospel, as well as the letters, 1, 2, and 3 John, is to fight against the error of Gnosticism.
So much so that in 1 John he says, whoever does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, is Antichrist. What John wants you to know is that this Jesus was God, but He was fully human as well as being fully divine. He was undiminished deity in unprotected humanity. That's how John presents Him.
Undiminished deity in a body of unprotected humanity. He was fully man. He felt things. He wept over things.
He had pain that went through His body. He didn't seem to be human. He was fully human.
Fully divine and fully human. The Word became flesh. John bore witness of Him. This is John the Baptist. And cried out saying, this was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me. For He was before me. Goes all the way back to the beginning. And of His fullness we have all received and grace for grace. I love this new song our worship team has introduced to us. Grace after grace.
Love that. Because that's the idea here. It's grace after grace after grace. It's like the waves of an ocean. One crashes in and then recedes and as one goes out another one comes in. And so it's this free flowing of wave after wave of God's grace unending. It keeps going generation after generation. Get a surfboard and ride the wave of God's grace.
Love that. Of His fullness we have all received and grace after grace after grace. For the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. So now John begins to draw a comparison between the law of Moses, the old covenant, and the free gift of grace, the new covenant. Is there a difference?
Is there a difference between night and day? The law demands righteousness from man. The covenant of grace gives righteousness to man from God. The law says you better perform your works. Grace says here is the work of Jesus Christ finished, done, can't add to it, can't subtract from it. It's not your works, it's His work. He lived the perfect life you could never live and then He died an atoning death, your sin upon Him.
The law came by Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. What does that mean no man has seen God at any time? It means no man in history has ever seen the full undiminished glory of God in His total essence.
They would love to. Moses prayed for that in Deuteronomy 33. He said, Lord I just have one little final request, I want to see your glory.
It's quite a prayer. I mean Moses, if I'm there I'm going, Moses, Moses, you haven't, you've seen more than I've seen and you're not happy? I didn't see a Red Sea open up, you did. I didn't see the Egyptians die because of all those plagues, you did. I didn't see man on the ground every day, you did.
I didn't see water coming out of a rock, Mo, you did. I would think after all the incredible miraculous experiences you would say, this is awesome, I've had enough. He goes, I would like to see your glory. God is so tender with Mo and He says, you know Mo, if I let you do that, you'll just burn up, you'll fry up. No man can see me and live. No man can see the undiminished fullness of God and His essence. So God said, I'll pass before you and you will see sort of like the afterglow, the afterburn.
The after effect of my presence, but you cannot see me, no man can see me and live. So then Jesus comes along. No man has seen God at any time, but, notice the thought of the verse, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed Him or declared Him or shown Him forth.
What did Jesus say? If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. Philip said, just like Mo, he said, Lord, all we want, just show us the Father, it's all we want. Again, I go, okay dude, you've seen miracles, you've seen Jesus, we just want to see God the Father. You keep talking about the Father, just show Him. Have I been so long a time with you, you don't know who I am? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
I and the Father are one. I understand the prayer. I've been in situations, oh Lord, just give me a glimpse of your glory.
Just give me a little more. It'll get me through the day, it'll get me through this experience. But see, Jesus comes along and He shows us God and here's, I think, the point. God is aloof and distant and fuzzy and unclear until Jesus comes along and makes Him clear. He comes on the scene and when you hear Him speak, that's God talking. When you see Jesus heal people who are sick, you go, that's God's compassion, He loves people.
Look at how He's treating people. I'm seeing God in action, I'm hearing the words of God spoken from the lips of this Messiah. He has brought Him forth. And so verse 14 and verse 18 should be brought together. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory.
Verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Now this is the testimony of John. Do you think we're going to finish this chapter?
I think not. This is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask Him, who are You? He confessed and He said, well, I'll tell you who I'm not, I'm not the Christ.
He knew they were thinking He must be the Messiah. So I'll tell you who I'm not, I am not the Christ. And they said, what then, are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, nope. Then they said to Him, who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you say about yourself? And He said, I am the great son of Zacharias the priest. Oh, it doesn't say He said that.
But He could have. He said, let me tell you who I am, I've got credentials, you know, my dad's a priest in the temple. And by the way, I've been filled with the Holy Spirit since I was in the womb. See, number three, I'm the greatest man who ever lived. I mean, he had a whole litany of things.
Miraculous birth by my parents, etc. He said, I am, quoting Isaiah 40, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet. Isaiah has said, I love John the Baptist. Fiery yes.
Fiery yes. But I love his heart. He says, I'm not the word, I'm just the voice. He's the word, I'm just the voice declaring the word. He's the real message, I'm just the messenger.
I love that. You know, you have a message, and the message is Jesus. You don't have to make one up, and I love it when preachers stick with teaching the Bible instead of, I've got to make up something really cool.
No, you don't. Don't make anything up, cool or not cool. Just say what the Bible actually says. Just teach the text of the word, and you will discover the text of the word, the word has power.
The living word, Jesus Christ, has power, and he will use the written word. You don't have to make up something cool and clever to get the gospel hept and cool and, look at my message. We don't care about your message. You don't have a message. He is the message. You're just the messenger. And the world is in a mess. And the world in a mess needs messengers giving the message, and the message isn't you.
It's him. I'm just the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the ways of the Lord. I'm the road worker. That's what John says. I'm just the road crew. He's the way. He's the path. He's the road.
I'm just the dude that works the road. I'm getting the road straight, but he's the road. Walk on it. Follow him. Serve him. Make Jesus the message. Make Jesus the center of your life. Learn his word. Learn his word to you. Take it in.
Learn to love it. The word personally Jesus and the words that he has provided. Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him saying, Why then do you baptize if you were not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? Dude, you're out baptizing people. And you're not any of those people. You're not Elijah the prophet. You're not the Messiah. You're not the prophet. That's a very, very important question.
But next week we'll tell you why they asked that question and what the answer to that issue is. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you the Holy Spirit then and now. Featuring two books by Chuck Smith to help you understand how God's Spirit worked in the early church and how he's active in you today. To request your copy, call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to download the Connect with Skip Heitzig app where you can access messages and more content right at your fingertips. 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.
