Who is Jesus? – Part 1

This is Living in the Light with Ann Graham Lotts. There is nothing in existence that Jesus Christ did not make, that He did not create. He sustains all things through His powerful Word.

Isn't He magnificent? Would you tell somebody who Jesus is? Welcome to today's message from Bible teacher Ann Graham Lotts on Living in the Light. Ann's study begins in John chapter 1 with Jesus revealed as the Living Word. Who is Jesus? And who is Jesus that a Yugoslavian nun would give her life to comfort the dying in Calcutta, India? And who is Jesus that some of the greatest architectural achievements in Europe were built to worship Him? And who is Jesus that some of the world's most glorious music was written to praise Him and some of the world's most incredible art was created in order to honor Him? Who is Jesus that 167 years after Rome crucified Him, He was acknowledged as the only God in the Roman Empire? Who is Jesus that the mere mention of His name in a public school classroom causes the class to freeze and places the speaker in jeopardy? Who is Jesus that in an outburst over physical pain or aggravation, frustration, even disagreement with ball game officials, it's His name that's thrown out, not Buddha or Mohammed or Confucius, but Jesus is shouted out? Who is Jesus that 2000 years after He has been physically removed from this world, people are still saying that Jesus is the one who saved them from drugs and from alcohol and from depression and from suicide and from a whole list of things? Who is Jesus that Alexander Solzhenitsyn riding in a Siberian work camp would say the very thought of Jesus helped him maintain his sanity? Who is Jesus that in His name people have forsaken personal gain at any sacrifice to themselves in order to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and house the homeless and heal the sick? Who is Jesus?

Who is this person who is so controversial that His very name would be so offensive? I'm glad I asked myself those questions. Maybe I've planted some questions in your mind because we're going to find at least four answers to those questions from the Bible. The Gospel of John chapter 1 says that He is the living Word. Chapter 9 says that He is the light of the world.

John chapter 11 says that He is life everlasting and John chapters 18 and 19 say that He is the Lamb of God. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12 verse 34 that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. So when the mouth is speaking one thing with conviction one day and another thing with conviction the next day, one of the things it's revealing about the heart is that there is a lack of deep conviction about what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is true and what is false. But now I want to take that and apply it to God because Jesus said out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks and Jesus Christ is revealed as the living Word of God and out of the overflow of God's heart He has spoken and it's Jesus and the expression of an overflowing heart of God is the living Word. He is the expression of God's heart.

Would you turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John chapter 1 and we're going to look together at Jesus Christ being revealed as the living Word and the living Word is infinite, invincible, inescapable, incarnate and just listen to me for a moment as we think about Jesus as the living Word being the very expression of the overflowing heart of God. This is who Jesus is. No means of measure can define his limitless love.

No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of his shoreless supply. No barrier can hinder him from pouring out his blessings. He is enduringly strong.

He is entirely sincere. He is eternally steadfast. He is immortally gracious. He is imperially powerful.

He is impartially merciful. He is the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizons of the globe. He is God's Son. He is the sinner's Savior. He is the centerpiece of civilization.

He stands in the solitude of himself. He is august and he is unique. He is unparalleled and he is unprecedented. He is undisputed.

He is unsurpassed. He is the lofty idea in literature. He is the highest personality in philosophy. He is the supreme problem in higher criticism. He is the fundamental doctrine of theology. He is the corner of necessity for spiritual religion.

He is the miracle of the ages. He is the living Word of God. Absolutely infinite, invincible, inescapable incarnate. John chapter 1.

He is infinite in his person. And John begins by telling us that in his person he is eternal. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The little phrase in the beginning makes us ask in the beginning of what? In the beginning of time? In the beginning of the universe? In the beginning of history? In the beginning of eternity? Jesus was already there. It doesn't say from the beginning.

It says in the beginning. He was already there. He is eternal. In the beginning was the Word and the Greek word for that is logos which means the exact expression or representation of something. Plato whose writings were popular in John's day wrote this, I hope that someday there might come from God a logos, an expression, a revelation that would make everything clear. And John begins his gospel by saying he has come. The logos of God, the exact expression, the revelation of God, the outward expression of the overflowing heart of God has come.

The living Word is here. In the beginning was the Word, the logos of God. And the Word was with God. Not only is he eternal but he is equal with God. The little preposition with means that in the beginning there were two of them. Two supreme beings, absolutely equal in their power, absolutely equal in their personality, absolutely equal in their activity.

They were face to face, eye to eye. Genesis chapter 1 verse 27 says, God said, let us, plural, make man in our plural image. So in the image of God created he, singular him.

It's a mystery. But God is three in one actually. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. But Jesus is completely equal with God. One is not greater than the other.

One is not lesser than the other. He is equal with God. And not only is he eternal and equal with God, he is enduringly the same. Verse 2 says he was with God in the beginning.

The King James version says that the same was with God in the beginning. That Jesus, when he was born in Bethlehem, he did not undergo some radical personality change. That he is as he is today, as he was on the cross, as he was in John's day, as he was at Bethlehem, as he was in the Old Testament, as he was in the beginning, as he was in eternity before time began, as he ever will be. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Enduringly the same. The living Word is infinite in his person, eternal, equal with God, enduringly the same. He is infinite in his power. He is the very catalyst for creation. In verse 3, through him all things were made.

Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, it says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Verse 2, the earth was without form and void.

Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep and energized it into life, prepared it to receive God's Word. And then in verse 3, we have the little phrase, and God said, his Word went forth, let there be light, and there was light. And all the way through Genesis chapter 1, you have that little phrase, and God said, and whatever God said was so.

And we might think that's just nouns and pronouns coming out of the mouth of God, except John tells us right here that in the beginning when God said something, it wasn't just a language or nouns and pronouns, it was the living Word that went forth. Colossians says that by him and for him and through him, everything was created that was created. There is nothing in existence that Jesus Christ did not make, that he did not create.

Think about it. Our galaxy with over 100 billion stars brought into existence by him, and he knows them all by name. And there are over a billion galaxies, snowflakes, no two of which are the same. He created atoms and angels and ants and crocodiles and chiggers, I would have left that one out, but clouds, elephants and eagles and electricity, orchids and onions and octopuses, frogs and hummingbirds and tigers and raindrops and sweat drops and blood drops and dew drops. Isn't he wonderful in his creative activity?

He's the catalyst in creation. Did you know that your husband who sometimes acts like a monkey is not? Nor did he come from one. I wonder, did you think that you were an accident?

Did you think your child was a mistake? You know, that's what evolutionists think, isn't it? If you think that you evolved from some little pool, prehistoric pool, and came from an amoeba or a Big Bang, you're just saying you're an accident. And when you say you're an accident, that means there is no accountability for your life, there will be no judgment, you don't belong to anyone. But the Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible tells us that each one of us, including your husband and your child and you yourself, and the person who lives next to you and across the street, every single one of us was carefully pre-thought and brought into existence by a loving God who created you that you might know him in a personal, loving, permanent relationship.

Now that's wonderful. What is your attitude towards the masses of people in the world? Masses living in India, masses living in China, masses living in the United States, masses living in your city, masses living on your street, next door to you within your own home. Instead of seeing them as a mass, and you see them each one as individuals created by God and for God. They'll never have satisfaction, fulfillment until they become that for which they were created and until they have a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. They were created for him. And not only is Jesus the catalyst in creation, he brought it all into existence, he's the cohesiveness in creation. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 says, the sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. He sustains all things by his powerful word.

Who do you know who says they don't need Jesus? You know, you just think about it for a moment. He sustains all things by his powerful world. When the earth turns, and I forgot how many miles an hour it turns as it rotates, what keeps us from slinging off into space? It's Jesus. And as we go through space and we're rotating around the sun or however the planet does, what keeps us from bumping into another planet? It's Jesus through his powerful word.

And when the stars fall apart and the meteors streak through the sky and they're enough to just send us to smithereens, how can they never bump into planet earth and annihilate us? It's Jesus who sustains all things through his powerful word. He is the glue that keeps creation together and everything in order so that we all exist.

And somebody says they don't need him. They draw their breath by his grace. They're able to stand on planet earth and maintain standing on planet earth by his grace. He sustains all things through his powerful word. The living word is infinite, infinite in his person, equal with God, eternal, enduringly the same, infinite in his power. He's not only the catalyst in creation, he's the cohesiveness, that which keeps it all together.

Isn't he magnificent? Would you tell somebody who Jesus is? The living word of God who is infinite. And secondly, the living word of God is invincible.

He's invincible in his life. Verse four, in him was life and that life was the light of men. And in Jesus we have physical life and we have spiritual life. When it says in him was life, it's speaking of physical life. In Genesis 1 verse 26 when God said let us create man in our image, and so in the image of God he created them, male and female. Then in chapter two of Genesis verse seven it says, so the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

You can think of man being brought into existence with a kiss. But Jesus, the Lord God of the Garden of Eden, breathed into Adam his own life. And Adam received physical life directly from Jesus. And then Adam passed that to his sons and they passed it to their sons and their sons and their sons right up to me. You and I received directly our physical life from Jesus.

And I believe we may be able to clone life in a test tube and they're talking about doing all sorts of things today that that are very frightening to me. And I believe we can imitate life and we can possibly counterfeit life, but I don't believe anyone will be able to create real life because it comes directly from Jesus. In him is life. And not only do we have life, physical life coming from him, but spiritual life because in him it says his life was the light of men, speaking of spiritual life. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 says that you and I, when we were born into the human race, were born dead in our trespasses and sins. So although you were born physically alive, you were born spiritually dead, meaning that you have no capability of responding to God, no capability of loving God, no capability of knowing God or communicating with God or pleasing God. You're dead spiritually, dead to God. Romans 3 23 says that we're all born that way because we've all sinned. And Romans 6 23 says that the wages of sin is that spiritual death, separation from God now. And if we continue in that state of spiritual deadness when we die, we'll be separated for all eternity.

We will go out into eternity separated from God forever, spiritually dead, no capacity, no capability of having a relationship with God. But then Romans 6 23 goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. That we can have spiritual life through faith in Jesus. Now I've been to India twice. On both trips I met Westerners, primarily Americans, who were visiting India looking for spiritual life. They've heard about some guru and they're going to look for some guru or go to some temple and worship or go learn some chant and they're looking for spiritual life. And I sat next to a kid on the plane and talked with him and he told me that he's looking for spiritual life and he goes to the mountains and he sort of confided in me. He said, you know I worship the mountains and I worship the trees and he was on a pilgrimage to find spiritual life. I talked to a friend of mine. She has a nephew and her nephew has declared that he's a Buddhist and he's gone seeking spiritual life through Buddhism and he shared with me that he felt he would achieve the ultimate spiritual life when he could define the difference between the color black and the color red.

It was hard to keep a straight face when he told me that. He was very sincere and that was his whole life's goal was to find spiritual life through defining those two colors. And people all over the world are looking for spiritual life but John clearly states that the life of Jesus is the light of men. You find spiritual life through Jesus Christ. The Bible calls it eternal life. The Bible calls it everlasting life. But Jesus, not only do we find in him physical life but we find in him spiritual life.

The word is invincible in his life. He is also invincible in his light. Verse five, the light shines in the darkness but the darkness is not understood it. And one of the things the light does is reveal the darkness. Of course I think the primary characteristic of light is that it reveals itself. And when it says that Jesus is the light of the world it means that he has revealed himself and in revealing himself he's revealing to you and me exactly what God is like. But he also just by his very nature as the light shines it reveals the darkness. Genesis chapter one when the light came into the world it separated the day from the night because the light reveals the darkness. And what is darkness?

Anything that's not light. So sinfulness, wickedness, evil, that which is unjust, that which is unholy, that which is wrong, that which is false, all of that is darkness. You want to know if something is right? You want to know if something is wise? Do you want to know if something is holy? Do you want to know if something is true?

Do you want to know if something is just? Bring it to the light because the light reveals the darkness. You don't compare it with other darkness. You bring it to the light. And not only does he reveal the darkness but he reigns over the darkness. Light is stronger than darkness. I want to give you a silly example.

I didn't know exactly how to do this. But if we turned out all the lights in this room and I brought in a single candle with a single little flame, lit the candle and had one single little flame, that little flame from that candle would penetrate the darkness. So much so that you could probably see it from that back corner.

I'm sure you could. And it would illuminate this whole area and I would be able to use the candle and walk through the room. One little tiny flame in this huge room filled with darkness. All right, if I go into the back room with a paper bag and go into the bathroom and I close the door and I turn off the lights and I fill the paper bag with darkness and I come in here and we turn all the lights on like we have now and I open up the paper bag of darkness, what happens? It just dissolves.

It melts. The darkness can't overcome the light. All right, now I want to apply that to your witness. Because when you and I seek to give out the truth and we give out our witness, do you think that your witness and your testimony is so small as to be insignificant?

Do you feel that when you share God's Word in Sunday school class or in some other capacity that what you say just gets overcome by the world and drowned out by everything else and you feel very inadequate and you feel very powerless? The light is more powerful than the darkness. Even the smallest light, even the least little bit of light, even a little candle flame, is stronger than this whole room filled with darkness. Let your light shine. Don't put out the light. Don't hide the light. The light is stronger than the darkness.

Keep that in mind as you seek to share your faith, as you seek to share the Word. The light reigns over darkness first of all through your testimony and that's described in verses 6 to 8. There came a man who was sent from God.

His name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light but he came only as a witness to the light. John's testimony was so clear people thought he was the light.

And of course they took off his head. How clear is your testimony? Would anyone mistake you for the light? Do they see the light of the truth, the light of the living Word coming from your life through your lips? John gave out such a clear word of testimony that other people thought he was the light. The light reigns over the darkness through your testimony. Matthew 5 14 says you are the light of the world.

Matthew 5 16 says therefore let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. I noticed up on the mountain I'm staying in this little cabin and there are no lights that I can see from my cabin. Once in a while the little cabin down the way I can see a little light but when that goes out it's just pitch black dark outside.

I mean just as black and no lights anywhere across the mountain in the valley. And so I'll turn on the outside light, one little light, and I noticed when I do all the bugs come. Have you noticed that bugs aren't attracted by more darkness? They're attracted by the light.

You want to attract, we won't call them the bugs of this world, but you want to attract the world. Don't give them more darkness. Don't even give them a twilight. Give them the light.

The light attracts. Revelation chapter 12 during the tribulation the people who seek to live for Christ during those seven awful years of God's wrath poured out on this earth overcome through two things. They overcome through the blood of the Lamb and they overcome through the word of their testimony. Don't sell your testimony short.

There may be God has given you in your testimony the very thing that somebody else needs to hear that will make all of this relevant and meaningful and personal and will just cause the light bulbs to go on for them that they find Jesus. The light reigns over the darkness through your testimony. The light reigns over the darkness through the truth. In verse 9 the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world and this is the true light.

There are lots of artificial lights out there aren't there? And in our day and time lots of people are promising to offer satisfaction, fulfillment, be able to bring peace, organize things so that once you know that we can have this utopia on earth and all sorts of people promising that you can have power or you can find wisdom or insight or your life will work if you'll just come after their artificial light. There are lots of artificial lights but Jesus is the true light and he's the light for every man. At the close of today's broadcast we have a special invitation to extend to you one that underscores today's message, Jesus the living Word.

First here's Ann with this closing thought. There's only one light for the entire world for all time, for every person and his name is Jesus. That's why John bore witness to the light. That's why you and I share our faith, present the gospel. We must come to God through Jesus Christ or we don't come at all. The Bible says emphatically in Acts 4-12 that salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved, just the name Jesus. And who is Jesus? He is the overflow of God's heart.

He is the living Word of God, God himself made visible to all. Listen to me, get right with God. My prayer is that if you and I truly rend our hearts in repentance of sin and return to him, he will return to us. Join me at the cross. Let's set the example for others as we recommit to battle for the truth, to turn on the light from our knees. Thank you for joining us on Living in the Light with Ann Graham Lotz and don't forget, today's message as well as others in the series are available at anngramlotz.org.