Jesus the Word

If you limit Jesus to the church on Sunday, the church on Sunday is the only time you'll experience it. Dr. Tony Evans says Jesus didn't just come to visit us, He came to live in us. If I've got somebody who's going to give me life, life, and action, He going everywhere with me. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative.

It can be dangerous walking around in the dark because of all the hazards that wouldn't be hazards if you could only see where you're going. Well, Dr. Evans says the same is true spiritually, and today he'll tell us how to shine some heavenly light on the subject. Let's join him. One of the biggest hoaxes perpetrated in our day, in our era, and progressively over the last couple of centuries, is the hoax of evolution. Evolution is not merely about how things got started, although it is that, but it's about the implications of that worldview. Today we want to look at the name of Jesus who's called the Word. In Revelation chapter 19 verse 13, it says of Jesus, His name shall be called the Word of God. That concept of Jesus being the Word is given to us in more detail in the first chapter of the book of John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Greek word for the word Word is logos, logos.

That is a very important word tied to my introduction. You see, that was a very powerful word in the day that Jesus was living. So when John writes his epistle, he takes the word logos and infuses it with another meaning. He takes a word that they already knew, that was already understood to be this powerful force that was behind everything in creation, and he injects it with truth.

And when he does, he repeats the logos a number of times in this passage. Number one, the Word was in the beginning. Whatever the Word is, it was at the start of things.

Not only was it in the beginning, but it was in the beginning as a was, not as an is. So the Word preceded the beginning. So whatever the Word is preceded when things got created. So that is the preexistence of the Word. The second thing we're told is that the Word was with God. The Word not only preexisted, it coexisted. The word with means face to face. So whatever this Word is, it was in high communication with God. It was face to face with God. They looked into each other's eyes, so to speak.

They stared at each other. So the Word was prior to the beginning. The Word was in communion, coexisting with God back in the beginning and prior to it.

And then we're told that the Word was God. So whatever the Word is, it was preexistent, coexistent, and self-existent. Because God is the only person who does not need anything out of Himself to be Himself. Nothing else in creation can be what it is without depending on something else. And so He says the Word is self-existent, that is self-contained. He says all things came into being through Him. Verse 3, And apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. The Word, whoever the Word is, because the Word is a who, is responsible for creation.

So let's get this straight. Whoever the Word is is responsible for creation because nothing came into being that did not come into being through the Word. At this point evolution has been canceled out because evolution is dependent upon impersonal forces at work.

Not a person, but forces. Creation is tied to a he, not a it. Creation is tied to a person, not some scientific principle. Nothing has come into being that was not brought into being by the Word that was in the beginning with God that was God that's a he. So when your children are you, whether in now elementary school or junior high or high or college, are taught the evolutionary theory as an evolutionary fact, they're being handed false religion because they're being called to a belief system of an impersonal force that is responsible for all creation. It is not only unbiblical, it is illogical. So I would challenge anybody to go home and empty your garage of everything.

Just take everything out of your garage so it's an empty space and wait as many years as necessary for a Rolls Royce to drive up in there. You can wait forever, but you're not going to get something orderly coming into empty space. But evolution would have you believe that that is how the world expanded over myriads of years. Now you have to understand why they want you to believe that. They want you to believe that because then you're not accountable to a creator. So it's bigger than how the world got started is I don't want to have to answer to somebody who will control me and override my decisions.

I want to be my own God. So I need an impersonal force to explain creation. So much of the chaos you're seeing in society today is due to a system of evolutionary thought that removes God so that man can be independent. And it's showing up in crime. It's showing up in personal conflict.

It's showing up in abortion because there is no God. You get to define life. You get to define your own body.

You get to define because you have no God and evolution is impersonal. Then you get to make your own decisions. You get to know your own truth.

You get to run things the way you want to run them because there's nobody to whom you must be ultimately accountable. But in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word was responsible for creation. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 puts it this way. In the last days he has spoken to us through his son because we're talking about the Word. Whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world. So God made the world through his son. Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 and 17. I want to read these so that you can know it. You can read it to your children.

You can help them to understand why this is so critical. Verse 16 says, By him, by Christ, all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominion or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. The Word is responsible for creation and he did not only make it through him. He made it for him.

Okay, now that's just everything. The world was not just made for you. The world was made for the Word. Jesus is the Word. So when God created the world through Jesus, he gave it back to him as a present for Jesus.

When you read Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 to 3, it says, God created in the beginning the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form and void. Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And then it says, and God said, let there be light. He says in verse 4, In him was life, and watch this, and the life was the light of men.

Stay with me, we're going somewhere with this. In him was life, and his life was the light. In order to have light, you gotta see straight. Light helps you to see. In him was life, and life gave light.

Let me reverse it. If there is no life, there will be no light. Because people reject the light, they live in darkness.

That's why he says what he says in verse 4. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it. Because when Jesus Christ is rejected, you walk in darkness, the world walks in darkness. Because it's rejected, the only thing that gives life, and the one that gives life also gives light. So if you don't see straight, it's because his life is not lighting you up. He says, I wanna light you up, but I can only light you up with my life. That's why wherever Jesus went during his time on earth, he was giving people life. He was healing them, they could see now, they could walk.

He was trying to say, I bring life with me. But if you reject me, you will now have to make your way in the dark. You know something about light, it always overcomes darkness. No matter how dark it is, you put on a candle or put on a flashlight, everything changes. Jesus says, if I get in the middle, everything will change because I am the light and I bring with me life.

Many people today, even Christians, are functioning in spiritual darkness because they won't let Jesus be the light. Okay, now you wait a minute, you're saying, okay, well, wait, wait a minute, how does this work? How does this work? A simple principle, I just read it to you, but let me go a little deeper. By him, all things were created that had been made, and watch this, and they were created through him and for him. So nothing in creation is designed to work right without him, nothing in creation, because it was all created by him and it was created for him, so it's designed not to work right without him, because he gives life to it. So whenever Jesus Christ is excluded, darkness seeps in to any area of creation.

Do any area of creation. Dr. Evans will come back in a moment with more on Jesus Christ's connection to every area of our life. First, though, long-time listeners to this broadcast know that Tony has hosted a number of teaching trips to the Holy Land throughout the years. Well, whether or not you've traveled to Israel with him in the past, we have a wonderful opportunity for you to bring home much of the engaging spiritual perspective Dr. Evans has been able to share from the actual locations where Jesus walked. Our team members have documented his tours, and now those photos, talks, and insights are beautifully presented in a large high-quality photo book called Experiencing Israel. Tony's current teaching series is all about developing personal intimacy with Jesus as you get to know his names and their meanings, and this book will help you grow closer to him as you see and learn about the places the Lord visited during his time on earth. For a limited time, we're making both resources, Experiencing Israel, and the comprehensive 11-part audio series, Encountering Jesus' Names, available to you as our gift when you make a contribution toward Tony's ministry. To get all the details, just visit tonyevans.org or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. Again, that's tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222, where resource team members are standing by to help you around the clock. I'll have that information for you again after part two of today's lesson.

Let's rejoin Dr. Evans now. There is nothing you touch, no place you go that's not tied to something he created. When you leave church today and go to your car, the only reason you can get in your car is because steel exists.

The only reason you can go down the road is because rubber exists. In other words, everything in your car is borrowed from something that has been created. So the only way you get to drive home today is because Jesus created the raw materials that could make the car so you didn't have to walk here today. When you get to your house, there's wood, there's brick, there's glass. All of it borrowed from something Jesus made. Now you'll get excited about the house, but the Bible says he not only made it, he made it for him, which means the moment you would detach anything from Jesus Christ, the house will go dark, the car will go dark, and worst of all, our lives will go dark because in him, you live and you move and you have your being.

Let me put it another way. If when you leave church today, you leave Jesus sitting on the pew while you go to the parking lot, you leave light and you're now gone to darkness because it was all made for him. The car you drive was made for him. The house you live in was made for him. The job you work was made for him.

It's all made for him. That's why the Bible says whatever you do in word or deed, do all to his glory because it was all made to boomerang back to him. So the more it boomerangs back to him, the more life is infused in it and the more life that is infused in it, the more light you get from it. So things begin to make sense and you become more alive because the life-giving person gets back what he made for himself in the first place.

It was all designed to come back to him. And that is the concept that we have to get that all of life revolves around Jesus Christ. And his centerpiece being the centerpiece of life. Now, he comes down to verse 14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth. This could be a whole series of sermons on this one verse. The word begotten means uniquely one of a kind.

That's what it means. It means one of a kind, nobody like him. There has never been, nor will there ever be another Jesus because he's uniquely one of a kind. We're all sons and daughters of God, but we're not begotten.

We're not uniquely one of a kind. We're not the word in flesh. Jesus Christ, according to Colossians 2 verse nine, is the fullness of deity dwelling in bodily form.

The fullness of God resides in Jesus Christ. So let me show you one other passage. Philippians chapter two, the passage we continually go back to.

Here's how it works. Verse six, who although he existed in the form of God, that's talking about Jesus. He's getting into deep theology here. Although he, Jesus, existed in the form of God. So there was a time he did not exist as a man. Although he existed in the form of God, it says he did not regard equality with God.

Now, I've just said Jesus is equal to God. He did not regard equality as God as a thing to be grasped or held onto at all costs. In other words, he was equal with God, but he didn't let his equality keep him from carrying out his responsibility. While me and God are equal, I still have a role to play and I'm gonna play it. So he did not regard equality to be lost just because he had a role to play.

Same thing in a family. A woman is equal to a man in the family, but there are different roles that have to be played. So equality must always be recognized and roles must always be played.

And if equality is recognized, but roles are played, then progress is made in history. It's the job of the devil to either cancel out equality or mix up roles. The reason why Satan went to Eve in the garden before he went to Adam was to get Adam and Eve to switch roles. Because if he could get Eve to take Adam's responsibility and Adam to take Eve's responsibility, he could flip roles and therefore bring chaos. Jesus is equal to God, but he knows his role.

And so he did not regard equality as something that he could not give up and that he could not limit the independent use of his attributes regarding. So what did he do? But he emptied himself.

We call this in Greek the kenosis. He poured his deity into humanity. He emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant, doulos, that means slave, and being made in the likeness of men. Remember, he's in flesh.

Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. What I'm trying to say is when we dealing with Jesus, you are dealing with the word. And when you're dealing with the word, you're dealing with God. And when God speaks, he acts.

It's easy to miss what I just said. God's not just woofing. He's not just talking smack.

He's not just talking noise. His speech is tied to his action. The reason why you want to embrace the living Christ and his living word is when he is embraced, life comes. When his life comes, light comes. When his life come and light comes, he acts. And when he acts, you see him moving.

One of the reasons more Christians do not see the movement of God is because they will not allow Jesus Christ to reign and to rule over all of his creation. He's good for church, but then he's left in church. Or he's good for the morning, but then he's left at the house. He can't go public. We don't want to take him out in public.

We're ashamed of him. When he's the one who's going to give you the life, give you the light and give you the action. If I've got somebody who's going to give me life, light and action, he going everywhere with me. I'm not leaving him out of anywhere. He going to give me light, light and action.

Come on now. If I want as much of Jesus as I can get my hands on, because I can now expect life and light and action at work. Life, light and action at home. Life, light and action in my finances.

Life, light and action in my relationship. I can expect light, light and action everywhere because I've not limited him to the church on Sunday. If you limit Jesus to the church on Sunday, the church on Sunday is the only time you'll experience it. Because he created everything for himself. When you get in your car, you have a reason to praise him. When you're driving down the street, you have a reason to praise him. When you get back home, you have a reason to praise him. When you go into your job, you have a reason to praise him. When you relate to your family, you have a reason to praise him. When you have to deal with your enemies, you've got a reason to praise him because he is the Word that is in flesh that gives life, life, and He acts.

The Word is God incarnate. Dr. Tony Evans, helping us understand who Jesus is as we explore His many names and their meanings found in the Bible. A quick reminder that today's teaching is part of Tony's 11-lesson series, Encountering Jesus' Names. And it's available right now on CD or digital download with our thanks when you make a contribution to support Dr. Evans' ministry. Along with it, we'll include the gift-worthy hardcover picture book, Experiencing Israel, that I talked about earlier.

This special combo offer will only be available for a short time, so we encourage you to contact us right away. I'll have our contact information for you after this short reflection from Dr. Evans. There are so many ways that God has demonstrated His faithfulness to me and to this ministry over these 40 years. You know, there were times when we just weren't sure we were going to make it.

We got down to our last paycheck for our staff. After that, there was no money to pay anyone, and I remember us having a special prayer time and asking God to intervene. And then, out of nowhere, a donor's heart was touched, and they wrote us a note and said, God placed it on my heart to send you this gift, and it was able to sustain us a while longer until we were able to rebuild. I praise God for 40 years of His favor on us.

Your support of The Urban Alternative makes possible the important work we do here. So be sure to contact us at 1-800-800-3222, and let us say thanks for your help by sending you the complete audio collection, Encountering Jesus' Names, and Tony's engaging coffee-table-style book, Experiencing Israel. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222, or you can make the arrangements online at tonyevans.org. In the Old Testament, people offered crops and sacrificed animals to make up for the things they'd done wrong. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans will explain why the church gave up that practice and what replaced it. I hope you'll be with us. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.