Jesus, the Word

Those who follow Jesus Christ never tire of hearing about Him. We're never bored with our Lord Jesus Christ. In human relationships, sometimes we get bored with people.

Sometimes we bore ourselves, almost. But with Christ, we are never bored. Paul says that he preaches the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's why we love to worship our Savior. That's why we count it a privilege to serve Him enthusiastically, to follow Him closely, each day to get our eyes on Jesus.

There is none like Him, nor will there ever be anyone like Him. And over this Christmas season, we've been focusing on some of the names, some of the designations given to Jesus. We thought of Jesus as the King, Jesus as the Messiah. Last Sunday, Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us. On Christmas Eve, we'll think of Jesus the Savior.

A week from now, Lord willing, we'll think of Jesus as the light of the world. This morning, we're thinking of Jesus as the Word. So, open your Bibles to John chapter 1. We're going to read the first 18 verses of John 1, which is the prologue to His Gospel. And it's a majestic prologue. In seminary, when we're learning Greek, the first passage that we actually read from the New Testament is John 1 and the first 18 verses.

The Greek is relatively simple. The thought, of course, is tremendously profound. And John writes not just to give us theological information, although he does that. He wants us, as he's going to tell us over and over again in his Gospel, to believe in this One. That we will have life in Him, that there is none like Him. And John is going to present magnificently in the 21 chapters of John, the wonder of this matchless One that we know as Jesus the Word. And I trust that as we read and reflect on these ancient Scriptures, that your love for the Savior will grow. That you'll be drawn to Him.

That you'll have a fresh appreciation of Him. And that today and tomorrow and for the rest of your life, you will keep your eyes on Jesus in this crazy world, a world of darkness. How wonderful it is to know that whatever happens, we have Christ. Isn't it wonderful to be a follower of Jesus?

For those of us who follow Jesus, we can't imagine any other life. And if you're not following Jesus, I want to present Him to you, so that you would turn from your selfish life and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now John 1 verses 1 through 18 is really a microcosm of his Gospel. John's Gospel is different from Matthew, Mark and Luke. On Sunday mornings, we've been studying Matthew. John gives us no shepherds, no wise men, not Mary or Joseph. He's going to present Christ in a unique way. In John's Gospel, there are no parables.

There's no genealogy. How can there be a genealogy of the eternal God? There's no Sermon on the Mount, but He presents majestically the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In theology, we call that Christology. That is the truth, the theology about our Lord Jesus. And we're going to reflect on the foundational truths of the Christian faith.

I firmly believe in life, whether you're learning a sport or a musical instrument or a particular skill or profession, that the fundamentals are all important, that the foundation must be laid. And John is laying a strong foundation. This is orthodox Christianity. This is what it means to be a Christian. John 1 then, trust you've got your Bible there, John 1, verse 1. "'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not made anything that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.' There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.

He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, 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 have seen His glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.' John bore witness about Him and cried out, this was He of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me because He was before me. From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. That's the prologue to John's wonderful Gospel. We want to learn first of all that Jesus is the Word and reveals God. Jesus, John is saying, the Word, logos, Jesus the Word is God. John, as he begins to write the Gospel of Jesus Christ, immediately he identifies the Word. In the opening verses, he's declaring that Jesus the Word is God. Notice what he says, the Word was God. Jesus, God's only Son is God. That is essential to the Christian faith, an affirmation that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is God. Jesus is eternally God and therefore, as He is eternally God, He is equal with God. So we write in the beginning, verse 1 was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

Think of that. Before anything existed, before the worlds were created, before there were angels or principalities or powers, before anything existed, there was the Word. And the Word was, says John, with God. He was face to face with God. And so the Scriptures present this one true God, the true living God, the eternal God, exists in three distinct existence.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Here is eternal existence. The existence of Jesus, John is saying, didn't begin with His birth at Bethlehem. No, this one, Logos, the one who is God, the one who is the Word, has eternal existence. He is from everlasting to everlasting. There is no beginning to His being.

He is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. He is, John says, He is the Creator, not created. Verse 3, all things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.

Think of that. There is not one thing that was made apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. The stars, the moon, the planets, you and me, everything that ever existed was made by the Word. Sometimes often on a Saturday, you get a knock at the door and there's two people there, and they're the Jehovah's Witnesses. And they want to convince you, once you say that you're a follower of Jesus Christ, they want to convince you that Jesus is not God, that Jesus is not eternally God, that Jesus is a created being rather than the Creator. That of course is absolute heresy. Jesus is not created. He's not a lesser God. It's not that first there was Jehovah as they preach and then He creates Jesus.

No, there is not one thing that exists apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in Romans 9 verse 5, the Christ who is God, overall blessed forever. Jesus is God, Jesus is Lord. That was the basic confession of the early church, that this Jesus is no mere prophet, no mere miracle worker, He in fact is God. And John is writing his gospel to prove that Jesus is God, and that there will be a response that we then will believe in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, and as we believe, we will have life in His name. And as you read and study the Gospel of John, and I commend it to you, always read John's gospel in the light of verse 1 of chapter 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And John, and I love this, he doesn't just make a claim. He is going to establish in his gospel who Jesus is. He tells us He's God, and then he's going to give seven signs, seven evidences that Jesus is God, and Jesus displays the glory of God. You want to see the glory of God?

You can. Look at Jesus. What's the first sign in John's gospel? The turning of water into wine.

It's not interesting. Is it a wedding? Weddings are times of joy, of celebration. And Jesus is demonstrating that He comes and He's going to give joy. And notice what John writes in chapter 2, verse 11.

If you've got your Bible, you can turn there. John 2, verse 11. Jesus has turned the water into wine, and it was wonderful wine.

The best there ever has been. Chapter 2, verse 11. This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana and Galilee. And notice what John says, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. As the disciples saw this wonderful miracle of water being turned into wine, this was not just a conjuring trick. This was not a magician doing something. This was not a performance. No, this, in fact, was the very manifestation of the glory of God.

Wouldn't you have loved to have been there? And as the disciples saw it, they responded as John wants his readers to respond. As he wants you and me to respond, they believed in Him.

How could you not? There is the display of the very glory of God, and His disciples believed in Him. That's the first sign. What's the second sign? The healing of the official's son in chapter 4.

What's the third sign? The healing of the paralyzed man at Bethesda. Remember, he is an invalid, paralyzed for 38 years. And Jesus comes and heals him.

That's impressive, isn't it? Establishing that He is God. Fourth sign, John chapter 6, is the feeding of the 5,000. The next sign, Jesus walks on water, a manifestation of the glory of God. The sixth sign, John 9, the healing of the blind man.

We'll think of that next week. And then the final sign, the seventh sign, remember what it is? The raising of Lazarus from the dead. This one, not only can turn water into wine, not only can he walk on water, there is a man called Lazarus who is dead for four days, and Jesus shouts, Lazarus come forth, and a dead man comes forth. And there is the manifestation of the glory of God. These are not just miracles, they are signs. That is miracles with a meaning. Revealing the glory of God, ah, but only to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Some people only saw the outward miracle.

Some people were quite happy to take the bread and the fish. Some people were quite happy to drink the wonderful wine at the wedding, but they failed to see that in their midst was God Himself. There was the glory of God. Over in your Bibles to John 11, and we'll see this.

John 11, John 11 is the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the seventh sign. And notice what Jesus says in John 11, verse 40. There is Martha, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God. If you, if you did not believe, you did not see the glory of God. Here is Jesus, God incarnate, and yet man and woman saw Him, touched Him, took the wine, took the bread, took the fish, and yet they failed to see the glory of God. Isn't it wonderful, as we saw in chapter 1, verse 14, that John says, regarding himself and his disciples, ah, but we have seen His glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John, as he writes, as he thinks of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, says, no, as we looked at Him, we saw the glory of God. Do you understand anything of the glory of God?

People get impressed by a Hollywood show, some kind of pop concert with all of the lights and the razzmatazz, and we're impressed. Imagine seeing a wee bit of the glory of God. You see, when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, truly believe, something supernatural happens. Your eyes are opened. Your ears are opened.

You have a fresh hunger, a new hunger to hear the Word of God. I've told the story before. Before I married, I stayed for a few weeks with a widow, and I asked her how she came to Christ. She lived in a small island most of her life, way in the north of Scotland, the island of Bressey. And she was in her 80s. Her eyesight was poor, and her cooking was awful, but she was a lovely person. And she is now with the Lord. And she said, John, a preacher had come to the island as a young woman in her early 20s, I think, and she had trusted Christ. And she said it was marvelous.

She says, the next day I'm going on the boat from the small island where she lived to the island, the main island where she worked as a young woman. And she said it was different. Everything was different. The sea seemed bluer.

I was more fascinated by the birds. The very sky was different. She was looking at life differently. She was looking at it, as it were, with a godly perspective that the unbeliever just sees, looks down. But for followers of Christ, the more we follow Christ and the closer we see Christ, even the very heavens around us and our relationships with others, everything is transformed. And as we worship God, as we express our love for God at a time like this, even as we sing old carols, isn't it true that as we sing and as we reflect on the wonder of God's grace, we can say to some extent, my eyes have seen the glory of God.

I trust you experience that as you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus who's God reveals God. He's described perhaps in a strange way as the Word. I'm standing here with many thoughts in my mind, but unless I express my thoughts in words, you have no idea what I'm saying. My words are a notable expression of my thoughts.

Once I speak, you then know this is what John is talking about. Jesus is the Word. Jesus declares who God is and what God is like and what God is doing. He is the Word of God in action. He is of course the voice of God. When Jesus speaks, God is speaking. He is the very revelation of God. John 1 18, no one has ever seen God, the only God or the only begotten Son of God who is at the Father's side, He has declared Him.

You look at Jesus and you're looking at God. He reveals the heart of God. He reveals the glory of God. He displays God's glory and meets face to face with us so that we can know God.

That we can understand who God is as I know my Lord Jesus Christ. Now, God has revealed Himself in many ways. In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself. He gave the Law, there are angels speaking, there's prophets speaking, but it's different. So the writer of Hebrews says Hebrews 1 verse 1.

How does it go? Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets, but now in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. Yes, God spoke in the Old Testament, here's Jeremiah, here's Isaiah. Revelation of God, God communicating His will to His people and to the world, but now it's different. God has now communicated in His Son. He is the final communication. This is God. He is the personal Word of God. How gracious of God.

This is what we're celebrating Christmas, isn't it? Look again at John 1 verse 14. I think if I had to choose one verse in the Bible that is so profound, so astonishing, so staggering in its implications, I think many of us would choose this verse. John 1 verse 14, think of it, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. We call this the incarnation. A term coming from Latin meaning clothed in flesh, the act of assuming flesh.

Notice how careful John is. The Word never became God. Jesus always was and is and shall be God.

But now, here is the profound truth of Christmas. Now, the one who was God is now becoming a man. Athanasius, the great church father, put it this way, he became what he was not.

He continued to be what he always was. Well done, Athanasius. Children, you understand that?

Students, you understand that? Talking about their Savior. He became what he was not. What did he become what he was not? He became a man. He continued to be what he always was. What did he continue to be what he always was? Answer? God.

That's right. The Word became flesh. By becoming man, the second person of the Trinity did not cease to be God. Here is the mystery of the incarnation. That our Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and is fully man.

You say, how can that be? That's the mystery of the incarnation. That the eternal God through whom everything is created, the eternal God who exists from everlasting to everlasting now at a specific point in time, in human history, in an insignificant little town called Bethlehem, the Word becomes flesh.

The incarnation is a staggering event, isn't it, without parallel in human history. The great, eternal God who's the Creator of all things. In fact, He's so big that the whole universe can't contain Him. He's infinite in His size. He's omnipresent. All of God is everywhere.

That's how big He is. But now, He becomes a little baby. The Word becomes flesh. Paul says in 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy 3, 16, God manifested in the flesh.

The one who inhabits eternity now comes into time, into human history. And as He comes, He displays the glory of God. Now, while the miracles display the glory of God, where do we see the glory of God at His greatest? It's at the cross, isn't it? We come today to the communion table, the very center of our faith. And while we celebrate and rightly so the arrival of God's Son into this world that the Word become flesh, the very center of our faith is the cross of Christ. Turn with me to John 12, where I think John tells us this. John 12, verse 23. Very interestingly, isn't it, about the glory of God. Remember these Greeks come and say, sirs, we wish to see Jesus.

I hope you say that. We want to see Him. And so on. Verse 23, and Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

What's He referring to? The cross. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Here again is a prediction by the Lord of His death.

Through His death, there is going to be much fruit. And God is glorified at the cross of Christ. What to the world was an act of shame? A Roman cross was to God and was to all who believe. A demonstration, a wonderful demonstration of the glory of God. None believer looks at the cross. Tragic.

Too bad it went wrong. The believer sees the glory of God. Jesus is the Word. He reveals God.

Now here, I want to make it personal. To personally know Jesus, the Word, is then to experience a life of hope and fulfillment. I wish we could grasp this. Satan tells us the very opposite, doesn't he? Satan tells us that true life is doing your own thing.

It's making yourself at the center of the universe. But into our dark world comes Jesus the light. And He comes to give us life. And He comes to give us hope and true fulfillment. Only Jesus can meet your deepest needs.

Think of it. God made you in His image. We believe that God created you. God made you. He was molding you, putting you together even in your mother's womb, David says in Psalm 139. And as our Creator, we are created to answer to God, to find our fulfillment in God.

God created you for a purpose, not randomly. In love, He created you in His image, and you will find your greatest fulfillment, not in living a life apart from God, but rather the reverse, you will find fulfillment in life by embracing Jesus, who is God. And yet, with these inner desires that we have and inner longings, we try to fill this with all kinds of false gods, don't we? Pleasure, popularity, power, ambition, all of these things. We think if we get that, we will be fulfilled in life.

And yet as we pursue them, and even to a certain extent as we may achieve them, they become hollow, don't they? No, our Lord Jesus Christ comes and He comes to give us life. In John's Gospel, not only are there seven signs, there are seven I am statements. I'm going to read them very quickly, but I want you to listen to them and think of this, that our Lord Jesus Christ comes to change your life, and all of your longings are fulfilled in Jesus, the Word. He's coming to reveal God. He's coming to demonstrate the glory of God.

Here's the first one, in John chapter 6. Are you spiritually hungry? There's a spiritual need in your heart.

You feel there's something else in life rather than the physical. Jesus says, I am the bread of life. If anyone is hungry, come to me, the bread of life that comes down from heaven.

He then says in John chapter 8 verse 12, I am the light of the world. You ever find yourself in a confusing situation? You ever find yourself you don't know where to turn? You look for guidance in life. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. The one who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life. Imagine following this one. He's going to lead me always in the light of life.

I want that. He's God. He's not going to let me down.

Here's the third one. Jesus says in John 10 verse 7, I am the door. When are we going to get into heaven?

When do the secrets of life? Jesus says, I am the door. You feel lost, wandering like a lost sheep? John 10 verse 11, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. Look at the good shepherd who comes and takes the sheep and puts it on his shoulders, a good shepherd.

Fearing death, wondering what happens after you die, with all of this COVID, with all of the uncertainty of life, there's a fear of death. I got a call yesterday morning, spoke to a friend of mine, a mutual friend of ours, early sixties, very successful individual, in worldly terms, died suddenly. I had the joy of meeting this man for a long time. He had all kinds of questions about Scripture, about the resurrection. He was a lawyer, and I met with him. Week after week, he would come with all of his questions. I go, I'm reading the Scriptures until finally he placed his faith in Christ.

My friend sent me his obituary, and the obituary said he'd been extremely successful in real estate development and obviously made a lot of money. But he said he was known by his religious devotedness. Now, we would — might not use the word religious, but my friend was saying even the secular world knew that this man was different.

He was marching to the beat of a different drum, and now he's with God. You fear death? Jesus says, listen to him, I am the resurrection and the life. Do you want to know that one? I do.

I do. I want to know that if a car hits me or if I die of a heart attack or something else happens, or if I get COVID and die, that my life is indissolubly linked with the Word, the One who is the revelation of God, and that His life has become my life. And he stands and says, will you listen to him, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall never die. The resurrection and the life.

What's the last saying? John 15 verse 5, Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. The point is that the more I know Christ, and the more I trust Christ, the more fruitful my life will be. He's the vine, I am one of the branches.

I'm connected to the true vine, drawing strength and wisdom. You come across people whose life is bitter and withered, and they're complaining people, and they're full of bitterness. That's not how the Christian life is to be, is it? Is life cruel sometimes? Yes. Is life unfair? Yes. Does life have its disappointments and mysteries?

Yes. But Jesus stands and says, I am the vine, you are the branches. You see, only Jesus Christ gives us life. Life is one of the great themes of John's Gospel.

The Greek word for life is zoi. It's used 54 times in John's Gospel. Turn to the end of the Gospel in chapter 20, and John tells us why he's writing. When you're studying a book of the Bible, ask, what's the point of the book?

And sometimes the key is at the end, just that sometimes in a house people leave the key at the back. Well, John has given us the key to the book at the back. This is what he says in John 20, verse 30. John 20, verse 30. Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written.

John has chosen them very carefully. These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, here it is, you may have life in His name. Jesus doesn't derive His life from anyone.

You and I do. We are dependent on God. He doesn't derive His life from everyone. He is life. He's God.

You can't extinguish His life. And now, in the wonder of His grace, can you think of it that He comes from heaven? The Word becomes flesh, demonstrates His glory, makes these incredible statements, dies for our sins. So at the cross, we see the majestic glory of God rises from the dead and says, now if you come to me, I'll give you life. John has told us, chapter 1, we read in verses 12 and 13, that it's, to those who receive Him, He gives the right to become the children of God, who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. This is not joining a church.

This is not going through some religious ritualism. This is a living faith in the living Christ, a personal encounter with Jesus, which changes us and we receive His life in our soul as a gift. And that life is available to you. John 5, verse 24, truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. In the grace of God, I can stand here and say, I have eternal life.

Not that I hope for it, not that I will have it, both of these are true, I will have it, but I have it. It's a present possession, present tense. You believe He does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death to life. Whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has present possession, eternal life. I have to ask you, are you eternal life?

How do I get it? That's Jesus, the Word revealing God. Why did He become man? For your salvation. No one else can forgive your sins. No one else can take you to heaven. He is the door. He's the only door. Another saying which I forgot, John 14, verse 6, what does it say? I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father apart from me. At Christmas, God not only came to earth, He came to us.

He dwelt with us so that we can have eternal union with Him, that we can believe into His name. Will you trust Him? Will you believe in Him?

You've never done that, do that today. Turn from your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, I know many of you say you are, as we break bread, what an opportunity to reaffirm that and to say open my eyes, I want to see Jesus.

To understand more and more the glory of God as you see the Lord Jesus Christ, and you see life through the eyes of Jesus, He is the Word of God. Will you taste and see that the Lord is good? You say, John, life is difficult for me.

I know it is. It's difficult for many of us. I'm saying to you this, don't look down at the difficult circumstances.

Look up. As the Psalmist says, taste and see that the Lord is good. Father, help us to do that. Even as we come to the communion table, we come humbly to feed on Christ, the bread of God. To drink afresh of the living waters, to be filled with your Holy Spirit, Father. For eyes which sometimes don't see clearly, for eyes to be clearly opened, for ears which sometimes are plugged up with spiritual wax to be cleaned, for hearts which sometimes are hardened to be softened. As we look at the matchless Christ, the Word becoming flesh, and so help us to come. We seek to be faithful as we come now, in Christ's name, amen.