John Chapter 1- The Word Became Flesh 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

What do we know about the Word? 

There was God and someone was with him. No, he was God, and you say “what?” You can apprehend it, (grasp it) maybe not comprehend it (understand it fully

• Jesus is the ultimate revealer of God- Everything you need to know about God is in Jesus. If you have seen me you have seen the Father. There’s nothing to seek anymore. “Jesus was God and was with God”
• Jesus existed before time began-highlights his eternal nature
• Highlights he sustains all things Col 1:16-17 V2
• In ancient times, words were seen as having power
• Reveals the pre-existence of the trinity, not mentioning yet the Holy Spirit

1. In the Beginning: (Where else do we hear this?)

 

God created the heavens and the earth. Gen 1:1 says the same thing. Who was with God in the beginning?

 

That which was from the beginning, 1 John 1:1-4

 

How does knowing that Jesus was in the beginning affect your life today?

 

1. Jesus was God and was with God: (Other verses that say this?)

 

Let us make man in our image. Gen 1:26

 

The man has now become like one of us. Gen 3:22

 

I am the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end Rev 1: 8

 

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. John 5:18

 

I and the Father are one.” John 10:30

 

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:15-17

 

Image-God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting man’s sins against them. 2 Corinthians 5:18

 

How does believing that Jesus is God affect your life today?

 

 

1. The Word

 

Jesus is again introduced as the” Word of God” Rev 19:13

 

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:3

 

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Romans 10:17

 

How does knowing that Jesus as the Word affect your life today?

 

⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (or gave light to men). ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. KJV

 

• Jesus is the source of all life, not just biological, but spiritual and eternal life.

For what purpose did Jesus come to give us life? Who needs life? Why don’t you hear much about our man’s problem of spiritual death, and God’s solution of new life in Jesus?

 

• Light-the revealer of truth giving clarity and understanding to human existence.
• Spirit of God-to lead you into all truth and illuminate truth
• God’s word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Psalm 119:105

 

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthains 2:9-10

 

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14

 

Did you ever talk to someone about Jesus, grace, new life, complete forgiveness, the NC and so on, and they just looked at you like you were on crack?

 

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me (believes in me) will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life (eternal).” John 8:12

 

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^[ sin. 1 John 1:5-7

 

For you were once darkness (lost), but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light

Eph 5:8

 

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

 

 

What was John’s purpose?  Why did he come?

• Prepared the way for Christ’s arrival.
• As a witness and to testify about Jesus. We will read about this shortly.
• To reveal Jesus as God, Savoir, Eternal Life, The Light, The Word
• Mirrors Old Testament tradition of prophets preparing the way for significant acts of God.
• So that people would believe in Jesus and receive eternal life. Not temporal life that is taught in so many religions and even mainstream Christianity.

 

The Rejection of Jesus: Ever get rejected by someone?

• Despite being the Creator, Jesus was not recognized or received by the world (John 1:10).
• He came to his own…Even His own people. Who was his own? The Jews rejected Him. (John 1:11).
• I have heard every reason in the book about why someone is anti-sematic. They’re arrogant, they’re cheap, they killed Jesus and so on. But how does someone say “I love Jesus”, who was 100% Jewish and have any anti-sematic feelings?

 

Introduction to 2 Types of Births:

• Through belief in Jesus you are born again. A child of God. To believe is to receive and swallow it. Not taste, but swallow.
• Results is your have a new radical identity as a child of God.
• New identities in the NT: “new creation,” “royal priesthood,” “body of Christ.”
• Not your physical birth dependent on your ancestry.
• Hear it, receive it, and believe it. That Jesus rose from the dead. A dead man named Jesus is no alive Act 19:25
• The day you hear it, receive it and believe it, is the day you participate in the divine nature and inheritance  of God (2 Peter 1:4).

 

Connection to the Old Testament:

• Relates to Jeremiah 31:31-33 about the New Covenant: God will be their God, and they will be His people, with complete forgiveness and intimate knowledge of God.

 

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (2X) ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and^[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

 

Word become flesh: Jesus lived among people. Finally introduced with a name.

Who sent him? God

What was Jesus full of?

Did Moses give grace and truth?a Is there a difference between Moses and Jesus? V45 Moses wrote about Jesus

Christ was the end of the law Romans 10:4

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cross was the dividing line of human history.

 

1. Took away our sins
2. Ended the punishment of the law for sin and breaking commandments.
3. Ushered in the NC

 

Depending on time….

 

But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. Heb 8:6

 

¹³ By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Heb 8:13

 

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corin 3:6

 

No one has seen God but Jesus

 

1 John 4:12

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us”

 

In closest relationship with God

 

John’s Testimony – I am not the Messiah!

 

¹⁹ Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

 

• Elijah was a powerful prophet in a period of crisis for Israel.
• Israel had abandoned the Lord to worship Baal.
• Elijah’s mission was to reveal the wickedness of Israel’s actions and urge them to turn back to the Lord.

 

²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”  ²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

Why was John baptizing with water? We’re about to find out. To reveal Jesus. It was a foreshadow or symbol of things to come (the resurrection of Jesus).

 

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³² Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³ And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”^[f]

 

Jesus took away, the sins of the world. He didn’t cover or what you hear atone for the sins of the world. Propitiation means to be a substitute, not a covering.

 

⁵ For John baptized with  water, but in a few days you will be baptized with^[ the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5

 

After being made alive,^[d] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.^[e] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. 1 Peter 3:19-22

 

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples (John’s disciples at that time was Andrew and Simon who became Peter). ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^[g]).

 

Lamb of God v29 who takes away the sin of the world

 

The Lamb as a Symbol:

• Represents a sacrificial animal.
• Symbolizes Jesus’s role as a perfect, innocent sacrifice offered to God for atoning humanity’s sins.

Daily Sacrifice:

• The sacrificial lamb was a daily offering at the temple in Jerusalem.

Symbol of Purity and Innocence:

• A lamb often symbolizes purity and innocence.
• Reflects Jesus’s sinless nature.

 

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

⁴⁴ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

⁴⁸ “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “You believe^[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ He then added, “Very truly I tell you,^[i] you^[j] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’^[k] the Son of Man.”

 

About Nazareth:

 

• Nazareth was approximately 55 miles north of Jerusalem.
• During Jesus’ time, Jews viewed Nazareth, a city in Galilee, with low esteem.

 

About Nathanael saying “How do you know me?”

 

• Jesus often broke through to resistant people by demonstrating His divine knowledge.
• An example is the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
• She was surprised when Jesus revealed He already knew everything about her (John 4:39).

 

About Heaven opening:

 

Acts 7:56:

• Stephen sees heaven opened.
• He witnesses the Son of Man (Jesus) standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 10:10-11:

• Peter falls into a trance while praying on a rooftop.
• He sees heaven opened and a vision of a large sheet descending to earth.

Revelation 4:1:

• John sees a door standing open in heaven.
• A voice invites him to come up and be shown what must happen in the future.

 

When will Jesus come from heaven with angels? The Rapture or 2^nd

 

⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

 

Matthew 25:31-46

The Son of Man will come with all the angels in his glory, and he will separate people into sheep and goats.