GOD REVEALED

SEPTEMBER 1, 2013 

INTRODUCTION

·         Why did John write this gospel? It was the last one written, probably close to A.D. 100. All the other apostles were dead, the other writers of the N.T. were all gone, and John was left alone. 

1.      There are those who say that it was written to meet the first heresy of the church which was Gnosticism. The Gnostics believed that Jesus was God but not man at all. 

2.      There are those who say that it is a supplement to what the others had written, that John was merely adding other material. 

3.       The only satisfactory explanation is that John wrote the gospel, moved by the Holy Spirit, at the request of the church which already had three gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke were being circulated) and wanted something more spiritual and deep, something that would enable them to grow spiritually.

·         In the first 18 verses of Chapter 1, there are 3 verses that set forth the deity, the manifestation and the purpose of Christ in His first coming. These are verses 1, 14, and 18.

·         John lived in Ephesus with Mary the mother of Jesus. Mary is buried in Ephesus. He was likely banished to Patmos under Domitian who died in 96AD. Emperor Trajan had John released and he returned to Ephesus where he died and was buried not long afterward. It is generally thought to have been written between 85AD and 95AD at about the same time as 1-3 John and Revelations but before them. 

RECOGNIZE THE WORD (JOHN 1:1-5)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.     NASB 

VERSE 1:

·         "In the beginning was the Word." Note the tense of the word "was;" it is past tense!

·         Whenever the beginning was, the Word "was" - past tense, meaning that the "Word" already existed "in the beginning."

·         "And the Word was God." This is the simplest and most emphatic declaration that Jesus was part of the Trinity of the Godhead.

·         Christ, as the Word of God, as the Son of God, came into the world and spoke to man, and revealed and declared God to man. 

VERSE 2:

 

“The Greek term rendered with has the sense of being face to face with God. Two ideas are involved: equality and intimacy. Jesus shared God’s nature and was in perfect fellowship with God. Furthermore, Jesus was God—absolute Deity.”

Explore the Bible Adult Commentary Fall 2013 page 13 

·         The Holy Spirit is declaring through John that the Word, Jesus, was eternally preexistent with God. 

VERSE 3:

·         Since the Word was God and the Word refers to Jesus, then the God of Genesis 1:1 who created the heavens and the earth is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

·         We see again the affirmation of the deity of Christ. He is the One who is sovereign over creation, the One who can still the sea of Galilee, who can turn water into wine and give sight to the blind, for at the incarnation of the Lord He continued to exercise His mastery over creation. 

VERSE 4:

·         Now we are confronted with two things - light and life from the words Zoe and phos. From zoe we get zoology, the study of life; and from phos we get photo or light.

·         In this creation was exalted by being endowed with a soul and a faculty of understanding, and with the image of God.

·         The suns that we see in the sky are just light holders placed there by God like street lamps in a big city. Our little planet is out in a dark universe, yet that is nothing compared to the spiritual darkness that envelopes it.

·         When the sun disappears, there is physical darkness over the land; but for each of the twenty-four hours in a day, there is continual spiritual darkness here, awful spiritual darkness.

·         Physical darkness and physical light cannot co-exist, but we who live in spiritual light can see evidences of spiritual darkness all around us. 

VERSE 5:

·         Man is fallen from that life of light in which he was created, and is become a dark mass of sin and misery, darkened in his mind with ignorance and abominable errors and mistakes. Man is not only dark, but "darkness."

·         Such is the power of darkness in man's nature that all who are left to their own means do not receive that light so as to let it shine through them to direct their actions. 

WELCOME THE LIGHT (JOHN 1:9-14)

9 There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.     NASB 

VERSE 9:

·         This was a day for the angels to sing. The Lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world as but a short time from completing His work on the cross.

·         Christ is light by nature and of Himself, not as creatures are. Not that John was a false light; but John was but a reflection of the true light that was Christ.

·         Jesus is the undeceiving light, and Satan is a deceiving light!

·         Christ is the true or real light..... in contrast to the shaded light and shadows that are predominate in the types and rituals of the O.T.

·         In summary, Christ came into the world to reveal the truth. 

VERSE 10:

·         He was in the (created) world, and the (created) world was made through Him, and the world (of mankind) did not know Him.

·         This was a condemning commentary on the spiritual state of man, that it took a special witness from God (John the Baptist) to tell the people that the true Light of God was in their midst.

·         Even today, we are seeing the rise of atheism and unbelief, and we will see it more and more in the days that lie ahead.

·         Unbelief and atheism go naturally with the natural man. 

VERSE 11:

·         This verse describes very well the reception that the Lord Jesus received.

·         The creation did not recognize its Creator and was guilty of ignorance. 

VERSE 12:

·         We are children or sons to the Father in and with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a spiritual relationship or standing!

·         Christ's excellency appears here in prevailing with some to make Him and His offer welcome, though many reject it.

·         The advancing of His followers to the dignity of adoption and sonship is accomplished from the principle of regeneration, which is accomplished by no power of the follower, but by God alone.                                                                                                                                  

VERSE 13:

·         Since the will of natural man is opposed to God faith is not hereditary. 

Ephesians 2:8-9

 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.     NASB 

·         Regeneration is God's own work, who employs His Word as the seed sending His ministers as instruments to sow this seed, and who quickens this seed by the Spirit, who is the immediate worker of regeneration in order of operation.

·         Our effectiveness in ministry is proportional to how much seed we sow (God’s Word) and how rightly we have handled if (not obscured His word by our many words). 

VERSE 14:

·         God does not give us the Scriptures to confuse us or to hide Himself.

·         The same God who gives us the gift of faith unto salvation, also shines in our hearts to give us knowledge of the glory of His Son.

·         As a tent was used as a tabernacle in the wilderness wanderings was filled God’s glory, so Jesus tabernacled among us and was filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

·         Christ came into the world, and dwelt in it, to undertake a warfare, and did undertake devils, men, death, and all that had anything to say against His people that they might go to Him as their Saviour. 

EXPERIENCE THE REVELATION (JOHN 1:16-18)

16 For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.     NASB 

VERSE 16:

·         The word "fullness" is a term which brings out the absolute Deity of Christ. 

Colossians 1:19-21

19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.      NASB 

Colossians 2:9-10

9 For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;     NASB 

·         Christ does not need to receive anything from those who come to Him. He does not need their fullness, but their emptiness. 

VERSE 17:

·         The result of the law was condemnation; because it demanded the impossible, it demanded perfect obedience by imperfect people.

·         The inevitable effect of the Law was to cause separation between people and God.

·         Moses was the minister of the Law which reveals wrath, and pointed out Christ in types, who brought grace and truth.

·         In Christ there is an ease and relief to the Law by the gospel. 

VERSE 18:

·         There is no knowledge of God at all attainable by us by ourselves, only that which was revealed by Jesus.

·         Here He comes out of eternity past, the God of this universe, the Creator of everything, taking upon Himself human flesh, and bringing God out into the open so that men can know Him.

·        Jesus Christ came to reveal God because He is God, and only God can reveal God.