The Glory of the Son: Full of Grace and Truth, John 1:1-18

The Eternal Logos

Our Goals for this Study

1. To know John 1:1-18
2. To understand John 1:1-18 in the context of other familiar texts of the Bible, especially Genesis 1-3
3. To see and know the Son of God as He really is
4. In light of seeing Him and knowing Him, to really love Him
5. To understand the Son of God as the cause, purpose, revelation and culmination of creation and human history

 

1. “In the beginning…”

• Eternality, transcends time, before time itself, after time, beyond time, above time
• Genesis 1:1, Exodus 3:13-16, John 8:58

1. The Word: Logos

• God’s self-revelation in His Son
• Genesis 1, Psalm 33:6
• John 1:18, John 14:8-9, Hebrews 1:1-3

1. With God

• Genesis 1:26, “Let Us make man in Our image…”
• Genesis 3:22, “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil…”

1. Was God

• John 10:26-30, “I and the Father are One.”

Conclusion: The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal and unique Son of God, truly God, of the same essence as God the Father. The Son of God is the greatest and primary revelation of God’s nature.

The Glory of the Word: Full of Grace and Truth

The Eternal Logos

1. Our goals for this study: (Slides 2-6)

• 1.  To know John 1:1-18
• 2.  To understand John 1:1-18 in the context of other familiar texts of the Bible, especially Genesis 1-3
• 3.  To see and know the Son of God as He really is
• 4.  In light of seeing Him and knowing Him, to really love Him
• 5.  To understand the Son of God as the cause, purpose, revelation and culmination of creation and human history

1. Authorship

• At the end of the Gospel of John, though he never names himself, he does give this reference to his closeness to Christ
• Read John 21:20-24 (Slide 7-8)
• Apparently there was a shyness in John that prevented him from speaking of himself by name, but instead used this reference “The disciple whom Jesus loved”
• This reference occurs five times throughout the Gospel, mainly toward the end
• I just want to emphasis this, the writing of the Gospel of John is not a second century invention or some theological or theoretical work by a third party
• This is a first hand, eyewitness account
• When he says in the first chapter “We beheld His glory…” I believe that the author is speaking not in some communal way, not in some corporate way
• This is not a regal “we” like “We the people” that opens the constitution
• This is the direct eyewitness of one of His disciples “we” means “me and the other disciples and the other followers of Jesus Christ.”

1. “In the beginning…”

• Look at your bulletin, we will only discuss the first two points this morning, in order to give us sufficient time to discuss the implications of verse 2 especially with reference to the Trinity
• So for next week, you already have some notes if you wish to think and read some this week about what we will discuss next Sunday
• Read John 1:1 (Slide 9)
• Were as Matthew and Luke begin their Gospel accounts with the birth of Christ, John begins His account with the eternal nature of the Son of God
• “In the beginning” of human history but even more fundamental “In the beginning” meaning the very purpose, cause, source, and meaning of all else
• Eternality, transcends time, before time itself, after time, beyond time, above time
• Genesis 1:1 (Slide 10)
• Exodus 3:14 (Slide 11)
• John 8:58 (Slide 12)
• History of JFK’s eternal flame – gone out a handful of times
• "This is special," J.J. Barea said of the parade. "This is something that's going to stay with me in my heart forever."
• C.S. Lewis in his essay entitled “The Weight of Glory”
• Here is a section of some of the most powerful words ever written on our longing for life to be everlasting and the implications if it is not (Slides 13-21)
• If God is not eternal, then our story will end and for ever and ever will be lost
• The eternality of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the Logos, is the most fundamental life truth ever spoken

1. The Word: Logos

• Read John 1:1 (Slide 22)
• Genesis 1 “God said” or “God spoke” creation into being
• Read Psalm 33:6 (Slide 23)
• Septuagint uses the word “logos” in this Psalm
• Why the use of the term “Logos”?
• The word “Logos” means word or message; connection to our language today is the term logo
• Four logos from modern times (Slides 24-27)
• God’s self-revelation in His Son
• Read John 1:18 (Slide 28)
• Read John 14:8-9 (Slide 29)
• Read Hebrews 1:1-3 (Slide 30)
• Read John 1:1 (Slide 31)

1. Conclusion (Blank Slide)

• Conclusion: The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal and unique Son of God, truly God, of the same essence as God the Father. The Son of God is the greatest and primary revelation of God’s nature.
• Apart from knowing God in this way, there is no knowledge of God
• Apart from the eternal nature of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the eternal LOGOS, there is no meaning or purpose to life

 

 

 

• Chris: “In the beginning God”
• Jennifer: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
• Chris: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
• Jennifer: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
• Chris: “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”
• Jennifer: “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
• Chris: “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.”
• Jennifer: “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.”
• Chris: ““The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”
• Jennifer: “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 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, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
• Chris: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
• Jennifer: “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.”

 

• Old Testament Passages:
• Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:26-32, Exodus 3:10-15, Exodus 4:10-13, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 6:10-15, Psalm 1, Psalm 19:1-6, Psalm 19:7-14, Psalm 23, Psalm 119:9-16, Psalm 139:1-12, Psalm 139:13-18, Isaiah 40:1-9, Isaiah 40:10-31, Micah 6:8

 

• New Testament Passages:
• Matthew 5:3-5, Matthew 5:6-9, Matthew 5:10-12, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 11:25-30, Matthew 16:13-17, Mark 10:42-45, Luke 15:1-7, John 1:1-5, John 1:6-18, John 3:1-7, John 3:16-17, Romans 1:16-17, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 10:8-15, I Corinthians 13, Ephesians 2:1-7, Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:5-11, Philippians 3:7-14, Hebrews 4:12-16, James 1:2-8, Revelation 21:1-4