Jesus! Who Is He? (John 1:1-18)
The Gospel of John was written by John, son of Zebedee. All of our testimony to the time frame is during his stay in Ephesus. But John was in Ephesus for quite a long time. It was once believed without a doubt that the Gospel of John was written long after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, but today most conservative scholars believe it to have been written before that date. And this is because of the way that John treats Jerusalem, that is as if it is still standing. So it must have been written before Romans burned down the city in the year 70.
It is obvious enough that John is conversant with the other gospel accounts, but equally as obvious that they are unaware of John’s. And this means that John’s was likely last. But because he writes about Jerusalem as if the temple and everything else were still in Jerusalem, then it is also obvious that this was written before Romans destroyed the Temple and the rest of the city in 70AD. Because it is after the other tree gospels, it was likely written very close to 70AD. So, probably sometime in the late 60’s AD by the Apostle John while he was in Ephesus.
His purpose for writing the Gospel of John is made abundantly clear at the end of the book.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31 ESV)
John wrote the Gospel of John so that people would believe in Jesus Christ and have eternal life. And the beginning of the Book of John reveals that perfectly.
Today we will be in the Prologue of John. Do you remember being in school and learning how to write a paper? The teacher told you that the opening paragraph should tell your audience what you are going to tell them in the paper. That is exactly what John does here. In a very condensed and beautifully worded statement, John tells us what he is going to be telling us throughout the Gospel of John.
Because this is the case, we will cover it in one sermon today. We will see today who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and what Jesus gives. These concepts will be fleshed out throughout the Gospel of John. Jesus is God who took on human flesh to make us family.
Who Jesus Is
Jesus is the Word mentioned here. John 1:14 makes this evident. He existed in the beginning, even before the beginning (John 1:1). He was with God when time began (John 1:1). And He was not just with God, He was and always will be God (John 1:1). When creation happened, the Word was there (John 1:2).
In fact, not only was the Word there, He is the Creator of all things (John 1:3). He is not just any being. He has life in Himself. He is not a dependent being. The Word is not a creature. He has life in Himself. You and I don’t have that. You and I are dependent beings. We can’t make ourselves and we are dependent on many other things, people, and God for our own continued existence. The Word is not that way. The Word has life in Himself.
His light shines over the whole world. All of creation owes their existence to Him. And all of creation owes its continued existence to Him. As the sun shines its rays on the Earth and its light sustains all things, so Christ shines His light on the world and sustains the life of humans.
This light shines in the darkness (John 1:5). The wicked and evil of this world are everywhere. But Christ’s light shines and has shone all over the world. His light shone before God the Son took on human flesh. And though the darkness hates Him, it has not overcome Him.
Then, if we skip down to verse 14, John tells us of the glory of God the Son on Earth. He said, “we have seen His glory” (John 1:14). Who saw this glory? This would be the “disciples”, that were later called the Apostles. These people saw Jesus do miracle after miracle. They heard and saw Jesus preach and teach. Peter, James, and John (who wrote this gospel), saw Jesus at His transfiguration. They saw Jesus be crucified. They also saw the risen Christ. His glory, the glory of God was now on Earth, dwelling among people.
Jesus was full of grace and truth. He was full of grace because He came to give salvation. And He was full of truth because He perfectly revealed the Father.
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” (Col 2:9 ESV)
In Christ, the fullness of God dwelt in a body on Earth. He came to Earth and walked among us. He is God.
God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, has always existed. He was there before time began, which would be the creation of all things. He has always been with the Father. And He has always been God.
He was there when the beginning happened. In fact, He was the Creator of all things. All things everywhere, including all people, owe their existence and continuing existence to Him.
Worship Him! Revere Him! Honor Him!
If you are here today or hearing this message and are not a Christian, you owe your allegiance to Him. You have always owed your allegiance to Him. He is God and Creator of all things.
He is the Word, God, and Creator of all things. In him the Universe is held together, and you would look at Him and say, “No! I won’t worship Him! I won’t honor Him!” Who do you think you are?
He sets the stars in their place and told the waters how far they are allowed to go and you would look at Him and say, “I’ll do my own thing.”
I think not! Turn to Him! Believe in Him!
What Jesus Did
God sent a messenger to testify to Jesus (John 1:6-8). He was John the Baptist. John the Baptist was older than Jesus. He had a larger following than Jesus for a while. And he even had followers that continued after his death, even into the Book of Acts. His purpose was not to glorify Himself, but to testify to Christ. It was to testify to Christ so that we would believe in Jesus through that testimony of Jesus.
Jesus was the true light, not John the Baptist. It is Jesus that gives light to everyone, similar to how the sun sheds its beams around the world. Jesus created all things. Jesus holds all things together. Even before He died on the cross and rose from the grave, which is the first thing that we all think of with regard to Jesus, He was the light of the world.
Then He took on human flesh and came to the world, but the world that basks in His creation and sustenance did not know Him. He came to the Jews, and they did not know Him either. Of all the people in the world, they should have recognized Him, but they did not.
But there were people that did receive Him. To receive Jesus means to believe in His name, that is all that He is. It is to believe that He is God the Son, the Word, who took on human flesh, who lived for us, who died for us, and rose from the grave. It is receiving all of who He is. It is entrusting ourselves to Him.
Many religions revere Jesus, but they don’t believe in His name: Islam, Bahai, some New Age folks see Him as an enlightened teacher, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe Jesus is the One True God, nor do Mormons, a lot of people on the street today will say they revere Jesus but do not believe in Him as He is presented to us in Scripture.
It has been surmised, but is not altogether clear, that John talked a lot about John the Baptist not being the light because John had a lot of followers. And even in the Book of Acts, there were followers of John that had made it all the way in Ephesus (Acts 19). Remember, the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus.
While we can’t be sure that this is the reason John spoke about John the Baptist in this way, one thing is clear.
John the Baptist was a messenger sent to declare Jesus to others.
His purpose was the same as mine is now. He declares Jesus so that other would believe in Him.
John wasn’t out there professing himself. He wasn’t calling upon people to believe in him and ultimately follow him. He was calling upon people to trust in Jesus.
This is the thing that pastors and Christians are supposed to do. We proclaim Jesus in hopes that others will come to Him. Jesus is the light of the world. Salvation has come through Him. It is not through us or our own efforts. It is to Christ that we point people.
I’ve oftentimes been discouraged by pastors and churches that seem to glorify their selves or their ministry. We are called upon to point others to Jesus.
Point others to Jesus. Point them to God the Son who took on human flesh for our redemption. Point them to the only One that can redeem us. Point them to Him!
The Gospel of John is going to be filled with calls to believe and trust in Jesus. And it is going to be filled with people that believe. But the more populous group in the Book of John are those that reject Christ.
If you are here today and don’t know Christ, believe in Him. That is the whole purpose of what I am doing now. It is what we are about as a church. Believe in Him.
How bad must my condition have been if it took God taking on human flesh to accomplish my salvation? How awful was my sinful state? How terrible was my sin?
What does it say about me and my sinfulness that it took God dying on the cross to redeem me?
What a horror my sin must be! How awful my state must have been!
But how glorious is this salvation? How complete is this salvation?
The infinitely holy and righteous Son of God fulfilled all righteousness for me. And He died for me. He rose from the grave for me.
How complete is that redemption?
I could never improve upon it. It is completely perfect. And I could never destroy it, for it is perfect and complete.
Look back at your life. Have you lived as a complete wretch? Have you done unspeakable things? Have you been buried under the incredible guilt of sin?
There is hope for you. But it is not in your goodness. It is in God the Son who took on human flesh to save you. His name is Jesus and He bled and died for your redemption. He bore the wrath of God for your salvation.
What Jesus Gives
The reward for believing in His name is to be called “children of God” (John 1:12). Their birth into this family is not “of blood”. Family lineage will not make you a child of God. Their birth is not due to the “will of the flesh”. Your own desires, that is the normal way people make children does not get people into Heaven. Human willing and working is not what gets you into God’s family. They are born “of God” (John 1:13).
Being called children of God is a right given to us by God. It is a work that is accomplished by God. And it is a work done by God. He accomplished this by coming to us. He accomplished this by adding to Himself human flesh and dwelling among us. He accomplished righteousness for us. He died on our behalf. And He rose from the grave.
And so, from Jesus, we receive “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Moses gave the Law, Jesus brought grace and truth (John 1:17). Think about this for a moment. The law was given by God, but delivered through the intermediary, Moses. But the Law could not save. It only revealed our sinfulness before God. The Law is important. We must know that we are sinners. But it doesn’t accomplish our redemption.
It is Jesus that came to us and revealed God perfectly to us. And it is Jesus that brought us eternal life.
“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.” (John 5:24 ESV)
Why is it that John says that no one has ever seen God?
This is a reference to Moses and how Jesus is greater than Moses. Remember, Moses only got to see the backside of God’s glory. In Exodus 33:18-23 Moses asked to see God and was told that it was not possible. But God allowed Him to see the backside of His glory.
God the Son was with God and is God. He made God known (John 1:18). And He brought us to God through His perfect life, death, and resurrection.
We are finite creatures and God is infinite. Therefore, we can only make a beginning at understanding the nature and character of God.
We are sinful creatures and God is completely holy. Therefore, we can’t come to God on our own. He is separated from us. And there is nothing we can do about it.
But God did something to reveal God to us. He did something to make Himself known to us. God did something to bring us to Him. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He accomplished righteousness for us. He died for us. And He rose from the grave. Believe in Him.
If you were to ask a Christian who the greatest figure in the Old Testament is, if they thought long and about it, they would likely say Abraham. The covenant God made with Abraham is the covenant we are grafted into. The faith that Abraham had is the faith that we are to have.
But if you ask a Jew who the greatest figure is in the Old Testament, they would undoubtedly say Moses. For it was Moses who came down from Mt. Sinai with the Law from God after leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. But the Law could only reveal wickedness. It did not have the power to save.
The Law is like a mirror that reveals our filth. It shows us our sinfulness before the Lord.
Do you think that you’re doing well int his life, look into the Law of God and it’ll show you the flaws. But it cannot get rid of them.
Jesus did something different. He is holy and righteous. He revealed sin by looking at the Law and the heart of mankind. But He also made a way for us to be brought to God. He lived, died, and rose from the grave so that we could be brought to Him. Jesus revealed God’s perfect nature and made a way for us to be brought to Him.
And notice how we are brought to God.
It’s not the reward for being the best person you can be. It’s the reward for believing.
This past week President Trump said that he wanted to get to heaven. He felt that he was at the bottom of the totem pole and that he’d done some bad things. When he spoke of possible peace in Ukraine he said, “If I get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
A Catholic Priest, James Martin, responded in America The Jesuit Review by telling him a list of people that he needed to help to get to heaven. He gave Trump a list of works to accomplish to get himself into heaven. But this is not the way. What do we see here? What do we read in this prologue that will be seen many times throughout the Gospel of John?
The reward is not given to those that are born of a certain family. It’s not given to those that have a certain bloodline. It is not given to those that work. It is given to those that trust in Jesus Christ, the one that accomplished this glorious salvation for us.
Would you be free from your burden of sin? There’s power in the blood of the perfect spotless Lamb. There’s power in the blood of the Word that became flesh for your redemption. There’s power in the blood of God the Son who sacrificed Himself for your salvation.
And all those that believe in Jesus, they are brought into God’s family. They are made God’s people. They are given eternal life.
Conclusion
In the Gospel of John we will often find there to be two groups of people. Story after story breaks out into two groups: those that believe and those that don’t. And the reason for this is quite simple. When we are confronted with who Jesus is there are only two groups of people: those that believe in Jesus and those that don’t.
You have been confronted with the message of Jesus. To which group do you belong? Are you among those that are His people, of those that believe in Him? Or are you one that has rejected Him?
R. Dwain Minor