John: Jesus Is The Messiah Who Is God In The Flesh
PREACHING CHRIST THROUGH THE BIBLE |
John: Jesus Is The Messiah Who Is God In The Flesh
John 1:1-4 ; 14
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of mankind.”
“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.”
INTRODUCTION:
Let me just give you a brief background on the Gospel of John. Bible scholars have debated that John did not write this gospel and claimed it could have been Lazarus, Thomas or John Mark. However, the author has given us several detailed accounts that somehow prove that John did write this gospel but he never identifies himself by name.
It is known that the gospel of John is the testimony of “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20-24)
It is known that this disciple was one of the twelve with Jesus when He washed the disciples’ feet and identified the one who would betray Him (John 13:23)
It is known that he was the only one to witness Christ’s death on the cross and was entrusted with the care of the mother of Jesus (John 19:26)
It is known that he was the first to see the empty tomb after resurrection of Jesus Christ (John 20:4-5)
The first three of the four gospels are called the “synoptic gospels,” because they cover many of the same miracles, parables and they tell the story of the life of Jesus in similar ways. Only the gospel of John claims to be an eyewitness account, the testimony of the unnamed “disciple whom Jesus loved.”
John 21:24
“This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
The gospel of John also contains the seven signs, seven witnesses and the seven “I AM’S” that Jesus said.
We all have our favorite & special holiday of the year and mine is Christmas. For some reason it has a certain power or magic over me even in a society that has tried to devoid it of its origin in Christ?
If I were to ask any of you this morning to tell me the original story of the first Christmas, where would start? Would you start with Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem? Or start with the angel appearing to Joseph, or to Mary, or to Zachariah? Or start with the genealogy of Joseph like in the gospel of Mathew. Or you probably go back to the Old Testament prophesies that speak of the coming and birth of the Messiah.
You know what, you would not be totally wrong if you started to tell the story at any of these points. However, it wouldn't be the best place to start because it wouldn't give me or anyone else for that matter the full & big picture we absolutely need if we really want to understand the real significance of Christmas.
You all should look again at the opening words of the gospel of John instead of turning to the traditional Christmas gospels which is Mathew and Luke. Then and only then you will see why the opening words of John’s gospel serve as the very best beginning to the original Christmas story which will be fully explained by the end of this message.
Now think about this, John chose to begin his gospel this way. He does not talk about Joseph and Mary. He doesn't talk about angels or shepherds or mangers. He doesn't cite OT prophesies or lay out a lengthy genealogy. His entire gospel, all twenty one chapters of it, like the other Gospels, has one aim, one goal. He summarizes that goal in John 20:31.
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.
In order to accomplish this goal, John claims that his whole Gospel describing the ministry, and death, and resurrection of a Jewish rabbi named Jesus is, in fact, a book about God himself. Listen to this phrase that is found in four Old Testament passages:
"the LORD (Yahweh) came down" Genesis 11:5
"the LORD (Yahweh) came down". Exodus 19:20
"the LORD (Yahweh) came down". Numbers 11:25
"the LORD (Yahweh) came down". Numbers 12:5
In light of this, the prophet Isaiah cried out, "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down"... (Isaiah 64:1)
A. JESUS IS THE MESSIAH
Every time Christians call the Savior "Jesus Christ," they are really saying "Jesus the Messiah" or "Jesus the Anointed One." Christ is not His last name! Christ is His title, meaning He was sent by God, divinely anointed, to be the Deliverer.
Unlike my last name Canlas which has absolutely no meaning nor title attached to it except for the fact that more than half of the population of San Fernando Pampanga where my father was born & raised are probably all my relatives.
Have any of you ever wondered why Jesus from the Bible is called Jesus Christ? Here are some of the reasons why Jesus is called the Christ or the Messiah. All through the accounts about Jesus in the gospels, we see him referred to as the Christ. In order to truly understand why this title is important, we must look at some prophesies from the Bible. When we do, we will discover that the people of Israel had long been waiting for a promised "Messiah" or "Christ". So when Jesus was called the Christ it meant that people were claiming that He was the one they had long been waiting for!
John 20:31
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah …”
Jesus is the anointed King of Israel that the prophets promised. How can we know Jesus is the true Messiah or Christ? The single most important thing that proves that He is the Messiah is His resurrection. Many prophesies concerning the Messiah included promises that the Messiah would have a kingdom that would never end (Isaiah 9:7, Dan 7:14, 2 Sam 7:13.) All of the other anointed kings of Israel had died and their kingdoms came to an end. The only way that someone would have a kingdom that would never end is if they defeated death itself. So when Jesus defeated death on the cross, He proved to be the long-awaited Messiah.
His resurrection prove that He was not only a good teacher or a great man, He was (and is) the promised Messiah or Anointed King of Israel.
B. JESUS IS GOD
In the beginning of John’s Gospel, he tells us that the Christmas story is the story of God himself coming down.
In a sense that's what God did 2000 years ago. As part of His eternal plan, He came down from heaven and became a man so you and I could look at Jesus and say, "That's what God looks like."
Therefore when John lays that foundation, the obvious conclusion is that when his readers read or hear throughout his Gospel about Jesus saying this or doing this, they are, in fact, reading about and hearing about what God said and what God did. Isn't that amazing?
God came down at Christmas. Let's look into this more and see how John tells the story.
Jesus is God because He was "in the beginning" (v. 1a)
John’s opening words “in the beginning,” is meant to point us back to Genesis 1:1, which of course speaks about all creation and the beginning of everything. He was indeed in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made? In him was life, and the life was the light of men. So, when John is talking about Jesus as the Son & as the Word, he wants us to know & realize that the Word cannot be considered as part of creation or created thing because of these two obvious reasons:
Before anything existed, He already was.
Everything that was made was made through Him.
In fact, the only reason there is life is because of Him. All things have a beginning because of Him who has no beginning.
Jesus is God because He is "the Word" (v. 1b)
John in verse 14 makes it clear that the Word is “the only Son”. But verse 1 tells us this about the Son: and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John is stressing how the Word is both distinct from God. Of course, this can be very confusing for us. How is someone with someone else, but also is that someone else. It is statements like this in the Bible that led the early church to formulate what we now know as the doctrine of the Trinity. This idea simply explains how the Father is God, the being who is made up of three distinct persons.Jesus is God because He is "from the Father" (v. 14b)
The Word is identified by John as also being the “Son”. This is important because over and over in John’s Gospel, Jesus is referred to or refers to himself as the “Son”, or the “Son of God”, and sometimes the “Son of Man”. Verse 14 is the key that will help us know what this Gospel is talking about as to what “the Word” did on earth. So the Word is “the only Son from the Father”. This is part of the language of distinction, like what we saw in verse 1: “the Word was with God”. But how does it show the Son is God? Well first, it is a matter of kind. My son John Michael and I are distinct, but we are the same in the sense we are human. The God the Father and the Son are distinct, but they are the same in the sense they are God. John confirms this in verse 18:
John 1:18
“No one has ever seen God; but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”Jesus is God because in Him "the Word Became Flesh" (v. 14a)
Remember what we said earlier about John’s argument: 1) Jesus is the 2) The Son is the Word, and 3) The Word is God. The link between past and the first Christmas is found right here in the beginning of 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. Mary’s conception and the birth of her firstborn is exactly what John is about here. Remember how the angel Gabriel explained this to Mary in Luke chapter 1:
Luke 1:35
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy –the Son of God.”
Just to be clear, Jesus was not there “in the beginning” in the sense that Jesus is the Jewish man, the human being born to Mary. But at the same time, is the Son, who in turn is “the Word”, the same “Word [who] became and dwelt among us”. So in that sense, He was there “in the beginning” with God.
C. JESUS IS GOD IN THE FLESH
Now the apostle John describes the coming down in verse 14, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
This verse is the culmination of John's discourse as he completes his introduction of Jesus by proclaiming His humanity in the midst of His divinity.
This verse contains the truth behind the story of the angels, shepherds, wise men and the journey to Bethlehem that first Christmas morning. Without this verse the rest of the story has no meaning. John 1:14 tells us what really happened 2000 years ago and what it means to us today. The Word became flesh; that is God was united with a human nature in one person, and was truly man and truly God who lived in history as Jesus Christ. He came into the world to save sinners in order to fulfill God’s plan.
Jesus in the flesh is the very expression of God himself, and that this Jesus is God himself. Because Jesus was God in the flesh, He alone could pay the debt we owed to God. His victory over death and the grave won the victory for everyone who puts their trust in Him.
CONCLUSION:
Jesus is “The Word” who “was God” (John 1:1) and then. “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Between these two statements, John says, “He was in the world and the world was made through him” (John 1:10). Now if the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, then surely God became flesh, and that’s who Jesus was ---God in the flesh, God in the world, God on earth, God in Christ.
The question is what do we do with all this? We do exactly what we normally do every Thanksgiving Day. This morning like any other Thanksgiving Day, we are all standing in front of a great feast, a table of fullness & lavish abundance. What’s on the table? Truth, and grace upon grace upon grace.
God is inviting you to His table this morning. Come and receive “of His fullness.”
Turn away from what this world is offering you which are nothing but empty promises with no lasting value. Admit that you are a sinner and in desperate need of a Savior in person of Jesus Christ. Trust Him for what He is offering you today which is eternal life.
So if any of you have not eaten yet. What should you do? You should take a plate and dig in. And if you have already begun to eat, what should you do? You should savor His truth & grace, you should constantly rejoice and you should always give thanks.
And as you join us at the table, look who is there, at Christmas and throughout the year: Immanuel, “God with us”. Let us all thank God for Himself this morning.
-Bro. Rey Canlas