Amen. Well, it is a joy to open up God's Word with you this morning as we begin a new series in the Gospel of John.
And I hope that many of you grabbed one of those scripture journals on your way in. That's not just for today.
Lord willing, we're going to walk through this entire gospel together over the coming months.
And our hope is that you will fill those things up with notes and observations and applications to your life
as we study this gospel together.
So let's open up our Bibles now to the book of John.
The book of John. If you are using the Bible in the pew back in front of you,
if you didn't bring your own Bible, there's a Bible under your seat.
And you can find this passage on page 833 of that Bible there.
We always tell everyone who comes that you're going to need your Bible open.
We're going to be talking from the Word of God this morning.
So have your Bibles open to page 833.
And we'll begin this morning with John chapter 1 verses 1 through 5.
Follow with me as I read.
In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God.
And the Word was God.
He was 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.
The light shines in the darkness.
And the darkness has not overcome it.
Would you please pray with me?
Lord, as we open up this gospel this morning,
as we open up Your Word,
we pray simply again that You would speak through the preaching of Your Word,
that it would land on fertile soil this morning as we look to Christ.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, a proper introduction goes a long way.
I grew up just south of the city of Atlanta, Georgia.
And so naturally, Chick-fil-A was just a normal part of life for us.
But in my hometown, we had the extra blessing of being able to be a part of some of Truett Cathy's
additional unique food experiments.
So there was, of course, Chick-fil-A's everywhere.
But we also had the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House.
I don't know if you've ever heard of this.
You can get a breakfast buffet.
You can even order a hamburger or a steak, believe it or not, at the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House.
There was a restaurant called Truett's Luau.
Only one in the entire world.
Well, Truett's Luau, where you can go get Hawaiian-themed dishes.
You can get waffle fries and fish tacos at Truett's Luau.
But I will never forget when Truett Cathy opened up his pizza restaurant in my hometown.
It's called Upscale Pizza.
So just dream with me for a minute at the prospect of getting a pepperoni pizza with Chick-fil-A service
and then finishing it off with a Chick-fil-A milkshake.
It was absolutely incredible.
Well, I was going to meet some of my friends for the grand opening of Upscale Pizza,
and it just so happened that I had had Chick-fil-A for lunch.
And so I emptied the trash out from my car, gathered it up, walked up to the front door,
threw my bag in the trash can.
There was an elderly man there holding the door open for us as we went in,
and we locked eyes, and he complimented me on my trash.
He said, a Chick-fil-A man.
I like to see that.
And of course, I was polite enough.
I thanked him for opening the door for me, but I didn't think much of it.
Went inside, sat down, ordered my food.
And it wasn't until after we finished, after we had sat for about an hour having a good time together,
after the old man at the door had long gone,
before the waitress came and cleared our table and asked us if we had had a chance to meet Mr. Truett Cathy.
I said, no, I don't think so.
Where was he?
And she said, well, he was at the door, holding the door open as new customers came into his new restaurant.
And as you can imagine, my heart just sank.
I had passed right by him and not even noticed.
The man who had perfected the chicken sandwich didn't invent it, only perfected it.
He was a celebrity in my hometown.
And at that moment, I just wished that someone would have given me a proper introduction.
I wish that somebody, anybody would have prepared me beforehand, told me who he was,
that someone would have prepared me for that encounter so that I could respond to him appropriately
and give him the respect and the admiration and the gratitude that he deserved.
Well, as we begin our time in the Gospel of John this morning,
the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved,
he wants to make sure that all of us are given a proper introduction to Jesus.
He doesn't want us to do as so many people do and just pass right by him without recognizing who he really is.
He wants us to know and to consider who Jesus is so that we might respond to him appropriately.
In fact, that's exactly why he wrote this book.
John tells us in chapter 20, verse 31 of the book of John.
In chapter 20, verse 31, this is his purpose statement for the book.
He says in chapter 20, verse 31, he's written this book,
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.
See, he wants to introduce us this morning to Jesus.
And what we're going to see in verses 1 through 5 of this introduction this morning
is that Christ Jesus is before all.
Christ is before all.
And because he is who he is, because he is before all,
we owe him everything.
So what we're going to see this morning is three ways Christ is before all.
If you're a note taker, we always encourage our people to take notes.
This helps us to follow along with the sermon this morning if you have a pen and paper.
There are three ways that Christ is before all.
First, you see, Christ is before all in time.
He is before all in time.
He's before all temporally.
So there's four gospel accounts in the Bible.
There's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
And out of the four, John is the weird one.
He's kind of the oddball.
The first three, they call them the synoptic gospels.
And that's because although they do have their own unique flavors,
they often tell similar stories in similar order in similar ways.
But then you get to this oddball John, and his gospel account is totally unique.
But his gospel is often called the spiritual gospel.
Kent Hughes, he says that Matthew emphasizes his kingship.
Mark emphasizes his servanthood.
Luke emphasizes his manhood.
And John emphasizes his godhood.
And we see some of that spiritual bent to the gospel of John here in the beginning,
where Matthew and Luke both generally start with the birth of Christ.
And Mark starts at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
John goes all the way back to the beginning of the beginning.
And he says, as far back as you can imagine, as far back as we can trace the origin of all things,
this person that I'm introducing you to here, he was there.
So right off the bat, we're seeing that this man, Jesus, is not like anything else or anyone else in all of creation.
He is before all of it.
He is utterly unique.
And he points us to that uniqueness of Jesus by calling him the Word.
Look there to verse 1 with me.
John says here in verse 1, he says,
In the beginning was the Word.
John is cluing us in here to the identity, the unique identity of Jesus.
He calls him the Word.
What does this tell us about who Jesus is?
Well, the Word, we see here, does not have a beginning.
He was there in the beginning.
He's not a part of creation.
Verse 3 tells us everything that was made was made through him.
He was there in the beginning.
And as you hear this, if you're familiar with the Bible,
your mind ought to immediately jump back to the beginning of the Bible in Genesis.
Genesis chapter 1, it starts the exact same way.
If you're familiar with this, it says,
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And as the story goes on, we see that the way God creates all things,
it's not with tools or materials.
He creates all things.
He says, how?
With his Word.
That he speaks and it comes into existence.
He says, let there be fish and animals and creeping things,
and there they are.
He says, let there be trees and flowers and plants and shrubs and bushes,
and there they are.
He created all things by his Word.
The Word of God is his creative instrument.
It's his vehicle for creating all things.
And so John is intentionally drawing our minds there back to Genesis
to say that this Word, this life-giving Word of God has a name,
and his name is Jesus.
All things were made through him.
Isn't this what we saw last Sunday evening from the book of Colossians?
For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.
All things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
See, the eternal Word of God creates all things.
He is before all things.
But you know what else it does?
The Word of God also reveals.
The Word of God creates, and the Word of God reveals.
And really, this is how all words work, isn't it?
When you and I speak in a very real way, we are communicating who we are.
And so if you want to know what I think, what I feel, what I'm like,
if you want to know who I am, just spend some time listening to me speak,
listening to my words, and I'll tell you.
And of course, you and I do this imperfectly.
We often speak without thinking.
We misspeak.
We say things that we don't really mean, but not so with God.
God's Word perfectly communicates God's heart.
God does not misspeak.
God's Word perfectly communicates God's will.
God's Word perfectly communicates who God is.
And ever since he spoke the world into existence,
God has been sending forth his Word from heaven down to earth
through prophets, through angels, through visions,
through this inspired Word of God that we hold in our hands this morning
to communicate who he is.
But John says something unique here, doesn't he?
He says that this man, Jesus,
who I'm introducing you to this morning,
is the Word of God.
In other words, he says that he has been with Jesus,
and he's convinced that this man is the perfect,
the ultimate communication of who God is.
Everything about him, not just what he says,
but who he is.
He is the eternal Word of God,
sent forth from heaven down to earth.
And he and he alone perfectly communicates who God is
in a way that can be heard, yes,
but now also seen.
And touched and known and believed.
He's telling us the one who was before all in time,
stepped into time and into history,
the creator of all entered into creation to reveal God.
So if you want to know what God is like,
look to Jesus.
You look to the Word.
The author of Hebrews, he says something similar.
We read this passage this morning in Hebrews chapter 1.
He says,
Long ago, at many times and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days,
he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed the heir of all things,
through whom also he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God
and the exact imprint of his nature.
And he upholds the universe by the Word of his power.
See, Jesus, John wants us to know he's unlike anyone you've ever met before.
This is the eternal Word of God.
When you trace all things back to their beginning,
Jesus was there.
All things are from him,
so he deserves the credit and the glory.
When you wonder how all things got here,
it is through Jesus.
All things were made through him,
so he deserves the wonder and the admiration
and the praise of your heart.
When you wonder why all things exist,
it is all for Jesus.
All things in heaven and on earth,
even you and me were made for him.
So he deserves your entire self.
For from him and through him and to him
are all things.
To him be the glory forever.
But he's not just before all things in time.
Second, we see he is before all things in being.
He is before all things in being.
Look there again to verse 1.
And brace yourself,
because this is going to get maybe a little confusing,
but we're going to do this together, I promise.
Verse 1, John says,
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
So we're talking about Jesus here.
So John says,
In the beginning was Jesus.
Jesus was with God.
Jesus was God.
Jesus was in the beginning with God.
Not only was Jesus before all things in time,
he is before all things in being.
This passage is some of the richest language
that we have concerning what we call the Godhead,
the Trinity.
And it is also a theological minefield.
And the early church often would go back
and refer to this passage over and over and over and over again
to refute several heretical teachings about who God is.
We sing the song often,
Holy, Holy, Holy.
I know you know this song.
What does it say?
God in what?
God in three persons.
Blessed Trinity.
That's correct theology.
Not three gods,
one God.
Not one person,
three persons.
Not one God showing up in three different ways
at three different times
in three different modes.
It's one holy God
in three distinct persons.
God the Father,
God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit.
And you may not think that this matters too much for you.
Let me tell you something.
This matters more than you can possibly imagine.
It matters how you think about God,
how you think about the person of Jesus,
because right understanding of God
breeds right response to God.
If we're going to rightly respond to who God is,
we have to understand correctly who he is.
So John here,
he says,
this Jesus,
who I'm introducing you to,
is before all things
because he is before all things in being.
He is God in the flesh.
I see at least three essential facts
about the Trinity here
that we need to get.
Three essential facts about the Trinity.
From the beginning,
the Godhead has been clearly distinct,
perfectly one,
and happily together.
I'll say that again.
From the very beginning,
the Godhead has been clearly distinct,
perfectly one,
and happily together.
All of this in just two verses
packed into John's introduction here.
We see the persons of the Godhead
are clearly distinct.
What does he say?
In the beginning was the Word,
that's Jesus,
and Jesus was with God.
There are two distinct persons
represented here.
The Word, who is Jesus,
and God,
meaning God the Father.
They are distinct.
And so they do different things.
God the Father did not come
into the world as a baby.
Jesus did that.
God the Father did not die on the cross.
Jesus, the Son of God,
did that.
God the Father did not rise up from the grave.
Jesus did that.
So we see they are clearly distinct.
But then he goes on to say
that they are perfectly one.
And here's where our minds can't totally comprehend.
The Word was God.
God, they are distinct in person,
yet in some way that goes beyond our comprehension,
these distinct persons are perfectly one in essence.
And we need to try to track here
because John is telling us
what is probably the most important thing to know
about who Jesus is.
That he's not just another teacher,
not just another religious figure,
he's not just a good moral example,
he's not just another leader,
he's not just another prophet,
he is God.
I wonder if any of you have ever had a Jehovah's Witness
come knock on your door.
Most normal people either politely tell them
they're not interested
or pretend like they're not home.
I am not a normal person.
So I love when they come to my door
and it's my goal when they come knocking on my door
to show them what John is showing us
right here,
that Jesus,
this man Jesus,
is God.
The Jehovah's Witnesses,
of course,
they disagree strongly
with what I'm saying here.
They do not believe
that Jesus is equal with God the Father.
They believe that God created Jesus.
And so in their false translation of the Bible,
you can look this up,
they have a false translation
that throws everything off
with just one letter.
Their version of John chapter 1,
it goes like this.
It says,
in the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God,
and the Word was a God.
You see the difference?
That one additional letter
is an eternity of difference.
when I was in seminary,
we had to learn the basics
of biblical translation,
learn how to read and understand
and translate biblical Greek,
and I knew just enough to be dangerous.
And in God's wise providence,
we lived in an apartment complex
right next door
to the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall.
And as you can imagine,
they came knocking on our door,
and immediately I sprung up off the couch
and ran to the door,
opened it up,
invite them in.
Come on,
let's sit down and talk.
And they were excited,
surprised,
excited,
but not for long.
Because I was prepared
to show them
and to make this
the main piece
of our conversation,
to not let them get around
this fact
that the Word was not a God,
the Word was God.
This is John's whole point here.
If you miss this,
you miss the entire gospel.
He doesn't just speak
the words of God.
He doesn't just look like God.
He doesn't just sound like God.
He doesn't just remind us of God.
He is God in the flesh.
And if He's not God,
take Him or leave Him.
Who cares?
But if He is who John says He is,
we had better pay attention.
And unless you know Him as He is,
and love Him as He is,
and trust Him as He is,
you cannot know God.
John says in verse 18,
if you look down on your page,
no one has ever seen God,
but the only God
who is at the Father's side,
He has made Him known.
See, if this man, Jesus,
is just another teacher,
we might listen to Him,
we might reject Him,
we might appreciate Him,
we might not.
But if He is God,
we'd better pay attention.
There's a third essential fact
about the Trinity that we see here,
and it's that from the beginning,
they have been happily together.
Happily together.
Twice here,
John tells us that Christ,
the Word was with God.
He was in the beginning with God,
and the Word here in English,
it can't really do it justice,
but it communicates a sort of movement
towards one another.
So from the beginning of all eternity,
God has existed within Himself
in perfect, all-satisfying community.
Have you ever thought about this?
That God the Father has always enjoyed
the infinite depth of perfect,
all-satisfying relationship
with God the Son,
and God the Spirit,
which tells us
that for whatever reason,
God chose to create the world,
whatever reason He chose to create me,
and to create you,
it was not because He needed us
in order to be satisfied.
He did not create all things
in order to fill a void in Himself.
He doesn't seek out relationship
in order to fill a need
from all time.
He has been totally,
perfectly satisfied
in community within Himself.
So why did He make you?
Why did He make me?
Why did He make anything at all?
Many reasons.
Here's one.
One reason God made you
is so that He might draw you in,
that He might share
in this perfect, limitless,
all-satisfying relationship
that can only be found in God,
that He might share that with you
for the rest of eternity.
You know, that's why Christ came.
The Word of God became flesh
and dwelt among us,
stepped into His own creation
in order to redeem it,
in order to bring us
into fellowship with God Himself
through His blood,
in order to share with you
and with me
the limitless depth
of intimate knowledge of God
for the rest of eternity,
that He would share with us
His unending goodness.
Which, church, is the third
and final way.
Christ is above
and before all.
Christ is before all,
third,
in goodness.
Look there to verse 4.
John says,
In Him was life,
and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
R.C. Sproul rightly, I think,
observes that
this is the exact opposite description
of the world in which we live,
isn't it?
And when you look around the world
at all the wickedness all around us,
it's obvious, isn't it?
I don't have to tell you,
our world is not characterized
by life and light.
It is characterized by death
and darkness.
Things are not as they should be.
You read the news,
you see the headlines,
you see the stories.
This world is a mess.
This world is in darkness.
But it's not just darkness out there.
We need to realize
that there is darkness
in you
and in me
that ought to tell us
that something is not quite right
with us.
Things are not the way
they should be with us.
Every one of us says things
and does things
we ought not to say and do.
If our thoughts were made visible,
we'd be ashamed.
All of this,
the Bible tells us,
is the disastrous result of sin.
It is sin.
It's that rebellion against God
that brings the curse of death.
And it is sin
that corrupts
and stains
and darkens everything.
And it is sin
that blinds us
to the truth
and the glory of God.
And until this sin problem
is dealt with
in each one of us,
none of us can enter
into fellowship
with God.
So where do we turn?
John tells us
we must turn
to the one
in whom there is
life
and light.
To the word
who creates
and who
reveals.
To the one
who is before
all
in goodness.
What does
Jesus say
in John chapter 8?
He says,
I am the light
of the world.
Whoever follows me
will not walk
in darkness
but will have
the light
of life.
Think back again
to Genesis 1.
In the beginning
God created
the heavens
and the earth
was without form
and void
and darkness
was over the face
of the deep
and the spirit of God
was hovering
over the face
of the waters
and God said what?
Let there be
light.
And there was light.
And God saw
that the light
was good
and separated
the light
from the darkness
and Paul picks up
on this theme
in 2 Corinthians
and he says
for God
who said
let light shine
out of darkness
has shown
in our hearts
to give us
the light
of the knowledge
of the glory
of God
in the face
of Jesus Christ.
Are you tracking
here?
He says
that same
light
shining
darkness
defeating
life giving
power
of God
that we see
in the beginning
of all things
in Genesis
happens in you
and happens in me
when we are
given eyes
to see
the goodness
of God
in the person
of Jesus Christ
and love him
for who he is
and know him
and worship him
for who he is.
the light's
come on
and we are
able to see
we are made
alive
to the goodness
of Christ
we are brought
out of darkness
and into his
marvelous light
out of spiritual
death
and into his
perfect
eternal life
that is what it
means to be
a Christian
is that by the
grace of God
we see
by the light
of Christ
that he is
good
that he alone
is God
and that he alone
is worthy
of your worship
it's to enjoy
fellowship
with God
through faith
in his life
giving word
you want to know
why Christians
worship Jesus
not just
respect him
or
admire him
but
worship him
it's because
we have tasted
and seen
that he is good
by the grace
of God
we have
realized
that in him
and in him
alone
there is life
and there is
light
well even as
John introduces
us
this morning
to the most
glorious man
in the history
of the world
he can't help
but give the ending
away
can he
he says
the light
has come
into the world
and the darkness
has not
overcome it
the darkness
cannot
overcome it
not for a lack
of trying
when Christ
was born
the enemy
raged
and sought
to destroy
him
he sent
Herod
and his
minions
to kill
him
but the
darkness
could not
overcome
him
and Christ
was tempted
and tried
in every way
as we are
yet without
sin
the darkness
could not
overcome
him
he never
sinned
when Christ
suffered
and died
upon the cross
it looked
for a moment
as if
the darkness
had won
you remember
the story
what happened
the whole
earth
for three
hours
the land
was covered
with
darkness
but we know
the end
of that story
don't we
Christ
didn't
remain
in the grave
the darkness
did not
overcome
he rose
up from
the grave
and he
conquered
sin
and death
and darkness
for any
who would
come to
him
in faith
and as we
look around
the world
and see
the effects
of sin
all around
us
know this
for certain
it may
look
for a
moment
as if
darkness
has
prevailed
but one
day
he's promised
he will
come
again
and finally
put an end
to all the
sin
all the
death
all the
darkness
in all
the universe
and Christ
will triumph
over the
darkness
but church
the good
news is
if you
know this
man
Jesus
we don't
have to
wait
if you
know this
man
if you've
met
Jesus
he can
put an
end to
your sin
right now
there is
no darkness
in this
room
there's no
darkness
in your
heart
there's no
darkness
in all
the universe
that can
triumph
over the
goodness
of Christ
so as we
close the
application
for us
here in
this
introduction
to this
man
Jesus
Christ
is
would you
turn to
him
would you
look to
him
for the
first time
or for the
thousandth
time
would you
turn to
him
what sin
is there
in your
heart
that needs
to be
brought
into the
light
this morning
what are
you
turning to
to give
you the
life
and the
light
that only
Christ
Jesus
can
provide
would you
turn to
him
again
and again
and taste
and see
that he
is
good
church a
proper
introduction
makes all
the difference
doesn't
it
John
knew
Jesus
Christ
personally
he was
an eyewitness
to the
things that
we'll study
about
through this
gospel
he was
was eating
with Jesus
sitting with
Jesus
he was there
at the cross
and there
at the
empty
tomb
if this
man is
who
John
claims
he is
he
deserves
much
more
than just
our
passing
attention
and when
you come
face to
face
with
who
this
man
is
we
have
to
recognize
Christ
Jesus
demands
not
only
your
respect
but
your
life
and not
just
your
casual
acknowledgement
but
your
deepest
sincerest
devotion
he
deserves
not
only
your
attention
but
your
worship
let's
pray
Lord
Jesus
you are
good
above all
and you've
shown us
in your
word
today
that in
you
and in
you
alone
there
is
life
and
there
is
light
we pray
father
if there
are
any
here
who
have
not
received
the
life
of
Christ
would
you
now
open
their
eyes
to
see
and
Lord
if there
are
any
here
who
are
struggling
with
sin
discouraged
feels
like the
darkness
is
overcoming
father
would
they
turn
to
Christ
and
know
that
the
darkness
can
never
prevail
against
him
Lord
we
ask
now
in
all
things
that
you
would
be
exalted
and
that
we
would
be
changed
further
and
further
into
your
likeness
we
pray
this
in
Jesus
name
amen