Fri.8.7.15...Double Takes...John 1:1-18 part 2

Ever seen something so out of the ordinary that you did a double-take? Don't know why this is the first to come to my mind, but I remember in my Humboldt Park days seeing three bikers all pop wheelies and sustain such when the light turned green. Guess it was because I wasn't used to seeing that in my country living days of Michigan. Perhaps others may have gotten used to seeing such sights roaring down the road. Today I want to show you something that is so utterly amazing that it deserves a double take. It's the passage we read yesterday- John 1:1-18. It is one of the most wonder-full, truth packed passages in all of Scripture. Unfortunately, sometimes we can get so used to seeing such stunning truths that their riches no longer turn our heads. I imagine that's true for people who work with the gold at Fort Knox. 

John 1:1-18 is certainly a Fort Knox passage. How can you prevent such golden truths from becoming just words on a page? Pray and praise God for the gold you behold as you read or when you finish reading. Let's pan the passage for it's gold now. Here's further helpful comments on our passage from Gary DeLashmutt of Xenos Ministries http://www.xenos.org/teachings/?teaching=469. Again, I'll add more of my comments [in brackets].

Jesus Is the Savior of Humanity (vs 4,5,14-18)

Jesus is not only the answer to the most abstract philosophical questions about Ultimate Reality. He is also the Savior of humanity. Read vs 4,5.

When John says, "in him was life," he uses a special Greek word to define a special kind of life. He doesn't use bios (physical life) or psuche (human consciousness). He uses zoe, which means the spiritual life of God. It is the word Jesus used when he said in Jn. 10:10b "I have come to give them life, life to the full." This is the special quality of life which is personal union and fellowship with God. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" Jn. 17:3. [We were born spiritually dead, so we need this spiritual and eternal life that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.]

"This life was the light of mankind." This spiritual life is what gives human existence meaning and direction. [Remember, how meaningless Solomon saw life under the sun, without a connection to the Son?] Unlike the animals, we were created to know God personally, to fellowship with him and experience his direction for our lives. [Granted, knowing God personally, is unlike any earthly, personal relationship. We are the engaged bride of Christ. And like an engaged couple separated by an ocean and World War II, the engaged bride, must cherish his letters until he comes back. Then they will see each other face to face. Even so come Lord, Jesus!]

"And the light shines in the darkness." The problem is that we [unsaved mankind] don't possess this life/light. We have physical life and light, we have incredible intelligence and resourcefulness, but we live in spiritual death and darkness. If human history (and the 6:00 news) teaches us anything, it teaches us that people are lost, adrift from the purpose of their existence, stumbling around in the darkness, hurting themselves and others in the process. But Jesus has come into this darkness to make God's light and life available.

What would it be like to have this light/life? John provides his own testimony in vs 14-18 (read). God actually became part of the human race (vs 14) so that people could have this. John sums up his own personal experience with Jesus by saying he was full of "grace and truth."

Jesus was full of truth. "Truth" means reality, the way things really are. [By the way, what is reality? Can't each person have their own reality or truth as many claim? A proper view of reality is that which conforms to God's truth.] As they got to know Jesus, they learned who God really was because Jesus "exegeted" God to them (vs 18; Jn. 14:9). [Exegesis is a popular word among Bible scholars. It comes from a Greek word and it means to explain or make known. You will see that is exactly what Jesus is described as doing John 1:18- He made known or exegeted (exegesato) the Father.] As we study John's gospel, we will learn who God really is also. And as they came to know Jesus, he inevitably exposed people for who they really were. When he exposed the pretense and hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders, his disciples loved it. But he also had an unnerving way of peering into the deepest recesses of their hearts and laying bare their weaknesses and sins and foolishness.

But he was also full of grace. "Grace" means God's unmerited favor. [GRACE= God's Riches At Christ's Expense.] It means God showing up in Christ to pay for our sins himself so we can have the free gift of his love and mercy and forgiveness and power to transform our lives. The same Jesus who knew and exposed their sinfulness was also an inexhaustible source of grace (vs 16). No matter how badly they blew it, no matter how foolish and sinful they realized they were, he always made more grace available to them. No wonder they were never the same. [When you are bummed by a fall or your fallen-ness, picture yourself as very muddy. Yet now imagine the fullness of God's grace as a never ending waterfall, always there to cleanse you. God is happily inviting you into the falls to cleanse you. What are you waiting for? :) Let the picture of the waterfalls on our Greatest Minimovies cards remind you of this overflowing fullness of God's grace pouring down upon you. One wave of grace or blessing after another. Come on in! It's better than a hot day as a kid dancing around in an open hydrant :) ]

How different this was from the Old Testament religion in which they had been raised (vs 17)! The Law, as great as it was, was only a dim reflection of Jesus. Like the MOON, it got its light from the SUN, and once the sun comes up, the moon fades into relative insignificance. God's Law gave them an outline of his moral character and a foreshadowing of his mercy. But Jesus showed them all they could understand about God's character and made God's mercy and transforming power accessible to them.

Where can we get this spiritual light/life? Not from Buddha, not from Mohammed, not from any other avatar or guru--only from Jesus. To a spiritually relativistic culture like our own, he keeps reminding them that Jesus is the only source: "In him (alone) was life . . . " (vs 4). "There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every person . . . " (vs 9). Only in Jesus has "the logos become flesh" (vs 14). Only Jesus is "the only begotten God" (vs 18). [The "only begotten God" means the one and only or unique God.] As Jesus himself claims in Jn. 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." There is no room here for the popular view that Jesus was one of many spiritually enlightened masters, one of many ways to God. He is either God incarnate and the sole provider of spiritual life--or he is a liar, a fake, a scam artist.

How Will You Respond To Jesus? (vs 9-13)

Jesus is who he is regardless of how you respond to him. But that doesn't make your response to him unimportant. In fact, your response to Jesus is the most important decision you will ever make--because God has decided to let it be the basis for whether you benefit from him or not.

Read vs 9-11. What an incredible and tragic irony! God visited the creatures who were designed to know him, and most didn't even recognize him. He visited his chosen people and fulfilled hundreds of prophecies, but they didn't receive him. Why? It wasn't because of inadequate evidence (as we'll see), but because of an unwillingness to humble themselves and admit their need for his light and life.

But not everyone responded to him this way. Read vs 12,13. Some responded differently, and he gave them the right to become part of God's own family (another synonym for "light," "life," "grace," and "truth"). And we can get in on this, too (remember Jn. 20:31). But there is only one way to get this--by personally receiving Jesus. To make sure we get this, John tells us what won't suffice:

"blood"--family/ethnic background. Being a Jew (God's chosen people) didn't prevent most of them from rejecting Jesus, and being non-Jewish didn't prevent many Gentiles from receiving him. Likewise, it doesn't matter how many people in your family are Christians--you still have to receive Christ. And it doesn't matter if none of your family members have ever been Christians--you still can receive Christ.

"the will of the flesh"--human moral achievement. Being morally better than most people doesn't qualify you to be a member of God's family--you have to receive Christ. And being morally worse than most people doesn't disqualify you from becoming a child of God--you can still do so by receiving Christ.

"the will of a husband"--other people's decisions about Jesus. You have to make your own decision. Just because your spouse believes in Jesus doesn't make you a Christian--you still have to receive Christ. And just because your spouse doesn't believe doesn't mean you can't--you can still receive Christ.

1.- Pick a verse from 1:1-18 that causes you to do a double take as you look at it. Then exegete it (explain it) in your own words what strikes you about it.

2.- Watch the following short video overview of the gospel of John and write one brief thing you gleaned from it.

Gary took the opportunity to hand out a Greatest Mini-movies card and this is what happened- "One of the last cards I gave out, they did not look at it right away. But then I was contacted and they said the messages on the site were really powerful." Way to go Gary!

I also like what Roger wrote- "I gave one of the greatest mini movies cards to a friend that has been going through some hard times in his life. He was very thankful for the card." Way to go Roger! Thank you Lord for using us to spread the gospel. 

Thanks for lightening my load by remembering to get all your points up on the scoreboard so I can get the totals together for Monday. 

Speaking of Monday, what was one of your most important job interviews and what's that got to do with John 1:19-34? You'll have to wait until Monday. I'm also eager to introduce something and someone new to you :)