Josh Benner

Tag: Christianity

  • Why John the Baptist’s purpose is our purpose too. Exploring John 1:29-34

    Why John the Baptist’s purpose is our purpose too. Exploring John 1:29-34

    John the Baptist came to point to Christ, to witness to Christ, to be the bridge between BC and AD. 

    In John 1:29, John the Baptist sees Jesus. 

    The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

    It’s very possible that John himself did not realize the full magnitude of what he was even saying when he uttered those words. 

    But it’s impossible for a Christian to miss the meaning. Behold, John commands. Look to Jesus. Look upon the lamb who takes away the sins of the world. A profound theological statement about Jesus and what he did.

    Sacrifice and the lamb

    Jesus is the perfect and spotless lamb who is sacrificed for sins. It’s a theme that we will see throughout John’s Gospel. 

    Many of the Old Testament sacrifices call for a lamb. Isaiah 53 has a passage of the suffering servant and talks of a perfect lamb being led to slaughter. There’s the Passover sacrifice where the Israelites scarified lambs before the Exodus and where it was an annual holy day. 

    And here Jesus is called the Lamb of God. 

    The ultimate and greater sacrifice. He’s the lamb who takes away the sins of the world. It’s not that sin is just written off or no longer matters. Just the opposite. Sin matters a great deal but it is Jesus who takes away sin, takes away the penalty for our sins. 

    He takes away the sins of the world. That’s not saying that he takes away the sins of every individual person. John talks about “the world” several times in his gospel and other writings. It is Jesus who bears the penalty for a fallen humanity and for everyone who believes in him. 

    John the Baptist continues speaking in verse 30: This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.

    This is similar to verse 15. There John said: ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 

    And what John is doing is looking back at his early prophesy, as pointing to one who was greater than him and he sees Jesus, and he says “this is that man.” John gets at his specific purpose. 

    Verse 31: I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

    Where John says he did not know Jesus, don’t get too caught up in that. The point isn’t that John the Baptist literally did not know Jesus but that he did not previously know Jesus for who he was: the promised messiah. John was called to baptize so that the savior of the world would be revealed. That’s not primarily about John, it’s about the Lord and the divine plan. 

    John’s call to repentance, John as the voice of one in the wilderness, John as a witness to Jesus, all of this was part of the divine plan for John’s ministry and purpose in the world as the forerunner to Jesus. 

    Verse 32: And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

    This is referring to when Jesus was baptized. 

    All four gospels agree that John was a witness to the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus. The Holy Spirit is another significant theme of the Gospel of John. Jesus promises to give the Holy Spirit to his believers in John chapters 14, 15, and 16. 

    In the Old Testament, there were passages that talked of the Spirit being with God’s anointed one. 

    Isaiah 42:1:

    Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

    I have put my Spirit upon him;

    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

    There are others, but just to give a sense of it. John sees that moment.  We see Jesus: fully God and fully man having the Spirit descend on him. I used to think “why would Jesus need the Holy Spirit when he’s God? 

    But I was asking the wrong question. “Why wouldn’t Jesus need the Holy Spirit?”

    All three persons of the Trinity are God. All three of them work in perfect unity. They are all equal in eternity, holiness, glory, and power.Again, Jesus is both fully God and fully man, but it is because he is fully man that he needs the Spirit. 

    And just as he enjoyed fellowship with God during this ministry, because Jesus is also fully God, it makes sense that Jesus would likewise enjoy the fellowship of the Spirit during his ministry. 

    John sees this moment. He’s a witness to the Spirit descending upon Jesus. And John says in the text that He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

    The same Spirit who filled Jesus during his ministry is given to all people because of Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit equips us with gifts, convicts us of sin, sanctifies us to God. 

    Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit bears witness that we are children of God. 

    The Spirit bears witness to those who believe. The one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist. Because we’re blessed to have more of the story. 

    We have the risen lamb.

    Believe in the lamb. Turn away from sin. Point others to him. 

    Final thought  

    John the Baptist had a ministry to do for a time in history. 

    He was not perfect. He was just a man. He lived a shorter life than Jesus. Much of his life was spent in seclusion.But he was faithful. 

    Yes, we don’t have the ministry that John the Baptist had. 

    He had a once in history ministry. He was the forerunner to Jesus. 

    But just because someone has a different ministry or a different way to serve, that doesn’t mean that the ways you can serve the Lord are insignificant. No one would know who John the Baptist was without Jesus. Jesus is the thing that gives relevance and meaning to his life. 

    But for anyone who’s a follower of Jesus, that’s the case. It’s Jesus who gives meaning. John’s ministry was to point people to Jesus. But that’s the ministry in which every follower of Jesus still shares in. 

    Pointing people to Jesus in word and deed. Following where the Lord leads. Walking in faith. Standing up for the truth of God. 

    Those things are a call which all Christians share. 

    In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus talks of John the Baptist and says: 

    I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28).

    No one before John was greater than he. 

    Yet Jesus says that for those who come after, the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater. The reason isn’t because we have anything great in ourselves. 

    It’s because we have a fuller picture of who Jesus is and a fuller picture of God’s revelation to the world. 

    John did have a once in history ministry to fulfill but he didn’t live long enough to see the fruition of Jesus’ ministry. He never heard about the resurrection or saw the risen Christ. 

    What are you doing to serve the Lord today? It can be tempting to think that we don’t have what it takes to serve God.It’s not about your own abilities and your own power. John the Baptist was an effective minister without a lot of resources. 

    You don’t have to have a lot of money to serve God faithfully. John the Baptist certainly did not have that. He came from the wilderness. Other gospels tell us that John wore a garment made of camel’s hair. 

    You don’t have to have all of the degrees and credentials. John the Baptist didn’t have that….he came. from. the wilderness. 

    You might think you’re too old. John the Baptist had a ministry that was shorter than Jesus’s. His public ministry was incredibly short lived. You don’t have to have decades of ministry to have a ministry that matters. 

    You just have to follow the Lord, to love the Lord, to serve the Lord. 

    What are you doing to serve the Lord? What are you living for? 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this piece, please share and subscribe.

  • Why the world missed Jesus (and why we miss him today) – Exploring John 1:4-13

    Why the world missed Jesus (and why we miss him today) – Exploring John 1:4-13

    In one of his stand-up specials, the comedian Jim Gaffigan talks about camping. In the monologue, Gaffigan mentions that his wife enjoys camping and says that it’s a tradition in her family. 

    But he points out that it used to be a tradition in everyone’s family before we invented the house. 

    He asks “If it’s so great outside, then why are all the bugs trying to get in my house?”

    During the bit, Gaffigan describes himself as being “indoorsie.”

    Full disclosure. 

    I don’t enjoy camping. I don’t understand leaving the comfort of home, of a bed, of air conditioning, of indoor plumbing, of restful sleep. I’m not judging you if you like camping. 

    But it’s interesting to consider leaving my house to go into the woods. 

    And I think about that and I think of what Jesus left to come into the world. 

    Jesus left heaven to come into the world. 

    I like my home. 

    But that’s not heaven. 

    Jesus left the most perfect and spectacular place in creation to come into our world. 

    He left a sinless place to come into a fallen world. He left a place of perfect beauty for a world that has gray skies and thunderstorms. He left a place of adoration for a world where he faced condemnation. 

    1. A righteous God 

    In the opening verses of John 1, it’s establishing the divinity of Jesus. 

    Jesus is eternal. He exists in fellowship with God. He is God. He made everything. 

    But as this passage continues, it will also point to the righteousness of Christ. 

    Verse 4: In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

    Life is found in Jesus. This is true both in terms of all physical life but it is also true of eternal life that comes through Jesus. 

    All life is in him. 

    And we’re told that his life is the light of men. Verse 5 says:  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

    Jesus was and is the true light. 

    The light of Christ shines in a dark and sinful world. Verse 9 says The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

    In this metaphor, light is good because it is light which provides illumination, truth, and enlightenment. 

    John 8:12, Jesus says: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life

    Jesus will talk at greater length of light in darkness in John 3. The Lord contrasts light and darkness with good and evil specifically. 

    He’ll talk of himself as the light that is in the world and people who love the darkness of sin more than the light of God.

    the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” 

    Light and darkness is an almost universally recognized metaphor for good and evil. 

    The light is associated with the goodness, and righteousness, and truth of God. 

    John 12:46, Jesus says:

     I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

    Jesus associates life through following him because he is the light. He is righteous and holy. 

    Numerous texts in the New Testament speak to Christ’s sinlessness. 

    2. A blind humanity 

    So far, we’ve been talking about the divinity and righteousness of Jesus. 

    He is sinless. He is the light of the world. 

    But the world is both sinful and blind to Christ. 

    John 1:10-11 says:  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

    The God who created the world was not recognized by his world. 

    The only appropriate response to the Lord entering into creation would be to bow down and worship him, to behold his glory, to listen to his teaching, to bask in the glow of his light. 

    But the world was so sinful that that was not what happened. He was despised and rejected. His teachings led many to hate him. And his teachings still do that. 

    The world is often offended by the very words of God on earth. The world hates the gospel. 

    1 Corinthians 1:18 says:  For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God

    People dislike the exclusivity of Jesus. They dislike that they have to turn to him for salvation. People dislike his moral teachings which expose our sin. The world loves its darkness, and when the light of Christ shines on our darkness, many reject the light. 

    everyone who does wicked things hates the light

    Our passage says that the world did not know him. 

    The world did not know what they had. 

    John 1:10 says He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him (John 1:10).

    Jesus came to his world. It was his creation. And the world did not know him, the world did not respond to him as it should have, the world did not worship him. 

    And it’s doubly ironic by the fact that Jesus came to the world that he made in order to die to save a world that was sinful. 

    How sinful? 

    So sinful that the world didn’t even accept our own creator when he came into the world. 

    Many did not recognize Jesus for who he was. 

    3. A worthy savior

    John 1:10-11 focuses on the world and its failure to receive Jesus. 

    But that’s not the case for everyone. In John 1:12-13, the Apostle writes: But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

    Jesus is God. He is the light of the world. His world has largely rejected him, even though the world desperately needs him. 

    But there are those who receive and believe in the message. That is the good news of the gospel. Notice that it doesn’t say opportunity. It doesn’t say chance.

    If you believe in Jesus, because of his tremendous goodness and grace, he gives you the right to become a child of God. 

    It has nothing to do with human goodness but our salvation is entirely by the will of God.  

    Of Jesus, John has already said “he was in the world” and that “he came to his own” and that the light was coming into the world. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe. This post is the third in a series looking through the Gospel of John. For more posts in this series, please click here.

  • How is Jesus God? 4 life-changing truths from John 1:1-3

    How is Jesus God? 4 life-changing truths from John 1:1-3

    I was always a curious person. 

    Growing up, I didn’t go to church, but I always thought “there’s gotta be something out there.” 

    As a kid, I had cousins who were raised Catholic and who went to mass every week. They had a crucifix in their house, and there was this person on it. I didn’t know who he was, or why he mattered, or why he would be on display in someone’s house. 

    As a junior in high school, I took a humanities class where we spent a quarter of the year studying world religions. It was fascinating to me. 

    The idea of God made sense.

    The idea of a good and loving God made sense. But I didn’t understand where Jesus fit into that. I heard he died for our sins, but I didn’t understand the significance of that. 

    If you had God, then why did you need Jesus? 

    I didn’t know who Jesus was. I didn’t understand passages like John 1. It’s a passage that tells a lot about Jesus. And it’ll explain why he matters. 

    John 1 passage has some of the loftiest verses in the Bible about Jesus:

    John 1:1-2 says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    It can be so easy to read verses like those for a few seconds and just continue on with the rest of the passage. But it’s a mountain of meaning. 

    John 1:1-3 makes four affirmations that are four of the most fundamental truths that  you possibly can know about Jesus.

    1. Jesus is eternal 

    “In the beginning was the Word.” 

    John opens up by referring to Jesus as The Word. 

    I take it almost as a title for Jesus in the beginning of John. In the Old Testament, it is through the word of the Lord that God creates, speaks to his people, makes his promises, and points people to truth. 

    In Jesus, we see the ultimate disclosure of divine love, wisdom, truth and salvation, and so it is therefore fitting to refer to Jesus as the Word. 

    In the beginning was the Word. 

    That means that there was never a time when the Word was not. 

    And this is very important because right from the beginning of John, it confronts a common error that has existed in the church essentially since the time of Christ. 

    And that error is thinking Jesus is created. Or thinking that God made Jesus. Or thinking that he was a really good man who was given a promotion and became divine. 

    He was in the beginning. 

    This is something that John repeatedly emphasizes in his writings. 

    In the beginning of First John, he again speaks of Jesus’ eternality in the opening verse when he says: That which was from the beginning, (1 John 1:1)

    We also see John referring to Jesus as an eternal being in the beginning of the Book of Revelation. 

    In a vision of Jesus, John says: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last

    Jesus is the first and the last. He is eternal. 

    He has always existed. This is something that will continue to unfold throughout this passage, but Jesus is not a created being. 

    2. Jesus has fellowship with God

    The verse continues “and the Word was with God.” 

    Another absolutely monumental and profound reality from this passage. Think about this for just a moment. 

    The Old Testament is filled with lofty language of the majesty of God. Rightfully so. Exodus 33, Moses wants to see the glory of God (Exodus 33:18). 

    God tells Moses in Exodus 33:20: you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live

    It’s because God is so vibrant, and righteous, and full of life that it is completely overwhelming for fallen and finite people. 

    But in that story, we see the glory of the Lord is revealed to Moses and Exodus 34 tells us that when Moses came down from the mountain, his skin was so radiant from beholding the glory of God that people were afraid (Exodus 34:29-30). 

    He shined so brightly that he had to wear a veil. 

    1 Kings 8, the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the Temple. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord (1 Kings 8:10-11). 

    The glory of the Lord was so overwhelming that the priests could not stand to minister. 

    Isaiah 6, the prophet is given a vision of the throne room of God and he is terrified: 

    Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5)

    The presence of the Lord is completely awesome as you behold his glory and majesty and life. 

    If you’ve ever stood at a great waterfall, as the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water crash over the edge every minute, you can feel the power and rush of the water. 

    That’s awe inspiring in its own right, but it’s no comparison to encountering the eternal and almighty God of the universe. 

    And yet, with Jesus, we’re told that the Word was with God. Jesus can see God, he can behold the glory of God because he himself is glorious and righteous.

    In the beginning, there was fellowship with Jesus and God the Father. Not mentioned in this section, but also with the Holy Spirit. God did not make us because he was lonely or bored or because he needed us. 

    God had always existed in fellowship with himself. It is eternal and perfect. 

    This passage does not build the entire Doctrine of the Trinity by itself, but it’s very helpful in understanding a Trinitarian theology. 

    God is triune. 

    Jesus was with God. 

    Something else that matters is that this passage is showing distinction between Jesus and God. 

    Jesus is not simply God the Father coming into the world. 

    Rather he exists in fellowship with God. There is no dysfunction in the Holy Trinity. Only perfect unity. 

    That’s something that’s really hard to wrap our minds around because we’re sinful and fallen. Our relationships and families have dysfunction. Even good relationships, we still have times of hurt or disagreement. It’s all we see and all we know. 

    And so it is hard to imagine a perfect relationship where there’s no keeping score, where there’s never any resentment or bitterness. Where there’s no sin. 

    But really that says a lot about us as people. That we’re so dysfunctional and hurtful and sinful that a perfect relationship almost seems weird to us. 

    Jesus has a perfect relationship with God and that in itself is helpful in understanding the restoration that Jesus brings into the lives of people. 

    Jesus died to mend the broken relationship. But it’s because there is perfect fellowship within the Trinity that this is possible. 

        3. Jesus is God

    The text continues “and the Word was God.” 

    The central theme of John’s Gospel. The Lordship of Christ. 

    Something to consider…

    This would have been such a radical idea in the first century. 

    There’s a prayer that Orthodox Jews recite daily, in many circles, multiple times a day that’s taken from the book of Deuteronomy. 

    It affirms both that there is one God and also gives the command to love God. 

    Deuteronomy 6:4-6

    4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

    Everyday, multiple times a day reciting these words. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. It was, and is, at the very bedrock of the Jewish belief system. 

    And John was Jewish. And Jesus was Jewish. 

    Yet without contradiction, right off the bat in his testimony of who Jesus is, John says “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 

    John believed and here affirms that Jesus is God. 

    That is the Orthodox view of Christianity throughout the history of the church. 

    Jesus is God. 

    He’s a person of the Trinity. 

    Borrowing from Wayne Grudem in his book Systematic Theology: 

    Historical, Orthodox, Biblical Christianity believes the following

    There is one God. 

    God is three persons. 

    Each person is fully God. 

    Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

    Again, you can’t build an entire theology of the Trinity from this passage alone. But this passage affirms that Jesus is God and also that there is distinction between Jesus and God. 

    You might think “that’s so hard to wrap my mind around.” 

    You’re wrong. 

    It’s impossible to truly wrap your mind around. You’re not God. We don’t have to know exactly how it’s simultaneously true that we have one God, who is three persons, and each person is fully God. 

    But the Bible affirms all three of those statements. I mentioned a few minutes ago that the belief in one God was central to Jewish belief. 

    It’s central to Christianity too. We also believe in one God. But God is triune. 

    Throughout his ministry, we see Jesus showing his divinity through his miraculous signs. 

    We see his victory over death. We see his perfect and holy life. He’s God.

    All of this taken together in our passage we see: that the Word was with God shows there relationship and distinction. 

    That Jesus is God shows his divinity. 

    Again, this matters tremendously. 

    And we have all of these affirmations right from the beginning of John’s gospel. 

    If Jesus were not God, then he would not be a worthy sacrifice for our sins. If he were just a great man, he would still be fallible. If he were just a great teacher, he could still be wrong . If he were just a great leader, he would still be finite. 

    But he is the perfect God of creation. He entered into a sinful creation to redeem humanity. 

    It also matters because if Jesus were less than God, then not only would he be unworthy of our worship, but the very act of worshipping him would be blasphemous.

    From the beginning of the Ten Commandments. 

    Exodus 20

    2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

    3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

    We’re told elsewhere in the Bible that God is a jealous God. But the gospels show people worshipping Jesus. He never corrects them or deflects worship when that happens. 

    That is either blasphemous or warranted. There’s no middle ground. 

    John’s Gospel is that it constantly confronts us with absolute claims with Jesus. Chief among them is that Jesus is God. 

    That’s an absolute claim. It’s either true or it’s not. If it’s true, the only response is to believe in him, to worship him, to trust in him. If it’s not, the rest of this gospel is meaningless and blasphemous. 

    4. Jesus made everything 

    Verse 3: All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    Again this is speaking to the divinity of Jesus. All things were made through him. All means all. 

    The ground, the trees, the sand of the beaches, the stars in the sky, the air we breathe, the materials we use to build things, all of it was made by Jesus. 

    He made every person. Each of us has billions of cells in our bodies. Incredible complexity and structure just within our own bodies. The universe is incredibly big. 

    I thought this was a fun exercise. So the distance between the earth and the sun is 93 million miles. 

    If that distance was represented by the width of this one sheet of paper, the distance of our entire galaxy would be a stack of papers 453 miles high. 

    One stack of papers a mile high is about 15 million sheets of paper. Times 453 miles. With each sheet of paper representing 93 million miles. 

    And that’s just our galaxy. 

    There are one hundred billion galaxies. 

    If you could have an atlas of every galaxy in the entire universe and each page represented an entire galaxy, and if you spent just one second on every page and continually turned pages in the atlas, it would take you more than 31,000 years to flip all the way through the atlas. 

    The universe is incredibly, unfathomably big. 

    There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand in all the beaches of the world. Yet there are more trees on earth than there are stars in our one galaxy. 

    And that’s just looking at the amazing size of of our universe. There is amazing creation within our world. 

    New species of animals are still being discovered. And they’re not all insects or really small animals. 

    Since 2000, there have been new species of primates discovered. We don’t even yet know everything on our own planet. 

    Yet Jesus made it all. 

    There are other passages in the New Testament which speak to this fact. 

    Colossians 1:16: 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.

    We see this language as well in the opening chapter of the Book of Hebrews.

    Hebrews 1:10 referring to Jesus says: 

    You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands;

    Jesus is the creator. He made everything. 

    And John states it both ways. 

    He made everything.

    And also there’s nothing that he didn’t make. 

    All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    He’s a mighty God. 

    It’s a lofty passage. It’s a confrontational passage. You affirm these truths or you don’t. 

    Our society often likes to treat Jesus as something you can take or leave. 

    Gravity isn’t something that you can take or leave. 

    Arithmetic isn’ t something that you can take or leave. 

    Breathing isn’t something that you can take or leave. 

    Jesus isn’t something you can just take or leave. Jesus isn’t just a nice person or a nice idea. He’s the Lord of creation. 

    Many cherry pick certain teachings. Others treat him as a great teacher or a great religious leader. 

    Jesus isn’t one good teacher among other great teachers. He’s God. 

    The sages of other major religious traditions were born. Buddha wasn’t there in the beginning. Mohammad wasn’t there in the beginning. 

    But in the beginning was the Word. 

    There have been great leaders in the world who have influenced nations and movements. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Gandhi. Some like to just act like Jesus was a wise peace maker who came with a good message. 

    He’s so much more than that. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word created all things. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe. 

    This post is the second in a series in studies on the Gospel of John. For more passages in this series, please click here.

  • Jesus is the God of creation and new creation – Exploring John 1:1-18

    Jesus is the God of creation and new creation – Exploring John 1:1-18

    Photo courtesy of Unsplash @Greg Rakozy

    Jesus is the Lord of creation and new creation.  

    I’m going to highlighting a few words and phrases in this opening prologue to John.  

    “In the beginning.”  “Word.”  “Life.” “Light.” “Darkness.”

    Just to name a few.  

    These are all found both in John 1, but also in Genesis 1. 

    The Word of God

    Opening phrase of the Gospel of John: In the beginning was the Word. It’s the same way in which the Bible opens up, the first words in Genesis are: in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

    John starts with: in the beginning was the Word.  Now, it’s interesting that John says “the Word.” 

    He doesn’t say “in the beginning was Jesus” or “in the beginning was the Christ” or “in the beginning was the Lord” but “in the beginning was the Word.”  

    But, in the beginning was the Word. 

    Given that in the Old Testament, God’s word is tied to creation, salvation, healing, and deliverance, the incarnation of Jesus is God’s greatest and most spectacular form of expression to the world. The Word is an appropriate title for Jesus because it is through this Word that we have ultimate truth, eternal life, future hope, assurance of God’s promises, and God’s greatest revelation of himself to the world.  

    And we learn from our passage this morning that this Word was in the beginning.  

    This Word is not some abstract idea or force. This Word exists. 

    Life

    Verse 4: In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

    Two more ideas that are found in creation. Life and light. Both of these ideas will also be significant themes in John’s gospel. Let’s start with life. Nearly half of the New Testament usages of the word life come from John’s writings.  

    In Genesis, life is created. The animals that walk the earth, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, culminating in God’s creation of man in his own image. All life is created in Genesis.  

    And here, in referring to Jesus, it says that life itself is found in him.  

    He’s the creator of life, the sustainer of life.  He’s the giver of true life. Life in himself.  

    The best known verse in the entire Bible. John 3:16. Jesus refers to eternal life when he says  “God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  

    That’s the life that Jesus came to bring. John 10:10, Jesus says that he has come so that his people can have life and have it abundantly.  

    And it’s the life that can only come through Jesus. John 14:6, he says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”  

    And he has authority to say these things.  

    Because…

    In the beginning was the Word.  And in him was life.  And he made everything.  And he’s God.  

    And so John begins his gospel by talking of the God of creation entering into creation to make his new creation.  

    Light

    Next theme of creation that’s found in John. Light.  

    In Genesis, the first thing that God calls into being is light. 

    Genesis 1:3-4  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good 

    Light is a symbol for life, salvation, and the presence of God. In Revelation 22, the final chapter of the Bible, a book also written by the Apostle John, in pointing to God’s coming kingdom, John talks of heaven and says:  

    They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light (Revelation 22:5). 

    The light of God displays his glory and presence. Yet John takes it to a fuller meaning.  

    In John 8:12, Jesus will say:  I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life

    Light is contrasted by darkness. Darkness in John refers to evil and sin. Darkness is the opposite of light both metaphorically and literally.  

    In Genesis 1:4, we’re told that God separated the light from darkness.  John chapter 1 says that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  

    Again, John keeps pointing back to creation to show us a new creation that Jesus is bringing into the world.  

    The Word became flesh

    Perhaps the climax of this entire introductory prologue of John’s gospel is found in verse 14:  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

    The language returns to using the word Word. And it says that this Word, Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among us. The God who created the world entered his creation.  

    What a profound reality that is. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    In creation, before the fall, there was fellowship with God. It was paradise.  

    And yet Adam and Eve sinned. Cast out of the garden. But here in John, we see that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came into our fallen world. Because he loved us. Because he’s gracious. Because he’s good. He is the eternal God of creation.  

    New Creation

    And he came to bring a new creation.  

    In the opening of John, we see the groundwork being laid for that which was lost in the fall to be regained through the gospel. Paradise was lost due to sin, but in the beginning of John, we see that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Darkness came into the world because of sin, but we see that Jesus is the true light. Death came into the world because of sin, but in Jesus, there was life.  

    Not just anyone is capable of doing that. But Jesus isn’t just anyone. He was in the beginning. Jesus is the eternal God of creation who brings a new creation. He’s here to give you a new life. He overcame the darkness by living a sinless life. He brought life through his own death. He restored the relationship by being forsaken.  

    All of it was his work.  

    He invites you into a new life, a new covenant. He gives you a new heart.  

    The Apostle Paul said that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. (2 Cor. 5:17). In John 3, a man named Nicodemus. He’s intrigued by this teacher and ministry and he wants to learn more. Jesus says that we must be born again.  

    On the night before he was crucified, he told his disciples to love one another, and he called it a new commandment.  In the closing sections of the Book of Revelation, John talks of seeing a new heaven and a new earth. He records Jesus saying that he making all things new. (Rev. 21:5).  

    When we trust in Jesus and are born again, Jesus does bring a new creation. He does make something new. He makes a new person. 

    Jesus is the Lord of creation and new creation.  

    Have you trusted in Jesus? Is he your Lord and savior?  

    There is no other way to God, there is no other way to life, there is no other way to forgiveness, there is no other way to heaven than through Jesus.  

    He is a mighty God.  

    And it takes the might of God to bring new life to sinners who were dead in sin.  You can’t make yourself alive. But Jesus can. Because in him was life.  You can’t make yourself worthy. But Jesus has. John 1:12-13: 

    To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

    You can’t earn your way to heaven, but Jesus came from heaven to earth. The word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).  

    And the present reality is eternal security and a heavenly hope. But it points forward still to the greater new creation that Jesus has promised and is bringing into the world.  

    Because a Christian is forgiven, to the glory of God. But the world is still fallen. We are still surrounded by darkness, and fall into sin. We have eternal life, but still face worldly death. But Jesus is bringing an ultimate and final new creation into his world.  

    He’s putting it back together.  

    He promised to bring restoration. And he is.  

    And as sure as he brought that at his incarnation, he will bring it finally and totally at the consummation of his kingdom.  

    All around the world, every hour of every day, people are coming to faith in Jesus. A miracle is happening, a recreation is happening in people’s souls. People are overcoming areas of sin, because of the work of Christ. Lives are being transformed by the gospel. People who don’t know Jesus are being impacted by the love of his followers.  

    And Jesus continues to work. 

    Thanks for reading! This post is the first in a series in studies on the Gospel of John. For more passages in this series, please click here.

  • An empty tomb in a graveyard of false prophets

    An empty tomb in a graveyard of false prophets

    An empty tomb in a graveyard of false prophets and gurus. 

    In Saudi Arabia, 270 miles from Mecca is the Tomb of Mohammed where the founder of Islam is buried. It’s viewed as a sacred landmark in the Muslim world. It’s customary for Muslims to visit this tomb when they take their pilgrimage to Mecca. 

    When Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism died, his body was cremated and the ashes were divided among various clans. Wars were fought over relics which had belonged to the Buddha. There are temples which claim to have remains of Buddha such as strands of hair, teeth, and other bones. 

    There’s a shrine to Confucious in China where the philosopher is buried. 

    Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism is buried in wester Illinois. 

    But there is no sacred place where we can go to in order to visit the remains of Jesus. 

    The founders of other religious movements lived and died. But Christianity lives and dies on the belief in a savior who lived and died and lives. 

    If the tomb was empty, if Jesus rose from the dead, then the gospel is true. And that means everything. 

    The Bible points to the resurrection as a real event in real human history, in real time and space. That it’s not some fairytale we tell ourselves. That it’s not some myth. 

    A risen Jesus has far-ranging implications. If Jesus rose from the dead, that means he is who he said he is and that we should have faith in him and trust in him for the forgiveness of sins that he promised. 

    But all of that hinges on the truth of the resurrection. It’s a razor’s edge.  It happened, or it didn’t. There’s no gray area. 


    The late church historian Jaroslav Pelikan said “If Christ is risen, then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, then nothing else matters.” 

    And really, that quote is a great summary of our passage this morning from 1 Corinthians 15. 

    It is the resurrection that makes Christianity, Christianity. It is the resurrection that makes the gospel the gospel. 

    The challenge of the resurrection 

    In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is making a historical argument for the resurrection. In verses 3-5, Paul says:

    Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

    Jesus died, and was raised, he appeared to Cephas – that’s another name for the Apostle Peter – and then to the rest of the apostles. That these men were witnesses to the risen Jesus. 

    In verse 6, Paul says: Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive

    Paul is defending the truth of the resurrection. 

    In verses 12-13, Paul says: 

    Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

    So what’s going on there? 

    It appears that some people in Paul’s audience wanted to consider themselves Christians without believing in a bodily resurrection. But for those who wanted to undermine the possibility of a resurrection, they were professing a faith which ultimately did them no good. 

    If Christ is risen, then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, then nothing else matters. 

    We believe in a living savior, not simply in a moralizing teacher. 

    Paul will also address this idea if we move a little bit further. Down to verse 16, when he says: For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

    The resurrection in a postmodern world

    In our modern day, the resurrection is hard to believe. But it was also a hard thing for people to believe in the first century. 

    Yes, we know more about certain things than people in the first century knew. But they understood death. 

    Probably better than the average person today does. They were more closely connected to it. People lived shorter lives. They died where they lived, not in a hospital. Funerals were not with the deceased having been embalmed, with their hair and makeup done to look lifelike. 

    They were confronted with death for what it really was. 

    And resurrection was not the hope of the average person living in the first century Greco-Roman world. 

    Most people believed in a duality of body and soul. They saw the body as bad. Death was seen as the soul being freed from the body. 

    Jewish people comprised about 10 percent of the Roman world at this time. They generally believed in a resurrection, but their view was that this would happen at the end of time, not in the middle of history. 

    And so both then and now, the resurrection challenges worldviews. 

    Our world is postmodern. Many people like to treat faith as if it’s relative. We like to act as though whatever someone believes about God can be true, we don’t like to tell people that they’re wrong, that it’s all equally valid. We do that because we think it sounds open minded. 

    Even though really, it’s intellectually lazy.

    But life and death are not relative. They’re absolute. 

    The resurrection of Jesus happened or it didn’t. It’s a fact or history or it’s a lie of history. There is no middle ground. 

    And so again, if people wanted to hold to the idea that no one can be raised from the dead, not even Jesus. And if you believe that, then Jesus does you no good.

    Wanting to be a cultural Christian who doesn’t have faith does you no good. It’s the resurrection that matters. 

    A person could ask, “Couldn’t you still take Christianity for its moral teachings?”

    No. 

    It would be like an electrical grid with wires coming from a substation, connected to lines, coming into your house, but there’s no power plant at the other end of the grid. 

    Believing in a Jesus who didn’t raise from the dead does about as much good as flipping a light switch that has no power. 

    Christmas and easter

    Every year at Christmas time, I see some people who decide to take on this religious crusade where they complain about people and businesses, and commercials saying “happy holidays.” They say “we need to keep Christ in Christmas.” 

    The bigger issue is that we need to keep the resurrection in Easter. 

    And as the passage continues, Paul will talk about the consequences of an unrisen Messiah. 

    The consequences of an unrisen Messiah

    Verse 14: if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 

    Strong wording. If there is no resurrection, then Christianity is predicated on a lie. If Christ is not risen, we have misrepresented and misunderstood God. 

    Verse 15: We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

    That’s no small matter. If Christ is not risen, we’ve placed our hope in the wrong savior, we’re living for the wrong salvation. 

    It would be like going to a different country that has different laws. And you’re familiar with American laws, but not the laws of this other country. You can try to assert your rights or how you think things should be. 

    But the government of that country doesn’t care what you think about their laws. Their laws are not based around your agreement with them. 

    They’re bigger and stronger than you are. The hope of eternal life is not whatever we say it is. 

    We can’t even control our own physical life, let alone our eternal life. We have limitations. We have fears. Because we know how frail and vulnerable we are. It’s why we go into our basement when there’s a tornado warning. It’s why we wear seatbelts when we’re in the car. Because we know we don’t have control. 

    Yet when it comes to eternal life, many want to act like they can just decree whatever they want it to be and reality will just conform to opinions. 

    The gospel points us to hope because it is faith in one who died and rose and who promises eternal life.  

    Moving to verse 17: 

     And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

    If Christ is not raised, then we’ve put the hope of the atonement of our sins in one who hasn’t done it. Jesus cannot just be a moral teacher when he said he brought forgiveness. 

    Sometimes a person thinks that they have something that’s really valuable. 

    I love the History Channel show: Pawn Stars. And sometimes you’ll see a person on that show and they think they have something that is really valuable. 

    And an expert comes in and examines it. And you learn that it’s really worthless. 

    That’s what the gospel is reduced to if Jesus didn’t raise from the dead. The resurrection is everything. And there’s no neutrality when it comes to faith in that. 

    It would be like throwing down your money to make a purchase and they examine the bills and tell you it’s counterfeit. You thought you had something of value, now you don’t. 

    1 Corinthians 15 verse 18: Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 

    If Christ is not risen, Christians are worthy of pity because we wasted our time for nothing. 

    That is the razor’s edge on which the gospel rests. It’s either the most important truth that can be known and the resurrection is the most important event in human history or it’s all meaningless. 

    The resurrection and meaning

    What does the resurrection mean in your life? 

    Again, it’s easy to be a cultural Christian. You’re not an atheist, you live in America which does have a rich religious heritage, there are things about Christianity that you appreciate, and you’re a nice person, and so you check that box. 

    But is the resurrection your rock? Is it real to you? 

    Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the first Easter is not just some nice story that we tell ourselves. 

    The resurrection points us to meaning in life. It’s to live for Christ and to the glory of God. 

    The resurrection points us to hope. Because we have a savior who lives, and who has promised to make all things new, to make all things right, to one day wipe away every tear, to forgive us our sins. 

    The resurrection points us to life. Both to what true life is like and what eternal life is like in the presence of God. 

    The resurrection points us to truth. Not just to truth, but to the greatest truth that can be known. Not just to truth, but to the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. 

    That we live in a fallen world where there is sin and death but that we have a savior who has overcome death. 

    If Christ is risen, then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, then nothing else matters.