This passage is a microcosm of the creation, fall, redemption that we see in the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis. Fittingly, Jesus is arrested in a garden. In the first garden, humanity sinned and brought forth death. But in this garden, Jesus will undo that curse and bring forth life as a result of his death at the hands of a sinful world.
Tag: creation
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All things were made through him. Studying John 1:3
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
-John 1:3John 1:3 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.
Size of the universe
So the distance between the earth and the sun is 93 million miles.
If that distance was represented by the width of 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.
Did you know that? 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.
Jesus the creator
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.
Jesus isn’t simply a great man. Jesus gave life to all of these people. And that’s not true the other way around. Any person, any thing who has ever lived or existed, lived and existed because Jesus created it or gave them life.
Thanks for reading! If you liked, please share and subscribe. This article is part of a series studying the Gospel of John.
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Jesus, Genesis, and a New Creation. John 1
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 not 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. Our passage this morning says in verses 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.
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.
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One piece of advice for my students: responsibility
You need to start taking responsibility of your life, your decisions, and your faith now.All of those things matter.All of those are things where you have a lot of control now.Yes, you have parents, you have teachers, you have other adults around you who are teaching you. -
10 great quotes from John Calvin
John Calvin is both one of the greatest theologians of all time and one of the most polarizing theologians of all time. He lived from 1509-1564 and was a brilliant writer and preacher. Calvin’s greatest work was his voluminous theological treatise “Institutes on the Christian Religion.” It’s a summary of Calvin’s theology for which he is best known and a theological system that was later simply called Calvinism. Within Calvin’s theological understanding of the Bible, people were viewed as being so sinful that even the act of coming to God in faith was a supernatural work of grace and sovereignty that came from God. This is summarized in technical theologies concepts such as “unconditional election,” “limited atonement,” and “irresistible grace.”Regardless of if someone is a Calvinist or not, John Calvin had one of the greatest theological minds of all time. And his ideas are worth studying and being familiar with.
Faith and works
It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.
Joy and suffering
You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy.
Grace and judgment
God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.”
Jesus
Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection.
Truth
Peace is not to be purchased by the sacrifice of truth.
Preachers
If a preacher is not first preaching to himself, better that he falls on the steps of the pulpit and breaks his neck than preaches that sermon.
Contentment
The happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages-such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life!
Creation
There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.
Prayer
Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.
Blessing
However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.
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