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Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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The Word Became Flesh 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Today, we move into the book of John, and we're gonna start with chapter 1, verse 14 of chapter 1. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us,0:21 and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. So what does it mean that the word became flesh? That's something we're gonna look at this morning.0:34 Now who wrote the book of John? Well, obviously, it's called the gospel according to John. While John's name is not mentioned in the book, there is this phrase that we see the disciple whom Jesus0:46 loved. And so there's a little question as to who the author is. It's John, Jesus's closest earthly friend. Now John's father was Zebedee. His mother appears to have been Salome or0:57 Salome, who appears to have been the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. If this is correct, then John was a cousin of Jesus, and they probably knew each other from childhood. Now contrary1:10 to the image that's often portrayed of the disciples that they were, you know, drifters looking for something to do, they were not. John was apparently, a very in a very successful fishing business. He had1:22 5 partners. The business was headquartered in Capernaum, but he had a house in Jerusalem. He was a personal acquaintance of the high priest. He was a disciple of John the Baptist prior to1:34 joining with Jesus, which speaks to the additional information we find here in the gospel of John about John the Baptist. Now John's gospel differs from the 3 synoptic1:46 gospels in a few ways. First, John's gospel was the last of the gospels to be written. While there's debate and some uncertainty about the exact date, some believe1:58 it could have been written, or most believe it was written between 90 AD and a hundred AD. John focuses on what Jesus said rather than, like, what we just saw in Mark, what Jesus did.2:10 John's gospel contains a lot more theology of the new covenant, the Christian faith that, the other 3 gospels were more telling the story of what Jesus did.2:22 Many scholars believe that John was written in part to address some of the, theological controversies that had arisen, during the last half of the that century. And,2:34 it it it so it focuses a lot on the 2 areas that were under attack, and that was the divinity of Christ as well as the humanity of Christ. There are no parables in the book of2:46 John, and there there are only 7 miracles, 5 of which are only covered in the book of John. And these miracles, John uses these 7 miracles to reveal the person as well as the mission of Jesus.2:58 Now we're gonna focus today primarily on the first 18 verses, which provides a a preamble a preamble, a prologue to the entire book of John. It's 1 of the most profound passages that we find in3:10 the bible. So I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to fully understand the transformative truth that John communicates in his gospel. Now here's3:22 what we're going to see in this opening to John's gospel. Alright? Jesus, the word, is the fullest expression of the eternal nature, the eternal3:34 power, and the eternal purposes of god that the world has ever seen. Now the universe, as we know, is made up of 3 elements, time, space, and matter. God is outside3:46 of time, space, and matter. But Jesus, well, he stepped into all 3. So let's begin verse 1 of John chapter 1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with3:58 God, and the word was God. So why is Jesus called the word of God? Well, the Greek word here is logos. It conveys the meaning of both intelligence4:10 and utterance, but also essence and expression. In the old testament, the word of God was synonymous with God, and that's what we have here. We we have the word, the expression, the essence4:22 of God. Verse 2, he was in the beginning with God. So the first thing we're gonna see here is the eternal nature of God. In the beginning was the word. Now if you go all the way4:34 back to the beginning of time, well, Jesus was already there. The world was from the beginning, but the word was in the beginning. Alright? God is outside of4:46 time and space as we've talked about. He is the eternal God. He is not the product of man's imagination nor of his discovery. He is the God eternal, the ancient of days.4:58 He is God. The word was with God and the word was God. Alright. John, right here at the very beginning, establishing the deity of Jesus Christ.5:10 Verse 3, all things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made. Alright? That's the eternal nature of god. The now we look here at the eternal power of god. All things5:22 were made by him, and without him, nothing was made that was made. So just in case you missed it, Jesus is the creator. Notice the negative. Without him, nothing was5:33 made that was made. Jesus is creator. Psalm 33 6. By the word of the lord, the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.5:46 Jesus is not only creator, he is the sustainer. Hebrews 1 1. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by5:58 his son whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his6:10 person and upholding all things by the word of his power. He is the sustainer. When he had by himself6:29 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Alright. We see the eternal purposes of god. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. He is what brought6:41 life to mankind. Man was dead in his trespasses and sin. But here's the the shocker. Verse 5, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend6:53 it. Jesus is the light that points the way, but people in their fallen nature in our fallen nature, we would prefer darkness over light. Verse 6, there was a man sent by god whose name was John. I'm talking about John7:04 the Baptist. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which gives7:16 light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. He made7:28 it. He made the world. He stepped into it, but he was not accepted. But as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his7:40 name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. God did it. It was by grace are we saved through faith. And the word became flesh and7:52 dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Jesus is the essence and the expression of god8:04 the father. No man's ever seen it. We in the Old Testament, what was seen, was not the the presence of God because God is a spirit. We saw manifestations of the8:16 angel of the Lord, which was a preincarnate, in in many cases, a a preincarnate presence of Jesus Christ. But verse 15,8:28 John bore witness of him and cried out saying, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness, we have8:40 all received and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Through Moses came the law. Through Jesus came saving8:52 grace and truth. Verse 18, no 1 has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him. And now notice this.9:04 Jesus was didn't come from the head as an intellectual thought. He didn't come from the feet as a as a servant. He came from the bosom of God. He is an expression of the heart of God to mankind. Now you've heard this9:16 saying before, picture is worth a thousand words. You know, when LaJuan and I were expecting our first child, I I remember, rushing to the doctor's office when she was going for her appointment, and9:27 we we were gonna be able to hear the heartbeat. This was we didn't have the the ultrasounds back then. I had a little micro recorder that I use as a police officer, and I recorded the heartbeat. In fact, I still have9:38 that tape. We didn't we didn't have those ultrasound pictures. Now with our grandchildren, we didn't just hear the heartbeat. We saw these 5 d9:50 images. But you know what beats a picture? I mean, those pictures are great. I mean, they it's like it's their first baby picture. Tell you what beats the picture is is actually holding your10:01 grandchild or your child. A picture is better than words, but nothing takes place of hearing, seeing, and experiencing firsthand. You see, the word came alive in Jesus10:13 Christ, and it came to us, giving us the ability to know God. Grover Cleveland, he took a good word goodwill tour back in 18 87.10:25 Now prior to Donald Trump's reelection in 20 24, Grover Cleveland was the only other president to serve 2 terms nonconsecutively. President,10:36 Cleveland was 1 of, if not the first, I think, really to travel outside the northeast and visit small towns and communities throughout the country. While his, initial plans were10:48 scaled back, he traveled about 5000 miles in the fall of 18 87 and went as far north miles in the fall of 18 87 and went as far north as Saint Paul and as far west as Omaha and as far south11:00 as Montgomery, Alabama. And it was he did it on a special, assembled train by George Pullman. Now history records that the trip was a huge public relations success.11:12 In town after town, city after city, vast crowds appeared wherever president Cleveland stopped. There were parades, and there were fireworks. And the citizens of America, many11:24 of them for the most of them, for the first time saw their president in person. President Cleveland understood that much of the excitement was11:36 not really about just seeing him. It was about seeing their president. Well, that same excitement still exists today for those who wait in line for hours to get a distant view of the11:47 president or at least most presidents. Well, god sent his son on a goodwill tour to the very world that he made. He sent him to reveal the grace and the11:59 truth of god and to bring light into the darkness of men's souls. But the world, as John records here, preferred darkness over light. But to those who would12:11 receive him, to them, it says he gave them the power to be adopted into the family of God as sons and daughters and walk in and with the light. That's what the12:23 gospel of John is going to make abundantly clear to us the divine nature of Jesus Christ and why he came to bring salvation to men, to shine12:35 light into darkness, and to point the way to the father. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the book of John that we're beginning. We thank you for Jesus12:47 who came, stepped into time, into space, into matter, and and and be became flesh. A human being took on human flesh so that we might see12:59 and experience and hear your heart, god, that you love your creation. And so, father, I pray for any that are a part of this journey that may not have13:11 tasted of the freedom that comes in knowing you, that have not experienced the light and the recesses of their soul that they might do so by believing that Jesus is13:23 your son and that he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly and eternally. So, father, continue to guide us on this journey. We thank you for the holy spirit. We thank you for your word. Open our eyes13:35 and our understanding that we might see and heed your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning, and until next time, keep standing on the word.13:49 Today's study comes from the stand on the word Bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:00 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Word Became Flesh
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