John 1:1-5

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcomeit.

 Fitness Goals

Striving for a healthier lifestyle is one of the many things in life that is easier said than done. Actually, doing what you laid out as a plan to live a healthier lifestyle is even more challenging. Then sometimes these plans we make fall through because we lose the motivation or that “it’s just one cheeseburger” becomes 3 or 4 more on one lovely weekend.

The Bible explains why most our plans won’t come to fruition as it says in…

Proverbs 16:9 , ⁹In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

Commit that plan to God and He will give you that determination to carry on with what you set out to do or He might even provide you with a better path to take.

In the past years were you able to follow your fitness goals? Can anyone here boldly say that he/she was able to follow his/her fitness goal day in and day out without a single day missed?

If it is hard for us to follow our own plans and if it is hard for us to follow through with things we know that are good for us, then how much more is it harder for us to follow commands given by others.

Have you heard of the saying… “Follow what I say… don’t follow what I do?” Children can testify that their parents set rules that they themselves break. There are also law makers and law enforcers who break the law.

Religion all over the world have something in common like a code of ethics and conduct that the founder set for his or her followers to live by.

Christianity, at some point, is mistaken to be like other religion because of the commonality of ethics and conduct.

What is the difference between Christianity and other religion?

Christianity has Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ set the standard of our belief, the standard of our code of ethics, or the standard of our code of conduct that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

Nobody but Jesus Christ, among founders of religions, can claim that they have not sinned.

Who is this Jesus Christ in whom we placed our trust for eternal life — and who is this same Jesus we rely on daily to meet our every need? One of the descriptors from our passage today states that…

1.  JESUS CHRIST IS GOD 

What do we mean when we say God?

He is the Creator of the universe—living and non-living. He is the source of everything—seen or invisible. He is beyond comprehension, imagination and understanding. He is the beginning and end. He is eternal, wonderful, beautiful, powerful but caring.

Our description will go on and on and on, but we cannot totally give a simple description of God.

Is there one expression that can be used to describe God?

What term, name, speech, or phrase could we use that contains everything that can describe all of God’s  power, beauty, goodness, kindness, creativity, love, patience, humility, gentleness, and grace?

What word describes God so fully that it contains “everything” in it—and even more?

The term is in our text today. In the Gospel of John, the author chose the term “WORD” to describe God, revealing a deeper dimension of His nature beyond just the title “God.”

2.  JESUS CHRIST IS THE WORD

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning.

The Word can be heard but cannot be seen

The power of WORDS can be seen in our daily life. Words can even change our mindset.

How many of you get angry because you heard an insulting WORD? How many have reconciled because of a gentle WORD? How many of you get inspired because you heard an encouraging WORD? How many of you have rejoiced because you heard the WORD of love? How many of you did everything just to land in Canada because you heard a promising WORD of greener pasture here?

How many of you believed in Jesus and was assured of eternal life because you heard the WORD of God?

Please don’t be confused with the phrase “A WORD” and the phrase “THE WORD.” I am not saying that a word is God. The Bible uses the phrase “THE WORD” and not “a word.” Using the phrase “A WORD” will mean that every word can be or has a possibility to be God.

The article “the” was used by the author of the Gospel of John to distinguish God “the Word” or “the Word is God” from other kinds of words. If you remember in your English class, the article “the” is definite.

The use of the phrase “the Word” in John pertains to God—therefore it is not every word that can be uttered is God—only “the Word” is God.

The Word can be held but cannot be touched 

In 2 Corinthians 1:20 Paul said of Jesus… “²⁰ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Jesus Christ is the Word. Jesus Christ is God, therefore, Jesus Christ can be trusted.

In verse 5 of our passage it reads, “⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

In John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”

Many cannot understand Jesus Christ because they don’t have the Spirit of God. If you have Jesus, you have God’s Spirit. Receiving Jesus Christ by faith even with limited knowledge of Him will help the believer understand Jesus Christ.

The Word is eternal—He was with God 

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega or the Beginning and the End. In actuality, the words “beginning” and “end” to describe Jesus are limiting Jesus of who He is. Why?

            If there is a beginning for Jesus, that “beginning” contradicts His eternal description. Eternity has no beginning and has no end. Putting the beginning and the end together will result in eternity in our human understanding.

            This is like when you start at one point and end up at the same point you started.

In terms of Geometry, if you start from zero degrees and go around and make a circle and end up at the same zero degree point, then you’ve traveled 360 degrees. Without making a circle, there is no difference between zero and 360 degrees!

The beginning which is zero and the end which is 360 have no difference except the line.

Jesus as the Alpha – the Beginning and Jesus as the Omega – the End, are one because He is eternal. Like the circle drawn to signify a line that comprises 360… Jesus’ life was written in the Bible for us to understand the incomprehensible, unfathomable, beyond understanding, and eternal God.

Jesus being the Alpha and Omega tell us that Jesus isn’t just there at the start and end—

He is the start and end, because He’s eternal. Time doesn’t limit Him.

The Alpha and the Omega aren’t two different points. They are one in Him, because He is eternal.
Always was, always is, always will be.

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