John 1:6-18

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

1.  Jesus Christ is the Creator

He created all things

In verse 3 of our passage it says, ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Every living and non-living being came to existence through Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ was not in the beginning, there is no creation.

The fact that Jesus was in the beginning is repeated multiple times in the Bible. It was written to explain that Jesus Christ is not a created being. Before He became flesh, Jesus Christ was already in the beginning.

He gave life

In verse 4 of our passage it says, ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Life comes from Jesus Christ because He Himself is Life. Jesus said in John 14:6 “…I am the way, the truth and the Life…”

The author of John emphasized that Jesus is the giver of Life, therefore, nobody can give Jesus life.

If somebody has given life to Jesus, they need to get this life they are to giving to Jesus from Jesus Christ.

It is insane to say… “Hey, buddy. Give me life so I can give you your life.”

Imagine if you went up to your dad and asked for $5 and when he asks you why you’re asking for $5 you answer with “So I can give you $5”.

Nobody has given Jesus Christ life because He is the giver of life. Nobody created Jesus Christ because He is the Creator. Jesus Christ is the giver of both life eternal and life on earth—the earthly life and life in eternity.

When Jesus gave us life on earth, He did it without our consent.

We did not say, “Lord Jesus Christ, kindly, give me life so that I will live on earth.” No. We had no idea of being born on earth.

We were nothing before we were born. We were nowhere. We were in the dark before Jesus Christ gave us life. When Jesus gave us life—we came into being.

Don’t reason out the process of being on earth by saying, “I am here because my father married my mother.”  That is shorthanded reasoning. There are many married couples out there wishing to have a baby.

If Jesus would not grant life, no baby will be born. Period.

This is why we should continue to add on our praises and thanksgiving that Jesus gave us this life to live and to remember that we should live this life for Him.

He is light

Jesus is also the light. When we were born we were given life. That life is the light of men. When we believe and receive Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord of our life—we were given the right to become children of God.

When we were given the right to become children of God—we were given the right to live in heaven. Now that we have the right to live in heaven—we have, for sure—eternal life.

Since we already have eternal life. Jesus said that we should serve as light of the world because we have in us the light of Jesus when we receive Him as our Lord and Saviour.

Gotquestions.org makes a great illustration of what receiving Jesus means. Think of when we “receive” a package, we take it to ourselves. When a running back “receives” the football, he pulls it to himself and clings to it. When we “receive” Jesus, we take Him to ourselves and cling to the truth about Him.

I like the song that goes… “Light of the world… You step down into darkness… open my eyes let me see…”

When people have Jesus Christ in their life… like you… they will sing… “Here I am to worship… Here I am to bow down…”

We are compelled to have this worshipful attitude toward Him because receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour doesn’t just mean knowing (or head knowledge) that he is our Lord and Saviour but sincerely believing this truth.

TMEC… Shall we—as a church—keep our light shining so that those who left this church will find their way back here? Let us keep the light of God shining brightly in our lives so that people will find their way to God.

Jesus Christ is the Creator… Jesus Christ is God… 

2.  Jesus Christ Is Human

Is it confusing that Jesus Christ is God and Jesus Christ is also human at the same time?

In verse 14, John simply says… The Word became flesh… or God became human and dwelt among us…Is the Jesus Christ who is God the same as the Jesus Christ who is human? If so… why did God have to live on earth?

He lived on earth to empathize with his creation

Jesus Christ who is God became the Jesus Christ who is human to empathize with His creation.

Think of a time when you were comforting someone and said, “It’s ok, it’s ok…” but they replied with, “You are saying ‘it’s ok, it’s ok’ because you are not in my situation.”

God understands us more than we understand ourselves but can we agree with Him that He really understand us?

In our limited human understanding, God can only fully claim that He understands our problems if He Himself were to be in our shoes. If he were to be human. It was for our sake—to help us understand more about God—that He came to live on earth as a human being.

He is gracious – giving blessings one after another

Jesus Christ is gracious. He is the giver of blessings. Even in His human form, Jesus Christ is gracious. He served as a doctor—healing the sick for free. He provided food for the hungry. He even gave wine to the party people.

In His earthly life Jesus Christ showed us the privileges we can avail from God. God is gracious. You can keep on asking God for the things you need over and over again…

Jesus loves to give you one blessing after another, as long as it is in His will and for His glory.

He is the truth – he fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17)

He is the truth – he fulfilled the Law. In Matthew 5:17  Jesus said… ¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Jesus was able to follow all the Laws without committing a single sin.

Jesus proved that only God can fully obey God’s commandments.

Jesus showed that it is impossible with human effort to obey the law that comes from heaven.

Jesus proved that only a Human that comes from heaven can obey the law fully.

Since we are from this earth we cannot obey the law perfectly.

But the good news is if we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour, we no longer have to abide by the requirements of the law.

By God’s grace we can come before God and God will not ask us if we have obeyed the law or not. And every time we sin, we just need to ask God for forgiveness and God will forgive us. We do not need to give a sin offering to fulfill the Laws.

He is the giver of our right to become children of God

Jesus has given us the right to become children of God. In His humanity—he died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin. Anyone who accepts that reality is given the right to become children of God.

Jesus’ death on the cross is the best example of his empathy for humanity. He died the most shameful death just to save us from hell. He did not leave us alone after saving us from hell but also gave us eternal life and the right to be children of God and citizens of heaven.

Is Jesus Christ the human the same Jesus Christ the God?

If so… why did he need to leave heaven?

He left heaven to testify about God

Jesus Christ left heaven to testify about God because it’s hard to believe in beings you cannot see. It is hard to believe God because we cannot even picture in our mind who God is.

No one has ever seen God (v.18)

In verse 18 it says, ^“18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

In the Greek translation of the phrase, “in closest relationship with the Father,” the author wrote “in the Father’s bosom…” which when translated means… “in the nearest possible position being with the Father.”

At any court hearing, when a witness testifies for something he saw, a wise lawyer will ask, “How far were you from the event?”

John wrote that Jesus is the best witness to God. He used the phrase “at the bosom” where NIV translated “in closest relationship with the Father” to emphasize that Jesus Christ is the most credible witness about the reality of God.

The world did not recognize Him (v.10)

Many of the chosen people—the Jews – are still looking for the coming of their Messiah. They just cannot believe Jesus as the Messiah. They cannot recognize their Creator because Jesus Christ was human.

Many still argue that if God Himself comes to earth—they will believe in God. This is a simple explanation that creation cannot understand their creator.

If you were to create something like a robot, then you have given life to that robot. Now do you think the robot you created can understand you more than your wife or husband?

Humans are more complicated than robots. Even if you were to combine the complexity of a robot from every sci-fi literature, the God-made human would still be more intricate than the human-made robot.

God became flesh to show God’s love. Jesus came to earth to reveal God’s glory!

To reveal God’s glory

With all available theological books combined… Jesus’ life was an easier explanation of God’s glory.

Who can explain God’s glory and majesty?

Who can explain God’s splendor and beauty?

Who can explain God’s wonder, brilliance, grandeur?

The glory of God cannot be explained or described by humans.

If everything about God’s glory can be explained within human understanding, it is not God’s glory. Only God can reveal the glory of God.

God became flesh. The Word became human to reveal God’s glory.

ILLUSTRATION:

There was this Hindu Monk praying every morning at a certain foot trail. Each morning, the Hindu Monk walked on the same path and chanted his prayer.

One morning, he saw that an anthill was built on his usual path. He thought that the ants might have been his ancestors. In Hinduism, they believe that every moving creature is a reincarnated human being waiting for perfection.

The monk tried with all his effort to inform his ant ancestors not to build their hill on his foot trails. He spoke to the ants. He made hand signals. He wrote on a piece of paper but the ants still cannot understand him.

Then an idea came to his mind that if he were to become an ant then he can communicate to the ants. Suddenly, he was reminded of his missionary friend who told him that God became flesh, the Word became human to reveal God’s glory.

As we go to our smaller groups, be reminded that Jesus Christ lived on earth and experienced our hurts and struggles. Remember that Jesus Christ is God and we should be thankful of the life he has given us. We can continue to cling on the truth that Jesus is our Lord and Savior who will answer our prayers according to His will.

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