Authentic Jesus: God With Us

I began last week by talking about the 400 years of silence between the OT and NT—In my mind that is where we had to start. We have to understand how desperate life is without a fresh Word from God. This week we are going to look at the first chapter of the Gospel of John. But, before we look at the beginning of that book, let’s look near the end and see WHY John wrote it. John 20:30-31 (NIV) says, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

First, think about the WITH-US of God.

John 1:1-4 (NIV) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

John takes us back, beyond Creation, to show that Jesus has been God the Son from eternity past. He existed before His birth, coequal with God the Father, the source of light and of life.

The Word. The Bible gives many titles or names to Jesus. When He is called “the Word,” we are reminded of His role in the Godhead from the very beginning. This title, “the Word,” teaches that Jesus is now, and always has been, the One through whom God expresses Himself.

But how did God express Himself in history past, even before the Incarnation?

In Creation!: Psalm 19:1-3 (NIV) “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.”

Colossians 1:15-17 (NIV) “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

I shared this video with my congregation Sunday:

The second thing we need to notice in the first chapter of John is the WITNESS for God.

John 1:6-9 (NIV) “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through Him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

Three things we should emulate:
1. John shined the light. (John 1:6-7, Matt 5:16)
2. John was not the light. (John 1:8a, John 1:15, John 3:30)
3. John shared the light. (John 1:8b-9)

God became a man so that you might become His child.

John 1:10-13 (NIV) “He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

God loves us sooooooooooooo much!