Investigating God #10
The God Man
Steve W. Reeves
stevesermons.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTION:
A. In
your opinion, what is the most significant event in the Bible?1. Creation (Genesis 1:1)?
2. The Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 17)?
3. The giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)?
4. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-3)?
5. There is one event that is intrinsically related to all of these. It is the birth of Jesus
Christ.
B. Each of the four Gospels approach the birth of Jesus from a different perspective.
1. Matthew, written to a Jewish audience, goes into great detail about the genealogy
of Jesus and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
2. Mark, written to a Roman audience, does not give us any information about the
birth of Jesus. Mark is fast-paced and action oriented, moving from one event of
Jesus’ life to another. He opens with the baptism of Jesus.
3. Luke, written to a Gentile audience, gives more information about the specifics of
Jesus’ birth and the events preceding it, than any other Gospel.
4. Many years after the synoptic Gospels had been written, John wrote his account of
the life of Christ. John describes the birth of Jesus in a very different way. In
essence he used just four words in Greek or English. They are the most profound,
significant words in all the Bible. Without them nothing else makes sense. Without
them there would be no hope. In John 1:14 we read, “The Word became flesh.”
C. How would you describe the birth of Jesus if you took away the iconic scenes of the
shepherds in their fields at night, the star of Bethlehem, the angelic chorus singing,
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will to men?”
1. You would have John’s account of the incarnation.
2. God becoming man. The creator becoming creation. The master becoming a
servant. The King subjecting Himself to the perils of humanity.
3. He did all of this and yet He never surrendered His divine essence. He was God
In the flesh. He was the “God Man.” His name is Jesus.
D. The prologue to John’s Gospel in John 1:1-14, provides us with essential information
about the God Man.
I. WHO IS HE?
A. John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God” (John 1:1).
1. In the New Testament there are two words translated “word.”
2. The word “rhema” used in Romans 10:17, “faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God.” This is used to describe that which has been spoken or
revealed.
3. The other “word” is “logos” used here in John 1.
B. What did John mean when He referred to God as “logos?”
1. This was a word that was familiar to Jews and Greeks.
2. To the Greeks “logos” described the powerful force by which the universe
existed. It was the force that gave meaning and reason to life.
a. Do you remember the movie, “Star Wars?” In the first episode there was a
character named “Obi-Wan Kenobi” who taught Luke Skywalker about, “The
Force.” The Force was an impersonal, mystical entity that ran through the
universe.
b. In the 5th century B.C., the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, used the word
“logos” to describe the unifying principle of the universe.
c. This was the view Albert Einstein had. He believed in the existence of God but
said it was impossible to know God.
3. The Jews were also familiar with “logos.” The Jewish historian Philo of
Alexandria used it more than 1500 times in His writing. Since the Jews
understood God (YHWH) to be the one who made the world and everything in it
(Acts 17:24), “logos” became synonymous with God. This is why John said, “He
was with God and He was God.”
C. If you ask people who Jesus is you will receive many different answers. I recently
saw a “man on the street” interview in which people were asked this question.
1. Many believed He was a good teacher.
2. Most believed in the historical existence of Jesus. One person commented that
He was a “mythological, historical” character.
3. Very few held the opinion that Jesus was God.
4. The New Testament stands on the evidence of Jesus as the Word that became
flesh. In the New Testament and for Christians today, this is a theological “non-
negotiable.”
a. Hebrews 1:1-3, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets
in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in
His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made
the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation
of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power”
b. In John 20:28 Thomas, upon seeing the risen Jesus, declared, “My Lord and
my God.”
c. Jesus is given titles used only for God. He is called the “Holy One,” the first
and last,” the “Alpha and Omega,” the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
d. He received worship. Angels did not receive worship. Men did not receive
worship.
D. All of this evidence points us back to John 1:1-14, “In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” “The Word became flesh.”
II. WHEN DID THE WORD BEGIN?
A. John 1:2 says, “He was in the beginning with God.”
1. Was there ever a time when God did not exist? God is the one who created
time.
2.If Jesus was there at the beginning with God, He is also eternal.
a. In John 8:58 Jesus told the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was born, I AM.”
b. Compare this with Exodus 3:13-15 where God told Moses that He was, “I AM”
for all generations.
B. The Word was not created by God. The Word was with God and was God.
1. Verse 3 states, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him
nothing came into being that has come into being”
2. Do you see the similarity in John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1. It is no accident. John
wanted his readers to understand that when God created the heavens and the
earth, the Word that would become flesh was there.
3. The Word was the source of light and life according to verse 4. Notice that Jesus
referred to Himself as the “light of the world” (John 8:12) and the life (John
14:6). This was not a coincidence.
4. Does our world need some light and life? We are living in times of darkness and
death. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:17, “For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
5. There is only one way to dispel darkness. Light. There is only one hope in death.
Life. Both are found in “The Word.” He is, “the true Light which, coming into the
world” (John 1:9).
III. WHAT DID THE WORD DO?
A. The Word became flesh. Compare John’s statement with Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew
1:23, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with
child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” Matthew adds, “which
means, “God with Us.”
1. Because of His enormous love for humanity God clothed Himself with flesh and
blood.
a. In Colossians 2:9 Paul said, “In Him the fullness of Deity dwelt in bodily form.”
b. In Philippians 2:6-8, the great Chritological hymn of the New Testament
declares, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form
of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point
of death, even death on a cross”
B. The Word dwelt among men.
1. We do not have to guess about God. We do not have to wonder or speculate
about His character. All we need to do is look at Jesus.
2. How did He treat people? How did He act? What was important to Him? What
made Him angry? What brought Him joy?
3. How did He demonstrate love (1 John 4:9-10).
C. The Word revealed the glory of God.
1. John continued in verse 14 by writing, “we beheld His glory. Glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
2. Everything Jesus did brought glory and honor to His Father.
CONCLUSION:
A. Each time I prepare to preach I try to ask myself a question about the message. “So
what?” “How is this message going to impact me?” “How will it impact those who hear
it?” In this case there are two options mentioned in the text.
1. Option 1 (verse 10-11). “He was in the world, and the world was made through
Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were
His own did not receive Him.”
2. Option 2 (verse12), “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
B. As another school year begins many of you will be answering questions as you
complete tests and assignments. There is no greater question than this. “What will
you do with Jesus?”
C. We would like to encourage you to respond to Him in faith and obedience today.
