Jesus, The Living Word
John 1:1-5
For the last 2,000 years, no person in the course of history
Has ever been more scrutinized than the man named Jesus.
He has been held up to every standard
He has been accused of every flaw
He has been accused of being demon-possessed, He is called Divine
He has been called a lunatic, He has been called Lord
He was followed by the masses, and yet rejected by His hometown
He is the most controversial person to ever walk across the world’s stage.
Some say He never lived
Some say He didn’t really die
Some say He didn’t rise
Some say He won’t return
He has been the most maligned and misrepresented figure in all of history.
Even in the Bible, Paul saw this taking place.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”
Galatians 1:6-9 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
Every generation has had it’s share of people
Who were ready to redefine Jesus.
Every generation has supplied a public opinion about Jesus.
Matthew 16:13-14 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
But despite what the masses have said, only one thing matters.
Matthew 16:15 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
There is no greater calling upon a human life than to determine, what do you do with Jesus?
When you walk across God’s courtroom, only one thing will matter.
What did you do with Jesus?
There is no greater truth to be taught than the truth about Jesus.
And it is that truth we find in the Bible.
So let us begin to study about who this Jesus really is.
We begin this study by looking at:
Jesus: The Living Word
And there are 4 truths that I want you to see,
So that you may give Jesus the proper place in your life.
#1 THE PERSONALITY OF THE WORD
John 1:1-2
We are here talking about the word of God.
No verse in the Bible gives us a loftier view of the Word
Than this verse recorded in John.
In verse 1 John gives us 3 attributes of the Word
1) ETERNAL
“In the beginning was the Word”
You hear people talk about how you can’t believe the Word of God
Because it is 2,000 years old.
How wrong they are. It’s way older than that.
It is eternal.
It never had a beginning, it will never have an end.
Some day when history is completely unfolded
And we are able to see the beginning and the end of all things,
People will look and find that when the beginning happened,
The Word was already there.
And the Word will always be.
Matthew 5:17-18 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
The Word of God is eternal.
Psalms 33:11 “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.”
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
It stands the test of time.
How many books have long since been placed on the shelf as outdated?
How many scholars have long since been proved wrong?
700 years ago, scholars knew the earth was flat.
Isaiah 40:22 “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.”
400 years ago, scholars knew the earth was the center of the universe.
Job 38:33 “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?”
THE WORD OF GOD IS ETERNAL
2) SUPERNAL (high in rank, exalted)
“and the Word was with God”
There is no higher or more exalted place.
But not only is the Word exalted in position,
The Word is exalted in prestige.
No word will ever be more exalted than the Word that is with God.
Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”
3) SUPERNATURAL
“and the Word was God”
You understand this statement.
I could come up to you and say, “What do you do with Jesus?”
You would say, “Oh, that’s just Rory”
So it is with the Word. The Word was God
The Word is alive
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
Jeremiah 23:28-29 “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the LORD. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”
There is something about the Word of God.
It isn’t like reading from the Koran. It isn’t like reading from The Book of Mormon.
The Word has a way of penetrating your soul.
The Word has a way of exposing your secrets.
The Word has a way of guiding your steps.
The Word is supernatural.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
But then notice what John does here in verse 2.
“He was in the beginning with God.”
The title changes to “He”
When we talk about the Word, we are not talking about a concept,
We are talking about a person.
We are talking about Jesus.
This is fundamental to your faith.
Do not miss what I am about to say.
PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO SEPARATE JESUS FROM THE BIBLE
“They worship the Bible more than they worship Jesus”
YOU CANNOT SEPARATE THE TWO
THEY ARE ETERNALLY INTERTWINED
They stand together, and they fall together.
To obey one is to obey the other, to disobey one is to disobey the other.
To claim to obey Jesus, but not the Bible is an impossibility.
1 John 2:3-5 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”
The Word is a He!
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”
When you look at Jesus and the Bible,
Don’t see it as that which is separated,
Don’t even see it as that which is saturated.
See it as that which is synonymous.
The Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus we worship.
If you don’t obey the Bible, then you don’t obey Jesus.
This concept of separating the two,
Is conceived by men seeking to re-create a more self-pleasing Jesus
Impossible. “the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
The personality of the Word and the personality of Jesus
Are one and the same.
He is Eternal
John 8:58-59 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”
He is Supernal
John 17:4-5 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
He is Supernatural
Hebrews 1:1-4 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 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. 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. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”
The personality of the Word.
#2 THE POWER OF THE WORD
John 1:3
Take for a second and consider the power of God’s word.
The way John wants you to see it is by looking back at creation.
When you look back at the first chapter of Genesis,
You don’t find God doing anything.
He didn’t have to do anything; everything did just as He said.
Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”
Genesis 1:6-7 “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.”
Genesis 1:9 “Then God said, ” Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.”
Genesis 1:11 “Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.”
Genesis 1:14-15
“Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.”
Genesis 1:20-21 “Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:24 “Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.”
Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
You don’t find God doing anything there.
He didn’t have to. His word was enough.
When God said, “Let there be light”, it had better come from somewhere.
(My Great-Grand Father would rattle his tea glass)
So it was with God, it is called authority.
This is what has blown the mind of scientists for years.
They can’t seem to figure out how it happened.
I’ll tell you how it happened, God told it to.
John Sullivan
“I’ll tell you where God came from. He came from no-where. There was no-where for Him to come from. I’ll tell you what God was standing on. Nothing. There was nothing to stand on. God came from no-where, standing on nothing, reached into everything took of something, hung it on nothing, and told it to stay there.”
And it was so.
Job 26:5-14 “The departed spirits tremble Under the waters and their inhabitants. “Naked is Sheol before Him, And Abaddon has no covering. “He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing. “He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them. “He obscures the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it. “He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness. “The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke. “He quieted the sea with His power, And by His understanding He shattered Rahab. “By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent. “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”
We are talking about the power of His Word.
(“Get your own dirt.”)
Only God has the power of creation, and when He wanted it, He spoke it.
Well let me tell you again, Jesus is the Word
“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
Colossians 1:15-20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
Jesus created this world, it was made by Him and for Him.
He is the powerful spoken Word of God.
He is the ultimate picture of God’s authority.
Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
John 5:22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,”
Matthew 7:28-29 “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
When Jesus wanted something done,
He didn’t have to do a thing, He only had to command it.
He healed the sick with a word.
He cleaned the lepers with a word.
He said, “Lazarus come forth.”
#3 THE PURPOSE OF THE WORD
John 1:4
You know why God gave us the Word. It was to benefit us.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. “But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
God’s Word is meant to bring life.
It is meant to Illumine men, to bring them to salvation.
Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
Proverbs 6:23 “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life”
It is impossible for you to enter eternal life apart from the Word of God.
Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
Romans 10:14-17 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
It is the Word that is meant to give life and lead mean to salvation.
2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”
And of course this Word is Jesus.
“In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men”
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
John 20:30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
The purpose of the Living Word was so that you might leave the life of darkness and be moved into eternal life in the Son of God.
#4 THE PERPLEXITY OF THE WORD
John 1:5
This is the real dilemma with the Word of God. Men didn’t pay attention to it.
Israel spent 40 extra years in the wilderness because they didn’t listen.
Moses only saw the Promised Land from a distance because he didn’t listen.
Jerusalem spent 70 years in Babylon because she didn’t listen.
Men didn’t pay attention to the Word of God.
Men did not grasp it as important.
And is this is exactly what men did, and do with Jesus.
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;”
John 5:45-47 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
John 8:25-27 “So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning? “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.” They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.”
This world has been filled with men
Who were confronted with Jesus and did not comprehend it.
Hell is full of people who didn’t comprehend the Light.
Israel is a tragic example of this.
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
They did not recognize the light. They did not comprehend Jesus.
How about you?
John 12:35-36 “So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
You see Jesus is the Living Word of God.
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
The way speaks of His Power
The truth speaks of His Personality
The life speaks of His Purpose
HAVE YOU EVER COME TO JESUS?
He is the greatest phenomenon this world has ever seen.
And He is the One you must do something with.
Your eternity doesn’t depend on who this world says Jesus is.
Your eternity doesn’t depend on who your parents say Jesus is.
Your eternity doesn’t depend on who your spouse says Jesus is.
Matthew 16:15 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
