It is in the process of being worshiped that God communicates His presence to men. --CS Lewis
Whenever a new Christian, one who has never studied the Bible, asks where he should start in his personal devotions and daily Scripture reading, the most pastors would overwhelmingly tell them to begin with reading the Gospel of John. If you start in Genesis with the Creation narrative (which is fine), you could get caught up in the history of the world through the fall of Adam, followed by the worldwide pervasiveness of sin, then the rise of Noah through whom God would continue the human race after the worldwide flood. You would then be introduced to Abraham, the father of many nations but particularly of the nation of Israel, God's chosen people. This would lead invariably to Moses, the Law giver and friend of God. All of this history and epistemology is well and good, but it might be overwhelming to a new Christian, especially one who immediately wants to know more about Christ (and who may get bogged down by the time he gets to Leviticus and Deuteronomy).
In John's Gospel, we can see the story of Creation boiled down to its essence: "In the beginning, God." We see man's sin and separation from God, putting us in a hopeless state until the work of Christ was complete in the Word of God, the Man Jesus Christ. We can also see that Christ came not only to fulfill the Law, but to replace it with a law of love. John 13:34-35 says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
In our brief study today we will see that John's Gospel also starts with creation, but also that God shone His light through the Word, who is Jesus. And we will see the work of God through the Word of God, who became flesh and dwelt among us for a purpose, to give life meaning. John MacArthur said, "The purpose of John is to convince the sinner of the true person of Christ." This leads us to our final point, that we must worship Christ as God.
The Word
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. --John 1:1-2
John uses a concept that was recognizable to his Hebrew readers as well as his Greek readers. In his study guide to John's Gospel, David Guzik writes:
Jewish rabbis often referred to God (especially in His more personal aspects) in terms of His word. They spoke of God Himself as “the word of God.” For example, ancient Hebrew editions of the Old Testament change Exodus 19:17 (Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God) to “Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet the word of God.” In the mind of the ancient Jews, the phrase “the word of God” could be used to refer to God Himself.
So we see that John's choice of words can appeal to the Hebrew reader, who equates the concept of "the Word" with the concept of God. In this same way, with the word-choice that John makes, he appeals to his Greek audience as well. In the Greek way of thinking,
The Greek philosophers saw the logos as the power that puts sense into the world, making the world orderly instead of chaotic. The logos was the power that set the world in perfect order and kept it going in perfect order. They saw the logos as the “Ultimate Reason” that controlled all things. (David Guzik).
Commentator Matthew Henry says that the term Word is two-fold: it speaks both of intelligence and utterance, of ratio (where we get the English word "rational", speaking of knowledge) and of oratio (where we get the English term "oration", or the spoken word). In this sense, we can see how John describes the first two persons of the Godhead. God the Father is all knowing, rational, intelligent; but He did not keep this knowledge, this Wisdom to Himself. God the Son is the Word, the idea of divinity brought out in the open for us to hear and understand.
When Moses asked who God was, God's response was, "I AM." Here in the first verse of John's Gospel, we see that Jesus identified as God, as He is described in the past tense form, "HE WAS"--He was with God, He was God, and He was in the beginning with God. There is no greater indicator of the deity of Christ. In fact, we see this personification of Jesus as Word or Wisdom all the way back in the Old Testament. Proverbs 3:19 says, "The Lord by Wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens." I believe that this Wisdom expressed in Proverbs 3 is the same Word expressed in John 1.
The Work
"All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." --John 1:3-5
Jesus was at work through the creation of the world. Psalm 33:6 says, "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth." This means that God exists outside of space, time, and matter, since He existed before Creation. If Christ was with God and is God, then He too is eternal. 1 Corinthians 8:6 says, "Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom we are all things and through whom we exist." So we see that Christ's work was manifest in creating us, and is made perfect in living through us.
Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world." So we see that Christ's work was not limited to the creation of all things, but also through our "re-creation" by His calling us to repentance and sonship, so that we too are heirs of Christ, who is the heir of God. Guzik writes, "The Word is the source of all life — not only biological life, but the very principle of life. The ancient Greek word translated life is zoe, which means 'the life principle,' not bios, which is mere biological life."
Matthew Henry's commentary says this:
The eternal Word, as God, shines in the darkness of natural conscience. Though men by the fall are become darkness, yet that which may be known of God is manifested in them; see Romans 1:19-20. The light of nature is this light shining in darkness. Something of the power of the divine Word, both as creating and as commanding, all mankind have an innate sense of; were it not for this, earth would be a hell, a place of utter darkness. Blessed be God, it is not so yet.
So we see that the work of Christ was evident in creation, is evident in salvation, and will be evident in the coming judgment.
The Worship
This, then, is our reasonable response. We are to worship Christ as God. We are to love Him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strengths. We are to acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." (NIV)
It is also our solemn duty to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world. Matthew 28:18-20 says,
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
I want to go back to our original text in John 1:1-5 and read it from the Phillips paraphrase. I think it sheds new light on the Word, the Work, and the Worship of Jesus.
At the beginning God expressed himself. That personal expression, that Word, was with God, and was God, and He existed with God from the beginning. All creation took place through Him, and none took place without Him. In Him appeared life and this life was the light of mankind. The light still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out.
We may not be able to fully comprehend Christ as the fullness of the Godhead bodily (see Colossians 2:9), but we have been given enough light to see that He is worthy of our praise. DT Niles wrote that "evangelism is one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread." From our study today, we see that it can also be described as one blind person who has been divinely able to perceive divine light in the darkness, showing another blind person the source of that Light. We may not be able to fully comprehend it, but neither can we extinguish it from our hearts and our lives.
