The Word Became Flesh

JESUS: GOD IN FLESH

John 1:1-4,14

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

The Gospel of John is for many their favorite Bible book. It contains the Bible's most famous verse, my favorite, John 3:16. John's Gospel is said to be shallow enough for a child to wade in, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim in. The latter fact reminds us John wrote Revelation, another book with deep content.

The biographers who wrote of Jesus had to confront a challenging question. When talking of Jesus, where do we start? Matthew began with Abraham, Mark with the preaching of John the Baptist, Luke with the birth of John the Baptist. John the Beloved began in the bosom of the Father. John went before time and talked about the everlasting relationship between God the Father and God the Son.

 

John 1:1 (Holman) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 

God the Son is God the Father speaking. When God speaks, things happen. His spoken will, once verbalized, always occurs. At creation God said, let there be light, let dry land appear, etc. At least 10 times God "said"; each time, it occurred.

In Jesus, God the Father spoke in a new, unique way, with ultimate authority. Instead of vibrating elements with His breath, as He did at Creation, His power combined elements to form Jesus. God has "Son-spoken" (Hebrews 1:2).

 

John 1:2   He was with God in the beginning.

 

            Jesus was "in the beginning," not "from the beginning." Jesus always has existed. He never was created. He was "with God" and "was God." Jesus is God, but not all of God. He and the Father are One, yet separate. John placed Jesus the Son on the same level as God the Father. The Bible never tries to prove there is a God and never tries to prove Jesus is God. It assumed both were obvious.

 

John 1:3   All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.

 

The disciples first saw Jesus as a man, but came to see Him as more than a man. John came to see Jesus as Creator. All life sprang from God through Jesus. All of nature throbs with prolific life because it passed through Jesus, who is life.

 

John 1:4   Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.

 

Human life grants us the capacity to know God in a personal way, to receive God-life, and thereby understand spiritual light. The only hope for people to come out of spiritual darkness is God's light, a light received only by receiving His life.

Believers, since spiritual light is transmitted via spiritual life, the only way His light can reach others is for it to shine on them through the life He lives in us.

Light can be stopped only if it is shut out or shut in. Let's not be guilty of the latter. We spread God's light by overflowing with the fullness of His life.

If we've shown little light to the world, it's because our spiritual life is low. The more we enjoy His life, our union with Him, the more we spread His light to others. Though God's light is often rejected, let it always continue to shine through us. Never stop shining, no matter how discouraged we become.

How do we enter into this light? Spiritual life owes its beginning to a birth from above. We have to become a child of God. His power is necessary. Massive obstacles have to be removed, including the wrath of God and the guilt of sin.

Salvation is as much God's work as was creation. A person in a dark room does not put darkness out first and then let in light. Similarly, we cannot put sin out of our heart to prepare for Christ's entering. We take Him in and then sin flees.

 

John 1:14a   The Word became flesh. . .

 

This text, John 1:14, is one of the richest and most strongly stated verses in the Bible. It teaches us six remarkable facts regarding Jesus, the Word of God.

One, God the Son became flesh. "Flesh" bespeaks weak creatures who are mortal and dying. John could not have emphasized his point more bluntly. Jesus did not merely "appear" to be a man. He was a real human being. Spirit became skin. God became human. The Ancient of Days became an infant.

Augustine, before his conversion, explored and studied the world's major religions. He said this phrase, "The Word became flesh", was the unique teaching of Christianity. Other religions said people could become gods; for instance, Pharaoh in Egypt, and Caesar in Rome. But it was scandalous to think the reverse. Greeks and Roman Stoics believed the body was too evil for deity to indwell. Hebrews saw God as the Totally Other. Even some believers have denied the Incarnation in one way or another, refusing to acknowledge Christ's full deity.

Problems often rise in our thinking when we try to explain how the Incarnation happened—for instance, how a zygote was formed, how the Holy Spirit intermingled with Mary's DNA—rather than leaving it in the realm of faith.

The Bible writers never attempted a detailed explanation, or tried to appeal to human intellect when dealing with the Incarnation. Their emphasis was angled to the heart. We will never fully understand the Incarnation, but we know by faith that God became like us to make us like Him. He who made all things became the one thing that failed Him, the only thing that needed help (Hebrews 2:14-15).

 

John 1:14b   . . .and took up residence among us.

 

Two, Jesus "took up residence among us." He who transcends time entered time. He who was with God chose to be with us. Jesus could have become flesh and lived among angels. He drew nearest to what He was farthest separated from.

Though we were not the best or most enjoyable company, Jesus chose to stay a while with us. He did not appear to a few people on a few occasions and then leave. He stayed long enough for many of us to get a good look at Him. At least 500 saw Him after He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:6).

 

John 1:14c   We observed His glory. . .

 

Three, we observed Jesus' glory. "Glory" refers to God's manifest presence, to God using a physical means to make His presence obviously known. He used a pillar of cloud by day, fire by night, to let Israel know He was with them in the Wilderness. The Tabernacle and Temple, when dedicated, were filled with a cloud.

In our text, John was saying God was visible, obviously present, in Jesus. People didn't have to be super spiritual to see God's glory in Jesus; they only had to be willing to look and see. The more John and the other disciples watched Jesus, the more they knew He was God's glory in human form. The miracles showed a part of the glory of Christ, but something deeper than this caught John's eye. True glory was seen in the loving way Jesus suffered, died, and rose again for people. We too have observed His glory, and continue to revel in it more and more.

The longer and more closely John watched Jesus, the more the Apostle saw of God. This is not true of most of us. We all know the old phrase, familiarity breeds contempt. Usually the more we learn of others, the more "human" they become. But the more we know of Jesus, the more "like God" He becomes.

 

John 1:14d   . . . the glory as of the One and Only Son from the Father,. . .

 

Four, Jesus is "the One and Only Son from the Father." All believers are adopted children of God. The Sonship of Jesus is unique. His relationship to God the Father is without parallel. He is begotten, of the same essence with the Father; not a lesser God, a secondary God, or demi-God. He is true God of true God.

When Christian work began in Japan, and the Bible was being translated, a Japanese translating the Gospel of John, blurted out, "Who is this Man about whom I am reading, this Jesus?  You call Him a man, but He must be a God."

 

John 1:14e   . . .full of grace. . .

 

Five, Jesus is "full of grace." "Grace" conveys two basic ideas. It refers to something completely undeserved and unmerited. It always designates God loving just because He is love. We did not deserve for the Christmas Baby to come.

"Grace" also contains the idea of beauty. In modern Greek the word means "charm." We sometimes use it this way ourselves, describing a person as having the beautiful trait of grace. In Jesus we see the sheer winsomeness of God. People tend to think of God primarily in terms of power, majesty, and judgment. These assessments are valid, but in Jesus we are also confronted with sheer loveliness.

Many who reject Christianity are not as much saying no to God as they are expressing their repulsion at our methods of representing God. When the world can see God as He really is, charming and winsome, many respond positively.

Jesus said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32). The Lord's death and resurrection show Him as the One altogether kind and beautiful. Let's discover it ourselves, rejoice in it, and tell the world.

 

John 1:14f   . . .and truth.

 

Six, Jesus is full of truth. Truth refers to what is genuine, the real thing. In Christ, nothing is counterfeit. As the Rock, the Dependable One, He never fails us.

Grace and truth are the two things we need most from God. We need grace, a lovely friend in heaven who wants to help the helpless though they do not deserve it. We need truth, a friend powerful enough to help the helpless.

Jesus is total love and total dependability. Anything or anyone else claiming the ability to bring true happiness, and give the best life possible, is counterfeit.

 

 

Growing in the Mission

Ephesians 6:19

Growing in the Mission

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Eph. 6:19a (Holman) Pray also for me,. . .

 

For a brief moment, Paul now called attention to himself and his own needs.  From a dark, dank, dungeon-cell in Rome, he called to his comrades in far-off Asia, "Pray for me." Paul made this request often. He prayed for the church­es, and regularly asked them to pray for him (RM 15:30; CL 4:3; 1 TH 5:25; 2 TH 3:1).

It is amazing that this extremely gifted man asked ordinary people like us to pray for him. Neither cocky nor self-assured, he knew he needed help from Hea­ven. Jesus cannot use self-sufficient people, for they feel no need for His power.

Paul bore the heavy load all Christian leaders are forced to carry. Pastors, staff members, deacons, Sunday School workers, and other lay-leaders can be most effective only if people--especially the ones they serve--are interceding for them.

Church leaders need extraordinary prayer. Heat is intense at the fore­front of a battle. Leaders in the conflict are special targets of Satan. He knows if he can discredit a leader, he discredits all of Christianity in the minds of many peo­ple.

Failure of any believer neg­a­tively affects our Kingdom mission. The fall of a leader especially dis­hon­ors Christ, embarras­ses His name, and brings humili­ation on our churches, creating heavy baggage for all Christians to carry in the mission.

America's churches have suffered scandals enough. Too many lead­ers have fallen. This blood-let­ting must stop. Pray our leaders will live above reproach.

Christian leadership entails being faithful in inner virtue and outer holiness. However gifted you are, if you are not willing to live a cut above the rest, ­do not accept a leadership position. I have lived under a double standard all my life, as a preacher's kid and as a preacher. It has never bothered me a bit. I ask our lead­ers to accept the challenge of a higher walk, and I ask the rest of us to pray for them.

 

Eph. 6:19b  . . .that the message may be given to me,. . .

 

In verse 19, Paul asked the Ephesians to pray three requests for him; all dealt with speech. First, he wants his words to be appropriate. One of life's precious gifts is the ability do the mission well, to identify the mood of an unbeliever, and to be able to say exactly what needs to be said. Paul knew this trait was "given". It was received, not inh­­er­ent. Paul was a master of words, yet he knew he needed God's help to talk right. Even the mighty Apostle depended on God for "the message".

Though he had pursued the mission for years, Paul was still as dependent on heavenly em­powerment as the day his work be­gan. We never grow too big, too strong, too smart, or too old to need God's help in knowing exactly what to say. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in this matter. As we talk with others, do not rush into a mono­logue, inwardly pray first. Ask God to give us exact words we need to say.

God wants to use our lips to bless others. Our lips ask God for answers to our own prayers. Why not ask God to make our lips the answer to some­­one else's prayer, to make our talk a blessing to others? This is not a gift of blarney or the gift of blab. Many talk a lot, but say nothing. The issue is, with God's help, speak­ing ap­propriately. One Sunday I was leaving my home church in Cape Girar­deau to re­turn to St. Louis for college. I was sad, think­ing no one was noticing my depar­ture.  Then Grandma Mar­shall walked out of the crowd toward me and said, "We love you, John­ny, and we miss you." The memory of those words refreshes me to this day. "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (PR 25:11).

 

Eph. 6:19c  . . .when I open my mouth to make known with boldness,. . .

 

Paul's second request is that his words would be bold. Note his humility. He was a man of courage, yet knew he could fall into cowardice any instant. For the mission, Paul had de­fied mobs, debated kings, confronted storms at sea, faced death in pris­on. He had looked undaunted, but now we see the truth. He con­fessed ­he came to Corinth "in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling" (1 Cor. 2:3).

Outwardly Paul usually seemed bold as a lion, but inwardly he often shook­. A per­­son can look strong and self-composed on the outside while trembl­ing inside.

Life's victories aren't necessarily to the strong, but to the fearful who refuse to give in to their fear. Are we afraid? Yes. Do we let our fear paralyze us? No.

Paul desired victory over his own fears. He wanted to utter the truth of the mission without hesitation and without fear of personal inconven­ience. He yearned to hold nothing back, wheth­er to earn people's praise, or to es­cape their scorn. Paul would soon stand be­fore Caesar's tribunal, and wanted to speak "with boldness". He feared he might falter by yielding to his fear. Thus he asked for prayers for him.

Today many of us who want to be sold out to the mission struggle against our own fears. Just when believers most need to be heard from, we fear to speak. We are to speak truth in love: to be diplomatic, and bold in our witness for Jesus.

This hour of need demands of us boldness. Be true to our legacy. Our brave Captain, who pursued the mission with undaunted courage when the arrows flew thickest, does not expect us to be cowardly soldiers. Isaac Watts' challenges us:

Must I be carried to the skies on flow'ry beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize, And sailed through bloody seas?

 

Eph. 6:19d   . . .the mystery of the gospel.

 

Paul's third request is that his words would be focused on the mission. He wanted to avoid being distracted, diverted from his appointed course. Paul wanted to keep the main thing the main thing, to remember his main purpose, his primary priority, to make known "the mystery of the gospel." He desired to tell people how to be saved, to let everyone know the secrets God had revealed about salvation.

Every Christian has three basic spheres of responsibility: holiness unto God, exercising a spiritual gift in the local church, witnessing to the lost. Holiness, spi­ritual gifts, and soul-winning constitute three basic ingredients of Christian living.

Some wrongly excuse themselves from their mission-obligation to win souls by saying they do not have the gift of evangelism. Evangelism is not a spiritual gift. The Bible refers to the gift of evangelist, an office filled by people who preach effectively to the lost (e.g. Billy Graham, Billy Sunday), but the act of evangelism is not a spiritual gift. God commands all Christians to be a witness, to evangelize.

Since God requires soul-winning of all believers, it is an activ­ity God will empower all Christians to do. What God commands, God will enable. Thus, when we have opportunity to witness, but sense our will withering under Sa­tan's assault, we must hide ourselves with­in the power and promise of God for help. When it comes to the mission, Satan always tempts us to be quiet. When we face this trap, we need to retreat into prayer rather than into our pat excuses for not witnessing.

We can become so skillful at reciting excuses that they keep us not only from witnessing, but also from prayer. Often, we are not only not witnessing, but also not praying about witnessing, our excuses having salved and callused our con­sciences. As we pray for the lost, include in our mission praying, "Lord, use me."

Unfortunately, I know the excuses well. I have mas­tered them all. Some ex­cuse themselves from the mission, saying they fear they will drive the lost farther away. Where can we drive them to? Hell number two, or Hell number three?

Many claim they don't know what to say in a soul-winning situation. We'll train you. Some do not feel worthy to share. While we soothe our consciences with a false piety and bogus humility, our loved ones are going to a Christ-less eternity.

We sometimes use as an excuse our natural timidity; we are too bashful.  Our text waylays this rationalization. Our natural temperament has nothing to do with whether or not we can witness. It hangs only on supernatural empowerment. Failure in the mission is never a failure in personality, but rather a failure in prayer.

The mission of spreading the Gospel was Paul's greatest accomplishment. Our text reminds us where the power came from--from God. Mission-success was not inherent in Paul. He was not self-confident. Prayer was his key to suc­cess.

Effective witnessing has to come from God. No matter how eloquently we speak, or how good our presentation is, only God can make the message effec­tive.  We speak to the ear, only God can take the message from the ear to the heart.