In The Beginning Was The Word

 Temple Baptist Church - 5-25-2022

John 1:1

 

Introduction:

 

A.  As we begin our study of John’s Gospel, we need to understand its principle thought: The Deity of Christ Jesus: the Eternal Word of God.  The first chapter of the Book of John is one of the most amazing of all chapters in the Bible as it introduces us to the Eternal Word of God.  Each of the four Gospels portrays Christ in a different way thus giving us a complete look at His person and His work.

 

1.  Matthew – Portrays Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.  He is the coming King of Israel.  He is called the son of David - His lineage is reckoned from David.

 

2.  Mark - Portrays Christ as the Ox. He is the Servant of Man. No genealogy is recorded – a servant or slave had no recorded birth.

 

3.  Luke - Portrays Christ as the Son of Man.  100% Man on His mother's side through the virgin birth and 100% God on His Father's side.  His genealogy reckoned from Joseph back to Adam who was the son of God.

 

Luke 3:23, 38  And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of  Heli,  ... Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. 

 

4.  John - Portrays Christ as the Son of God: His Divinity.  No genealogy - eternality of His Divinity (always was God)

 

B.  There are three portions of Scripture, including our verse for tonight, that record Christ's 

 

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  (I call the first four words of this verse the "greatest theological statement in the Bible."  It is a statement about God, not an argument for His existence.)

 

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (This verse is the greatest theological statement in the Bible concerning Christ as the "Word" found in the Bible.  You cannot divorce Christ from the Word.  To do so will cause theological error concerning the Person and Work of Christ.)

 

1 John 1:1-2  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;  (2)  (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)  (These verses contain the availability of Christ the Word to all who seek Him.)

 

C.  These verses are not an argument for the eternality of Jesus Christ, they are statements of a fact to be believed.  God is!

 

D.  When we think of eternity, it is a thought that boggles our minds. 

 

1.  Eternity is a truth that goes beyond our experience. Beginningless so as to have no record and endless so that it cannot be measured. Eternity has no past, it has no future, it has no ends, it has no middle, it has no parts, thus it cannot be analyzed nor perfectly understood.  Eternity can only be experienced. 

 

2.  It is something which was, and is, always will be. Eternity is God's realm.  It had no beginning because God has no beginning, and it has no end because God has no end.  It has no origin and, therefore, eternity is beginningless, endless, measureless, imperishable, indescribable, and undefinable. Eternity itself is its only definition.

 

3.  When asked, "What is eternity?" We can only answer that “Eternity was and is forever!”  I can tell you what time it is...what day it is, what month it is, what year it is, but eternity has no time, days, months, or years.  Eternity has no calendars; eternity has no clocks; eternity has no measure.

 

E.  The Bible declares Jehovah God (Our Lord Jesus Christ) to be eternal.

 

Proverbs 8:22-23  The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.  (23)  I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

 

Colossians 1:15-17  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:  (16)  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  (17)  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

 

Hebrews 1:10-12  And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:  (11)  They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;  (12)  And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

 

Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

 

F.  Jehovah God (Our Lord Jesus Christ) declared Himself to be eternal - Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

 

1.  This verse speaks of God’s eternality.  It is not “I WAS” but “I AM.”  God is a “present tense” God.  The sense is of this title for God is not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am.

 

2.  This verse also speaks of God’s immutability.  Every time you find or perceive God, He is always the same.  Finite man is subject to change, but an infinite God is not because the constancy of His name.

 

3.  This verse speaks of God’s self-existence.  Not “I want to be” or “I should be” or “I need to be” or “I will be” but I AM!  From before recorded time, Jesus and His Father were one in essence, one in equally, and one in eternality.

G.  Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the eternal God.  John 8:58  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

 

Revelation 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

 

H.  I do not claim to understand God as He is infinite and eternal, and I am finite and temporal. God can be known, and I am glad that I do know God!

 

J.  Eternity is an eternal moment that is totally occupied by God, and we will soon be there!

Eternity is God’s signature: it is who He is!