Fresh every time.
Let's just read some Scripture together, shall we?
In the beginning was the Word.
I need the words.
Sorry, I comment a lot.
I hope that doesn't offend you.
And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
I like a simple, clean, old Bible.
Some might ask, why do you want an old Bible?
Wouldn't you want a new Bible?
Well, I need an old God.
I need a God who's at least as old as me and significantly wiser and older would be appreciated and necessary.
So I want to stick with the old book.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by Him.
And then he emphasizes this.
He could have just stopped there, but he repeats himself to make sure we get the point.
And without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life.
So we've noticed three attributes about God so far.
Number one, He's the Word, which is the power to communicate.
The Word is what sets humans apart from animals.
He's the Maker, the Creator.
He's the source of everything that is …
and was, and nothing is made without Him.
Nothing science can make without Him.
Number three, He's the life.
In Him was life.
So if you appreciate language, if you appreciate everything, and if you appreciate the capacity to live, all three of those are sourced from God exclusively.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
It took science a long time to figure out that light and life were connected, but God made light and life unified originally.
Designer, they get to do that.
And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
So here's the first problem.
We don't get it.
We don't comprehend the light.
Now, the light is pretty no-brainer.
I mean, it's bright, it's glorious, it helps us see, it's necessary, it's part of life, but still, because we could not process, I can't understand it.
Is that your excuse?
Is that why you reject the gospel?
Because you can't understand?
Wow!
There's a lot of things I don't understand.
How electricity goes from the light switch to the light, turns it on.
Well, I'm not going to use lights anymore because I don't understand them.
Oh, okay.
So God's solution for the fact that some people could not comprehend it.
What could they not comprehend?
The light shining into their darkness.
They could not comprehend that God was the source of life and that He was the Word.
He's trying to communicate with them.
The very tools that we use to connect with others were granted to us by God.
So what does God do in response?
to Human Intentional or Possible Incapacity to Comprehend Him?
There was a man sent from God.
God sent a man to help solve our lack of comprehension.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
Now, you could put your name in there.
John happens to be the example, but we are here to help other people comprehend God better.
That's the Gospel.
You cannot have the Gospel without God.
God has to be the W, the Word.
God has to be Himself.
God has to be the Creator.
God has to be the Light of the Gospel.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
We're going to put a parenthesis.
Possibly to help solve the problem of our lack of comprehension for who God is.
The same came for a witness.
A witness of what?
To bear witness of the Light, capital L. He came to point people to the light.
Here's how the light works.
To bear witness to the Light, that all men through him might believe.
I love prepositions.
I love every part of speech.
You should appreciate them because the parts of speech are intentional, gifted to us by the creator of language.
Here is a pronoun.
That all men through [who] might believe.
It could be John.
Let's try John in that bucket.
A pronoun's a big bucket that has nothing inside of it, and you get to decide what to put in the bucket.
The same, John, came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, capital L, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, that, possibly, he came that all men through John might believe.
That's possibly true because in the next verse it says, He, John, was not that light.
But John was sent to bear witness of that Light, capital L, referring to a person, which is God in his light form.
God is light.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
So let's back up here.
John came to assist us …
in our believing.
One of the parts of believing is there must be a minimal measure of comprehension.
There has to be at least a nominal baseline beginner comprehension of who God is before we can believe Him.
I can't say I believe in the thing that I don't know.
I believe in the one that I've never understood.
So a lot of people use an excuse.
I don't comprehend God fully, therefore I cannot trust him completely.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Maybe you need to meet John.
John came for a witness.
What does a witness do?
They tell what they know.
To bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
You hear the preacher, John, the explainer, express who the Light is, and you're like, oh, now I understand the light.
Now I understand the Word.
Now I understand the Creator.
And there's one other thing up here in John 1 that says, The Same was in the beginning with God.
God is changeless by definition.
He cannot be altered.
So let's give it a rundown from the top one more time.
Thank you for putting up with this style of spontaneous combustion commentary.
Just enjoy the words.
Dear God, help the words light up in our hearts.
Back.
John 1.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same
was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by Him.
Who's Him?
The Word.
The Same.
That's His name.
All things were made by the Word.
All things were made by the Same.
And without Him was not anything made that was made.
In the Word was life.
And the life was the light of men.
Hmm.
And the light shineth in darkness.
Severe contrast of natures.
And the darkness comprehended it not.
SPEAKER 1
I don't get it.
I don't understand.
What is this?
Who are You?
Why are you shining on me?
SPEAKER 2
Dude, you're in spiritual darkness.
You need some light.
Oh, I don't understand it.
Great.
I will send you John and he'll ‘splain it simple.
He'll splain who is the Light of the world.
Your excuse is invalidated.
Welcome, John the Splainer.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John, the same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe in the light.
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness [three times.]
John came for a witness in two verses.
That was the true light.
Now John is starting to explain the light.
Number one, the light is true.
Which lighteth every man?
Inescapable.
Cannot get away from the light.
If you're going to live on earth, you will experience light.
And if you're going to have a soul, a brain, a heart, a mind, an intellect, a will, you're going to come face to face with the knowledge of the light.
That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He, the Light, was in the world.
Hmm, who is this Guy?
Well, he's True.
He lights you up.
You will meet Him.
He was in the world.
He came here.
And the world was made by Him.
Backing it up to the Creator.
He's the Maker, the Builder, the Originator, the Designer, the Artisan,
which makes Him kind of awesome because look at what He made.
And the world knew Him not.
You think you have an exclusive comprehension problem?
Oh no, the whole world knew Him not.
Like, we don't want to know, we don't know who You are.
Of course you don't.
That's why I'm here, to tell you who I am.
The world knew Him not.
You don't have an exclusive problem.
All of us lack comprehension.
He, the Light, the Word, the Creator, the Same, the Life, came unto His own.
Yeah, I'll go visit my peeps, my people, people that are like me, my people, my chosen people.
And His own received Him not.
Rejected, big X, no thanks, don't want that, no Light, no Word, no Creator,
No responsibility.
No God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
Because He was God.
If you're from the beginning, you're God.
If you invented words, you're God.
If you made everything, you're God.
Where does the Bible say God is God?
God is God.
You know what people want … is they want a God they can comprehend.
Long pause.
Light bulb.
Light bulb.
“I want a God that makes sense.”
Who are you then?
Are you the God-definer?
Are you the one who gets to tell God who He is?
That's kind of backwards.
God has to fit between your ears?
He, the Light, the Word, the Creator, the God, the Same, the One, the Source, came unto His own and His own received Him not.
That's natural.
But, thankfully, as many as received Him,
Received the Word, received the Creator, received the God-Man, received the Light.
To them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.
What's His name?
His reputation?
What He claims to be?
His self-definition?
Believe His name.
What should I believe about God?
Well, let's ask God.
What does God say about God?
Well, in the beginning, you were there.
Yes, I was.
I am the Beginning.
I'm also the Ending.
And I'm everything in between.
Was the Word.
You're the Word?
How do you say that?
Well, I use words.
Which were born.
He's talking about being born into the family of God as the sons of God.
Which were born not of blood.
You don't get into the family of God by blood.
It's not your bloodline.
Nor were these born of the will of the flesh.
I did not will myself to be born fleshly, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And they were born of God.
And the Word, capital W, was made flesh.
SPEAKER 1
Can your God do that?
No, my God would never stoop to become a human.
SPEAKER 2
Well, then He's not God.
He's incapable of caring about His creation,
because He will not come down to visit us.
That was sarcasm, but necessary to get some people's attention.
The Word, according to the Word, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
That's empathy, that's compassion, that's love.
A God who genuinely loves spends time with the one He loves.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory.
Glory.
Slice it in half.
Glo.
Glow means light.
We beheld His light.
I don't understand it.
Just look at it.
The light of the world is Jesus.
We beheld His glow.
The glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
You remind us of the Father.
You give us a positive opinion of the Father.
You have that glow essence of God.
It's because He's God.
Full.
He was filled.
Full.
Glowing.
Full of grace.
Deep, massive, abundant word.
Grace and truth.
What are you filled with, Jesus?
I'm filled with grace.
It hasn't even said the name Jesus yet.
It's called every name in the book but [Jesus].
Full of grace and truth.
We should glow and smell like the God of grace and truth.
John, bear witness of Him.
That sounds like a repeated theme, like maybe should I, what are you, what are you trying to say?
Do you want, you want me to bear witness of the Truth too?
Because maybe, maybe we need to be more like John.
John, bear witness of Him, the Light, cried and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake.
He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.
How far?
Well, in the beginning.
And of His fullness, what was He full of?
Light, glory, grace, truth, also humility, because He came down to visit us.
And of His fullness have all we.
Who's the we?
Received.
There's a key word, we that received, according to verse 12.
But as many as received Him, when we received Him, we received part of His glory.
Here it is.
And of His fullness have all we received, and... What's he filled with?
… grace for grace.
It's really deep, right?
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth... Remember, He was filled with grace and truth.
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
We made it to verse 17 before it officially mentions the name of Jesus Christ because we should know Him by all of His identities combined into one.
One of the ways the cults confuse brand new believers is they limit the names of God down to just their few pet names.
God has an exclusive name.
Oh, no, no, no.
He's the Beginning.
He's the Word.
He's the Light.
He's the Creator.
He's the One.
He's the Way.
He's the Same.
Yeah, yeah, all the same Guy.
No man hath seen God at any time.
So there's a part of God that's invisible, that's the Father and the Spirit.
The only begotten Son, capital S, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Meaning the Son hath declared the Father.
Jesus came to explain His Father.
John came to introduce us to Jesus.
Jesus came to introduce us better to the Father.
Why?
Because humans have a hard time comprehending
We don't process completely on the first go-around.
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him and asked him, Who art thou?
Who are you, dude?
What's going on?
Are you a threat to our authority?
Well, yes, I am, actually, because God doesn't like your authority.
He is the authority.
He came to set it straight, but I'm just here to introduce Him.
I'm not the guy, but I know the Guy, and you're going to meet the Guy.
He's actually the Light of the world.
He's your Maker.
He's your Boss.
He's the everything.
So I'm just here on His behalf to tell you that you got to get straight so that you can see the King.
Here's a ticket to meet Him.
And he confessed and denied not, but confessed.
Now, in their question, who art thou?
Who do you think you are?
He confessed, I am not the Christ.
If you're trying to ask me if I'm the Christ, thanks for the compliment.
I'm not Him, but I know Him.
He's my cousin.
And they asked him, what then?
What, what, what, what do we want?
We've got to figure out who you are.
Art thou Elias?
And he saith, I am not.
Art thou that prophet?
SPEAKER 1
No.
SPEAKER 2
Then said they unto him, Who art thou?
Was it four times?
That we may give an answer to them that sent us.
What sayest thou of thyself?
You ever thought about what was the motive behind the question?
Why are you here on such strong authority to press out of me who I am and who I represent?
I told you I'm not Christ.
And he said, I am the voice of one
crying in the wilderness.
They knew who that was.
They knew Isaiah.
I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
Make straight the way of the Lord.
The Lord.
I'm on the team of the Lord.
Whose team are you on?
As saith the prophet Isaiah.
Remember, guys, boys, you teach Sunday school.
You remember Isaiah.
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
The Messiah is almost here.
He's coming.
And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
What's he going to do, replace us?
Yeah, you're kind of leading people astray.
And they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, neither Elias, neither that prophet?
Why are you trying to lead people and be like a professional, you know, spiritual guide out here in the wilderness in your weird camel clothes?
Why are you doing this, John?
I'm on commission from God.
And I have the Spirit of God all over me.
I have this glow and people love listening to me because I'm here to tell you to get ready to meet the Word.
But you guys are not on this frequency.
You do not get it.
John answered them saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth One among you Whom you know not.
Deflection.
Total.
Like, why are you even talking to me?
I'm just the water boy.
But he, there's somebody coming.
But there standeth One, Jesus, among you, Whom ye know not.
I think you all are so smart, you religious leaders.
He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latch it I am not worthy to unloose.
These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith , probably loudly and to the crowd, Behold!
The Lamb of God, capital L, The Lamb of God.
which they knew what that was.
In the reference Bible there's a little letter C and it says Exodus 12.3 references the Lamb of God.
Isaiah 53.7 references the Lamb of God.
1 Peter 1.19 references the Lamb of God.
Revelation 5 verse 6 references the Lamb of God.
If they knew anything about God, this is the God coming in the form of a lamb because we need a lamb to sacrifice to pay what we owe to God.
Which taketh away the sin, singular, of the world.
What's the sin of the world?
Refusal to embrace who God is.
The rejection of the gospel.
That's the sin.
And he's here to solve that equation.
This is he, John says, this is the guy of whom I said after me cometh a Man which is preferred before me for he was before me.
Higher priority.
And I knew Him not, but that He should be made manifest.
The word manifest means abundantly obvious, brain-dead simple.
Manifest.
Do you get it now?
Manifest Israel.
Therefore am I come baptizing with water.
Trying to get you guys ready to meet him.
And John bear record saying, I saw the Spirit, capital S, of God, descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him, Christ.
So remember earlier when John answered his accusers and he said, I'm just baptizing with water, but there's coming somebody really soon and he's going to baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
Spiritual Baptism, and I saw on bare record that this is the Son of God, the arrival of God Himself in flesh form.
John 1.
You ever get into a debate and somebody says, where in the Bible does it say that God is God?
I mean, that the Holy Spirit, I mean, that Jesus is God.
God, Jesus never claims to be God.
Okay, just John 1
all over the place says, Jesus in the flesh, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Word of God, the Creation.
He's the Creator.
All things were made by Him.
Kind of sounds like a God thing.
Oh, we'll pause right there.
Thank you.
Let's Read John 1 Together