The Word Is Alive

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

THE WORD IS ALIVE

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. RICHARD YATES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT THE

LIBERTY

OF THE REQUIREMENTS

COURSE

BAPTIST

NBST 521

THEOLOGICAL

SEMINARY

BY JONATHAN KEENE

LYCHBURG, VIRGINA SUNDAY MAY 3RD 2009

FOR

Contents The Call of Love.......................................................................................................2 The Word Became Flesh..........................................................................................3 The Word 'Word,' a Word Study................................................................................5 The Message of the Word According to John's Gospel.............................................7 The Word as God.....................................................................................................9 Incarnations of the Word........................................................................................12 The Word is Alive...................................................................................................15 Conclusion.............................................................................................................17 Selected Bibliography............................................................................................18

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The Call of Love “Wisdom and Knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation.” ISAIAH 33:6

“O My beloved, abide under the shelter of the lattice for I have betrothed you to Myself, and though you are sometimes indifferent toward Me, My love for you is at all times as a flame of fire. My ardor never cools. My Longing for your love and affection is deep and constant. ...” -Frances J Roberts1 It has been said that the Gospels are a love story; astory of God's love for humanity. The love of God is displayed in the Gospel of John in the advent of, and in the ministry of the Messiah. The Messiah is portrayed uniquely in John's Gospel as the Word of God become flesh. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Not only is the Messiah shown as the Word in John, but John also portrays that same Word as God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). In this respect John places the Messiah on the thrown of Heaven as God. If this is the case, then how should we interpret the word 'Word?' Do we interpret the 'Word' as simply the person of Jesus? Do we interpret the 'Word' as God? Do we interpret the 'Word' as the written scriptures of the time? Or is it an amalgamation of them all? John offers an exclusive interpretation of the Messiah that will help to answer 1

Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH, (Promise Press, 2002), p. 8

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these questions. In this paper the subject of the Word will be explored from six divergent angles. It will be viewed from John's perspective as the Word made flesh, the word 'Word' will be scrutinized in word study fashion, John's intention for expressing the Messiah as 'Word' will be discussed, the assertion that the 'Word is God' will be delved into, the instances in scriptures contemporary with the incarnation where the 'Word' appears in history will be reflected upon, and the idea that the 'Word is Alive' will be discussed. In conclusion it will be evident that all six areas of 'Word' exploration have been scratched. The subject matter of this paper is deeper than time and paper allows. Be encouraged however, “ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (John 4:9). John's Gospel has the theme of Love spread throughout. In our explorations of the 'Word' it is never a good idea to lose sight of that fact. The Word Became Flesh “... Tarry not for an opportunity to have more time to be alone with me. Take it, though you leave the tasks at hand. Nothing will suffer. Things are of less importance that you think. Our time together is like a garden full of flowers, whereas the time you give to things is a field full of stubble. ...” ­Frances J. Roberts2 It was very fortunate for the individuals who actually were in the presence of Christ as he walked the earth. Many people would give their whole lives savings to spend but one hour with the incarnate Jesus Christ as he walked the Earth. Two 2

Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH., (Promise Press, 2002), p. 8

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thousand years after the fact we must walk with him in spirit and in truth. But who was he, where did he come from, and what was he? John tells us that he was in the beginning, he was with God, and he was the Word. He also says that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” (John 1:14a). What does that mean? When seeking an understanding of the Word made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ it is imperative to believe that Jesus was not simply a man who one day decided he was God. The Gospel of John makes if very clear in the prologue to the book (John 1:1-18) that Jesus existed in a pre-incarnate state in Heaven, a concept we will explore later. It is important to see that the incarnation of the Word was the plan of God and not the wild imaginings of a very charismatic, and influential man. It had been the plan of God for a very long time to come into the World and save it through his son Jesus. ““The Word, who “was with God” and “was God,” gave up the “glory [he] had with[the Father] before the world existed” (17:5) and “emptied himself, in that he took the form of a slave by becoming like human beings are” (Pp 2:7)...It is God the Word, who decided to become man, not the other way around.”3 The plan of salvation called for the Creator to become like the created. The idea that God could lower himself to a human level and still be God is hard to understand. “But can the one God, whose ways are as high above our ways as the heavens above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9), “become a human being” and still be God? Does not the assertion that the Creator becomes the creature contradict the very essence of what it means to be God? The New Testament writers were 3

David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, Clarksville, MD., (Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. 1992), p. 155

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aware that the concept of God becoming human needed unique treatment.”4 Jesus was not a totally supernatural sort of God-like man. He was fully human. The scripture attests that there are things that only the Father knows in Matthew 24:36 it reads: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” It is apparent that Jesus had some sort of cap or limitation to the direct information from the Father, yet he was the Word made flesh. This advent of God meeting men in physical form is not unique to John or even to the New Testament as we will see later. But what is unique is the Word of God becoming a man. In later years the subject of the humanity of Jesus became a point of controversy for the Church. Gnostics were a secretive Christian cult who believed that they alone had the secret ‘gnosis’ which led to true salvation. In Gnosticism “The supreme being had no intention of creating a material world, but only a spiritual one. Thus, a number of spiritual beings were generated.”5 These spiritual beings were known as ‘Eons.’ “In any case, one of these eons, far removed from the supreme being fell into error, and thus created the material world.”6 This line of thought created a disdain for the physical world and all physical substance became sinful, so Christ actually having a real physical body became anathema among Gnostics.

4 5

6

Ibid, p. 155 Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 1, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, New York, NY., (HarperCollins Publishers, 1984), p.59 Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 1, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, New York, NY., (HarperCollins Publishers, 1984), p.59

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Marcion grew up as the son of a Bishop so he had an understanding of Christianity from an early age. “But he developed a profound dislike towards both Judaism and the material world. He thus developed an understanding that was both anti-Jewish and anti-material.”7 Marcion tried to create his own canon of scriptures by excluding anything Jewish and relegated his Bible to some of Paul's letters and a much edited version of Luke. His heresy was not totally Gnostic due to the fact that he did not believe in a pantheon of eons, but he did believe that Jehovah and the Supreme Father were the same. In response to this heresy the Church fathers addressed the humanity of Jesus and his relation to God and created the first canon of official scriptures that the church had ever had. The fact that Jesus was a man and was the incarnation of God are widely accepted, but we must explore the word 'Word.' To better understand the Word, it is imperative to look at the use of the word 'Word' and define how it is being used in John. The Word 'Word,' a Word Study. “… I love you, and if you can always, as it were, feel My pulse beat, you will receive insight that will give you sustaining strength. I bore your sins and I wish to carry your burdens. …” -Francis J Roberts8

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Ibid, p. 61 Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH., (Promise Press, 2002), p. 8

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In the Gospel of John the word ‘Word’ is used very intentionally. John is very specific about the words that he uses when speaking of the Word. In the prologue of John we are introduced to the Word in the very first sentence. The theme of the Word is carried all the way through the rest of the Gospel. Some scholars however, do not see the relationship between the prologue and the rest of the book and believe the prologue to be addition to the original book. A large reason for this belief is the fact that the word ‘logos’ never occurs as a title for Christ anytime after the prologue. John A. T. Robinson sees the original beginning of the Gospel in verses 6-9, and 15.9 “Robinson acknowledged thematic interrelations between the prologue and the rest of John. The themes include the preexistence of Christ, the contrast between light and darkness, the seeing of Jesus’ glory, the seeing of God by no one except Jesus, etc.”10 Even though Robinson sees similarities between the prologue and other parts of the Gospel of John, he asserts that the first portion of the book is a latter addition. “Still other scholars think not only that whatever its background the Prologue belonged to the original version of John, but also that the Word in the Prologue gives expression to the idea of revelation which dominates the whole Gospel.”11 That being said it is imperative to view the various ‘Word’ words that are employed in the Gospel of John. The word that is used in John 1:1 that has been translated as Word is the Greek ‘logos.’ It is Strong’s word #3056, and carries with it a large definition. It is 9 10

11

John A. T. Robinson, Twelve More New Testament Studies (London, SCM, 1984), p. 69. Robert H. Gundry, Jesus the Word According to John the Sectarian, A Paleofundamentalsist Manifesto for Contemporary Evangelicalism, Especially Its Elites, in North America. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, MI.), p. 2 Ibid, p.2

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usually defined as the spoken word, speech, or communication, but it can mean reason + reckoning, work, and cause. It is this word that John uses in his prologue to describe the Messiah. This use of logos in the prologue of John has created a genre in Theology that has become known as ‘Word-Christology.’ WordChristology is the study of Christ in John using the Greek ‘logos’ as a guide to interpret John’s portrayal of Christ. The wonderfully fascination thing about the Gospel of John is the fact that it contains more of Jesus’ dialogue than any other Gospel, so in John the Word really speaks out. “Werner H. Kelber calculates that about four-fifths of chapters 1-17 and about three-fourths of chapters 1-20 consists of Jesus’ sayings, dialogues, and monologues.”12 In John Jesus speaks through vast portions of the scripturecontained therein. The spoken word of the Logos is salted in John offering a very unique flavor compared to the synoptics. “To make room for Jesus’ added speech, John has greatly reduced both the volume and the number of narratives concerning Jesus’ deeds.”13 In this way Jesus brings meaning to the use of the word ‘logos’ in the prologue of John throughout the entire book, thus showing continuity in the work. The idea of ‘logos’ as the spoken word of God and given the power of creation is evident in the prologue of John. In John 1:3 it is written “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” So, Jesus being the very spoken Word of God that was made flesh and then speaks to humanity through John’s Gospel is a very 12

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Robert H. Gundry, Jesus the Word According to John the Sectarian, A Paleofundamentalsist Manifesto for Contemporary Evangelicalism, Especially Its Elites, in North America. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, MI.), p. 5 citing Werner H Kelber, The Authority of the Word in St. John’s Gospel. p. 110-111. Ibid, p. 5

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profound thing indeed. John uses the word ‘logos’ only three times outside the prologue in the plural ‘logoi’ form, but he uses ‘logos’ eighteen times in its singular form. Another Greek word that is used for ‘word’ is ‘rhamata.’ This is Strong’s word # 4487 and conveys a meaning of ‘utterance, word, saying, or command.’ “Always in the plural, [rhamata] occurs nine times for Jesus’ words and three times for the words of God that Jesus speaks, so that the references to Jesus’ [rhamata] are to understood as also the [rhamata] of God.”14 The Message of the Word According to John's Gospel “… You may take the gift of a light and merry heart, for My love dispels all fear and is a cure for every ill. Lay your head on my breast and lose yourself in Me. …” Francis J. Roberts15 The Gospel of John is not entirely unique in itsmessage, after all it tells the story of Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection just like the synoptics do. There are however differences in each of the Gospels that do make them unique. In John’s Gospelthere is more uniqueness than in the synoptics simply because John appears to have been written as a separate work. Meaning, it is not evident that John pulled from a similar source, such as the ‘Q’ document, nor did he let another Gospel influence his writing. Some of the items that make John unique are his emphasis of Jesus as the son of God and as God, his emphasis on 14

15

Ibid, p. 6. Brackets added by author to indicate the text within was changed from Greek to English. Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH., (Promise Press, 2002), p. 8

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Jesus’ miracles as signs or proofs showing his divinity, and his use of light and darkness, death and life in theological pairs. John puts the purpose of his Gospel best in John 20:31 when he says, “But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name.” As mentioned earlier John’s gospel is made up of a lot of discourse from Jesus. The time frame that is narrated in the Gospel of John is not that long. The shortness of time catalogued in John leads one to believe that he has captured what the Holy Spirit led him to believe were the most pertinent points of Jesus’ ministry. “The book of John covers only 21 days of Jesus’3 1/2 years of ministry. It devotes 10 (of 21) chapters to just one week; one-third of the verses (237 of 879 verses) cover a single 24-hour period in Jesus’ ministry.”16 Yet in these 21 days of ministry, Jesus reveals himself to be the Son of God (John 3:16), he reveals the need to be born again (John 3:3), Jesus is the giver of the living water (John 4:14), Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35), he is the bringer of Light (John 1: 4-9, 12:46), Jesus is God (John 5:17-27). John represents Jesus as divine in his Gospel focuses on instances that prove his divinity. In the above list of items we are given a clear picture that Jesus has the power to save one from their sins and give eternal life. He can do this because he is God’s Son and carries in his hands the bread that satisfies hunger and the water that quenches thirst. He can do these things because he is the Word of creation that can speak new life, can speak resurrection power (John 11:43), can forgive sins with a word (John 8:11). The 16

Chuck Missler, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Coeor d'Alene, ID. (Koinonia House, 1994), p. 5

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message of Jesus found in John is not so different from the synoptic Gospels that it is a totally different story. John write his story to reveal Jesus’ divinity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”17 The Word as God “… You will experience resurrection life and peace; the joy of the Lord will become your strength and wells of salvation will be opened within you.” Frances J. Roberts18

In ancient times, times in which the early first century church were dealing with the issues of who Jesus was and what he told the world about himself, it became evident that there was a need to define his relationship with the Father. John tells us that the “Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This is a profound statement in its own right. Early Christian theologians began to struggle with this issue byasking what that really meant. Was Jesus really a human being or was he God in an illusionary form? Was he fully God or just part God? Was he the same as God or was he different? The answer to these questions came in response to another controversy in the Christian church. This controversy became known as the Arian Controversy. The Arian controversy centered onthe identity and natures of Jesus Christ and God the Father. In fact the Arian controversy stemmed from a more historical 17

Blue Letter Bible. "John 1 - New King James Version." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 3 May 2009. 18 Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH., (Promise Press, 2002), p. 8

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debate concerning the nature of the trinity. The early church fathers understood that Christ was divine as well as human, and they understood that there was only one God, but how to reconcile the apparent differences was reason for years of debate. There were some like Sabellius who claimed that Christ and God were the same. These “Sabellians” met with heavy criticism at times. Hilary of Poitiers disagreed with the claim that Christ and God were one in the same. “If he dares, let Sabellius proclaim the Father and the Son as one and the same...He will at once hear from the Gospels, not once or twice, butfrequently: 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.' He will hear: 'The Father is greater than I.' He will hear: 'I go to the Father.' He will hear: 'Father, I give thee thanks' and 'Father glorify me.'”19 This type of thinking led to an uncomfortable assumption that maybe there were two Gods, and even a third once you added the Spirit. “Tertullian looked for a way out of this problem with a series of metaphors. 'God sent forth the Word,' he explained, '...just as the root puts forth the tree, and the fountain the river, and the sun the ray.' Therefore we can distinguish between Father and Son, just as we can distinguish between the sun and the ray of light flowing from it, but they are not two separate things.'”20 Tertullian's attempts at compromise however just confused the issue for some. He asserted that the idea that Jesus comes from God, as a ray comes from the sun, which creates a subordination issue. Christ is made subordinate to the Father. “The Difficulties of this view became clear only 19

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Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 2.23, tr. By Peter Holmes, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1963), p. 603. William C. Placher, A History of Christian Theology, An Introduction, Philadelphia, (The Westminster Press, 1983), page 73

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in the theories of Arius, a priest living in Alexandria around 300, whom traditionally is cast as the villain in this story.”21 Arius believed that Christ and God were separate entities, Christ was subordinate to the Father, and Christ was a created being like us, although much better than us. Arius states, “The Word of God was not from eternity, but was made out of nothing...Wherefore there was a time when he did not exist, inasmuch as the Son is a creature and a work...He is neither like the Father as it regards his essence, nor is by nature either the Father's true Word, or true Wisdom, but indeed one of his works and creatures.”22 Arius was well liked by his community and was quite a statesman. He was a very convincing person. He even created a slogan that was sung to a popular tune of the day. It stated, “There was a time when the Son was not.” Arius having theorized that Jesus had been created in time forged an impenetrable gap between God the Father and Jesus the Son. The gap is one of time versus eternity. Athenasius of Alexandria proposed that making Jesus a created being separated him from the Father by placing Jesus in time, where God was eternal, and therefore outside of time. Athenasius said that if Jesus was created in time and God was eternal, and both were divine, then there would inevitably be two Gods. Athenasius, therefor, rejected Arius' view on Christ. He insisted the Messiah was eternal with the Father. The question then arose of how Jesus cameinto being. Athenasius touched on this subject when he said, “The 21 22

Ibid., page 73 Letter of Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, summarizing the Arian position; quoted in Socrates, Ecclesiastical History 1.6, tr. By A.C. Zenos, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Ser., Vol. 2 (Christian Literature Co., 1980), page 4.

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generation of the Son is not like that of a man, which requires an existence after that of the Father....But the nature of the Son of God being infinite and eternal, His generation must, of necessity, be infinite and eternal too.”23 In Athenasius' view he placed Christ on the right side of eternity. He won considerable support and the debate began to rage all over the empire. Contentions grew between the followers of Arius and Athenasius. Arius said that Christ was 'created,' Athenasius said that Christ was 'begotten.' The exchange of ideas became so heated that the attention of the Emperor was aroused. Constantine had hoped that the enthusiastic and organized character of the Christians would create an adhesive quality to his very large empire. Now his hopes in a stable Christian element were being torn apart by a theological debate. He decided to look into the matter. After considering the issue he wrote the leaders on both sides and said, “Having made a careful inquiry into the origin and foundation of these differences, I find the cause to be of a truly insignificant character, and quite unworthy of such fierce contention.”24 Constantine in an effort to get past this controversy in order to bring back the stabilizing Christian element to the empire called the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. If only these scholars of old would have looked to John they would have come to the conclusion that, yes the Word is God. Debate raged at the council, and actually they did look to John’s Gospel for 23

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Athenasius, Orations Against the Arians 1.14, in The Orations of St. Athenasius (London: Giffith Farran; no date or translator given), page 25. Constantine, Letter to Alexander the Bishop and Arius the Presbyter; quoted in Eusebius, Life of Constantine 2.68, tr. By Ernest Cushing Richardson, in A Select Library of the Nicene and PostNicene Fathers, 2nd Ser., Vol. 1 (Christian Literature Co., 1890) page 516.

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answers. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, [are] in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”25 “It is interesting to note that in the 4thcentury this verse and others like it were used by the Orthodox against the Arians. And the Arians replied that the unity between the Father and the Son was the same type of unity that exists among believers. The Orthodox argued and won that the debate that formalized the dogma that Jesus Christ is homoousios with the Father.”26 The term ‘homoousios’ means “of the same substance,” so the early church fathers determined that Jesus was the same as God. Incarnations of the Word Cherish My Words For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. PSALMS 18:28

“O My children, obey My words. Do not wander in unbelief and darkness, but let the Scripture shine as a light upon your path. My Word shall be life to you, for My commandments are given for your health and preservation. They will guard you from folly, and guide you away from danger. …” Francis J. Robert27

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26 27

Blue Letter Bible. "John 1 - New King James Version." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 3 May 2009. Wallace S. Jungers, Jesus According to John. Bloomington, Indiana (AuthorHouse, 2005), p. 88 Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH., (Promise Press, 2002), p. 25

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In the Gospels of Luke and Matthew a genealogy is given for Jesus. The genealogies link Jesus with his kingly and familial heritages so that his humanity is catalogued. Mark has no genealogy thus asserting his position of Jesus as servant; servants don’t need to know where they come from. But in John we are shown a spiritual genealogy of Jesus of sorts. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”28 Jesus has been show to be one with the Father and therefore without beginning. John the Baptist alludes to this fact in John 1:30 when he says, “This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”29 It would make sense therefore to see instances in the past where Jesus has acted on behalf of the people Israel. The first instance that will be discussed it the actions at Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Many biblical scholars understand the Covenant given at Mt. Sinai to be a marriage contract with Israel. Many places in the Old Testament the people of Israel, and later Judah too, are accused of committing spiritual and physical adultery with other gods. There could have been no adultery without a mirage agreement, or at least from an ancient Jewish perspective, a betrothal. The marriage contract was the Torah, the Word of God, which was given on Mt. Sinai to which all the people said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8b). Jesus appears to Moses on the Mountain in his 28

29

Blue Letter Bible. "John 1 - New King James Version." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 3 May 2009. John 1:1-3. Blue Letter Bible. "John 1 - New King James Version." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 3 May 2009.

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heavenly form. In Exodus 24:9-11 we find an incredibly overlooked passage of scripture where Moses and a lot of other people see God and have meal with God. “Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And [there was] under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in [its] clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.” We have men seeing God and living which is supposed to be impossible,30 so who did they see if not the pre-incarnate Messiah? The second instance that will be pointed out is found in the Book of Ezekiel. It is the recounting of a vision that Ezekiel sees on the banks of the river Chebar. In his vision he sees a wheeled vehicle with a thrown on top of it. The one on the throne is described thus: “on the likeness of the throne [was] a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so [was] the appearance of the brightness all around it. This [was] the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw [it], I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.” Again there is a description of a person that is Godlike in his gloryand he speaks. Ezekiel is notorious for using the term, “the word of the Lord came to me.” Like

30

See also: John 1:18, 1 John 4:12, 1 Timothy 6:16

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the encounter on Sinai, Ezekiel is given a glimpse of God and is given a message, a word, for the people of Israel. How can we be sure that these are in fact the pre-incarnate form of Jesus showing himself to the ancients? These verses and these glimpses of Jesus are confirmed in the New Testament in Revelation through the one standing in the midst of the seven lamp stands. “...[One] like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair [were] white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet [were] like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance [was] like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me,"Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I [am] He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore”(Revelation 13b18a). The description of this One who reveals himself to be the Heavenly Jesus is very similar to the descriptions found in the Exodus and Ezekiel. Jesus himself in the above portion of scripture admits that he is the First and the Last. His spiritual genealogy has neither beginning nor end, but his time on Earth was only about 33 years long. He had made himself know to those of people of the Old Testament through direct contact. At the same time he was fulfilling his function as the Word and was giving life giving instructions and commandments. The Word is Alive “… 19

Hide My commandments in your heart, and make them the law of your life. Cherish my words, and take not lightly the least of them. I have not given them to you to bind you, but to bring you into the life of greatest joy and truest liberty. …” Francis J. Roberts31 It is evident to any believer that the Word of God, the Messiah, the Christ has risen from the dead and is alive today at the right hand of the Father.32 So what does it mean that the Word is Alive? The very scripture we have today is a living document. Through the inspired hands of the authors the Word of God comes to us in the pages of the Bible revealing areas of sin, areas of growth, areas of improvement, areas of love, areas of encouragement, and areas of forgiveness. In fact there are many similar references to the written word of God and the Word found in John. Like Jesus, the scriptures bring illumination from the Father. Remember John says of Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”(John 1:4). The scripture tells us in Psalms 119:105 that “Your word [is] a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” The same light that Jesus brought can be found in the scriptures. Another way the scripture is comparable to Jesus is in the area of bread. Jesus said that he was the bread of life after he fed the five thousand. “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”(John 31

32

Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH., (Promise Press, 2002), p. 25 See Hebrews 10:12

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6:33) Similarly it is said in the Old Testament that the Word of God is like bread, actually better than bread. “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut 8:3). Do not think that the written word is actually alive nor is it homoousios with the God. It is a collection of paper, ink and glue. The true power of the Word is when it is read through the lenses of the Holy Spirit. Jesus the Word is alive, but through the prompting of the Holy Spirit the written word can speak to an individual jus t as effectively as if a person was being told face to face. Conclusion This paper has explored John’s Gospel from 6 angles. It is evident that John’s Gospel focuses on the divinity of Christ, and that he uses Word Christology throughout his work. Jesus has been shown to be the Word of God, in fact God made flesh. It is understood that he has resurrected from the dead and is at the right hand of the Father. It has been shown that Jesus was pre-existent to the incarnation thus verifying John’s claim that Jesus was with God in the beginning. It is made plane in the Gospel of John that Jesus came into the world to save the world from its sins. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God came to a sinful man and laid down his life as payment for our sins. He lowered himself to our estate and won the victory at the cross. No 21

simple man could do such a thing, it had to be God. The price of our sin was to large of a sum to pay for, only a heavenly account could settle it. “… Sanctification is accomplished in no one by accident. Learn My rules, and put them into practice consistently, if you desire to see progress in the growth of your soul. Holiness is not a feeling-it is the end product of obedience. Purity is not a gift-it is the result of repentance and serious pursuit of God” Francis J. Roberts33

Selected Bibliography

Athenasius, Orations Against the Arians 1.14, in The Orations of St. Athenasius. Giffith Farran: London Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine 3.7. Gundry, Robert H. Jesus the Word According to John the Sectarian, A Paleofundamentalsist Manifesto for Contemporary Evangelicalism, Especially Its Elites, in North America. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, MI. 2002.

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Frances J Roberts, Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Uhrichsville OH., (Promise Press, 2002), p. 25-26

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Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. 1984 Jungers, Wallace S., Jesus According to John. Authorhouse: Bloomington, IN. 2005. Kysar, Robert., John the Maverick Gospel: Third Edition. Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, KY. 2007. Levertoff, Paul P., Love and the Messianic Age in Hitherto Untranslated Hasidic Writings with Special Reference to the Fourth Gospel. Episcopal Hebrew Christian Church: London, 1923. Missler, Chuck., The Gospel of John: A Commentary. Koinonia House: Coeor d'Alene, ID. 1994. Placher, William C., A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction. The Westminster Press: Philadelphia, PA. 1983 Roberts, Francis J., Come Away My Beloved, The Intimate Devotional Classic Updated in Today's Language, Promise Press, Uhrichsville OH. 2002 Stern, David H. Jewish New Testament Commentary. Jewish New Testament Publications, INC.: Clarksville, MD. 1999. Strong, James, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Atlanta GA. 1995.

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