The Word Of God

The Word of God (John 1:1-9; 14-17) John 1:1 logos {log'-os} Gk. = the word, the utterance of a living voice, that which embodies a conception or idea To the ancients, and even modern Easterners, a word is not simply head knowledge transferred to sound waves, indicating a concept or nominative designation. A word is seen as an active event, inherently powerful. A word is the same as a deed. (Russell Brownworth, Methodist Pastor, Thomasville, NC) Arthur Pink wrote that a word is a medium of manifestation, a means of communication, and a method of revelation. In that sense, Jesus is the Word that manifested, communicated, and reveals God to man. “In the beginning was” = pre-incarnate state; always existed (Gen. 1:1; John 8:58) arche {ar-khay'}Gk. = beginning, origin, the person or thing that commences, the first “was with God” = in intimate relation to pros {pros}Gk. = near, in close proximity with Max Lucado said this was The Author entering his own story “was God” = “the very essence, nature and attributes of” or the “expression of the heart/mind of God” (See Isa. 9:6. Heb. “el”, Matt. 28:18, John 1:14, 14:9-11, Col. 1:15, 2:9) “Him” = the Word personified Eimi, Gk. = Continuously in existence (see Heb. 7:3; 13:8; Rev. 1:8) All was created through the Word (John 1:2-3, 10; Ps. 33:6; Col. 1:16-17; Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2; Rev. 4:12) Ginomi, Gk. = Created from nothing, not merely transformed His Spirit creates and renews (Ps. 51:10, 104:30, Isa. 40:31, 65:17, Rom. 12:2, 2 Cor. 4:16, 5:17, Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:23, Titus 3:5) Spiritual Light (John 8:12; 12:46) Light in Darkness = the Glory of God

Gen. 1:3 (God said let there be light and there was) Ex. 13:21 (Pillar of fire to give them light) Ps. 18:28 (God will light my candle and make my darkness shine) Ps. 27:1 (The Lord is my light and my salvation) 2 Cor. 4:6 (Light in our heart of knowledge of glory of God in face of Christ) Like John, we are called to bear witness to and reflect this light William Hendriksen points out that as the moon is to the sun, so John was to Jesus. The moon has no light of its own, it only reflects the sun’s light. Spiritual Life (John 11:25; 14:6; 1 John 5:11; Rev. 21:6) “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) Became flesh (John 1:14; Phil 2:6-8) Incarnate = Emmanuel = God with us Jesus Christ became a man in order to help us recapture our lost destiny as “Sons of God” with eternal life (Mark 10:30; John 3:15; 10:28; 17:2; Rom. 2:7; 6:23; 1 John 2:25) The Son of Man A term often used by Jesus Himself to refer to himself a) Human, carrying the connotation of humility, weakness and mortality born of a woman, grew, hungered, bled, etc.) b) Messianic title: symbolically denotes the fifth kingdom in Daniel 7:13 and by this term its humanity is indicated in contrast with the barbarity and ferocity of the four preceding kingdoms (the Babylonian, the Median and the Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman) typified by the four beasts. c) In the book of Enoch (2nd Century) it is used of Christ. e) head of the human family f) pattern of the perfect man g) one acting on behalf of all mankind Resided with men (John 1:14) “Tabernacle” (Exodus 25:8)

“Jesus sees us not only as we are, but as we can be.” – William Barclay Full (Overflowing, Abounding in) of Grace (John 1:14, 17) charis {khar'-ece} Gk. = 1) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness or 2) favor, mercy, undeserved kindness, sinpardoning, tender, compassionate (see Eph. 2:8-9) His sacrifice is the personification of God’s perfect and complete grace for us

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“Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church…The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits…. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” - Dietrich Bonhoffer, Costly Grace. He wants to pour the overflow of His grace into “empty vessels” (us), like Elisha did with the oil in 2 Kings 4:1-7 Every Sunday for the past 9 years members of the Landisville (Pa) Mennonite Church have prayed for a son of their congregation. Every month they send him a small sum of money, and every month some of them visit him. Prayer, money, and visits. These sound fairly typical for a care-giving church. BUT THIS SITUATION IS NOT TYPICAL AT ALL. Far from it. Nine years ago, after a meal with relatives on a calm Sunday afternoon, 14-year-old Keith Weaver killed his parents and his sister. The horror of the crime and the loss of lives rocked the Weavers’ family, the church, and the community to the core. In the midst of their grief and disillusionment, however, members of the Landisville Mennonite Church got busy. They helped clean the house where the murders occurred, established a legal support committee to care for Keith’s needs so that the surviving brother and sister wouldn’t have to, and founded a "seventy times seven" fund to collect money for his expenses. They studied grief, forgiveness, and victimization in Sunday School and sermons, calling on the expertise of area chaplains and counselors. And a year after the tragedy, they held a memorial service to lament the loss of their loved ones and TO RECOMMIT THEMSELVES TO THE JOURNEY OF FORGIVENESS. Landisville Pastor Sam Thomas said, "Forgiveness is an act of God’s grace. You don’t forgive and forget. You forgive again and again and again."

Full of Truth (John 1:14, 17; Prov. 8:7) What are you full of?