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Jesus is the Word of God Made Flesh

Pictures of Jesus from John's Camera

The Gospel of John was written by the great apostle in about 85 AD, as best we can gather, and it's the last of the Gospels to be written. That's important, because by the time this book started circulating among the Christian community, the other Gospels were already household words. People the world over already had the accounts of the life of Christ as recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Those first three are called the synoptic Gospels, and synoptic means "to see together." The first three Gospels contain many of the same stories and teachings, but they're told from a different angle. Matthew was writing to the Jews. Mark is basically Peter's Gospel, where he's just trying to tell the story as quickly as he can. And Luke is more of an investigative journalist type, looking into the actuality of how God came to earth to walk among us. Each is fully inspired by the Lord, but each is told from a different angle.

John's Gospel is different. In its pages we see a side of Christ that the other Gospel writers don't touch on. They don't have the same inner-circle feel that John does. I think that's one of the reasons God, in his wisdom, took Peter telling John Mark the story and made the Gospel of Mark instead of the Gospel of Peter. Peter has other letters that are very impactful, but out of that inner circle, Peter was the one who would always say too much and speak out of turn. I can relate to Peter.

John was much more contemplative. John stood at the foot of the cross with the women. John was there for it all.

So John gives us a different picture. His camera takes snapshots that the other disciples would not have been able to express. John gives us twenty-one chapters, and as each one unfolds, it presents a new facet of the divine character of Jesus. Each chapter is a different picture of Jesus from John's camera.

In the opening chapter, John paints a picture of Jesus as the Word of God. When we get down to verse 14, I think we have the most explosive verse in all of history. Here is the passage:

John 1:1–16

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 was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness about him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'" For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

There are three truths in these verses that we can focus on:

1. Jesus is the pre-existent Word.
2. Jesus is the Word personalized.
3. Jesus is the Word proclaimed.

1. Jesus Is the Pre-Existent Word

The Constant Word

In verse 1, he is the constant Word. According to these verses, Jesus has simply always existed. I can't ever get my mind around that. He didn't come into being in Bethlehem. He has been there all throughout the endless ages of time and eternity past.

The word was in verse 1 equals always has been. Now contrast that with the word was in verse 6, the word concerning John the Baptist. It simply means to become. John became, but Jesus always has been. That's why John is described as not being the light but pointing to the light, because the light has always been there.

So Jesus is the constant, unchanging Word of God.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

That is why we can depend on Jesus. That is why Christians can count on the Lord. He will never fail us or leave us. He may not do the things that we want him to do. We may have to go through some stuff we don't want to go through, but he doesn't ever leave us or abandon us. And so the confidence can be solid in our lives that we have Jesus now for eternity.

For those of us who know the Lord, eternity has already started. We're already walking out eternity. We just have this flesh nature. We still have this body, and these two natures are still fighting in us. The old phrase is, which nature wins the battle today? The one you feed the most. We can have our lives depend on Jesus because he's never going to fail us.

With God

At the end of verse 1, the phrase says Jesus was with God. That is, he was present in the heavenlies, in the presence of God, yet he stood as a distinct person. When this phrase is taken alongside the other two in this verse, the reality of the Trinity is straight up on display. This verse teaches us that Jesus is God, and yet he is still a unique being.

Jesus Christ was not an afterthought with a holy God. He wasn't something conjured up when things got out of control. Jesus was there when God moved to make man in his image in Genesis 1:26. Jesus was there in heaven when the plan to redeem the world was formulated. You can find this in Revelation 13, Ephesians 1, Titus 1, 1 Peter 1, and more. My point is that the whole Bible testifies to this as a totality: since before time began, Jesus was with the Father in heaven.

From Strange to Crazy

Now fast forward to when Jesus came preaching repentance, and watch this transition.

• In Mark 1:15, men thought he was strange.
• When he began to heal and perform miracles, men thought he was a prophet sent by God, in John 3:2.
• When he spoke the word of God with power, men thought he was amazing, in Luke 4:36.
• But when Jesus claimed equality with God, folks thought he was crazy, in John 19.

He stopped being a blessing and became a controversy when he claimed to be God. And that's the rub, isn't it?

John 14:9

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"

People still struggle with this truth. In our human mind, we're willing to accept the humble Christ, the teaching Christ, the meek Christ, the dead Christ, the serving Christ, the "He Gets Us" Christ. But many will not acknowledge the fact that Jesus was God and man at the same time.

100% God and 100% Man

He is still 100% God and 100% man, wrapped up into one. The apostle Paul, in a very cool way, tells us what this is like.

Philippians 2:5–8

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

What these verses are telling us, in abundantly clear and concise language, is that Jesus existed before Bethlehem, and that he willingly humbled himself and came into this world in the condition of a servant. Now, form equals condition. Jesus is God in human flesh. Many of us have taken this by faith, and we wonder how people can't see it. But it is a stumbling block.

The Energy Behind Creation

Jesus was the energy behind the creation of the universe. That's who we worship. If you're ever doubting that, if you think, "Well, Jesus was just this guy," and you make him into a weak-wristed shampoo model, look up Revelation 19 when you get a chance. That's the Jesus we're here to sing to. That's our Jesus. He stood on the edge of nothing and spoke everything into existence.

Colossians 1:16–18

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

I know this may be deeper than usual, but when you get this, there's a joy to that depth. I'm grateful that this God is my God, that this Savior is my Savior. I'm glad I can know him and get that free pardon from sin, and that salvation is in his control.

Our All-Powerful Savior

The worries and pressures of life grow amazingly dim when confronted with the power and might of our all-powerful Savior. That's the deal. That's the game.

Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

That's why I pray to Jesus. I start with "Heavenly Father," then "Jesus," and I sometimes even toss the Holy Spirit in, because they're three in one. But Jesus is our God. He is the pre-existent Word of God. He has always been and always will be. I'm so thankful there will never be a day in eternity without Jesus.

Eternity with Jesus

In our flesh nature, we want to talk about what we're going to get: how we're going to have a mansion built for us, how we're going to see grandpa and grandma again, all the things we're going to be able to do. But when you stop and think about how sinful we really are and how holy God really is, just the fact that we get to be with Jesus is what eternity is going to be about. And it's going to be glorious.

No matter where we wind up on this earth or how we travel through this world, when we trust the pre-existent One, and he's always there for us, it makes things well with us when it might not normally be.

Born into a Sinful World

A lot of times people say, "Well, if you get the pre-existent Word of God, if you get Jesus Christ, you should just be happy and healthy the rest of your days." That's not what we were born into. The whole world is so sinful. We have to lock our doors. We have to have contracts with everybody.

There's one thing God has given us that helps keep the sin raging around us at bay, and that's family. That's why your family means so much to you. And when we get adopted into Christ's family, we become brothers and sisters. So what's the one thing Satan would love to do? Attack the church, over and over and over for the last 2,000 years. We've watched it.

We need to see how it's personal, and how it's a big deal when Jesus is personalized to us. When he became a person, it mattered.

2. Jesus Is the Word Personalized

Verse 14 is the foundation here. Jesus is the Word personalized. It's one of the clearest statements in the Bible that Jesus became a person so that he could be personal to us. We call this the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Incarnation is a fifty-cent word meaning the bodily manifestation of a supernatural being.

There are three things to look at: the manner of his incarnation, the mystery of his incarnation, and the majesty of his incarnation. That could be a seminary class or a series all on its own.

The Manner of His Incarnation

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

How could God become a man? A very smart seminary professor explained it to me this way. If we had an ant community, and we had to do something for them and explain something to them, we can't talk to them. So we would have to become an ant. A supernatural being would go walk among the ants and show them the way. And the ants would probably reject us, just like they rejected Jesus.

But the answer to the question, to be honest with you, lies in the mind of God alone. All we know is that God chose a virgin named Mary and caused her to miraculously conceive and bring forth a baby. That's because Jesus had to be born outside the flesh sin nature, so that he would be the spotless Lamb, qualified to take away the sins of the world.

He still had to go through with it. That's another thing we celebrate. When you stop and think about it, you celebrate the fact that this man stood his ground. He was fully God and fully man. A lot of times I used to think, "Well, he's God. Of course he's going to walk straight." No. As the man he was born into, he still had to willingly lay down his life for us, on a cross. The Creator was born to the creature. God placed his life in the hands of mortals. Wow.

The text says that God dwelt among us, and that is rich in meaning. It literally means that Jesus chose to walk here among mortals.

• He lived among us.
• He worked among us.
• He prayed among us.
• He suffered among us.
• And then he died among us.

God walked upon the earth and was unrecognized by many who came into close contact with him. What a tragedy that men came into contact with the Savior and still failed to recognize him.

The Mystery of His Incarnation

The Word was made flesh. This carries the meaning of to appear in history. To step onto a stage is kind of the vibe here. In Bethlehem, God stepped out of eternity and onto the stage of human history. It was tangible proof of the existence of God and of God's willingness to save mankind. When he was here on earth, he left the record for you and me to see what Jesus came into the world to do. The record has been left for us. What do we do with it?

There are times I used to envy those men who saw and walked with Jesus, but then I realize who I am, and I realize the words of Jesus in John 20. It's a great word picture for our time. It's the chapter with the story of doubting Thomas. The point is that not everyone who saw Jesus on earth came to faith in him. They just didn't. Here is the ending of the Thomas story:

John 20:27–29

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

The Majesty of His Incarnation

Verse 14 says, "we have seen his glory." John actually saw the glory of Jesus in a very real sense. In the Synoptic Gospels, you see the story of the transfiguration. It's in Matthew 17. Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus up the mountainside, and then Jesus was transformed. They literally got to see the glorified Christ. I don't know why Peter, James, and John got to see this, but they did, and I can't imagine how much that strengthened them. But even after Peter saw that, a couple of weeks later he denied Christ three times. That's how strong the flesh nature is.

But that's not the greatest day his glory was revealed. The greatest day Jesus's glory was revealed was on Calvary. That's when it was in the sharpest focus. He left the halls of heaven, came to live among men, took on the robe of flesh, and then died for mankind. This is what he did for each and every one of us.

To me, that is the greatest evidence of the glory of God: the sacrificed body of Jesus Christ, having demonstrated his love for me in the clearest of terms.

Romans 5:8

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

3. Jesus Is the Word Proclaimed

Jesus came to reveal God to all of us. The word declare means to unfold. Everything the Lord did was simply an effort to unfold more of the revelation of God to man. Human beings needed to see God not just as a lawgiver, but also as a loving Creator. Not only as a judge, but as a justifier. Not as some stern, hateful being, but as a saving, caring God.

God Is Holy, and God Is Love

This is the big disconnect in our society, because now we've made Jesus and God into this loving thing that has no justice. Into this loving thing that is not holy. Into this loving thing that has no wrath. Well, let me tell you something. God is holy. He is justice. And he has a wrath that he's going to pour out on each and every one of us. But because of his love, he provided a way through the blood of Jesus Christ.

That's why we come and celebrate. We could be in the greatest cathedral in the world, or we could be in the basement of a house. It doesn't matter. As we gather together as a fellowship, that's what we're trying to do. He saved us while we were yet sinners.

Let's look at a few more Scriptures.

Romans 14:7–9

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Colossians 1:15

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Hebrews 1:3

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

If there ever was a mic drop in the Bible, this is it.

Now, Jesus came to put God on display before humans, and he did this in two primary ways. He came to proclaim the light, and he came to give life.

He Came to Proclaim the Light

He came to a world in spiritual darkness and opened the curtains of grace, revealing the truth of God to folks wandering in darkness. He came to illuminate the pathway of people toward God. And that light will accomplish one of two things. It will either cause humans to repent of their sins and run into the open arms of the Lord, as many of us have done, or it will cause them to reject the light and continue on in their darkness.

The best illustration I can give you is from when my kids were little. They would be downstairs watching TV, falling asleep, and I would go down there, not even thinking, and flick on the light. They'd kind of come to and wake up, and the light would blind them. "Turn the light off. Turn the light off." So I'd run over and turn the light off, and then I'd get them all hustled into bed, and half of them I'd carry. They'd already be asleep again. But they hated the light. It was a shock. It was a jar to them. And they wanted to continue on in their darkness that night.

Now, I know that's a lame example, but that's what we do. When we see the light open up the fact that we're going to have to maybe not do certain things anymore that we like to do, then it's behavior modification. Then Jesus is a buzzkill.

No. When you see the light, you see that the joy of your salvation can grow in that. The light leads to salvation, and walking continually in your darkness leads to damnation. So I thank God for the light he's given to fallen humans like me. And we no longer have to be bound by the stringent rules of the law.

That's what makes it so weird to me, and I've studied this for thirty years, that people come to know Jesus and immediately put conditions on themselves: "We have to behave better now that we're Christians." No. When you see the light, when Jesus gives you life and you have that new creature in Christ, your nature changes. Your desires change. The light reaches out to all humans, even me, in verse 9.

He Came to Give Life

Then in verses 10 through 13, we see that he came to give life. He told them there was a way to come and experience eternal life. Yet verses 10 and 11 may be some of the saddest verses in the Bible. Why? Because you read that they refused to come to him. However, verses 12 and 13 make it clear that anyone who will respond positively to the light of God will come to Jesus, receive him into their heart and life, and experience a new birth and enter into eternal life.

Then John makes it clear in verse 13 that this life does not come from our natural birth. Not by blood, not by our own good works, not by the will of the flesh or the will of man, but only through the will of God. And what is the will of the Father? You only come to Christ through the will of the Father. So what is that? Let's look at it.

John 6:36–40

But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

In other words, the Spirit of God impresses upon you, you start to respond, and Jesus grabs on to you.

The Only Door

There's only one way to get this. There's only one entrance, and that's through the Son of God.

John 10:9

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

If anyone is going to enter into eternal life, it's only going to be through Jesus. And that exclusivity is one of the reasons why we're persecuted around the world.

Knowing the Word Personally

Now, I can't say I understand all of these truths. Not everything contained in this passage do I have my mind completely around, but I can say that I like it pretty good. I just praise the Lord for revealing himself and his Father to people like us at this level. Do we need a deeper level? Do we need to have all of our questions answered? I don't. This is enough for me. I'm glad that an old sinner like myself can come to Jesus by simple faith and can be eternally saved by his grace. And that I want to celebrate daily in my life.

We may have different understandings about the old Book, the Bible, but I'm glad that I know the Word of God personally. How about you?

If you've never met Jesus, the free pardon of sin is yours. Jesus stands ready to reveal the Father's forgiveness to us. He waits for us to respond to his light so that he can then give life. And for those of us who are soundly saved, let us join together in praising him for saving us and giving us eyes to see and ears to hear, because that's what we're about, wherever we are.