John 1:1-5 (Sermon Outline)
Sermon Outline
John 1:1-5
I. Opening Illustration:
a. Some of you may remember a very publicized event that took place back in 2007 a story that was published in USA Today. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is arguably the best engineering school in the country and there’s cutthroat competition to get in. 92% of the students who apply at MIT have SAT math scores over 700. A key player in deciding who gets into MIT was their dean of admissions Marilee Jones. She was the individual that was put in the spotlight back in 2007 due to the fact that MIT discovered that she FAKED her Resume saying that she had 3 earned degrees from prestigious schools. For over a decade this woman was a standout Dean of Admissions at MIT even writing a popular book on getting your HS kids ready for the competitive world of college admissions. Though she did graduate college, none of the schools she listed were the actual schools she received her single bachelors degree from. Two of the schools she put on her resume never even heard of her. The 3rd school said she took a few classes at their college but never graduated. Merilee Jones was busted. This woman had earned MIT’s highest award for administrators, and yet she was forced to resign because she had a fake and falsified resume.
II. Introduction:
a. And as we get into the Gospel of John this morning, we are going to discover that John is going to begin using chapter 1 of his gospel for the purpose of posting Jesus’ resume as the Son of God, Savior of the World. The first 18 verses are widely known as the prologue (or introduction), where John gives us a birds-eye view of all of the major topics he plans to write about in his gospel.
b. And it is important to remember, John has complete authority to do this, because he is writing his gospel several years after Jesus had already risen from the dead and ascended back into heaven, where He currently sits upon the Throne of Grace. John has already witnessed Jesus turn water into wine, heal the blind, the deaf, the crippled, and raise the dead. John has witnessed Jesus walk on water, calm the storm and feed the 5,000.
c. Therefore, John is not writing about his ideas of who Jesus is, nor about his assumptions of who Jesus could possibly be. John is making it crystal clear that Jesus is God in the flesh, the Savior of the world. As we discovered last week, John said, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).
d. And therefore, John begins his Gospel by using chapter 1 to post Jesus’ resume, by putting a spotlight upon the major themes he will be discussing throughout the rest of his Gospel, so that you and I and everyone else who ever reads this Gospel will believe that Jesus is God, and by believing in Jesus we can have eternal life. And it is this idea that has inspired the big question we will be answering today, which is; How do we know Jesus is God?
e. John is going to demonstrate that Jesus is God by going all the way back to the beginning of time, and informing us that Jesus was there. By linking Jesus’ arrival into the world, to the creation of the world, John is signaling that the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Word that became flesh (1:14) is a monumental historical event that commands our utmost attention. And so, as we begin our journey into the Gospel of John, John will show the progression from Jesus’ preexistence as the Eternal God (1:1-2), to creation demonstrating that He is also Creator God (1:3), and finally the incarnation revealing His purpose as the Son of God (1:4-5).
III. Message: And so if you would please stand in honor of reading God’s Word, we are going to begin our journey through this powerful Gospel.
a. We know Jesus is God because, Jesus was from the BEGINNING (1:1a, 1:2)
i. READ: John 1:1-5
ii. This introduction to John is one of the most elevated statements about Jesus found in the New Testament, as he not only clearly defines who Jesus is but also why Jesus came.
i. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: It’s important to know that all four Gospels begin by placing Jesus within a historical setting, and John is no different.
1. The Gospel of Mark begins Jesus’ story with John the Baptist’s ministry being a fulfillment of what the OT prophets proclaimed would take place, namely, that the Messiah would come (1:2-3).
2. Matthew’s Gospel traces Jesus’ Genealogy back to the father of the Israelite faith, Abraham (1:1).
3. While Luke’s Gospel traces Jesus’ Genealogy back to the beginning of the human race, Adam (3:38).
4. But the Gospel of John is unique in the way it opens. You see John begins his Gospel in eternity past in order to inform us that Jesus is God, and He was sent by the Father to bring life and light to humanity.
ii. And it is this idea that Jesus can be traced to eternity past, pre-creation, that has inspired the first answer to this mornings big question. How do we know Jesus is God? Because Jesus was from the BEGINNING (1:1a, 2)
iii. If this is our first encounter with the Gospel of John, the question any normal person would ask, is “How can you say that Jesus was from the beginning? This verse is saying it was the Word that was in the beginning.” It’s important to know that this word is a common Greek word – logos – which among the Greek philosophers meant “reason” or “logic”. Logos was widely used in Greek philosophical teaching as well as in Jewish wisdom literature. And therefore, this word was very familiar to the culture John was writing to. And so John is trying to relate to them, by bringing Jesus down into their world, on their level, addressing Him as the Logos who was from the beginning with God and was God, and then became flesh and dwelt among us (1:14).
iv. Logos is used well over 100 times in the New Testament.
However, it is only here in John 1:1, 14, and in Revelation 19:13, that the word logos is referring to Jesus. The use of logos in John 1:1, 14 has been the focus of much scholarly investigation, giving rise to as much literature and debate as any other single word occurring in the Bible, which is a book containing 66 books, with 1,189 chapters, consisting of over 31,000 thousand verses, including 783,137 words, and yet, there is no single word in the entire Bible that has sparked as much investigation and debate than logos. And so now that we have a clearer understanding of who John is referring to as “the Word”, let’s put our attentions upon the first 3 words of John’s gospel.
v. LOOKING ON THE SCREEN: The first 3 words of John’s gospel echo the first three words of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 opens with, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. This clearly indicates that Jesus was with God before creation. John is connecting Jesus with creation claiming Jesus existed before creation was, and in (v.3) explains to us that, “all things were made through Jesus”. John wants us to know that Jesus existed before the world began, before time and space.
vi. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: This was the testimony of Jesus Himself. READ: John 17:5 – “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
vii. Just as Genesis 1:1 makes it clear that God created the heaven’s and the earth, John 1:1 makes it clear that Jesus is God, and that He created all things.
viii. John want’s everyone to know that Jesus is “from the beginning”. Not just any beginning, but the very first beginning in the history of all beginnings. The beginning of time itself!
ix. And so that is the first truth John wants us to know about Jesus, He is eternal, and has always existed even through eternity past.
x. Let’s move on and look at the second answer to this mornings big question, which is also found in (v.1).
xi. READ: John 1:1
xii. Here we read that Jesus (the Word), was not only “with God” in the beginning, but Jesus “was God” from the beginning.
xiii. It is this idea that has inspired the 2nd answer to this mornings big question. How do we know Jesus is God?
b. We know Jesus is God because The Bible says Jesus is GOD (1:1b)
i. The deity of Jesus Christ is an essential, nonnegotiable tenet of the Christian faith, and the Gospel of John makes it clear that Jesus is God.
ii. In fact, looking on the next slide, this is a picture that my little 6 year-old Jeremiah made for me yesterday. I was so blessed yesterday when I returned from the store, as he had set this out with a note saying he loves me and hopes I have an amazing day, and he even left a chocolate chip granola bar out for me.
iii. This drawing he made for me is of Jesus holding the world in His hands. And the reason I share this with you, is because Jeremiah at age 6, knows that “He (God) has the whole world in His hands, He has the whole world in His hands.” You see, this is simple Theology that even a 6 year old understands. Jesus is God. Period. And yet, even though this is simple enough for a child to grasp, this Christological truth is beyond the ability of some of the greatest minds in human history to fathom. The eternal, infinite God became a man in the Person of Jesus and walked among us. And yet, the bottom line is that a person cannot disagree with that and still be a Christian. It’s impossible.
iv. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: In fact, as we have looked at before in the past, “No one can call Jesus LORD except by the (influence of) the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). The word for Lord in this verse is kyrios and it is a very defining statement in regards to the identity of Jesus. You see, it originates in the OT.
v. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: When the Hebrew OT was transliterated into the Greek Septuagint, the word that the 70 Jewish scribes used to transliterate Yahweh, (or Jehovah) the name of God in the OT, was kyrios. And when Jesus came onto the scene, the NT authors, who wrote the NT in Greek, chose the word kyrios to describe Jesus.
vi. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: In Philippians 2:10-11 the Bible tells us, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (kyrios), to the glory of God the Father.” And so here we read that on the last day, everyone will profess that Jesus is kyrios.
vii. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: When Jesus showed Himself to Thomas after the resurrection, John 20:28 tells us: “And Thomas answered and said to Him (Jesus), “My Lord (kyrios) and my God (Theos)!” In response to this statement of affirmation from Thomas, Jesus said, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). In other words, Jesus is affirming to Thomas, “Yes, I am kyrios (Lord), and I am Theos (God), and you are blessed because you have seen Me!
viii. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: We know that Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man throughout the Gospel of John 10x’s (John 1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 12:23, 31), a Messianic Reference of Himself foretold about in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 7:13).
ix. Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of God throughout the Gospel of John 20 times (John 1:34; 3:16, 18; 5:19 (2x), 20, 21, 22, 23 (2x), 25, 26; 6:40; 8:36; 9:35-37; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 17:1 (2x).
x. We cannot forget about the 7 “I am” statements that Jesus makes in the Gospel of John, which is the name God gave to Moses at the Burning Bush (Exo. 3).
xi. The OT proclaimed that the Messiah would be God in several places. One of the most well-known is Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
xii. LOOKING ON THE NEXT SLIDE: Jesus also possesses the incommunicable attributes of God. Jesus is eternal (John 1:1-2; Col. 1:17), omnipresent (Mt. 18:20; 28:20) omniscient (Mt. 11:27; John 16:30; 21:17), omnipotent (John 10:29-30; Phil. 3:21), Immutable – never changes (Heb 13:8), sovereign (Mt. 28:18), glorious (Jn. 17:5), and Creator (Jn. 1:3; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2).
xiii. I bring all of this up to say that when John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” he is absolutely and without question supporting the non-negotiable tenet of the Christian faith, which states, Jesus Christ is God.
xiv. And the biblical reality that we are looking at right now, is that Jesus is God. This is what John has clearly introduced here in the Prologue to John’s Gospel will be expounded throughout the Gospel, by John’s careful selection of claims and miracles that Jesus did while walking among us.
xv. Let’s move on and look at the third answer to this mornings big question, which is also found in (v.3).
xvi. READ: John 1:3
xvii. Here we read that “All things” were made through Jesus, and without Him, nothing was made that was made.”
xviii. It is this idea that has inspired the 3rd answer to this mornings big question. How do we know Jesus is God?
c. We know Jesus is God because Jesus created ALL THINGS (1:3)
i. John is once again expressing a profound truth, and that is that Jesus created everything! And its as if John was anticipating a question, “Everything?” So he says, not only did Jesus create everything, but without Jesus, “nothing was made that was made.” By stressing the fact that Jesus is the Creator, John is letting us know that Jesus is God. It is a Biblical reality through the NT that Jesus’ followers believed He was Creator God.
1. Ephesians 2:9 – “God created all things through Jesus Christ.”
2. Colossians 1:16-17 – “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
3. Hebrews 1:2 - God has appointed His Son heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.
4. Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
ii. That Jesus Christ created all things also reminds us that He is not created, but the eternal God.
iii. Let’s move onto our 4th and final answer to this mornings big question, which is also found in (vv.4-5).
iv. READ: John 1:4-5
v. So far this morning we have been looking at WHO Jesus is, but now we are going to switch gears and look at why Jesus came. And here we read that in Jesus was “life” and that life was the “light” of men.
vi. It is this idea that has inspired the 4th and answer to this mornings big question. How do we know Jesus is God?
d. We know Jesus is God because Jesus offers us LIFE and LIGHT (1:4-5)
i. Can you imagine if someone were to ask the apostle John, “If Jesus is really God, then why is he here? Why is he walking around as a man? What’s the point of all this?” If someone were to ask John that question, or better yet, if someone were to ask you or me that question, John gives a perfect answer, by tapping into the two most important needs of the human heart, life and light.
ii. When we realize that Jesus is God and the creator of all things, we must also understand that He is the one who offers us the 2 most important human needs; life and light. Jesus offers us life, not just a heartbeat, but a life that is worth living, an abundant life. In fact, as one of the major topics in this gospel, Jesus will say in John 10:10, “The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
iii. But not only does Jesus offer us life, He also offers us “light”, or in other words, a clear path to follow after in this dark world. Jesus gives us a clear direction to travel in throughout our life.
iv. Why did Jesus come to earth? Jesus came to call people out of spiritual death, and hopelessness, to a living and personal relationship with God. Jesus came to guide people out of darkness into His light. The Bible tells us in Colossians 1:13-14, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
v. That’s what the Gospel of John is all about. It is the good news that you no longer have to wander about in darkness and despair of sin, but that you can have eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. And by putting your faith in Jesus Christ, you no longer have to walk in darkness, because He is the light of the world who will direct your steps.
