The Deity of Christ (part II)

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 fIn him was life,1 and gthe life was the light of men. 5 hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Verse 2:  The Greek language didn't have an exclamation mark to indicate an emphasis, so the linguistic tool used to accomplish this is repetition.  Here John repeats that the Word was in the beginning with God.  There was not a time that the Word did not exist.

Verse 3: All things were made through Him.  All is a word that can be universal, and in this context it is clear that John means it universally.  All things were created through Him.  When we look at Genesis chapters 1-2 we can see that Jesus is the creator of everything, and that there wasn't anything (another universal) made before He started making it.  This would include himself.  There are some heretical teachings today that teach different doctrine than this and I would like to take the opportunity to show the teachings of two major heretical groups here in Cochrane and demonstrate the importance of separating orthodox Christianity from those teachings.  

Arius was a preacher from Alexandria in Egypt in the third century.  He taught that Christ was the first created being, and that through Him everything else was made.  He was a very charismatic (popular, great orator) who was teaching his local congregation this understanding of who Christ was.  He was opposed by Alexander, the Bishop of Alexandria, and by Athanasius, a deacon in the local church.  Arius was denying the Trinitarian understanding of the nature of God.  The modern day group that holds to this teaching is the Jehovah's Witnesses.  They teach that Jesus was created by God the Father, they vehemently deny the Trinity, and hold to Arian teachings.  Constantine, called for the First Council of Nicaea to settle this dispute (among some other minor issues), and as described by church historian Justo Gonzalez in his book The Story of Christianity when the council finally heard in person the teachings of Arius, they ripped the teachings in pieces and stomped on them.  Clearly they weren't in favour of the teachings.  They called Arius to repent of his teachings, and when he did not, he was excommunicated from the church.  Clearly this is a serious issue.

The second group we'll look at is the Mormon tradition.  The Latter Day Saints teach that men can be gods.  In the Teachings of Joseph Smith page 349 Joseph states "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man...".  In Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 it states "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also...".  They teach that Jesus was a brother of Satan, a fallen angel.        In the Discourses of Brigham Young, on Pg.53-54 he lets it be known that Lucifer is the second son, the one known as "Son of the Morning."

·         "Who will redeem the earth, who will go forth and make the sacrifice for the earth and all things it contains?" The Eldest Son said: "Here am I"; and then he added, "Send me." But the second one, which was "Lucifer, Son of the Morning," said, "Lord, here am I, send me, I will redeem every son and daughter of Adam and Eve that lives on the earth, or that ever goes on the earth."

g    Mormon's believe that through good works they too will be crowned gods of their own universes.  This is clearly not in sync with the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Bible, nor the teachings of the apostles.  

     Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, and that the scriptures are wrong about Christ.  They do not believe that He died on the cross, but only appeared to die.  He was not the redeemer for humanity.

Verse 4:  And in Him was life.  Christ had self existence.  John 5:26 states "For as the Father has life in himself, zso he has granted the Son also to have life in himself."  Only deity can grant life, and as we see throughout scripture Jesus refers to Himself as THE life.  John 11:25 states "Jesus said to her, j“I am the resurrection and kthe life.1 Whoever believes in me, lthough he die, myet shall he live,"  Christ, being God, has the power to grant life, and sustain life.  Acts 17:25 says "nor is he served by human hands, uas though he needed anything, since he himself vgives to all mankindwlife and breath and everything."  There is a very bad misconception out there that God created everything and humanity because He was lonely and needed someone to love.  This is categorically false.  God had no need of anything, but created everything out of a great love.  He had everything in His own nature.  There was perfect harmony (and still is) in the triune nature of God.  The Father was with the Son.  They were with the Holy Spirit.  We bring nothing to the table as far as God needs, but we are invited to worship Him in His glory and for our good.  Christianity is not man-centered, but God-centered.  When we make much of ourselves, we are missing the point.  God is the point, and when we make much of Him, we have abundance of joy.  He is our life, and He sustains us in everything.  

And the life was the light of men.  John 8:12 helps us with this verse when it says "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, m“I am the light of the world. Whoever nfollows me will not owalk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Christ was the light for men to follow in their darkness.  When you shine a light in a dark room, you can see.  Sometimes you can only see dimly, but you can see.  Jesus is the light to rescue man from outer darkness, a condition which he himself, in his own power, cannot do.  It requires the supernatural actions of a loving God to shine the light on our situation.  John 9:5 states "As long as I am in the world, jI am the light of the world.”  Jesus, when He came in person, was the light in presence, so that all those in Israel could see.  Paul reminds us in Romans that God's attributes are clearly seen in creation, so that we have no excuse for not seeing Him.  We have also been sent the Holy Spirit, and we as a church become the light to the lost world.  We have a job to do. John 12:46 help us further by saying "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."  Those that come to the light will not remain in darkness.  We will see some things clearly for the first time.  We can see our sin nature.  We can see our condition compared to that of God.  We can see our peril without Him, which makes us cling ever closer to Him.

Verse 5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I personally prefer the term "comprehend" in place of "overcome", but either term would work theologically.  Jesus defeated darkness by going to the cross.  Jesus battled the same things we battle when it comes to sin; vis. the flesh, the world and the devil.  Jesus was able to defeat all of them, even though tempted in every way that we are.  Jesus died on the cross and defeated death.  His creatures, make in His image, now have a way to become friends of God again, and it was through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  If we translate the verse to say "comprehend", we have a biblical case of total depravity.  We, in our fallen state, are incapable of morally choosing to follow God.  We see the light, we see His creation, but we deny Him at every turn.  We think the gospel as foolish.  We do all we can to live according to our own lusts and sinful desires.  Even when we find "religion", we insult God by our works as a means of earning our salvation instead of resting in Him.  We need the Holy Spirit to indwell in us before we can love Him for who he is and what He has done for us.  John 3:19-20 says "And this is the judgment: qthe light has come into the world, and rpeople loved the darkness rather than the light because stheir works were evil. 20 tFor everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ulest his works should be exposed."  Our natural inclination is to run from the light for fear of being exposed.  We are all evil and wicked, something that in our natural state we refuse to acknowledge.  We want to compare ourselves with those around us, thinking highly of ourselves when in reality, we are only compared to God's standards, of which we fall horribly short.  On the day of judgement, we will be exposed, and without Christ, we will be damned, with no one to blame but ourselves.

o   Why is this truth so important? (Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology)

§  Only someone who is infinite God could bear the full penalty for all the sins of all those who would believe in him – any finite creature would have been incapable of bearing that penalty

§  Salvation is from the Lord (Jonah 2:9) and the whole message of scripture is designed to show that no human being, no creature, could ever save man – only God himself could

§  Only someone who is truly and fully God could be the one mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), both to bring us back to God and also to reveal God most fully to us (John 14:9).

Conclusion

Truth is vital to our faith.  We must get Jesus right, for He is the centerpiece, the cornerstone of our faith.  If we get Him wrong, we’re lost.  The early church fought for truth, and we must continue the fight for truth, the fight for Christ now and as long as we have breath.  To take a stand is not popular, it divides, it is contentious, but isn’t our God worth it?  Fight for Him, for He fought for you, for His glory.