(John 1:14)
�And the Word was made 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 once again makes note of The Word. We have seen some of the actions of the Word, Jesus, in the past couple of verses as these relate to the salvation experience of the Christian. Now we are reminded to look at Jesus as He has been inserted into human history.
The human is so quick to forget that Jesus is not simply an historical figure. He is real, and alive, today. He continues to act in the life of the Christian. This much we understand. But, as we look about the world at large, we see the hand of the Savior reaching out to lost humankind. We also see the active work of God in the unfolding of His prophecies.
One of my favorite prophecies pointing up the working of God in human history concerns the prophecies about the two witnesses from Revelation, chapter eleven. Verse nine gives these words, �And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.� This is, of course, after the martyrdom of these two witnesses.
I remember, when I was young, hearing preachers preach about this situation. They always said, �There will be representatives of all the nations, in Jerusalem, at this time. That is how so many people of diverse nations will be able to see these men.� Well, that made sense at the time.
But, God continued to allow the history of humanity to build to the crescendo of tumult which will culminate in the Tribulation. In the early 1960's, a little satellite called �Telstar� was sent into orbit. Suddenly images from far off places were no longer two or three days past when we saw them on our T.V. sets. Now they were in �real time.� We were able to watch scenes from the First Gulf War as they happened. We were able to view updates as they were being given from half way around the world.
God is able to prophecy because He is the God of Today. It makes no difference where in human history that �today� is situated; He is the God of Today, even before we on earth have experienced that �today� of His prophecies.
The first thing I notice in our text verse is His presence. �And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...�
Jesus is here, today. That is a fact of human history.
But, look at the wording of the verse. He was �made� flesh. Jesus is the preexistent God. As we read the nativity stories from the Gospels, we look at them and imagine that Jesus began with His birth in Bethlehem. That is not what this verse says of Him.
When I was a young boy I was in the Cub Scouts. It was just a little neighborhood club which leads to the Boy Scouts. But, in Cub Scouts, the activities of the meetings are planned by the �Den Mothers.� These ladies had children in the group and opened their homes once a week to have social parties and projects for the boys in the �den,� or group.
I still have a lamp I made when I was about eight years old. That was the project that our Den Mother had for our little group. When I made this lamp I didn�t just lift a cloth, like David Coperfield, and say, �Presto! A lamp.� No; I took the wood, the wire, the plug, and so on, and fashioned them into the lamp.
In the beginning of time, God created the heavens and the earth. (see Genesis 1:1) But, Jesus was not �created� into flesh. He was �made� into flesh. Jesus is the Creator God, we saw that back in verse three of this first chapter of John. He was �made,� or �became,� flesh so that He could offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
He did not begin at Bethlehem. He entered into that place, as a babe in a manger. But He did so with the background of, and while remaining, Deity.
Jesus is also the previously existent God. At one point, in John 8:58, Jesus spoke of His preexistence. He said, �...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.� We could make a point here, as to the Deity of Jesus, that He used the term �I am� which was the name God gave to Himself at the Burning Bush with Moses. (see Exodus 3:14)
But, I think it better, for now, that we note the tense with which Jesus spoke about Abraham. Abraham was a man who had been dead for many centuries. But Jesus said, �Before Abraham was, I am.� Jesus spoke of Himself, at a time many centuries past, in the present tense. Jesus, as a human of the race of men, was an historical reality. But, Jesus, as God, was (and is!) of eternity and transcends time. That is why Jesus is able to be with us, today alive and active, just as He was two thousand years ago in Galilee. He is The Constant Contemporary.
He stands with you today if you trust Him!
That is why we can also speak of Jesus as presently existent. He is here. Now. Today. He can energize your life if you will let him, Christian. He can also save those of you who are lost in your sins.
The baseball playoffs have been on T.V. for the last week or so. Every once in a while the announcers will refer to a former player as, �He was a good one in his day.� These players of yesterday, who were so great at playing their game, are now old men. But, Jesus has never had to retire from His work. He was good in His day; but, His day continues because His day is of eternity.
Several years ago my wife and I went back to visit the first college I had attended. While on the trip back I imagined what the place had been like. I imagined all the people I had known. Somewhere, in the dark recesses of my mind, I half expected them to still be there. They weren�t. Even the campus had changed so much that I could hardly recognize the place.
But, Jesus... He is still there. He hasn�t changed. He has allowed me to change in my understanding of Him. I�ve learned more of Him. But, He is still there by my side. His hand is still outstretched to offer me help when I need help, and counsel when I need counsel.
Because He is the God of tomorrow, He is the God of today!
Notice also His picture. �...and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father...�
John shows us a picture of Jesus. He is a Person Who is worthy of honor in His Person.
We often overlook the majesty of the fact that Jesus was sinless. But, just think about this for a little while. He was tempted in every manner as are we.
In a famous interview former U. S. president Jimmy Carter once said that he had lusted in his heart. Lust is a sin. A very easy sin. We feel so good about ourselves when we feel the pangs of lust but yet manage to overcome. We may even feel very good, prideful, about our moral bearing that we overcame the temptation to lust. Pride is also a sin.
But Jesus, even with the temptations, and the fact that He never yielded to those temptations, did not suffer the slightest pride. Jesus lived a sinless life. Think about that! A perfect, sinless life! Had He not done so He could not have offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.
That sacrifice is another thing. He is worthy of honor in His sacrificial death. Jesus did not have to die. It was not a necessity for Him to do so. Except... If He had not offered Himself up as a sacrifice, we would be lost in our sins. We would be without hope.
Jesus is also worthy of honor in His sustaining resurrection. I could name many religious leaders who were great persons in their influence upon this earth. I could even, had I the time and money, take you to their grave sites. I can�t take you to Jesus� grave site. He rose from the dead. The other �religious leaders� are in their graves. They have proved nothing of the spiritual world because they never overcame the final foe of death.
Jesus did overcome this foe. In doing this He proved the truth of His life and history. He also is able to offer us guidance which we can trust. He has been where we must, if His coming tarries, go. He is our guide through the �Valley of the Shadow.� He can say, �Don�t worry. I�ve been here and I�ll get you through.� And, we know that He is right. We can trust Him.
Jesus is also worthy of honor in His perfection.
First of all Jesus is Deity. He is God. What a privilege and honor it is that He calls us to repentance. What a joy it is that He calls us to work with Him in the great task of the salvation of souls. Jesus is our Leader, our Guide, our Friend.
What glory He allows us to understand those truths.
Jesus is also worthy of honor in his predetermined mission. It was not an accident that He came to earth to die on a cross. It wasn�t bad timing, or even petty jealousy on the part of the priests and religious leaders, which led to His death at Calvary.
It was His plan.
Jesus came to earth to die in time so that we might live in eternity.
He had a devotion to His task. Jesus had no illusions about what was in store for Him at Calvary. One of the greatest comforts, to us, in the Scripture is the picture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemene. He knew the horror of agony to come when He prayed, �...Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me...� Yet, He still prayed, �...nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.� (Luke 22:42)
Jesus did not go blithely to the cross. He understood, he knew the torment which He would endure. Yet, He went willingly so that He might offer Himself as The Sacrifice for our salvation.
The glory of it all!
Jesus is worthy of honor in His performance. From His creation of all things, to His sinless life, to His agony of sacrifice, to His resurrection, to His sustaining power through the ages, He is to be praised and adored.
In this text verse we also note His promise. �...full of grace and truth.�
We look at the proof of His story when we view the resurrection. We do not have a religion of hope. We have a faith of fact. Jesus taught us the way to live. Jesus died for our sins. And, Jesus rose again and lives to empower our spiritual lives.
He showed Himself to be not a simply another religious thinker. He showed the truth of His Person. He is very God. And, He is my Savior. He wants to be your Savior, as well.
He shows this by His proffer of regeneration. This morning I went into town. While there I bought some cookies for my granddaughter. When I saw her I held the package out towards her. Shandi said, �What is that.� I said, �It�s some cookies.� She said, �Well, give them to me.�
There were her cookies. They were in my hand. My hand was stretched out towards her. All she had to do was reach out and take the cookies. I didn�t ask her to recite the alphabet. I didn�t ask her to count to ten. I just gave her the cookies when she reached for them.
Jesus, likewise, doesn�t ask us to perform some spiritual trick. He�s not looking for a dog and pony show. He just holds out his offer of salvation. Reach out and take it.
In the Garden of Eden an interesting thing happened when Adam sinned. Eve came to Adam with the forbidden fruit. Adam was not tricked or cajoled. He was simply given a moral choice. Did he wish to obey God and refuse the fruit of the tree? Or, did he wish to disobey God and take part of the fruit of the tree?
He was in the will of God. If he just did nothing he would remain in the will of God. But, Adam made a choice to leave the known will of God. He took the fruit.
Jesus proposes us restitution of the innocence lost in the fall. Currently, mankind stands in the bonds of Satan. When Adam made his choice to depart from God�s will, he drug his descendants into that state. It would be a part of our nature. If we do nothing, this is where we stay.
But, Jesus offers us a choice. We can accept the salvation He offers. It is a choice. We don�t have to make that choice just because He has made the offer. But, isn�t it really silly to refuse to make that choice?
Why not make the choice right now. Accept Jesus as your Savior.
Do it today!