CHRIST IS GOD ...in essence, in attributes, in sovereignty

 

Christ is God      “And the Word was God.”  John 1v1

He is God in essence, in attributes, in action-in the language of the scholars He is very God of very God.  In chapter 1v12-13 those who receive Him have His authority to be called the children of God; chapter 1v14, the disciples “beheld(looked intently on) His glory as of the only begotten of the Father”-no ordinary human being was like this; chapter 1v34 John the Baptist “I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God.”; chapter 20v28 the sceptic Thomas, having considered all things, and having been discouraged because of His death and burial, bowed in worship saying “My Lord and my God.”  He is the supreme ruler of the universe, who commands the worship of all His creatures.  He is Jehovah-Elohim, the eternal One, who will ultimately receive the homage of all.

Further New Testament statements emphasise this awesome truth:

Romans 9v5 "...and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever."

2nd Corinthians 4v4  "...Christ who is the image of God..."

Philippians 2v6 "Who being in the form of God..."

Colossians 1v15 "Who is the image of the invisible God..."

1st Timothy3v16  "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."

Hebrews 1v3 "Wo being the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person..."

Revelation 5v13  "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea and all that is in them, heard I saying "Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever."

There is no doubt, that Jesus Christ is God, contrary to the false teachings of many religions, and many of the churches and evangelical cults that profess to honour Him.  He is very God of very God at all times and forever, and soon all creation will know it and acknowledge it.

2  “The same was in the beginning with God.” This is repeated. To ensure we understand exactly who He is. The revealer of God Himself, in essence God yet distinct from God and in harmony. with God, and equal with God at all times.  He will expand on this thought later in the gospel.

CHRIST THE WORD, DISTINCT FROM GOD, IN HARMONY WITH GOD

 "And the Word was with God..."  John 1v1

We have established that the Word was eternal that He pre-existed all things.  What we learn, now is that:

Christ is distinct from, and in harmony with, God   

“And the word was with God…”   The Greek preposition is pros which literally translated is towards or “face to face”.  There are two important things here.  Firstly, the Word and God are two distinct persons.  This gives the lie to Unitarianism which falsely claims that God is one person, and many other co-called Christian cults which deny the Deity of Christ.  The Godhead, consisting of three distinct persons are one in thought and action but they are distinct in personality.  As far back as the very first verse of the bible the term God(Elohim) is in the plural, indicating distinctive persons.  This is further verified by later statements-“Let us make man in our image, Genesis 1v26; “Behold the man is become as one of us…” Genesis 3v22; “Go to let us go down and confuse their language…”, Genesis 11v7; Isaiah 6v8 “Whom shall I send, who will go for us?”  Additionally, the plural title for God occurs approx. 4000 times in scripture, and the numerous references to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, shew beyond any doubt the truth of the Divine Trinity.  Secondly, they are in absolute harmony with each other.  When they act, they act as one, as is evident from Genesis 1v1 where the plural is used for God but the action of creation is in the singular!  Three distinct beings acting as one; Jesus confirms this in many scriptures indirectly, and directly in John 10v30, 14v11, and 17v21.

Secondly, the Greek preposition is pros which literally translated is towards or “face to face”.  This means that the Word, while distinct from God, was in harmony with God, in fellowship with God, one with God, indeed, in happy co-existence as is made clear in the wisdom hymn of Proverbs 8. Verse 30 says “Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.”  Even when He condescended to earth, that close relationship was maintained as is evident in the rest of the narrative.  The extent of this distinctive, but close, fellowship will be clear as we proceed.

Next   And the Word was God...

CHRIST THE WORD ...God revealed John 1v1-2, 1v14, 1v18; 1st John 1v1; Revelation 19v13

                                                             The Word

This title, given exclusively to Christ by John, presents Him as the Revealer of God.  Just as a word spoken reveals the mind of the speaker, so in the realm of the spiritual, Christ makes known the mind of God.  There are two things we consider in relation to this.  First, that God cannot be known by normal channels of communication.  "No one has seen God at any time" is stated in John 1v18 and 1st Timothy 6v16, this is expanded "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see..."  God is inscrutable, His judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out-Romans 11v33-34.  We cannot know Him intellectually, or spiritually, or see Him physically, for He is above, higher, beyond any of us.  In the ancient world, the question was posed "Canst thou by searching find out God?  Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?-Job 11v7.  No human can reveal God.  Yet He is a God who wants to be known, to make Himself known, to share His being.  Secondly, in light of that, the only ones who can reveal Him are His fellows, His equals, and the New Testament unfolds that.  He can be known but only through Divine beings.  Only God can reveal God.

And so the Holy Spirit reveals Him

1st Corinthians 2v9-11 "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.  But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea the deep things of God.  For what man knoweth knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God."

Also Christ the Son reveals Him

Matthew 11v27 "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him."

Colossians 2v3 "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

John 1v18 "   the only begotten Son, which is the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."

No one knows a wife better than a husband who dwells, intimately, with her and vice-versa.  So in even greater measure, the Son who dwells in the bosom of the Father, knows Him and can reveal Him.  He said, when here in this world "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father"-John 14v9.  He is not only the mouthpiece of God, He is the essence of God, who is speaking to the world today in the person of His Son-Hebrews 1v2.  The whole of history is a revelation of God, the whole of His life here on earth is a revelation of God.  As we proceed through the narrative we will see the character of God portrayed in all its marvellous ways.  Without Christ, God remains in inscrutable light, unknown to the sons of men; in Him God can be known, in Him, God is expounded in all the wonder of His being, but there are conditions.  All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are resident in Him, but they are hid, and we must search for them as we would for treasure.  We must search for the living Word in the written word, and submit to the gracious promptings of the Holy Spirit- Proverbs 2v1-6.

Next   The Word was with God...

CHRIST THE WORD.....ETERNAL John 1v1

 "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God."

In the beginning....

John takes Him back to eternity, in the ages before time began.  Mark, presenting Him as the perfect servant begins with His anointing for service; Luke, presenting Him as the perfect man begins with His birth; Matthew, presenting Him as king of Israel, takes Him back to David and Abraham; John, portraying the highest and noblest view in the final document to be written in holy scripture, presents Him as God, very God of very God.  He begins with His pre-existence, and establishes from the outset that the babe of Bethlehem was God; the boy of Nazareth was God; the anointed man at His baptism was God; the miracle worker was God; the teacher of sublime truth was God; the peasant preacher was God; the innocent man so treacherously betrayed was God; the man who was crucified on the cross of shame was God.  This staggering truth should grip every soul of man as we ponder the astonishing entry into this world, the perfect sojourn in this vale of tears, and the unlawful death in the midst of His years, of the One who pre-existed us all, and who came in mercy to save us all!  Who is He? they asked-John 8v25.  Well might they ask, and well might we. He is none other than Deity, in all His attributes, in all His glory and majesty.  In the language of the hymn, in answer to the question "Who is He in yonder stall, at whose feet the shepherds fall? Tis the Lord the king of Glory; tis the Lord oh wondrous story; At His feet we humbly fall; crown Him Saviour Lord of all!"

Ponder, consider, enjoy, the revelation of scripture concerning this one:

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah; yet out of thee shall He come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from everlasting"   Micah 5v2

"Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God."   John 13v3

"Father I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."   John 17v24

"Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."   1st Peter 1v20

He pre-existed all things, dwelt in unbreakable union with His fellows, then stepped into time as a real man to save us.

Next     The Word...what does it mean?

CHRIST THE WORD, REVEALER OF GOD John 1v1-2

 "In the beginning was the Word...."   John 1v1

The message of John is clear, his intention in writing was that people might believe, as he sums up his gospel:

“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing ye might have life through His name”-John 20v30-31

We don’t have the full record, for, as he says in the very last verse, that if all were written, the world could not contain the books that should be written.  Such is the inscrutability of the Living word, the written word about Him would be more than the capacity of the whole world to take it in.  However enough has been written for the faith that produces eternal life.  We have His authority(through His name), that belief in Him is eternal life!  Faith in Him transcends all human ability to express Him, and produces that life which comes from outside of this world.

The book is replete with the word “believe”-the Greek word pisteuo and related words.  Out of 248 occurrences in the New Testament, it appears 63 times(more than 25%) in John.  It means to have absolute trust in Jesus Christ who is unfolded in the book as God, and the One who is the only source of eternal life(another great theme-referred to no less than 134 times in the book).  “As many as received Him to them gave He the power to be called the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name.”  Believing Him is to receive Him, contrary to the majority of the world which rejects Him.

No person has ever aroused such interest as Jesus Christ, and the eyewitnesses who wrote about Him, expressed the questions that everyone is asking:

In Matthew the question was “Where is He?”- 2v2

In Mark the question was “What is He?”-1v27

In Luke it was “How shall this be?”-1v34

In John it is “Who is He?”-8v25

All these questions are still being asked by a sceptical world, despite the fact they have been answered in full.  They were written that we might believe, and that is the message of John.

We begin this series with a question----WHO ARE WE GOING TO BELIEVE?  The One who is the very truth of God, or all the deceivers masquerading as the ministers of God?  Who is He? The answer is in the gospel of John, He is the Christ, the indispensable revealer of God, apart from whom, God remains forever unknown.

Next His pre-existence...