GOD MADE YOU!
Scripture: John 1:1-18 W. Max Alderman
Certainly, you believe something about creation. The humanist educators will teach you that you were evolved, not created. Those who embrace the teachings of Scripture are taught that God made all things. Certainly, this teaching is true. Yet, theologically, we find it necessary to build upon that truth and to expand our thinking in accordance with God’s taught Word.
During the first century of the Church, beginning with the Apostolic age, there were two different mindsets pertaining to Creation. There was the "Hebrew mindset" and the "Greek mindset." When I refer to the Greek or Hebrew mindset, I am simply conveying that the Hebrews and the Greeks were "set" in their thinking as to what they believed.
The Hebrew found no difficulty believing in God and believing Him to be the Creator God. The Greeks, however, were more prone to an atheistic or an agnostic position. The Apostle Paul’s approach was different when he spoke to the Hebrew and Greek cultures.
As he spoke to the Hebrews, he could immediately preach the Gospel to them because they believed in God and also in creation. In preaching to the Greeks, he first presented Christ as the Creator God, then gave them the Gospel.
IN JOHN’S GOSPEL THE TEACHING BEGINS WITH CREATION
I. NOTICE THE POWER BEHIND THE CREATION 1:1-3
What you believe about the creation is determined by what you believe about the Creator. Who made us? What was the source of His power for such an event? Consider the magnitude of creating out of absolutely nothing everything that is. When stating that all things were created by the Word, John was confirming the deity of Christ. Christ, or the Word is God.
"Word" in the Greek is "logos," which means "word, thought, concept, and the expression thereof." God expresses Himself through His Son. When God the Son walked upon the earth, He was doing the will of the Father. Literally, he was expressing the Father’s will. He was demonstrating the awesome power of His deity as He did so. Though he limited Himself while upon the earth, while walking as a man, He was certainly no less God. He could weep and tire, but He also could create and heal. He was able to die as a man, but only He could be raised in resurrection splendor as the Eternal God.
The power of His deity allowed Him to manifest His power in His duty. God commissioned Him to do the initial work of creation, but also he was commissioned to do the work of Salvation as the Light of the world.
Christ’s credibility is established in the miracle of creation, it is believed upon in the miracle of salvation. God communicated the account of Himself through His Son, the Word. Those who believe in and receive Him, become the sons of God. It is the duty of the "Word" to say everything the Father wants said to His creation. For that reason, the Son declares that He came not to do His own will, but the Father’s.
The purpose of Christ the Word is clearly spelled out in John 20:31. He communicates the heart of God the Father through the Word by His seven sign miracles. They are: 1. The turning of the water into wine (2:1-11); 2. The cure of the nobleman’s son (4:46-54); 3. The cure of the paralytic (5:1-18); 4. The feeding of the multitude (6:6-13); 5. The walking on the water (6:16-21); 6. The giving of sight to the blind (9:1-7); 7. The raising of Lazarus (11:1-45).
During the course of these miracles, people either received or rejected the Person and the work of Christ.
II. NOTICE THE PURPOSE FOR THE CREATION. vv. 4-10a
Everything God does is with purpose. Just as Christ Himself had a purpose in the economy of God, there also was a purpose in the creation work. All creation took place to either compliment, assist, serve, support, sustain or in any way promote that life. Even the "ecosystem" testifies to this.
Verse number four says, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." Men who are in darkness are blinded in spiritual death. They cannot see or reckon on a spiritual plane, they grope about in a dimension of spiritual darkness. They are dead! Their death is their separation from the Light. When the Life came, light also comes. They are only then able to comprehend. They see; they discern; they understand. Every conversion is predicated on the basis of Life. Jesus declares that He is the Resurrection and the Life. Without Christ Jesus we are all in darkness, dead.
There are many worldly systems that have been designed for the masses who walk in darkness rather than light. The Word tells us that though light came into the world, "men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). The secular universities, the public school system, the entertainment industry, the pornographic presses, and vulgar video have all come under the influence of this system.
Our text reminds us that John (the forerunner or Baptizer) had the role of bearing witness to the Light. Prophecy had already spoken of the coming of John the messenger (Malachi 3:1). And what a message it was: "There is light for this sin cursed, sin darkened world."
It is interesting to note that John came as a "witness." As a witness, he met satanic opposition which ultimately led to his martyrdom, just as the term witness implies. Today, because of the satanic darkness, those who are true witnesses will suffer persecution. The witnesses who continue to let their light shine have made their illuminating mark throughout the annals of history. Thank God for the bright lights who are shining in dark places. Every time the Gospel witness goes forth with the Truth, it is for the saving benefit of God’s creation.
III. NOTICE THE PROBLEM AFTER THE CREATION. vv. 10b-18
The incarnate Son of God walked upon the very earth that He created as an unknown stranger: "The world was made by him, and the world knew him not." The Creator’s fingerprint is on all things. The Scriptures tell us that all things were made by Him. The Greek word panta refers to all things individually, not collectively or in bulk. Even with the minuteness and the totality of His creation being made known, He was not known. It is said about Him that the foxes have dens and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man hath not a place to lay His head.
God has given us the Bible and the preached Word to introduce His Son to this lost and dying world, yet He is still very much unknown. That is a problem, a very serious problem that affects us all. When people really know Him, they reflect Him that others may know Him.
There is the problem of not knowing Him, and there is the problem of not receiving Him. Verse 21 tells us that "He came unto his own and his own received him not." He was rejected by His own people. The Jew today has a blindness and does not accept Christ as the Messiah Savior. Thanks be unto God for the exceptions. Though there be a problem of not knowing or accepting Him on the part of the masses, "few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14b). There are still those who are born into the family of God through the new birth by believing on His name.
John tells us in verse 14 that the "Word" is the incarnate Son of God or God in the flesh. God, who is the image of the Father (Hebrews 1:2-3), came to earth to speak to us. Just as the law came by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (v. 17). The "Word" came to communicate everything His Father wanted to say. The cross that the Son died upon was the expression of both the love and demands of the Father.
The message from the cross speaks volumes. God told the world that He was giving His very best to the very worst that men might be saved. God declared this through His Son the Word!
The Word has spoken...
