Sermon Central
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Starting Off On The Right Foot Series
Contributed by Ed Lucas on Aug 31, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: John prepares his readers by laying down the groundwork as to who Jesus is
Starting off on the Right Foot
INTRODUCTION:
When I arrived at the Gray Avenue Christian Church in Yuba City, the summer of 1990, as the new Youth Minister, I did not start off on the right foot with the youth. I don’t know why, I just didn’t. I had a great interview. I was chosen from among over 20 different prospective youth ministers. I was even encouraged to apply for the position by a couple members of the church as well as an elder and a deacon of the church.
But kids were not so happy that I was there. I am happy to say that that did not last long. Why am I bringing this up in today’s sermon? Well, looking back on that experience, I now realize that it wasn’t as much as what I said or did, but what I failed to do and say.
I didn’t take the time to explain to the kids why I was there and what I expected to be able to accomplish. Oh I did this for the selection committee and for the Congregation (which was mainly the adults of the church). But with those whom I was hired to minister to, I did not start off on the Right Foot by why I was there and what I hoped to accomplish as their minister.
I am happy to say that John does not make that mistake when he wrote the Gospel of John. Right off the bat, he starts off on the right foot. He starts off laying the groundwork for the rest of what he has to say. For this Gospel is about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Instead of easing into the topic of Who Jesus Is, he starts out telling us who He is.
So . . . . .
Who is this Jesus?
Do we really understand the awesome, splendor of our Lord Jesus?
Have we really considered the magnitude of our Lord?
Though the whole Bible preaches Jesus, identifies Him as the coming King, one scripture truly encapsulates His identity.
To get a revelation of His glory brings us into a place of holy fear and reverence
John in is introductory statements of his gospel, shows us who Jesus Really Is
1 - Jesus is The Word
READ vs. 1-2, 14
In the Beginning – Gen. 1:1
During Creation
Jesus – The word – was with God in the beginning
The Word – Today we connect “The Word” to being scripture
The scripture is God’s written revelation of Himself to man
And guess what, Jesus is God’s physical revelation of Himself to man
Jesus said in John 12: 48-49,
“For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
He is God’s Messenger. What he says, what he teachers is from His Father, our Heaven Father, God Almighty
But Jesus is more than just the messenger. . .
2 - Jesus is God vs.
READ 2 – 5,10 - 13
AND THE WORD WAS GOD!
John is making sure that his readers, from the start, are on the right foot. That they understand the Jesus is GOD! Everything we read in John’s gospel has to be filtered through this statement!
Everything that makes God, God is present is Jesus
Jesus is “all knowing”
Jesus is “all powerful”
Jesus is “everywhere”
And Jesus is “always” -Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever!
Jesus is Love . . . I could go on, but I think you get the point!
Jesus is the Creator vs. 3-5,
I love this part, not only was Jesus in the beginning, He was active in the whole creation project.
Last week when we were looking at Psalm 150, I mentioned that everything we see and everything we don’t see, God created!
And guess, what, Jesus was involved in creating it also!
And we have to admit, What God created is not only beautiful, but very complex.
An engineer in one of America’s largest companies has described a human being this way:
"Man is a complete, self-contained, totally enclosed power plant, available in a variety of sizes, and reproducible in quantity. He is relatively long-lived, has major components in duplicate, and, science is rapidly making strides toward solving the spare parts problem. He is water-proof, amphibious, operates on a wide variety of fuels, enjoys thermostatically-controlled temperature, circulating fluid heat, evaporative cooling, has sealed, lubricated bearings, audio and visual communication, and is equipped with an automatic control called a brain."
Jesus is God’s physical revelation of Who God is because He is God Himself. Separate from God the Father and the same. We won’t go into that, because that would take at least 2 sermons to just scratch the service of that Idea.
