The Eternal Existence of Christ

John 1:1-13

 

INTRO: The Gospel of John has as its theme the Deity of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

The opening verses of John’s Gospel picture the life of Christ before creation, before the world existed.  The scriptures teach us that:

1. Before there was a sun in the sky– Jesus existed.

2. Before there was a moon to reflect the sunlight– Jesus existed.

3. Before the stars garnished the heavens– Jesus existed.

4. Before a rose ever bloomed– Jesus existed.

Jesus is the eternal Son of God.

 

I.        VSS 1-3, THE PRE-EXISTENT CHRIST

A.       Vs 1, John opens this Gospel with the words, “in the beginning...” This means that when the heavens and earth were created, Jesus, the Word, already existed.

1. “In the beginning.”

a. Before the creation because “all things were made by Him” (vs 3).

b. Since He was “in the beginning” this means that He is eternal.

c. Before there was a world, Jesus was (Jn 17:5).

d. Before anything else existed, Christ was with God.

e. Christ had no beginning, and He has no ending.

2. “Was the Word.”

a. “Was” is the Greek word ito meaning “to personally subsist.”

1- Jesus did not come into being or begin to be.  He “was with God” from all eternity.

2- Jesus Christ is not a created being; He is an eternal being.

b. “Word” in the Greek is logos meaning that Christ is the spokesman of God.

1- He is the Alpha and Omega, meaning that Jesus Christ is the alphabet of God.  He is the one who expresses Deity.

2- He spells out who God is.  He Himself is: “The Alpha; the bread of life; the Christ; the Deliver; the everlasting Father; Faithful and True; the gift of God; the Healer; Immanuel; the Lord of lords; the Messiah; the name above every name; the Omnipotent God; our Passover (lamb); the quickness of the dead; the Resurrection; the Savior of the world; the Truth; the unspeakable gift; the vine; the way; the express image of God; yesterday, today, and forever the same; Zion’s hope.  Jesus Christ is God” (Bisagno 18).

3. “And the word was with God.”

a. The Word, Jesus, existed in perfect harmony and fellowship with God.

b. The Word was present with God before the beginning (Prov 8:27-30).

4. “The Word was God.”

a. Jesus is not a god; He is God.

b. Jesus Christ “is not only the revealer of God, but God himself revealed” (Pink 22).

B.       Vs 2, Once again the Holy Spirit expresses the Deity of Christ, the eternality of Christ, and the personal pre-existence of Christ.

1. Jesus Christ was “in the beginning.”  He did not begin to be; He “was.”  He subsisted before time began.

2. Jesus was eternally with God.

C.      Vs 3, Creation is ascribed to Christ, and none but God can create.

1. He created it all.  By His Word, all things, one after another, came into being (Col 1:16-17).

2. Christ is omnipotent, the originator of all things.

 

II.       VSS 4-5, JESUS THE LIFE AND LIGHT.

A.       Vs 4, Jesus Christ is the life giver.  This is one of the wonderful attributes of Jesus; He is the giver of life.

1. Jesus is the stream from which life flows (1 John 5:11)..

a. Man is dead spiritually; and for him to be made alive, he must go to the life giver (Eph 2:1).

b. We cannot find spiritual life in good works.  Spiritual life is in a person; that person is Jesus Christ. To be saved, we do not trust in a church.  We trust in a person, Jesus Christ, for in Him is life (Jn 3:36; 10:10).

2. Jesus Christ is the light and the light has been shining forth.

a. The light has been shining forth throughout the Old Testament, in prophecy, as men searched for the Lamb.

b. In the New Testament, the light shines forth from page to page as John proclaims: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”  Jesus is the Word become flesh.

B.       Vs 5, Fallen man, as a whole, the world, does not accept the light or appropriate it.  Because “men love darkness rather than light,” they reject Jesus Christ.

1. Although sinful man, as a whole, does not accept the light, he cannot put it out.  The light continues to shine.

2. Throughout the centuries, evil forces have tried to snuff out the light.  But thanks be to God, the light keeps on shining in a dark world.

 

III.      VSS 6-8, THE BAPTIST BEARING WITNESS TO THE LIGHT

A.       Vs 6, John the Baptist was a man commissioned by God. 

1. John was a man.  This is in contrast to the one to whom he bore witness, the God man..

2. “Sent from God.”  He had a heavenly commission.

3. “Whose name was John.”  John means, “Jehovah has been gracious.”

B.       Vs 7, This verse gives us the definition of every preacher’s purpose.

1. The preacher is to be a witness.  To be a witness, you must know what you are talking about.

2. “To bear witness of the light.”

a. The work of the preacher is to get his audience to look at Jesus, not himself.

b. The preacher is to preach Jesus (I Cor 1:23).

3. “That all men through him might believe.”

a. We preach so that men have an opportunity to believe.

b. A witness is required if men are to believe (Rm 10:13-14).

C.      Vs 8, John was “not that light.”

1. “Light” like “life” comes from God (Eph 5:8).

2. Christ is the light; John is the reflector.

IV.      VSS 9-10, THE WORLD REJECTS THE LIGHT

A.       Vs 9, Jesus is the true light.

1. Jesus is the undeceiving light.

2. All who believe receive the light (Jn 12:46).  Not all will believe, but those who do will be saved.

B.       Vs 10, The world, as found here, indicates mankind.  He came to seek and to save (Lk 19:10) the lost.

1. The world should have acknowledged their creator, but they did not.

2. Jesus, the one who created man, is rejected by man.

a. “Knew” is the Greek word ginosko from which we get our English words “knowledge, know.”

b. When we add the prefix “a” to ginosko, we get the word agnostic which means “not to know.”  When men reject Christ, it means they are ignorant.

 

V.       VSS 11-13, BECOMING THE SONS OF GOD

A.       Vs 11, Jesus Christ “came unto His own,” the seed of Abraham, the Jews, and “His own received Him not.”

1. He came right to the Jews.  Born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth.  His earthly ministry never left the borders of the Jews, yet they rejected their Messiah.

2. He came knocking at their door.  As Pink says, He was “within the reach of inquiry” (29).  Yet, they rejected Him.

3. Friend, He is within your reach today.  Receive Him and be saved.

B.       Vs 12, Although the world “knew Him not,” the Bible says “as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God....”

1. Not as many as receive baptism, but “as many as received Him.”

2. Not as many as join the church, but “as many as received Him.”

3. Not as many as did good works, but “as many as received Him.”

4. When a person receives Christ, he at that very moment “receives the right to become a child of God” (Hendriksen 81).

a. Salvation says life has been imparted; a child has been born.