Heralding the Word

I will turn back once again to
John’s Gospel. We’ve begun to look at the Gospel
of John. We have seen that it is invaluable,
as I suggested. one of the most, or perhaps the
most, literary production ever composed, as Philip Schaaf wrote.
It is dynamic, it’s not only for the young and the immature
believer, but also for the mature, the seasoned saint. It is beloved,
one of the favorite books in the entire Bible, and one that
many have come to faith by reading. We looked at John, we looked
at who wrote the gospel, we concluded that it is the disciple whom
Jesus loved, John the Apostle. We also looked at his background,
his biography. We looked just last Lord’s Day
at the question of when was the gospel written. We concluded
that quite likely, as with most conservative scholars, somewhere
between 80, 70, and 100. But regardless, it was precisely
at that moment that God prompted him to write. We looked at the
comparison, the comparison rather, of John’s gospel compared with
the synoptics. It is very unique, quite unique. And There are countless other
questions that we could entertain. What I would have you do this
morning is turn to the gospel of John to chapter one. John chapter one. Verses one through five, I would
suggest that what John the apostle is doing here is heralding the
Lord Jesus Christ in such a profound way that he wanted by these verses
to seize the reader’s attention. He wanted them to know that this
is no ordinary book, that this is no ordinary individual that
he is announcing. Jesus Christ is who is in focus. And we open this morning in this
passage with one of the most profound and significant sections
in all of scripture. Instead of a mild and measured
introduction, somewhat passively as even some of the other gospels
open, just quietly easing their way into the introduction of
Christ, John immediately proclaims. not only the theme and the thesis
of the gospel, but he heralds the Lord Jesus Christ. Verses
one through five, those weighty and rich statements open a larger
section known as the prologue. The prologue extends all the
way down through verse 18. The prologue itself functions
as a kind of a forecast for John’s gospel. It echoes some of the
great themes contained in the gospel and provides essentially
here in these first 18 verses, the thesis of the entire book.
As one said, the thesis of the gospel is that Jesus is the revealer
of God. And so this prologue gives an
explanation to what the book is really about. Jesus as the
revealer of God is God’s word to humanity. Even in the opening
verses, John declares Jesus as God, as deity, as God incarnate. And the entire remainder of the
gospel is spent proving those truths. As one said, these verses give
us the key to the understanding of the gospel. It’s absolutely
crucial that we pause and take these slowly and deliberately,
and that we take them in and receive them as John intended
us to. Focusing specifically on these
first five verses, where we begin this morning, We have, as I said,
some of the most profound, most significant verses in all of
the Bible. We have a God-given declaration
about the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. One pastor said
of these words, it would be hard to imagine a more profound statement
as to the person of Christ. He is here set forth in his relation
to God and the world and specifically as the self-revelation of God. This is God telling us about
himself. Another pastor said that these
verses express the most profound truth in the universe. In the
clearest terms. That the eternal infinite God
became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. Would you read with me, read
along with me rather, if you would, beginning in verse one. Where John’s gospel opens, in
the beginning was the word. And the word was with God, and
the word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things came into being through
him and apart from him nothing came into being that has come
into being. In him was life and the life
was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness
and the darkness did not comprehend it. And with those words, the Apostle
John heralds the word. He heralds the Lord Jesus Christ. And in so doing, he will give
us seven astounding representations of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ is heralded here or presented on more than one occasion in
the scriptures. Heralding is not a word that
we use much anymore. Let me explain the sense in which
I have in mind in using it. You may not know this individual
by name, but you know of him. His name is William Livingood. I’m not sure if that’s how he
got the job, Livingood. Anyway, This man is the man who
introduces the President of the United States to Congress at
the annual State of the Union. See, now you’ve got something
that will stump your friends. William Livingood. He does so
in a very poignant moment. You’ve seen it. The room is full,
full of representatives and dignitaries and politicians. It’s crowded
and it’s noisy. And then William Livingood enters
the room. The room is hushed immediately.
And he heralds, he announces, he presents the commander in
chief with these simple words. Mr. Speaker, the President of
the United States. Now, regardless of your politics,
you would have to acknowledge the solemnity of that moment,
where you immediately have a feel that this is a very important
scene. The most powerful man on Earth,
or so it is said, very important, very solemn moment. That’s the
sense in which I’m using this word, Harold. Now, frankly, if
it were me, I would tell Mr. Livingood, please don’t do that. Please don’t call attention to
me like that. Please don’t put the spotlight
on me. Let me just quietly sneak up to the podium, do my thing,
and I’ll duck out of here as soon as I can. See, that’s because
there’s one, and there’s only one who should be heralded. presented,
set forth, as commanding so much more respect and even reverence
than any other presentation. It makes any other individual
pale in comparison. As I mentioned, Jesus Christ
has been heralded or presented a number of different times.
In his conception, prior to his conception, he was heralded to
Zacharias and Elizabeth. They were told about their own
son who would be the forerunner. Joseph and Mary were also recipients
of this presentation of Christ. Jesus Christ was heralded at
his birth to shepherds and wise men. He was heralded at his baptism
to disciples and onlookers. He was heralded at his transfiguration
to his three closest friends, Apostles, Peter, James, and John. He was heralded at the triumphal
entry into the city of Jerusalem and even before the entire Jewish
nation, he was heralded as the king. He was heralded at the
cross to his disciples, to his detractors, to both the Jews
and the Romans who crucified him, as well as to those who
were completely indifferent. Behold your king, he was heralded. He was heralded at the resurrection.
He is not here, he is risen. He was heralded in the synoptic
gospels that presented him as the Messiah. But no one ever heralded the
Lord Jesus Christ like John heralded the Lord Jesus Christ. We see
that beginning in this section, verses one through five this
morning. I see in here seven astounding
representations of the Lord Jesus Christ as John heralds forth
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. The first astounding representation
of the Lord Jesus Christ we find in verse one. It is his eternal
nature. Would you just glance down at
verse one? In the beginning was the word. I’ll just forecast for you. We’ve
read entire chapters in the last few weeks, lengthy sections of
scripture. We’re not going to make it past
one verse this morning. In the beginning, if you hear
an echo there, you should. There’s a very obvious repetition
of the opening words of Genesis here. One commentator made a
very fascinating observation. He said, really, each of the
four Gospels references some kind of beginning. This was absolutely
fascinating to me and I didn’t pick it up until he presented
it. Mark’s Gospel. Mark’s heading
or beginning is this, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 1, 1. Matthew opens up with an account
of the origin, the genealogy, if you will, the beginning of
Christ’s family tree. Chapter one, verse one. Luke
acknowledges the traditions of those who from the beginning
were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. Each of the gospel
writers start at the beginning. And John’s beginning is the earliest
of all. as he draws attention to the
beginning of all beginnings, the very story of creation. This
word can have a reference to origin or it can refer to authority,
this word beginning. Here it clearly points to the
former, it is to the origin or to the beginning that John addresses
here, but the question comes up, the beginning of what? The
context drives the meaning. It cannot be the beginning of
God, because God has no beginning. It cannot be the beginning of
the gospel, as you’ll see in a moment. It can’t be the beginning
of Jesus’ ministry, though that is ultimately the direction that
John will go. The beginning of what? It’s not accidental. John points
us back specifically to Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God. Genesis, which literally means
the beginning. And we use that word from time
to time in that same vein. The Genesis of a new generation. Genesis literally means the beginning. It is the beginning of the Bible,
but it’s also the beginning of recorded history. Moses, the
writer of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible,
of which Genesis is the first, starts with those simple words,
in the beginning. John starts at that same point.
Precisely the words that Moses uses to start not only the Pentateuch,
but the entire Old Testament. John starts at the exact same
place in the beginning. And he’s referring precisely
to that which Moses refers to. Moses takes us back to the very
start of time. He takes us back to the beginning
of beginnings, if you will. To the beginning of time. To
the beginning of creation. To the beginning of all things.
To the beginning of human history. As one said, here we enter a
realm. which transcends the finite mind. And where speculation is profane. In the beginning is something
we are unable to comprehend. It is one of those matchless
sweeps of inspiration which rises above the level of human thought.
In other words, to even go back to Genesis 1.1 and say, what
do you mean? In the beginning, immediately
we ask, what about before? What happened before? Did they
just at that moment begin passing out watches and clocks? Was that the significance of
that moment in the beginning? You see for God, eternity. Eternity is a life without clocks.
It’s a life without days. It’s a life without moments.
It’s a life of endless existence. We’ll see that more profoundly
even in a moment. In Genesis 1-1, as I already
said, the first moment of time is in view. It’s the very beginning
and Moses is poised and ready to recount that God is preparing
to act. Moses is preparing to detail
the very beginning of all creation. He’s preparing to detail God
in action. God creating the world. It is an absolutely fantastic
scene as you step into Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God. There’s no heaven. There’s no
earth. There’s nothing but absolutely
nothing. Except God. And he’s preparing
to act. and to bring creation out of
that nothing. And it is that same thing, that
same scene, that same moment that the Apostle John references
here, the beginning of time, the beginning of creation, the
beginning of history, but the purpose is entirely different.
Glance down at your Bibles just once more at the fourth word.
in the beginning was. In the beginning was the word.
So John here takes this same phrase, in the beginning, and
he’s doing so for a purpose. But while the beginning is referenced,
it’s referenced in a completely different perspective. You see,
whereas in Genesis, God is the one acting in The beginning God
and everything that unfolds from there is God acting. In John’s gospel the acting is
perpetual. It doesn’t start or stop. We
just pick it up and we just see it. It just is. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was here in this particular verse
is referred to as the imperfect tense. It’s past time continuing
action. It happened but it was happening
then and it still is happening. There’s no end to it. There’s
no beginning and there’s no end. It just simply is. John just
simply points to a being. We’ll talk about him in a moment.
Jesus Christ, he speaks of this being as the word, as being already
in existence when the beginning started. It’s like we step in,
in a snapshot in time, into the beginning of creation, that first
moment, and we look up and we just see the Word. And He’s been
there for a long time. I had an interesting thing happen
this past week. The bus full of my players arrived
at the game. We all loaded, we have this protocol,
we all gather. We gather all the equipment,
and we all walk in together. And as we all walked in together,
I walked up, and there, sitting all by himself, is one of my
players, who I knew had come with us on the bus. Turns out
that he had to run on ahead of us, and there he was, already
existing in the dugout when we got there. That’s the sense that
you have in order to try to put it down in human terms. He was
already there, Jesus Christ was, when things started to happen
and take place and the moment of time began and creation began
to fall into place by God’s Word. Let me try another way to illustrate
it. There are two different words
that talk about existence or becoming. One is Gidomai that
talks about coming into being, or becoming something, and I’ll
illustrate that in a moment. The other word is ani, to be. And it just is used absolutely
without reference to a point of creation, it just means to
exist. Doesn’t talk about birth, doesn’t talk about death, it
just means it is. Now John does use this word ginomai,
and he could have used it here if he wanted. In fact, John uses
it almost a dozen times just in this first chapter. Glance
down at your Bibles for a moment. We’ll go on a brief sweep. Look
at verse three. All things came into being, ginomai,
through him and apart from him nothing came into being that
has come into being. Uses it three times in that one
verse. Look at verse six. There came, he wasn’t always
there, He wasn’t always alive. He didn’t always exist. But eventually
there came a man sent from God whose name was John. Speaking
of John the Baptist there. Look at chapter one verse 10. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
here, he was in the world and the world was made, the world
became something. It didn’t always exist and we
know that from Genesis 1. The world was made through him
and the world did not know him. Look at verse 12. But as many
as received him, to them he gave the right to become children
of God. They weren’t always children
of God. They didn’t always profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But in time, God moved upon them, brought them to repentance, and
now they can be said that they have become believers. Look at
John 1.14, another occasion where this word is used again. And
the word became flesh. Jesus Christ didn’t always exist
in human form. Philippians 2 tells us that he
left his father’s throne and glory and came and humbled himself
and took on human flesh. Wasn’t always that way. The word
became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory. Glory
is of the only begotten from the father full of grace and
truth. I think you get the point. There’s
a difference here. There’s that word speaking of his existence
that talks about something that develops or is born or comes
about over time. And John uses the word plentifully. There’s the other word. Einai,
to be, to exist. And that’s the word that he uses
in chapter one, verse one. There is that word. which means
to become, and John does use it, but he doesn’t use it here
in verse one. Here he uses that other verb,
which speaks not only of not something that comes into existence,
but simply something that does exist. He was. In the beginning, Jesus didn’t
become. He wasn’t born. He wasn’t part
of the creation. He didn’t come into being. He
was. He was already existing. He was already in a state of
being. What the Apostle John says is
that at that moment, that which Moses begins to chronicle in
Genesis, at that very moment, something was already existing. And he calls it the word. speak
more exactly about what that means in a moment, what or who
was the Word, but here it’s important to see that in the beginning
the Word was already in existence. When time and creation and history
started, there was the Word already. And though Moses and John use
this same prepositional phrase to start their respective books,
in the beginning, they proceed in exactly the opposite direction.
It’s amazing. Moses takes this phrase and moves
forward in history from that point, beginning with creation,
and everything opens before him. John, on the other hand, starts
at that moment And he glances. He glances only into eternity
past. And all he concludes is what
God has allowed him to see is that Jesus Christ was there.
He was in existence. As one more poetically stated
it, starting from the fact of the creation. Moses descends
the stream of time and reaches the creation of man. John, having
started from that same point, follows the reverse course and
ascends from the very beginning of things to eternity. As Moses
moves forward, as I said, we begin to discover the beginning
of time and creation in human history. John just points us
to eternity. As the word As John points out here, Jesus didn’t
come into being. Jesus didn’t begin to be. The
word didn’t begin to be, but he was with God from all eternity. The word just continually was. That’s as simply as we can say
it. One commentator just masterfully
reasoned. If He was in the beginning, then
He was Himself without beginning. He was eternal. The Word didn’t
come into existence or experience creation. When God began to speak
and create the world, the Word was already there. This logos,
this Word that John points to, did not begin to be He was. Paul echoed that same
thought. In Colossians 1.18, he’s speaking
of Christ. He said that he is also the head
of the body, the church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead. Jesus Christ has just been in
existence from eternity. Now, I’ve already alluded what
the word is referencing, but I want you to glance down at
the verse once again, in the beginning was the word. This is absolutely fascinating.
And it’s absolutely crucial that we begin to grasp this because,
as I said, verses one, one through five begin to give us the key
to understanding the entire gospel. There are a number of different
Greek words that mean word. that could have been used, that
John could have used and didn’t. He could have used the word rhema.
He could have used the word muthos in a rhetorical sense, speaking
about what is spoken. He could have used onoma, a name,
which, or what we would call a name. It functions in that
sense, but he used the word logos. And the word Logos is essentially
the spoken outward form of an inward thought. It’s deep in
meaning. As one described it, Logos not
only means the spoken word, but it’s the expression of the thought that is captured by that spoken
word. And the word is an absolute fascinating
word for John to use. And by the fact that John used
it, he knew that his readers would have to be seized by this
word and grasped and drawn into the gospel as he began to detail
and explain the nature of this logos, this word. Where did John
get this expression? It’s absolutely fascinating to
me how some commentators And this is how it usually plays
out with even some of the best human thinkers, that John must
have gotten the idea for this, to use this term, from somewhere.
And so he went thumbing through all of the books current in his
day and seized upon this concept. Well, that’s just silly. Here’s
how one described it. The term logos being prepared
and used by uninspired writers and different system, John adapts. That’s just silly to say that
John was just desperate for some good material. So he went to
the philosophers of his day and seized upon something that they
had been using for hundreds of years. Hey, this is a good starting
point for my gospel. Just silly. But it’s difficult to understand
exactly why John used this word. And it’s difficult because it’s
difficult even to transfer, or to translate rather, this particular
word. As one said, the nearest English
derivative is logic. Logos, logic. And we really can step back and
see that what John is talking about here is not just not some kind of scientific approach
to the scriptures, but one that deals with, by using this one
little word, thought, and reason, and depth, and even infinitude. John does use this word logos
on other occasions, and he uses it in a much more general sense.
just speaking of words or speech or dialogue. But the technical
sense, this deeper sense that he uses here, used with reference
of Christ, and I’ll tell you more in a moment, it’s used four
times in this opening section. Now, it’s very possible that
John got this word from Jewish life and culture. The Old Testament
certainly speaks about God’s voice, his word, his living creative
word, which was often personified in the Old Testament scriptures.
The word of the Lord came as if it were a being. The word
of the Lord, as one said, is thought of as an effective agent
for the accomplishing of the divine will. So even the Jews
began to see the word of God as almost distinct from him. We certainly see in the scriptures
that wisdom is personified. As one said, in Hebrew thought
there was felt this need for some term to express God. Not in his absolute being, but
in his manifestation and active connection with the world. That
is important. There was like this go-between needed between
God and humanity. And so the Jews began to speak
of this Lagos. The Greek culture also used this
word. It’s a Greek word. But they also
began to build upon it this system, this idea One describes that
the word might be thought of as remaining with a man, and
we often will say that, that our thoughts are in our skull,
and until we actually begin to express them, there they remain.
But once it gains expression, that’s when it becomes logos. That’s how the Greeks thought,
to the speech, to the words. But it was also, in time, it
came to mean this all-pervading principle. Like, almost like
what we would think of as the providence of God or the sovereignty
of God. This principle of the universe,
that’s what they referred to as, began to refer to as the
Logos. And all things came in a very
real sense from the Logos. The Logos affected everything.
This isn’t, I mean it’s, it’s philosophical. But bear with
me, listen to this. Heraclitus. 475 BC, this is almost
500 years before Christ came, referred to the Logos as that
principle which maintains order in the world. And he uses the
word Logos, among other words, to try to explain all the diversity
and all the changes in the universe. And he would say there’s something
controlling all of this, and we might as well call it the
Logos. Logos is always existent, he said, all things happen because
of the logos, the word. And then Philo comes about 400
years later, 500 years later. He was Jewish, Jewish born, and
so he had that background of his Hebrew Old Testament training,
but he also in time became a Greek philosopher. Now we often refer
to this often as syncretism, where he began to blend Greek
philosophy and his Hebrew religion. Not a whole lot of good can come
of that, one describes him. He thought of God as eternal
light. And wait till you hear, there’s
a lot of this that we would go, yeah. And then there’s a lot
of it that we will wince. As we hear, he thought of God
as eternal light from whom all light comes, whose radiance cannot
be gazed upon by human eyes, but which was reflected in the
word, the logos, or as the scripture called it, divine wisdom, a real
existence, a person, the first begotten of God, the link between
the universe and God. And he was really into this too.
He used the word logos 1300 times. The only problem is no one ever
knew what to make of it because it was here one day and over
there. It was kind of this obtuse idea. Lagos was this in-between, as
I said, this intermediate agency where God was functioning or
where this being was functioning. Philo’s conclusion was that the
Lagos was some kind of a bridge between God and man, or gods,
if there were. Others would naturally take those
thoughts and run with them. You have absolute heresy developing
in the second century. And that’s why I told you it’s
absolutely crucial to know when John’s gospel was written. Because
there are actually some that say that John lifted from these
guys. Listen to this one. Valentinius,
writing in AD 140. where there are actually some
suggestions that, you know, John just cleaned it up a bit. This
good idea, this Logos thing, it really works, it plays, let’s
go with it. Listen to this. Valentinius referred
to Bythos, that’s his god, his reference for God, as the deep,
the eternal unbegotten. And he existed through boundless
ages. Listen to this. When Bithos willed
to put forth from himself the beginning of all things, he thought
and conceived and brought forth understanding and truth. Understanding
was also called the only begotten. The understanding produced reason,
logos, and life. And from this pair was produced
man and the church. Now that is just warped. You
couldn’t even get that out of a Hollywood script writer. But there was this tie. There
was this link between the Jews and the Gentiles of this somewhat
fuzzy grasp, this idea of the logos. It meant something they
thought this idea that there was this
in between, between God and man, the starting point of all things. I wholeheartedly concur with
one commentator that said human thought had been searching in
vain for some means of connecting the finite with the infinite,
of making God intelligible to man and leading up to God. This was their effort. This was
their best deal. They came up with the logos,
this idea. And these philosophers, regardless
of whether they were Jews or Greeks, they had for centuries
been wrestling with this idea of the divine word, the revealer. But they couldn’t put it, they
couldn’t build the bridge completely across the Gulf, couldn’t do
it. And so with this backdrop, John seizes, by the Holy Spirit’s
own direction, he seizes upon this word, which would grasp
not only the Jews, but the Greeks. And it would draw them in. And
he uses the word, word, logos. It’s absolutely divinely given.
When John, by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, uses that word,
Logos, he uses a word that, even though it was very common, had
a variety of different meanings. And instead of just weighing
in and giving his own philosophy of the Logos, the word, John
gathers up all humanity before him, Jew and Greek. And he essentially
says, let me tell you about Logos. Let me explain in full, once
and for all, clearing away any confusion, detailing his nature
specifically. Let me tell you about the Logos.
Let me uncover to you this word. Let me tell you about the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul did the same exact thing.
Remember in Athens, Paul’s walking around and all the statues are
there, and they’re all idols, they’re all statues to so-called
gods. Paul seizes upon that one, the
statue, erected to an unknown god. Paul basically says, let
me tell you about this god. He doesn’t have to remain unknown,
and you don’t have to remain ignorant to what the logos is
anymore either, John says. Just as Paul told the Athenians
about the nature of that so-called unknown God, so likewise does
John uncover, both to Jews and to Greeks, the true nature of
that mysterious word, logos. He says, first of all, the word
is eternal. It’s preexistent. It’s uncreated. As we begin to understand the
meaning of the Logos, it’s the beginning of understanding the
Gospel according to John. The term Logos wasn’t regularly
used to refer to the Lord Jesus or to the Messiah. This was new.
This was gripping. This would seize your attention.
If you had read the other three Gospels, then to suddenly read
the Gospel of John in the beginning was the word? And yet John uses it with the
expectation that his readers would grasp the very general
idea behind it and be drawn in allowing him to give its full
significance. Doesn’t refer to the Bible, doesn’t
refer to the gospel. The Logos here, this thing uttered is pointing without any doubt
to the Lord Jesus Christ. See what John was saying was
that God is a God of revelation. If God doesn’t open up and reveal
himself, who he is, what he’s like, we remain impossibly dull
to his nature. But God longs for us to know
him and to commune with him, and so he does reveal himself. That is his nature. God longs
to be known. And just as our words reveal
our thoughts, God’s revelation of himself is by means of the
word, the logos, the revelation of God of himself. I love one commentator’s application
of this truth. A word is a medium of manifestation,
a means of communication, a method of revelation. This is precisely
what the Lord Jesus has done. As the word Christ has made manifest,
the invisible God, communicating to us the life and love of God,
revealing the attributes and perfections of God. Jesus would
go on to say, he who has seen me has seen the Father, right? Paul would later say it to the
Colossian church, he is the image of the invisible God. Who is this word? Who is this
one that makes the unknown and seemingly unknowable known? Who is this Logos? Glance down
at verse 14. John makes it absolutely clear. And the word, the logos, became
flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory, glory as
of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth. Well, there’s only one person
to whom that can refer. to Jesus Christ who came and
took on human flesh and he lived here among us. And not only while
he was here on earth, but even having taken his seat at the
right hand of glory, we have seen his glory. We’ve seen his
glory at work in our own lives. The word is none other than the
Lord Jesus Christ. There was, as one said, a being
from all eternity face to face with God, and that being was
the true Logos. And he was not only with God,
but was God. By him did the universe come
into existence. And not only was that Logos truly
God, he was truly man. The incarnation was the answer
to the problem which their systems of thought had vainly tried to
fathom. Logos. From the eternal perspective,
God on the material side in time having become flesh manifested
the glory of the only begotten. It bridged forever the gulf between
God and man in the person of one who is both God and man. And so Philo. as obtuse and unclear
and fuzzy as his conclusions were. He was in a very large
measure correct, but in an equally large measure
incorrect. Because no matter how close he
came to that descriptive, if he was short even in one point,
he’s eternally short. As one said, the Logos is the
son of God existing from all eternity. manifested in space
and time in the person of Jesus Christ, in whom had been hidden
from eternity, all that God had to say to man, the living expression
of the nature and will of God. Just as our thoughts ultimately
find themselves expressed in spoken word, in the same way
God ultimately expressed himself in the word. The Logos. The Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ is God’s speech. It is his communication to us.
He is God’s revelation of himself. The book of Hebrews opens. God,
after he spoke long ago to the fathers, in the prophets, in
many portions, and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken
to us in his son. Let’s pray. Oh, merciful God,
as we come into this gospel. We’ve been bewildered by it at
times, overwhelmed by it. Always curious, always longing
to understand what John. Was alluding to. When he said
in the beginning. Was the word. Oh, Lord God, we thank you and
praise you for these recorded words. We thank you for taking
us into eternity past and standing us not in the direction that
Moses was facing, looking at creation as it unfolded by your
word. But glancing back. To that deep
and dark mystery of eternity past. Where Jesus Christ, the
word, the logos, was presented as already being in existence. Lord God, we humble ourselves
in your presence, those of us who know you. And for any who
do not, for any who have not yet placed their faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, he is eternal. He is the one that came in time
to take on human flesh, and to pay for the sin of all of humanity.
Lord God, we pray and plead with you that you would lay this truth
upon any who do not know our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior,
that you would draw them to yourself. It’s in Jesus’ name that we ask,
amen.