notes

Main point summary

The Eternal Intent of the Creator's Heart was revealed to His creation in Christ, and it was direction God's children, and nonsense to children of darkness.

Bracket

editing

NT

John 1:1-5

esv

mine

a In the beginning was b the Word,

Present the start of everything was the Speech and Intention of God,

and c the Word was with God,

and that Speech was with God.

and d the Word was God.

and yet that Speech was at the same time God Himself.

concessive

series

He was in the beginning with God.

The Speech is a Person and was at the start with God.

ideaexplanation

e All things were made through him ,

Everything that we see was made my the Speech,

and without him was not any thing made that was made.

and He Himself was never made, for all that is "made," was made by Him.

progression

f In him was life, 1

In Him, in the Speech, in the Hands was where life was found. The Speech has self-existence,

and g the life was the light of men.

and the fact of the Speech's self-existence gives clarity to all other truth.

h The light shines in the darkness,

The final word of God's first intentions in His Speech goes forth as light into darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

and the darkness was not able to understand the heavenly logic of God's Final Speech.

situationresponse

inference

Present at creation is God's intention and work. God intends the cross from creation. And when His Intention is revealed in Christ, the world does not understand. God intended, from the start, to die? How is the world to comprehend this? Why does God, Who can do anything, choose to die for those who hate Him?

God is His Intention. God intends love, in Christ's life, from the start. His intention is to die for those who don't deserve it-- to love them. And that is what God is . God is what He intends. We are the same. We are what we intend. If we intend evil-- good for ourselves at the expense of whatever byproduct for others-- we have to wonder... are we "born of God?" (verse 13). What are you supreme intentions throughout the day? Is it mere survival?

In verse 1 Christ is the Speech, in 2-3, Christ becomes a Person, a He. In verse 4, He becomes the Light.

The Eternal Intention of God's Heart was revealed in Christ.

I'm a little shaky in this inference. How does the logic work? God's Speech is the Source of all, therefore it has life in itself? Open to suggestions here.

discourse

Exposition

John 1:1-5 YAC Open with prayer and prayer requests Recap The goal is to bring God glory and we do that by publicly and privately enjoying our God. We do this first of all through seeing Jesus, and the primary place we see Him is in the Scripture. So, our goal when we read is to see and enjoy Jesus. Identity Activity John 1:1-5 Have someone read the verses. Verse 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…” John is repetitive, but not really. John begins with Jesus as the Word, Speech, Reason, Motive, or Plan. And God is with this, and He is it. God is His intention. And we are the same, we are what we intend, until we are born into a new life and a new motive. Verse 2 "He was in the beginning with God." Seems to be totally a repetition. Question : Why is this not a repetition? Can you spot the difference? Answer : The Motive is a Person. He is a He. Verse 3 "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." The Word is a Person, and now we know that He is Maker. This is the difference between Jesus and a lot of other gods from other religions. We have a different definition for God: Source. Verse 4 "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." What does this mean? Knowing Jesus as Lord and God (the Supreme Source) gives purpose, direction, and light to everything else. So, the big question for all of us is, "what the heck are we doing here?" And John is saying, no matter how different your answer to that question is from other people, finding out the answer looks the same for everyone. You lack meaning, you need Christ. You lack direction, you need Christ. Also, in the beginning was life . Before anything existed, Christians believe that there was life . Atheists believe that before anything existed, there was matter . Stuff . Based on no evidence at all. Stuff creates life. Not life creates stuff, the other way around. Verse 5 "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The NASB and KJV use a different word instead of "overcome." They say "comprehend." Why? It's like the word "grasp." The message of God came to us, and we didn't want it. We didn't want humility, we wanted power. We didn't want sacrifice, we wanted increase. We wanted more, not less. The world values deeply everything that God, when He came to Earth, treated as unnecessary. Application: John wants us to be sure as to Who Christ is. He doesn't want us to be lost with him saying "who is this man?" Think about something that has given you trouble this week, or something that has confused you about your life. How does Jesus bring purpose, motivation, or clarity to that situation? My application: Everything converging: Masters, teaching, paperwork, young adults, being a husband-- but the fact that I can rest on when I feel insufficient to be the best I can in all those identities is that I am a Son of God, and my Father is working everything about for my good, no matter what is happening around me. So, when things go south in any of my circumstances, I can trust Jesus' way to be light. Sacrifice, humility. That's what it means to trust Jesus. To trust that when things are hard, following Jesus in sacrifice will still bring the absolute most joy out of a situation. So, when me and Kayla get into a stupid argument because we're both stressed, sacrificing a second to reassure her that I love her will produce more joy than hardening myself against her because she needs to respond better to me. When my students at school are super disrespectful, sacrificing posture and pride to let it go and not respond in the same way will produce more joy than immediately disciplining them. In both situations, Jesus is the Motive, He is the Word that leads us to act. He lived, and we follow in His footsteps. And in His footsteps is the most possible joy we could possibly have in this life.

First Trial Notes (Rough)

Observations: God was at the start of all things, and so was the "Word." God and His Agency. The Head of God and the Hands of God. John is careful that we understand the Divinity of Jesus. In other words, he is making sure that we know that Jesus is God. He is not created. He is not a new thing, but the same God that was Creator in the beginning. Verse 4 - "In Him was life..." The Word was not merely the beginning of everything, but the sustaining of everything. The Word creates, and then it sustains every single thing that it creates. God certainly has the "whole world in His Hand". For it is in the Hand that is Christ. Verse 5 - the KJV states that "the darkness comprehended it not." The fallen, dark minds of man cannot understand God, certainly not the mystery of a humble God coming to Earth. John 3:19, Matthew 13:13, 1 John 2:8-11. The Truth of Jesus as God, of the humblest as mightiest, absolute strength in absolute weakness-- this shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. The world values deeply everything that God, when He came to Earth, treated as unnecessary. Money, fame, strength, military might-- Christ had none of these. He wasn't even attractive. So, God sends His final Word to man in sending Jesus, and Jesus made no sense to the powers of darkness who received Him. And yet, it is Christ Who, in the end, has life. Question: Do we believe that it is Christ Who possesses the life we deep down desire most? Or, does darkness possess the life we, deep down, desire most? Do we desire to be completely exposed in the light as sinners, and God to be glorified as our Savior in saving us from that, or do we desire darkness? Where we can attempt to satisfy every craving we've ever had without fear of being judged for it? Which one is heaven to you? Jesus as God? Or your cravings? Questions: What is the "Word?" We know that it is talking about Jesus, but why use the word "Word" to talk about Jesus? (Heb 4:12, 1 John 1:1). Why does verse 2 seem to repeat what was just said in verse 1, namely, that "The Word was in the beginning with God"? It seems to combine the first two parts of verse 1 into a single statement. For example, verse 1 says three things: The Word was 1. In the beginning, 2. with God, and 3. God. However, verse 2 does introduce the fact that the Word is a "He." In other words, the Word is a Person. What does verse 4 mean? Well, for one, it means that not only did Jesus create at the beginning, it means that He has been sustaining all life since then, and sustaining it towards those who hate Him. So, Christ's sustaining power is the light of men... Christ's self-existence -- His Deity, is what helps others to see. The fact of Christ is illumination? Answer: Knowing Jesus as God is eternal life. And it is knowing Him intimately that gives purpose, meaning, direction, and clarity to everything else in life. We don't see more clearly by squinting and straining harder and harder, we see everything else clearly when we stare with eyes wide upon at Christ. Look at Christ properly, and see everything else. Look at everything else, and see nothing properly. If clarity is what we want, then what we need is not more logic, more purpose, more direction, what we need is Christ. Where do I go to see Christ? His Word. John's gospel. John is making huge claiming about his gospel. Knowing Christ as God is seeing clearly . Points to be Made: God is the foundation of the world. John begins at the beginning, with God. Who is God? God is the Source of everything good in this world. Sin comes from an inadequacy to obey on our part and a necessary demand made on God's part. We fail to trust in the God who is our Source, and all of our lack of trust is where sin comes from. Seeing, we do not see, and hearing, we do not hear. To be God means You aren't in the category of "things that are made." Jesus is not in this category, and neither is God. There is a beginning and a Beginner-- any other stance is illogical. Illustration Ideas Exploring identity. Do identity activity with group, have people identify aspects of their own identities after showing yours (to give them an idea of what you expect). Now, how much more complex is the identity of Christ, especially as laid out here in the beginning of John? There are so many aspects to Christ's Identity, and here we get a window into many of them.