John 1:1-3 - The Uncreated Word

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Message: The Uncreated Word

Time: Jesus' disciple John, the brother of James, the son of Zebedee was one of the inner circle of Jesus' most trusted companions. It's most likely that John wrote his gospel while he was in Ephesus, and that he wrote it for an audience that lived outside Palestine, perhaps in Asia Minor. John appears to have had in mind members of a Jewish community who had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but who had continued to worship in the synagogue. John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."

What the Lord is Saying: Matthew's gospel begins with, "The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah... (1:1)." Mark begins with, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ... (1:1)" and Luke begins in a similar way to Mark, though is more definitive of his time investigating the details of Jesus' life. John begins in a similar manner introducing John in verse 6, however in his introduction He does something the other writers did not do in that he speaks of The Word, states the Word was the pronoun He and then speaks of this special connection He had with God, the Light.  John goes beyond the message of the Gospel to link the Word, mentioned as the pronoun He to flesh that came with the same glory of God, "glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

And so as we follow what is being stated about this one that came, the Word, we see a connection with the Word, with Glory of God and only begotten from the Father.  

The Word was "in the beginning." Genesis 1:1 records, "In the beginning God..." and now John records the same sort of phrase to connect beginning with Word/Him/Jesus and God "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 

Yet, why the Word? If John is speaking of Jesus and it seems clear in following the rest of the text, then why did He start this discourse with the Word and Him and not state Jesus till verse 17? The name God is mentioned several times. And yet there is clearly a clever word choice that John uses to introduce Jesus. 

When I think of Jesus, I think of someone that came onto the scene but as I walked this earth, he was begin discovered by men for who He was, His purpose and His reason for being here. There was therefore some sort of mystery in Him or discovery ("the world did not know Him (1:10)"). And yet this Gospel writer wants to remove that mystery. And yet in removing it He uses language of discovery. 

God enters our world through words and connects us to Him through the words, "Let there be light (Genesis 1:3)." And these words are creation. And so John bridges Jesus to God with words of creation, with the Word of creation. 

Word is the Greek word Logos. It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word dabar. Dabar refers to God's creative as when He utters words He is creating. And there is a thought or principle with dabar that holds all things together and explains reality. And John states that this principle is Him, the Word, the Light. 

Thus, it may appear to be shrouded in mystery, but after reading there is no mystery and all is clear. 

There is a reason this text is rejected by Islam as scripture and a reason it gets changed by Jehovah's Witnesses - because it clearly states Jesus is God and created. For other paradigms, these words must be changed because it is clear what is being stated. He's the creator. 

Summary: Jesus, the Word, is at creation, with God and was God and was therefore uncreated. 

Promise: Jesus is not merely a good teacher or moral example. He is the very God of the universe who is owed all of our worship and praise.  

Prayer: O Father, thank you for revealing the truth of Jesus in these words and thank for John and the way He expresses Jesus to us. You are not mystery, but clear. Bring people to a recognition of this. Help people to see You as You are, creator, the Light, with God and God. Keep giving me understanding of You. 

Revelation 4:11 - God's Glory as Creator

Revelation 4:11

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Message: God's Glory as Creator

Time: John mentions himself 4 times as author. It was written around the year 95 on John's exile to the island of Patmos after preaching the gospel to Asia. Revelation comes from the Greek word for apocalypse and refers to an unveiling. The book is about the tribulation period with symbolic language, giving us the end of the story -- Jesus will once and for all heal the wounds of sin, reign for a thousand years on earth, then re-create the world into a place that represents God's original design.

What the Lord is Saying: In the study of God's glory, I now move to a study from a "human angle" or the human response to divine glory. For instance, Joshua 7:19 records, "Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” 

To give glory to God is to treat Him in the way that He deserves. I still think I am too selfish often in the way I treat God. I use God's name for my benefit. And I am discovering more and more that God is to be praised, no matter what is going on in my life. But in giving glory to God we are not adding to His glory. He is sufficient and has all that He needs. But in giving glory, we are acknowledging that He is all. 

Today's passage in Revelation 4:11 mentions, "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power." And there is a reason today for Him to receive glory and honor and power. It is because, "You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." I am to give God glory because He created all things. He is creator. Everything exists because of His will. Everything is created because of His will. When I see creation, I should automatically go to praise God, giving Him glory and honor for that which He has created. 

Hebrews 11:3 - By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

I recently made a visit to the islands of Hawaii, specifically Kauai and took a helicopter ride and being up there in the air and seeing the land below, the green land, the mountains and their formation and all the beautiful colors, it was exhilarating. I beheld the beauty of God and His creation like never before. It was like I was seeing it for the first time, and granted, this place I was seeing it for the first time. And unfortunately I too quickly started wondering how it was formed. I wondered about this age of earth discussion and how it had arrived. But I need to squash that thinking and simply be amazed at what God has created. I can simply view God's creation and be amazed by it and thank Him for it, giving Him the glory and honor He deserves. It doesn't have to be about me. It can be only about Him. 

Summary: God possesses great Glory as the creator of all things. He is worthy to receive glory from us. 

Promise: Nothing would exist if God had not created the universe, so we should regularly give the Lord glory for His creation, for making us and for making everything that we enjoy. 

Prayer: Lord, you are the creator. You made it all and simply because of that I praise and honor You. I give you the glory. Everything I see in my life is authored by You. You did not make it beautiful, but You created it and it is beautiful. We plant and we place trees and grass where we like it but you are the source of this creation. We do the same with humans, but You are the one that made us and formed us and designed us. We cannot exist apart from You. We live in this culture trying to often redefine based upon what they think is best, and yet it all begins with You. Even in this gender confusion world, people want to be something you created. There is male and there is female because of You. May we go to You to define our world and our life. 

Mark 5:21-43 - The Divine Nature of Christ

Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. One of the synagogue officials named Jairus *came up, and on seeing Him, *fell at His feet and *implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” 24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, He *said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

Message: The Divine Nature of Christ

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word immediately used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Overview of this Series

Tabletalk for this day states - Christianity is all about Christ, who He is and what He has done. Christ alone is head of the church; Christ alone is worthy of adoration; Christ alone saves.

In this study celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation (which was actually back in 2017), the Reformers sought to return people to Christian orthodoxy, echoing statements like the Definition of Chalcedon.

The Chalcedonian definition is a declaration of Christ's nature, adopted in AD 451 at the Council of Chalcedon. This was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451, at Chalcedon, a town of Bithynia in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey (on the north-western shore) and now Chalcedon is a district within Istanbul. The purpose of the Council was to come against the heresy of Eutyches. What Eutyches was saying at the time is hard to define, though it seems that he was stating that Jesus was not fully human. The Council was led to convene because of the talk that erupted and the off-shoots of this heresy. Heresy is making a statement that has been revealed by God and confirmed by the Church in which the person refuses to be corrected.

This definition stated that Jesus is one person who possesses two natures, a divine nature and a human nature, truly God and truly man. A nature is that which makes something what it is, those attributes that define it. The divine nature is marked by divine attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, self-existence, eternity, and so on, thus to have all the attributes that make God who He is. Thus, we are saying Jesus possesses every attribute that God possesses and is therefore truly God. The following study will talk of the Human nature of Christ.

Today's Lesson

For example, today's passage states in verse 23 that a daughter of a man is at the point of death. In Matthew 9:18 records that "My daughter has just died." In Mark, the man stated that she was taking her last breath and by the time of Matthew's record she had died. What Jesus does then is give life to this girl as stated in Mark 5:41, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" Genesis 1 records God creating life and now here Jesus is creating life.

Thus, in this situation is the first example of how it was recorded that Jesus, the man, also had a divine nature - giving life to this girl. 

Promise: Many respect Jesus, but only few see him as Lord and King and truly God and worthy of our worship. Jesus is the God incarnate creator.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the truth of Your word and that Your ways have been confirmed throughout history. Thank you for men that saw a need to convene regularly to declare who You are and re-confirm who You are through clear definition. Help me Lord to continue to better understand You through Your word. Help me Holy Spirit to see Christ for who He really is and help others to know the same.

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of April is about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April was about salvation by grace alone; March about the sovereign providence of God; February was about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January was about the doctrine of God.

Genesis 2:19 - Science and Theology

Genesis 2:19
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Message: Science and Theology

Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.

What the Lord is Saying:

As I move now in this study away from straight doctrine and into application, I recognize that God is spirit and so I cannot see Him and these doctrines while true, are invisible to me, as He is. The basis of these studies is now on a RC Sproul series called Creation or Chaos and looks at the intersection of science and faith or science and providence. In many ways, I am seeing that the goal of the New Atheists is to pit science against faith and religion in hopes of maybe using that division to uphold science as king while belittling faith. But, in fact they are not at odds with one another. They work together and both have a similar ambition or goal.

Many people do not realize that some of the greatest scientific discoveries in history were made by Christians. Air quality, advancements in medicine, air conditioning, air travel -- these are all ways that science has impacted us. In this text today is also the work of taxonomy in naming and distinguishing every living creature. In addition, the promise to preserve the regularity of days gives us a basis for science. Genesis 8:22 - “While the earth remains,Seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Our day never changes though everything around us does.

Promise: God's revelation gives us a basis for science. Experiments can be repeated because the natural order has been preserved.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for reminding me that You are here and You are present. You are the creator of live, but You also preserve life. You are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Help me as a person to continue to exclaim this to others and make you known throughout the earth or at least in my sphere of influence.


Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.

I Chronicles 16:25-26 - Yahweh and the gods of the peoples

I Chronicles 16:25-26
25 25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
He also is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.

Message: Yahweh and the gods of the peoples

Time: 1 Chronicles has a mystery writer and focuses on David's reign though doesn't repeat David's sin with Bathsheba. It was written in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah or 538-333 BC while the Jews were dispersed throughout Persia, some having returned from Israel. The book lists genealogies, priests, Levites, armies, temple officials, and other leaders of various ministries and devotes significant attention to proper worship of Yahweh and adherence to the regulations of the Law. It focuses on obedience that results in God’s blessing, the priority of the temple and priesthood, and the unconditional promises to the house of David.

What the Lord is Saying:

Contrary to other belief systems, Christianity (as well as Judaism and Islam) hold to a belief of one God. But, other religions one God is different from the biblical God. So it begs the question are there other gods? This verse in 1 Chronicles states that the Lord is to be feared above all gods for all the gods of the peoples are idols. It seems that there are other gods that people to try to worship. Idols are images such as wood or a statue that people worship. But these are not to be worshiped as God. It is true that people do recognize other gods but these gods are not real.

I Corinthians 8:4-6 states - Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

It seems clear that on one hand there is only one true God and the other gods mentioned in history are another sort of supernatural being, a pretender to the throne of the Almighty. There may be other gods mentioned but they are not the same as the one God. So if there is only one God and yet these other gods are mentioned then what are these other gods? They are demons. I Corinthians 10:20 - the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. So demons are worshiped under such names as Krishna, Baal, and even Allah. Thus Allah is not God. It may be touted as the same god just with a different name but it is in fact a different god. There is no god equal to the God of the Bible.

While the Bible does acknowledge other gods that man attempts to worship, these gods are not real because they are not the one true God. They are instead impostors and instead demons. The worship of idols is actually the worship of devils. The devil has set up these alternate forms of worship in order to distract people from the one true God. Again, our culture often doesn't view this. In the name of tolerance in our day and age, we therefore think that all of the gods of this world are equally valid and all end up in the same place. But, the God of the Bible is unique and set apart and therefore separate from all other claimed gods and in face those gods are not gods in the same sense because again there is only one God. It's really a sobering truth because I think I have a hard time seeing all of these people and there are millions, if not billions in history that worship these other gods. Even in the world of Catholicism that seems to add physical people and rise them to the level of an idol.

But there is only one creator. And that creator is to be worshiped. People everywhere are caught up in the supernatural. It is a hard line to stand at times because we struggle more and more stating that so many people have false beliefs.

Couched in these verses are the words For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised and the Lord made the heavens. These verses represent a Psalm of David found here in I Chronicles 16:8-36.

Promise: As Christians we serve the only true God and need never fear the enemy.

Prayer: God, you are it. You are the only God. I give thanks to You and I call upon Your name. Lord, I want to make known your deeds, your work to all. I sing to You and sing Praises to you. What you have done I sing. I glory in Your holy name. I see You and therefore am glad. I see you Lord. You are strong. I look to You continually. Lord, remove the blinders that are on so many people. So many have been trained to think a way that is not true. As I sat in church yesterday I thought of how many came come to church, go through confession and worship and yet never really look inward and see that the Christian is not simply worship but it is admitting a need for life change. We come to You Lord to get a right understanding of who we are. We need You. I need to change. I need daily to be different. Lord, there is such a danger today of people thinking they don't need change. But when we see Love as it is, we see that we are not true people of love. O God, you are the only God and I worship You. Help me be true to Your name as I live in this world.

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with January being about the doctrine of God.