Lesson 2

God Is Here

John 1;1-5,14

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth?" asked Solomon as he dedicated the temple (1 Kings 8:27). A good question indeed! The Jews new about the glory of God dwelling in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34) and in the temple (I Kings 8:10-11) but that glory had departed from disobedient Israel. They knew about God's glory, but what about God himself dwell on the earth?

By the time John the apostle, now an aged man, the only living apostle- all the rest martyred - wrote his gospel account, a lot of heresy had tried to infiltrate Christianity. Paul had warned of it. Acts 20:29-30 " For I know this, that ... grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." So had Peter and Jude. But John did not waste his time arguing with the Gnostics and other heretics of his day. Rather, he began his account of the gospel by stating certain facts that he knew beyond all shadow of doubt to be true. Let others speculate. John knows.

He begins by making seven sweeping statements that affirm once and for all the identity and the deity of the one he had known so well.

Jesus Is The Word

Four times, John uses the title "The Word" to describe Jesus. What does he mean by that? When we think of the word of God, we usually have reference to the Bible. But when John speaks of the Word, he means, not the written word but the living Word. Not scripture but a Savior. Jesus is the Word! Later, when John saw the Revelation of Jesus Christ returning to the earth to fully and finally defeat Satan he wrote, (Rev. 19:13) "And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God." John likes to refer to Jesus as "the Word." 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

By why that title? The Word. The Greek word is Logos. The word "rhema" is sometimes translated "the word" as in Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." That is a different Greek word than John's. Logos means "something said; the expression or communication of something." In John's case, he is referring to Jesus as "the Divine Expression/ Communication of Truth, of Life, Of God. Jesus is not just the first and last letter in the alphabet - the alpha and omega - He is the Word itself. Jesus is the Word.

Jesus Is Eternal

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God... The same was in the beginning with God."

Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). Jesus existed in the beginning. He is eternal.

Jesus Is The Creator Of All Things

"All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made"

This is an expression of his great power. He created all things. You can marvel at Christ's power when you look up through a telescope. I have read that on a clear night, the naked eye can see about 3,000 stars. When Galileo invented the first telescope in 1600 he discovered about 30,000 stars. When Sir William Herschel made improvements in the 1800's he found 26 million stars. The vast, infinite, unmeasurable universal attests to Christ's creative power.

You can marvel at Christ's power when you look down through a microscope. There are more than 800,000 species of insects. As many as 24,000 plant lice have been found on a single tomato plant; 40 to 600 thousand ants in a single colony, 3 million termites in a single colony. Now scientists understand that atoms are the building blocks of universe and they are infinitely as small as the universe is infinitely big. The microscope confirms the creative power of Christ.

You can marvel at Christ's power when you look within though a stethoscope. The human body is a masterpiece. 300 bones, 700 muscles, a heart that beats 4200 times an hours pumping 12 pints of fluids through miles of blood vessels; lungs that hold a gallon of air and breathe 2400 times a day. There are 100 million nerves in a human body, most of which are never noticed unless you are a Sunday School teacher or a nursery worker or build churches. And our brains. The average male brain weighs 3 pounds 8 ounces, the average female brain, 2 pounds 4 ounces. come to your own conclusion about that! Incredible brains either way. No wonder David said, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works" (Psalm 139:14).

And John tells us that Jesus created it all!

Jesus Is Life

"In Him was life"

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). Jesus is both the source and the sustainer of life itself.

Jesus Is The Light Of Mankind

"the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not"

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). Men are not only in a state of spiritual death needing life; they are in a state of spiritual darkness needing light. Jesus is light. The world may not fully comprehend (understand; conquer) Jesus, but He is no less light.

These are all attributes that John tells us that in reality ...

Jesus Is God

"the Word was God"

The emphasis on this entire book is that Jesus Christ is God. "The Word was God!" Jesus is equally God ("with God") and essentially God ("was God"). "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). Jesus is not just some kind of great man; he is not a super human. He is God. His attributes, personality, nature and character all attest to His deity.

Jesus Became Flesh. v. 14.

The book of John is not just about Jesus' deity. It is also about His humanity. Jesus is God incarnate. The word "incarnate" means "in the flesh." Jesus is God is human flesh. The Word was made flesh.

John will point out that Jesus was subject to the limitations of humanness. He was weary (4:6), thirty (4:7), saddened (11:33,35). He bled (19:34) and died (19:30 ). He dwelt among us and we beheld (gazed with admiration) upon his glory. It was the glory of one who is the Son of God. the only begotten of the Father. It is glory that is full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the Word. He is eternal, the creator of all things. He is life and light. Jesus is God. And for a space in time and human history, God became a man. He became flesh. He dwelt among us. We saw God full of glory, grace and truth.

Will God indeed dwell on the earth? He has! John wants us to know that God has been here!