PT-2 Preexostemce of the Word (John 1:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/29/2015 8:01 PM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-2 Preexistence of the Word

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 1:1-2

            Message of the verses:   “1 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.”

            First thing we will look at is John going a step further by saying “the Word was with God,” and now we once again will have to rely on John MacArthur to show us what this means from the Greek.  “The English translation does not bring out the full richness of the Greek expression (pros ton theon).  That phrase means far more than merely that the Word existed with God; it ‘[gives] the picture of two personal beings facing one another and engaging in intelligent discourse’ (W. Robert Cook, The Theology of John [Chicago: Moody, 1979], 49).  From all eternity Jesus, as the second person of the trinity, was ‘with the Father [pros ton patera]’ (1 John 1:2) in deep, intimate fellowship.  Perhaps pros ton theon could best be rendered ‘face-to-face.’  The Word is a person, not an attribute of God or an emanation from Him.  And He is of the same essence as the Father.” 

            Now we realize as we study the Scriptures that Jesus left the glory of heaven and also He left the privilege of this face-to-face communion with His Father and we can get a picture of this as we look deeper into John’s Gospel “"Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was (John 17:5).”  Paul writes to the Philippians the following showing that He willingly did this “7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  I was thinking of a hymn that goes along with this “Out of the Ivory Palaces” and in John MacArthur’s commentary he cites the hymn by Charles Wesley “And Can It Be That I Should Gain.”

3. He left his Father's throne above
(so free, so infinite his grace!),
emptied himself of all but love,
and bled for Adam's helpless race.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!

Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

            John goes on after telling us that not only did the Word exist from all eternity and had face-to-face fellowship with God the Father, but now he tells us that The Word was God.  MacArthur writes “That simple statement, only four words in both English and Greek (theos en ho logos), is perhaps the clearest and most direct declaration of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ to be found anywhere in Scripture.”

            Now I have mentioned that the cults do not believe that Jesus Christ is God and in his commentary MacArthur writes the following:  “But despite their clarity, heretical groups almost from the moment John penned these words have twisted their meaning to support their false doctrines concerning the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Noting that theos (God) is anarthrous (not preceded by the definite article), some argue that it is an indefinite noun and mistranslated the phrase, ‘the Word was divine’ (i. e. , merely possessing some of the qualities of God) or, even more appalling, ‘the Word was a god.’

            “The absence of the article before theos, however, does not make it indefinite.  Logos (Word) has the definite article to show that it is the subject of the sentence (since it is in the same case as theos).  Thus the rendering ‘God was the Word’ is invalid, because ‘the Word,’ not ‘God,’ is the subject.  It would also be theologically incorrect, because it would equate the Father (‘God’ whom the Word was with in the preceding clause) with the Word, thus denying that the two are separate persons.  The predicate nominative (God) describes the nature of the Word, showing that He is of the same essence as the Father (cf. H. E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament [Toronto: MacMillan, 1957], 139-140; A. T. Roberson, The minister and His Greek New Testament [Reprint:  Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978], 67-68).

            “According to the rules of Greek grammar, when the predicate nominative (God in this clause) precedes the verb, it cannot be considered indefinite (and thus translated ‘a god’ instead of God) merely because it does not have the article.  That term God is definite and refers to the true God is obvious for several reasons.  First, theos appears without the definite article four other times in the immediate context (vv. 6, 12, 13, 18; cf. 3:2, 21; 9:16; Matt. 5:9).  Not even the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ distorted translation of the Bible renders the anarthrous theos ‘a god’ in those verses.  Second, if John’s meaning was that the Word was merely in some sense divine, he would have used the adjective theios (2 Peter 1:4.  It must be remembered that, as Robert L. Reymond notes, ‘No standard Greek lexicon offers ‘divine’ as one of meanings of theos, nor does the noun become an adjective when it ‘sheds’ its article’ (Jesus Divine Messiah [Phillipsburg, N. J.: presb. & Ref., 1990], 303).  Or if he had wanted to say that the Word was a god, he could have written ho logos en theos.  If John had written ho theos en ho logos, the two nouns (theos and logos) would be interchangeable, and God and the Word would be identical.  That would have meant that the Father was the Word, which, as noted above, would deny the Trinity.  But as Leon Morris asks rhetorically, ‘How else [other than theos ho logos] in Greek would one say, the Word was God’?’ (The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979], 77 n. 15).  

            “Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John chose the precise wording that accurately conveys the true nature of the Word, Jesus Christ.  ‘By theos without the article, John neither indicates, on the one hand, identity of Person with the Father; not yet, on the other, any lower nature than that of God Himself’”

            Realizing that Jesus Christ is the second Person of the Trinity is one of the fundamental and also nonnegotiable elements of the Christian faith and there are other verses from the New Testament that also speak of this.  Knowing this and knowing that we have an enemy who will do anything to trick us we can be assured that there will always be assaults on the deity of Christ, but that does not change the fact that Jesus Christ is God.  Paul writes to the Galatians about these threats that were given in his day:  “There are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

            MacArthur concludes “Confusion about the deity of Christ is inexcusable, because the biblical teaching regarding it is clear and unmistakable.  Jesus Christ is the eternally preexistent Word, who enjoys full face-to-face communion and divine life with the Father, and is Himself God.”

            I have learned a lot from the quotes that I put into this SD, and hopefully it will help others who read this too, for it is very important to know and understand these things.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am truly thankful beyond words can say that Jesus Christ left His home in heaven to become a man so that He would be the One who would take my place on the cross so that I can one day be with Him in heaven.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will help me in my understanding of the Gospel of John so that I can convey it to others.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “That a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who prayed ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/29/2015 9:09 PM