Introduction to John 1:14-18

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/9/2015 8:38 AM

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  Introduction to John 1:14-18

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  John 1:14-18

Message of the verses:  “14 And the Word 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. 15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, ’He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’" 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

To begin with verse fourteen could be called the most important verse in all of Scripture, for in it we see that the second Person of the godhead became a man and as we look at this we also realize that Jesus Christ, the Word not only became man, but also continued to be God so He is 100% God and 100% man, and don’t ask me to explain it, some things we have to take by faith for if you try to understand things using our puny little human brains it is possible to blow a circuit, so best to just take by faith what the Bible has to say and believe it.  Jesus Christ did not come to earth the same way that Adam was when God first created him before the fall, for Jesus came in the same flesh that we have, yet without sin, not only without sin but it was impossible for Him to sin even though Hebrews tells us that He was tempted in all ways, “yet without sin.” 

We have to realize that the deity of Christ is one of the most attacked parts of Christianity that there is, for if you believe that Jesus Christ is not who He says He is then you may as well not believe in Jesus Christ at all.

Now in his commentary on the book of John, John MacArthur writes the following giving us a very important quote from the Council of Chalcedon which took place in 450AD and I will quote from what they wrote on the subject of who Jesus Christ is:

“Therefore, following the holy Fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance [homoousios] with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer (theotokos]; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confession, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures begin in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence [hupostasis], not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the Father has handed down to us.”

MacArthur concludes his introduction:  “Throughout the prologue to his gospel (1:1-18) John has declared the profound truths of Christ’s deity and Incarnation, reaching a powerful crescendo in these last five verses.  They summarize the prologue, which in turn summarizes the entire book.  In his characteristically simple language, John expressed the glorious reality of the Incarnation by point out its nature, witness, and impact.”  We will begin to look at the nature of the Incarnation in our next SD.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I first became a new believer almost 42 years ago I can say that I had no idea who Jesus Christ was, and  yet God so patiently began to show me, to led me to people who would disciple me so that I would not fall into the wrong path or paths.  I am thankful for the patience that God has with me to have shown me exactly who my Savior is.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to learn and to grow in the knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Mordecai” (Ester 2:5-7).

Today’s Bible question:  “What man is considered to have authored the book of Exodus?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/9/2015 9:13 AM