New Beginnings - the Gospel of John AM Sermon 1/2/11

At this time of the year we always crave something new. We make New Years Resolutions that range from eating right and exercising to career improvements.
This year I would like to look at the Gospel of John in depth in a series of sermons.
John is a Gospel about New Beginnings.
As a matter of fact John’s main theme that runs all throughout the Gospel is New Creation – God is kicking off a new project in Jesus Christ.

A world that is destroyed and damaged by sin is now being put back together by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God is working to put back together what has been torn asunder for His GLORY!

This morning I want to introduce you to this gospel and look at the preamble to this book that lays out the theme of this book.

Some Bible Scholars have called this section of John’s Gospel the Overture of his Gospel.
Now overture is not a word that I use in everyday conversation but I do remember a fine arts class that I had to take in college at UAB.
My advisor put a few football players in Music Appreciation and I quickly realized that my instructor took music as serious as we took football.

She was a good teacher and she demanded that we listen to snipets of famous operas and these small snipets were called overtures.

The word overture comes from a French word that means ‘opening’ or introduction. In the 1700’s it became very popular to add an instrumental intro to a great opera.
That is how I and my best friend navigated Musical appreciation and that was by memorizing what the overture to each opera sounded like and from that we were able to know which opera it was that we were listening too.

I would propose the John the Apostle invites us to do the same with his gospel.

He wants us to listen to his overture – to hear how his gospel begins.
Listening and taking it in deep is the method of Bible study that we should strive for.

This idea of listening to God’s word and instruction goes back to the very foundation of Israel.
One of the most important prayers of Israel is the Shema and the word Shema is the Hebrew word for Listen.

The prayer is found in Deuteronomy 6
Deuteronomy 6: 4-7
4 "Hear, O Israel ! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one ! 5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 " You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

The very prayer starts off with Hear- now when you break this word down for Hear to its original meaning for its original audience, we will learn that it means to hear intelligently.

Shema- To listen carefully, intelligently, to listen so that you put these words into practice.
Listen to what God is calling us to do.

This morning let us listen to the majestic preamble to John’s Gospel.
Remember that it is written by John later in his life as he reflects back on Jesus and what he means to the world. Imagine the gray headed, grizzled wisdom of an apostle of Jesus that was the apostle that Jesus loved telling us about Christ.

John 1: 1-18
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. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
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.

There are SEVEN big themes in this preamble that we need to consider this morning.

1) Jesus is God –
John cuts to the chase and says literally that Jesus is Jehovah God. Jesus has not beginning or no end.
John uses the word LOGOS for WORD - IN the beginning was the LOGOS. To the Jews and the Greeks of the 1st century this word LOGOS meant specifically the wisdom of the Creator of the Universe.
Jesus is the very wisdom of God in the flesh. Jesus is God incarnate in flesh. God has literally became man or as some Eastern Orthodox scholars call Jesus - HE IS THE GOD-MAN


2) LIGHT
Jesus came to show and enlighten the path for Israel – Jesus is the LIGHT to shine the path that God had chosen for His people
From verse 4-9 of this preamble to John’s Gospel the word Light is used 6 times. One of the most important points of John’s Gospel – some call this the Gospel of Light –
This idea of light being connected to the Messiah was very popular in the day of Jesus – the Qumran community spoke of the sons of Light.
The light –
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it
I think back to an experience when I was a kid to illustrate this point. I worked for an elderly couple growing up that owned a farm that had really gotten to be too much for them to handle.
One time Mr. Hardin wanted me to clean out his old barn. The barn had not been used in over 10 years and there were still left over building materials for the old house that was built before World War II as a bed and breakfast.
Some of this stuff had not seen the light of day for years.
I remember prying open the door to this barn and when I did Sunlight came streaming into this barn.
Mice and all kinds of vermin scrambled when I opened the door, this was the darkest, snakiest and nastiest place I had ever been.
The sunlight was my ally, there was no way that I would have waded into the snaky barn without seeing where I was going.
The sun was my guide and illuminated my path.
This is what John tells us about Jesus – His teaching, His life sheds light in dark places.
We will all have to go through those dark places in our lives, such as death, the far country of sin, or a time of just despair- Jesus will light that path if we let Him.

3) VOICE of GOD
Jesus is the very voice of God – John will remind us in his gospel that those that hear the voice of Jesus hear the voice of God.
Theme – 10 Words – Decalogue - Deca – Logos – literally TEN WORDS – this theme will come back in the Gospel of John and type of connection
Jesus words will become the NEW LAW for all man – even greater or superseding the original 10 commandments.
In John’s Gospel we will read 10 times that Jesus says something – the Deca Logos – What Jesus is God’s Word.
Human Divine encounter has always in the Bible centered around God speaking to people in a language they could understand.
God wants to verbally communicate His truth to us. He wants to teach us about His wisdom and share it with us.


4) Presence of God- TEMPLE
God dwelt among us in Jesus – The language of the John 1:14 states literally that the WORD or LOGOS became flesh and dwelt among us – the word there for dwelt is TABERNACLED or TEMPLED –
SKENO – To temple or tabernacle – literally
Man had built the tabernacle to give God a place to reveal His glory to man but now this work is all God’s. He has now tabernacled among His people.
Just as God’s had been present in his earthly Temple in the Holy of Holies, now He is present in His SON JESUS – Jesus is the very presence of God.


5) Children of God
The coming of Jesus means that we can be saved - God wants to call us back to His family.
God wants us to understand the nuptial or family connection with Him – he invites us back into His family with the coming of Jesus.
The Bible tells us that the Church is the Bride of Christ – God wants to literally marry us and become one with us just as a husband and wife are to become one.
God wants us to be back in His family.


6) JESUS REVEALS GOD’S GLORY
One term that permeates the OT idea of God’s presence in His temple is the idea of Glory. In John’s preamble he tells us that Jesus is the glory of God.
Jesus reveals God’s glory to us. When God would come and take residence in the Temple of Israel, it was said that God’s shekinah or God’s Glory had been revealed to the people.
Before God’s glory had been something to stand away from or flee from, but now we can approach that glory and here is the unbelievable part and that is we can share in God’s glory.
To the Israelites this Shekinah or Doxa was on Mount Sinai in the form of the cloud the engulfed the Mountain it was in the form of the cloud and pillar of fire the lead them and finally it came to rest between the Cherubim in the Holy of Holies over the Ark of the Covenant.
What John is telling us is extraordinary – The very Glory or Presence of God is now in the form of a man named Jesus.
It is amazing How John attaches two Temple concepts in 1:14- Jesus DWELT (TEMPLED) and we beheld his GLORY (DOXA).
Further connecting this idea of God’s presence in Jesus is found in the Birth narrative of Jesus.
In 1:14 we read that the Word or Logos tabernacled among us and God’s glory was revealed.
Luke 1:35
35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
The word used here for Overshadow is the same word for God’s overshadowing Jesus in His Transfiguration but is also used to describe the Glory of God filling the Temple of Israel.
The angel is telling Mary that the Glory of God will come upon her- she would bear in her womb the very presence of God in human form.
She will bear the God-Man
The Greek word here used is the DOXA
This is the root word that we get for the word Doxology - Literally this song that has been sung for ages by the Church means Glorious Words.
This word refers to the presence of God and the Heavenly realm. Whenever Heaven would invade earth it was said that God’s glory was revealed.
In Jesus Heaven has invaded Earth and eventually through His resurrection the presence of God will remain upon this earth in His Church.


7) God wants to give us GRACE UPON GRACE in Jesus Christ –
This is superabundance in Christ – God wants to give us more than we need our could imagine.
Grace upon Grace means that Christ is sufficient for all things.
Jesus sacrifice for our sin is more than we could ever need – God wants to heap up his abundant blessings upon us.
I would like to focus in on this for a moment because sometimes it is misunderstood as to what John means by grace upon grace.
This term, GRACE, is a very nebulous term used among Christians. We throw this term around a lot but never really nail down its meaning in the context of the New Testament.
GRACE IS USED 156 TIMES IN THE NT AND IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TERMS THAT SETS CHRISTIANITY APART FROM ALL OTHER RELIGIONS.
The Greek Word CHARIS literally means – Gift - it is the same root word for Charisma or Charismatic.
This stems from the idea of spiritual gifts – Charisma.
But the most basic usage of this term in the NT is the idea of God’s unmerited Favor through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Gods Riches at Christ’s Expense is one way to understand it.
What we get but we really don’t deserve. We deserve eternal damnation and separation from God but what we get is God’s lavish gifts of love and salvation through Jesus.
John wants to rub our noses in this idea and is letting us know that this will be a key in understanding his gospel.
I want to take a minute to look at how this grace operates practically in our lives and why it is important to understand.
To illustrate this I want to tell a story real quick.
There were two Jewish Rabbis that predated Jesus by a few decades and they were two of the most important teachers in the Inter-testament period (Between Malachi and Matthew).
One very conservative scholar was named Rabbi Shammai and the more liberal scholar was named Hillel. They were contemporary with one another and had separate Rabbinical schools.
A story is told about a pagan that went to Rabbi Shammai and that pagan told Shammai that he would convert to Judaism if he could tell him everything that he needed to know about Judaism in the time one could stand on one leg.
Shammai thought about it for a while and told the young man that that was impossible.
The young pagan was not deterred and went to see the competing scholar Hillel. He asked Hillel the same question. Hillel thought about the question for a second and told him something revolutionary.
Hillel said, - WHATEVER OFFENDS YOU, DO NOT DO THAT TO YOUR BROTHER OR YOUR NEIGHBOR – THAT IS THE WHOLE LAW, THE REST IS JUST INTERPRETATION
TO SUM UP THE ENTIRE LAW OF MOSES TO HILLEL WAS TO LOVE OTHERS.
Later on, a few decades after this incident with the pagan we see someone come to Jesus and ask a question.
In Matthew 22 we read the story of a Rabbi or teacher of the Law coming to Jesus and asking Him, How do I achieve salvation?
He asks Jesus what is the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses but his underlying question is basically – what is the most important law that I have to obey to be saved.
This is an age old question and is a very human response. There is an underlying problem in this man’s question and that is the human idea that we want a list of requirements. What is the least that I have to do to get to Heaven.
Give me a punch list so that I am in control of our destiny. This man to comes to Jesus wants to control his own destiny. Tell me Jesus what are the requirements for salvation.
In the Garden of Eden a revolution took place when Adam and Eve rebelled against God. They wanted AUTONOMY – meaning that they wanted to put the man in the center. Man becomes his own ruler and God is kicked upstairs.
Jesus came to bring about a Copernican Revolution. If you remember Nicolas Copernicus was the scientist that told the Medieval world that the Sun was the center of the Solar System and not Earth.
Jesus came to bring about another revolution to remind us that it is God that is at the center and not man.
This is evidenced by Jesus answer to this man about how one is to be saved,


Matthew 22: 37-40
37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."


Now this seems simple – Just go out and love God with all our being and then love our neighbor.
It seems simple to you really think about what Jesus is saying, How many of us can say we love our neighbor all the time?
How many of us can say that we have put God first in every aspect of our life? We come to a conclusion that what Jesus is saying is next to impossible. What seems simple is very difficult.
Jesus also says something very disturbing in Matthew 5. In the passage in Matthew 22 we see a Pharisee or Scribe that is a great teacher in the Law. These folks were very righteous. They spend their entire life trying to please God by living perfect.
Jesus says something about the Scribes and Pharisees that should be disturbing to us. In modern America we have a hard time getting people to come to Church or read their Bible but these people that Jesus encountered, the Scribes and Pharisees lived every aspect of their life to please God.


Matthew 5:20
20 "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.


Jesus makes it clear that our righteousness must super exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. The word for Surpass is much stronger than the translation gives it credit for – this word really means Super Abundance.
Our Righteousness must be super abundantly more than the Scribes and Pharisees if we want to enter the Kingdom of God.
Well if that was the end of the story I would tell you to shut the doors to this building, go home, live life for yourself, and shut this church down because it is hopeless.
Here is where the teaching of Grace upon Grace enters – here is where faith begins.
Biblical Faith is something like this – realizing your limitations. When you have realized your limitation you then reach your hand to God in faith and admit to Him that you are not capable- you cannot on your own merit super- abound in righteousness.
The attitude of what is the least amount I could do to achieve salvation has no place in Christianity.
The attitude that we have before God is this – We are hopeless without God’s help – we love God and are so thankful for His Grace that we reach out to God in faith to receive that gift of Grace –
The revolution has occurred –we are not the center – God is at the center- it is all about God – He has the power to save – He has the grace to give – Grace upon Grace-
He just doesn’t want to give us enough to Grace to get in the door of Heaven but wants to give us a Super abundance of Grace – Grace Upon Grace.
To close out this morning I want to share a passage from Romans 8 that ties all of this together.


Romans 8: 28-32
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren ; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called ; and these whom He called, He also justified ; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things ? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things ?


Do you notice who is at the Center of this passage for Paul. Who is doing all of the work? It is God – God is the one who elects, it is God who justifies, it is God that glorifies us, and it is God that wants to pour out his gifts upon us.
Paul tells us that God did not spare His own Son to save us. He Delivered over Jesus to the Jews and Romans to crucify Him so that he can save us.
Do you think that God is serious about giving us His gifts?
The word for Freely Give – at the end of this passage is the same Greek word for GRACE -
God wants to Freely Give us Gifts – This is what Grace is about.
This is the entire Scope of John’s Gospel – God wants to give us His grace through Jesus.
If you are here this morning and you have not accepted this grace you are in dangerous territory. God has given His son to open up the Grace of Heaven for you.
He asks for you to admit that you cannot do it on your own and you are not the center of the universe – it is all about God’s glory.
We may have people here that have become Christians but are not living in the reality that God wants to pour His grace into your life.
God wants to give you superabundance of His grace to transform you but you must put God at the center for this to happen.
You have to realize that you live for His Glory.
There was a phrase used by the Apostolic Church and was brought back during the Protestant Reformation and it is a Latin Phrase-
Soli Deo Gloria - For God’s Glory Alone – that is how we are to see our lives and very salvation.