Jesus Entered His Creation John 1:14
Jesus Entered His Creation Jesus was eternally God and He willingly left the comfort and glory of heaven to join with humanity in a way that has never happened before and will never happen again. He came to earth to take our place and to bear the punishment for our sins.
Jesus Entered His Creation Even though John mentions very little about Jesus physical birth, he has much to say about who Jesus is and what He did for us by entering into His creation.
I. The Word Became Flesh In the first five verses, John told us that Jesus was fully and completely God, He was eternal, and He was the creator of the universe. John 1:14 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.
I. The Word Became Flesh John now makes a statement about Jesus existence within His creation. The incarnation occurred when Jesus divine nature was joined together with a human nature. Theologians often refer to this as the hypostatic union.
I. The Word Became Flesh One of the ways hupostasis (hü-po -stäsēs) is used in New Testament Greek is in reference to the nature of a being.
I. The Word Became Flesh Hebrews 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature (hupostasis), and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
I. The Word Became Flesh Eventually, hupostasis (hü-po -stä-sēs) came to refer to not the oneness of the Godhead, but the distinctiveness within the Trinity. Today it s used to indicate that the divine nature of Jesus was joined with a human nature in one person.
I. The Word Became Flesh The only fundamental difference between His humanity and ours was that He wasn t born with a sin nature like we were. By not having a sin nature, Jesus was human in the purest sense, the way we were originally intended to be.
I. The Word Became Flesh When we think about Jesus life on earth, it s important for us to remember that He had both a divine and a human nature. By adding humanity to His divine nature, Jesus was able to die for us. The incarnation is one of the great mysteries of Christianity.
I. The Word Became Flesh Those who insist on fully understanding the incarnation will miss the glory of God that underlies it.
I. The Word Became Flesh Philippians 2:5-8 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
I. The Word Became Flesh 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. The Word Became Flesh In the incarnation: God became man. Eternity entered time. The invisible became visible. The Creator entered His creation. God s salvation was revealed to all mankind.
I. The Word Became Flesh In an incredible act of sacrificial love, the second person of the Trinity left heaven s glory to die on our behalf. The punishment that His own holiness demanded, was provided for through His perfect sacrificial love.
I. The Word Became Flesh Romans 2:26 says that the Father sent His Son to die for our sins so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
II. And Dwelt Among Us John 1:14 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. Dwelt comes from a Greek word that literally means to live in a tent or to tabernacle.
II. And Dwelt Among Us The presence of God in the Old Testament tabernacle was a foreshadowing of what was to come through Jesus. Exodus 40:34 the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. The Hebrew word for dwell is shakan (shä-kan ).
II. And Dwelt Among Us Exodus 25:8 And let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell (shakan) among them. Shakan is the word that we get the word Shekinah from. Shekinah literally means residence.
II. And Dwelt Among Us Rabbis used the phrase Shekinah glory to refer to the visible manifestation of God. One of the most prominent images associated with the Shekinah glory is that of light.
II. And Dwelt Among Us Even though God manifested Himself in a very tangible way in the Old Testament, He most clearly manifested Himself when the Word became flesh.
II. And Dwelt Among Us Zechariah 2:10-11 10 Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. 11 And many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten John 1:14 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.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten The phrase only begotten is translated from the single Greek word monogenēs (mo-no-ge-nā s). Monogenēs (mo-no-ge-nā s) usually referred to someone who was an only child.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten In the Jewish way of thinking there was extra worth or value to an only child. Jewish parents had a special love for an only son.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten The Hebrew phrase for only child, was oftentimes translated with the Greek word agapētos (ä-gä-pā-to s), which means beloved, instead of monogenēs (mo-no-ge-nā s), which means only child. So, the ideas of an only son or a beloved son began to be used interchangeably.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten Genesis 22:2 He said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten Isaac was Abraham s special, unique, one of a kind son, who was loved by his father in a very extraordinary way. There is something very special and very unique about Jesus. There has never been anyone like Him and there never will be anyone like Him.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten The Father sent this special Son to die in our place. Romans 5:10: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten We were spiritually at war with God, yet He sent His special, beloved, one of a kind Son to die for us.
III. The Word is the Only Begotten 1 John 4:9-10 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.