He Has Made Him Known

I've come up with a new TV show.

Yeah.

It's called Soul Care Pastor.

Soul Care Pastor.

And what is basically is these episodes of a guy named Pastor John

who is treating various kinds of soul sickness.

And this show kicks off in Christmastime.

And the first episode is, Tis the Season.

Pastor John gets a call from a frantic wife.

Her name is Lisa.

Something's wrong with my husband, Steve.

Will you help?

Pastor John says, I'll be right there.

Because Soul Care pastors make house calls.

Pastor John shows up.

Knock, knock, knock.

Where's Steve?

Lisa, he's in his man cave.

And so Pastor John starts walking down the stairs to the basement man cave where he'll find Steve.

And the first thing he sees is Steve's hands in his easy chair facing a screen.

And he knows right away, based upon his right hand, what's going on.

He's got remote hand.

It's a vice-like grip on a remote control.

It comes from excessive binging.

Pastor John looks back and he says to Lisa, Lisa, I think we've got a case of indoxia.

That's right.

What?

What's that?

Lisa asks.

Pastor John says, well, you've heard of insomnia, chronic not sleeping.

Indoxia is chronic not glorifying God.

Because on a side note, doxa is the Greek word for glory as in doxology.

Praise God for a moon.

So this guy looks like he's got indoxia.

Pastor John, being the seasoned pastor he is, he asks this question.

Lisa, who's been buying all the Christmas gifts for your family?

Lisa says, well, Steve has been.

Can I see his wallet?

And as soon as Pastor John touches his wallet, it is ice cold.

Because his credit cards, they've got this thing called greedy burn.

It's like freezer burn.

It desensitizes your spiritual sensitivities.

It's a kind of materialism.

Run amok.

And it results in indoxia.

Remote hand.

Greedy burn.

Pastor John says to Lisa, Lisa, I just need you to watch.

I need to watch Steve's eyes as I read this scripture from Isaiah 9, 6 and 7.

Pastor John pulls out his Bible and into Steve's ear he says,

To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder.

And his name shall be called.

What's he doing, Lisa?

He's rolling his eyes.

Whatever.

Pastor John says, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.

What's he doing, Lisa?

He's rolling his eyes.

Of the increase of his government and of peace.

There will be no end.

What's he doing?

He's rolling his eyes.

Pastor John, what are you going to do?

I need 100 cc's of Jesus awesomeness stat.

We need an IV drip of John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18.

John 1:14–18

We're going to let some truth about Jesus get into this man's soul.

So he goes from endoxia to doxology.

To give him praise and glory to Jesus.

When you see the glory of the one and only Jesus, the only way to respond is to believe and marvel.

When you see the glory of the one and only Jesus, the only response is to believe and to marvel.

And so this morning, I want to help you experience John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18 as an IV drip for your soul.

John 1:14–18

To give you life.

To make your heart cry out, show me your glory.

So children, if you're in the room and you've got one of these bulletins, here's what I want you to do.

You go to the back side of your bulletin, and I want you to write five things down on the left margin.

I want you to write this.

His presence.

And then I want you to write this.

What is the next one?

His glory.

And then His person.

And then His grace.

And the last one is His revelation.

We're going to look at five reasons why you must believe in the one and only Jesus so that you can see, believe, and marvel.

Because we all have endoxia.

In some measure, right?

Okay, let's look at the first reason why we must believe in the one and only Jesus Christ.

It's in chapter 1, verse 14.

We read this.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Billy, a couple weeks ago, helped us understand what that word, Word, meant.

God's authoritative announcement.

Thus saith the Lord.

The Greek word, underword, is the word logos.

And in addition to, if you had an Old Testament background and you're reading John chapter 1, you would know right away, okay?

John 1 · chapter mention

This is thus saith the Lord who's going to take on flesh.

But if you didn't have an Old Testament background, and let's just say you were a Greek,

that word logos would actually mean something.

It had a philosophical meaning.

And it would put something like this.

The logos is what explains all things.

It's the explanation for all things.

So a Greek would understand, with no Old Testament background,

when he would read John writing,

in the beginning was the logos,

he would understand it or she would understand it as,

in the beginning was the explanation for all things.

And the explanation for all things was with God.

And the explanation for all things was God.

He, the explanation for all things, was in the beginning with God.

John is making a huge claim.

The explanation for all things is a person.

So this word became flesh.

When you read that word flesh,

it's what theologians call the incarnation.

Has anybody had carne asada before?

Yeah, I see that hand.

Carne asada, carne is Spanish for meat.

And so it's a very crude way of describing kind of humanity.

And that's John's point.

John is saying the word in all of his glory

became meat, human flesh,

in all of our humanity,

with the exception of the sinful nature.

The word became flesh.

And the next word is really important.

And dwelt among us.

It actually means to pitch a tent.

To tabernacle.

And if you are familiar with the Old Testament,

you'll remember Exodus 25 or 33

where God commands Moses to build him

a fancy tent called a tabernacle.

And then what Moses would do,

he pitched this tent,

and then God would come down in a pillar of cloud,

and he would dwell with his people.

John is intentionally riffing off that

when he says the word became flesh

and tabernacled among us.

Because what he's saying about Jesus is this.

He's better than a tent.

He's better than God dwelling with us in a tent.

He is God dwelling with us in a person.

And so what we're seeing here is his presence.

Why you should believe Jesus is,

unlike anybody else,

the one and only,

is that he's the greater presence.

He dwelled with us in his flesh.

And he dwelt,

he came in his flesh

for a reason.

So that we could have a relationship with God.

But I want to just make one point

before we move on.

Did you know that Jesus is still incarnate?

Right now?

He's still in the flesh.

It's not like he decarnated

after his death and resurrection

when he went up to the Father's right hand.

Verse 18.

He's in the flesh now.

And so when he comes back,

he's coming back in the flesh.

And we'll see the risen, radiant,

and reigning Christ

face to face.

So the first reason why you must believe

in the one and only Jesus

is his greater presence.

He is the word become flesh.

The second reason is his glory.

And the word became flesh

and dwelt among us

and we have seen his glory.

Glory is of the only son from the father,

full of grace and truth.

When John says,

we beheld his glory,

the we is him

and the original disciples.

We saw his glory.

When he was ministering among us,

we saw his glory.

You might be wondering,

what is glory?

Well, glory is the visible

or audible display

display of God's majesty.

It's what theologians called theophany.

And so when we read John saying,

we behold his glory,

we beheld it,

John wants that to trigger something

in your mind.

Exodus chapter 33, verse 18,

Exodus 33:18

where Moses says to God,

please, please show me your glory.

God dwelling in the tabernacle.

Moses wants to behold his glory.

He's like saying,

show me your glory.

And God responds,

you can't handle my glory.

Well, God says,

I'm going to cause my goodness

to pass before you

and I'm going to announce

my name before you.

But in order to do that,

you can't see me, Moses,

because if you see me,

any man that sees me will die.

So you can't see me.

But I'll tell you,

I'll put you in a cleft of a rock,

I'll tuck you in,

and then I'll show you

my backside glory.

Well, you can't see my glory

and it's full,

otherwise you die.

So here we have in John 1,

we beheld his glory.

We beheld his glory.

In that Exodus 33 and 34 passage,

it goes on.

It goes on to say

that God is gracious

to whom he will be gracious.

And then in verse 6 and 7

is this glorious words

where God goes before Moses

and he says,

the Lord,

the Lord,

merciful and gracious,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

and faithfulness.

Notice what John

beholds in verse 14.

We have seen his glory,

glory as of the only son

from the Father.

That word only

is a very special word.

It means one of a kind,

one and only.

There's nothing,

no one like him.

Glory is of the only son

from the Father.

So,

so John is saying,

we beheld his glory

and it's a unique glory

to this one.

And then he tells us

what this glory is.

He says,

full of grace and truth.

Here's how you need

to interpret

full of grace and truth.

When you hear the word full,

you need to think abounding.

When you hear the word grace,

you need to think

steadfast love.

When you hear the word truth,

you need to think faithfulness.

What Jesus,

what John is claiming

about Jesus

is he is the ultimate

incarnate theophany of God

abounding in steadfast love

and faithfulness.

He is the greater glory

to be beheld,

to be seen,

a glory full of grace and truth.

You know the difference

between Exodus 34

and John 1 is?

Exodus 34,

God verbally announces

who he is,

abounding in steadfast love

and faithfulness.

And you get to see

Moses' backside glory.

John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

John says,

we beheld all of his glory

and he was full of grace

and truth.

We saw it.

We saw it.

When we talk about

God's steadfast love

and faithfulness

being full of grace

and truth,

we're talking about

God's loving commitment

to faithfully do

what's good,

what's best

to his people.

We're talking about

God showing his love

to you

for you experiencing

the life

that comes

from his love.

I'm going to

stick with this point

a little longer

so hold on with me.

There is an emphasis

all throughout

the Gospel of John

on beholding

of seeing Jesus.

Last week,

Matt

helped us

understand

the seven

I am statements

of Jesus

with that added

awesome one

of before Abraham

was I am.

Well,

John contains

as well,

he documents

seven signs

of Jesus Christ

that display

his glory

so you can see

his glory

so that you can see

his abounding

steadfast love

and faithfulness.

Remember,

he turns water

into wine

in John 2.

He heals

an official son

at the end

of chapter 4.

He heals

an invalid

at the pool

of Bethesda

at the beginning

of chapter 5.

He feeds a multitude

at the end

of chapter 6

or early

in chapter 6.

He walks

on water

at the middle

of chapter 6.

He heals

a man born blind

in chapter 9

so that he can

see.

And then,

remember in chapter 11,

he waits

to go

to see

Lazarus

so that

God would be glorified.

And then he raises

him from the dead.

All for us

to see.

But the greatest

sign of the glory

of the one

and only,

full of grace

and truth,

takes place

in chapter 19

of John.

Where Jesus

up on a cross

is displaying

the abounding

steadfast love

and faithfulness

of God

when he says

it is

finished.

The incarnate

God

dying

in the place

of sinners

like you

and me.

It was a display

of God's

full grace

and truth

so that we

could have a

relationship

with him.

Experience life

in him.

His glory

is a greater glory.

glory.

It's better

than some

audible

announcement

because

when you

open up

the pages

of the

scriptures

you can

see Jesus

with eyes

of faith.

It's a visible

display.

Do you remember

at the beginning

of this point

I said

John said

we beheld

his glory?

Well,

we can be

a part

of that we.

We can

behold

the glory

of Jesus

to the

one

and only

Christ.

You just

got to

open up

the Bible.

You got to

open up

the gospels.

You got to

see him

and believe

in him

and maybe

as you're

hearing this

you feel

the dripping

of Jesus

awesomeness

in your soul

and you're

saying

oh I want

to see

that more.

I want

to see

him more.

It's not

too early

to be thinking

about reading

your Bible

going forward

in the year

2020.

Maybe you

need to

start

in the

gospel

of John

and you

start every

day by

saying oh

Lord Jesus

show me

your glory.

That's the

second reason

why we

believe in

the one

and only

Jesus

because if

you see

him,

see his

glory,

the only

response is

to believe

and to

marvel.

The third

reason to

believe in

this one

and only

Jesus is

his person

and that's

in verse

15.

And you'll

notice right

away that

it's

parenthetical.

There's

parentheses

around it.

So here

is John

the apostle

who's going

to quote

John the

Baptist.

And just

as a side

note,

if you don't

know already,

John the

Baptist was

born six

to eight

months before

Jesus.

So in

verse 15

John writes

of John

the Baptist,

John the

Baptist bore

witness about

him and

cried out,

this was

he of

whom I

said,

he who

comes after

me ranks

before me

because he

was before

me.

It sounds

kind of like

a riddle,

doesn't it?

The reason

why John

has this

here is he's

getting us

ready for

what John

the Baptist

is about

to say in

chapter 1

verses 19

through 28,

behold the

Lamb of God

who's come to

take away the

sins of the

world.

And then he

says,

he who comes

after me ranks

before me

because he

was before

me.

What's all

that about?

Well when he

says he who

comes after

me, John

the Baptist

is saying

about Jesus,

well he was

born after

me.

He's got a

later birthday

than I do.

And in that

culture what it

typically meant

is if you were

older you had

a higher degree

of honor and

respect than

someone who

was younger.

And then he

says, he who

comes after me

ranks before

me.

So he totally

flips that whole

idea.

And the

idea there is

this one who

comes after

me surpasses

me.

He's more

important than

me.

And the reason

why he's more

important than

me comes in

the next

little piece

because he

was before

me.

Do you

understand what

he's saying?

This is a

claim of

deity.

This is saying

that this

word became

flesh and who

dwelt among

us.

He is the

eternal God.

God.

It's similar

to what we

read in

John 8

58.

Before Abraham

was, I am.

Jesus is

claiming I

existed before

Abraham.

The people who

he said that

to flipped.

They couldn't

believe what he

was hearing.

They picked up

stones to

throw at him.

They were so

mad.

What this is

the claim is

his person is

a greater

person.

God.

He's the

eternal God

made flesh.

And the way

to respond to

this is John

the Baptist's

cue from

chapter 3

verse 30

where John

says he

must increase

but I must

decrease.

In other

words, if he's

greater than

John, he's

also greater

than you.

He surpasses

you.

He's greater

than any of

us.

He's the

word, eternal

word become

flesh.

The second

person of

the Trinity

become human.

That's the

third reason to

believe in the

one and only

Jesus, that he

is one of a

kind.

It is his

greater person.

He's eternal.

The fourth

reason to believe

in the one and

only Jesus is

in verses 16

and 17.

It's his

grace.

Now, I

tried to

already make

a case

saying that

when John

says that

Jesus was

full of

grace and

truth, he's

riffing off of

the Exodus

34 statement

of God

where God

says, I'm

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness.

So grace is

John's way of

referring to

God's steadfast

love.

His undeserved,

unmerited favor

to people who

don't deserve

it.

Now, in

verse 16, we

read this,

for from his

fullness we've

all received.

I'm going to

come back to

that word

received in a

second, but

that word

fullness, that

abounding, he

unpacks.

It's grace upon

grace.

Do you see that

in verse 16?

This fullness is

grace upon grace

and when you

read that, it

sounds like

that those who

receive Christ's

fullness receive

measure upon

measure of

God's grace.

It's like strata

of grace building

up on each

other, but it's

not quite that.

I'm going to

make a technical

observation.

You ready?

That word

upon in verse

16, grace upon

grace, the most

frequent and

common use of

the Greek word

of that means

grace instead

of or in the

place of.

And so if you

were to take it

that way, here's

how it would

read.

It would read

something like

this.

For from him, his

fullness we have

all received, grace

in place of grace,

grace instead of

grace, which

sounds kind of

odd, right?

Until you look at

verse 17.

17 explains what

John is meaning.

He says in verse

17, for the law

was given through

Moses, a kind of

grace.

Grace and truth

came through Jesus

Christ.

There was a lesser

grace, God's

steadfast love,

giving his people

the law of Moses,

which pointed to

God, exposed sin,

and anticipated

Jesus.

And then there

was the greater

grace that

fulfilled it in

the person of

Jesus Christ, which

gets to the how.

Jesus taught in

Matthew 5 that he

came not to abolish

the law of Moses,

but to fulfill it.

All that the law

of Moses requires

and anticipates is

fulfilled in the

person of Jesus

Christ.

He's the greater

grace.

And so, that's

why we can say

if we're in

Christ, we're no

longer under the

law.

Because Jesus

fulfilled it all.

In John 3, 16,

we read this.

For God so loved

the world that he

gave the law of

Moses, that whoever

obeys the law of

Moses will receive

eternal life.

Right?

Totally wrong.

For God so loved

the world that he

gave his one and

only greater grace

son, that whoever

believes in him

shall not perish,

but have eternal

life.

Which brings me to

that word receive.

For of his fullness

we have all

received.

What does that

mean?

What kind of

receiving are we

talking about?

Well, John already

answered that question

for us in verse 12.

Would you look at

verse 12 of

chapter 1?

John writes,

but to all who did

receive him,

who believed in

his name.

To them he gave

the right to become

children of God.

to receive the

fullness of the

one and only

Jesus is to

believe in

him.

To trust in

him.

He's the greater

grace.

He fulfills the

law of Moses.

And of his

fullness we

receive by

believing.

That's the

fourth reason

why we

should believe

in the one

and only

Jesus.

He is the

source of

greater grace.

The fifth

reason why

you must

believe in

the one

and only

Jesus

is his

revelation.

In verse

18 we

read,

no one

has ever

seen God,

the only

God who

is at

the Father's

side,

he has

made him

known.

We're

immediately in

verse 18

met with a

problem.

No one

has ever

seen God.

And you

may be

thinking,

well that's

right because

you can't

see God.

And to

a certain

degree you

would be

correct.

But remember

what Exodus

33 20 says.

You cannot

see my

face for

man cannot

see my

face and

live.

The real

problem is

we can't

see God

lest we

die because

he's holy

and we're

not.

Remember

Moses only

saw the

backside glory

of God in

Exodus 33

34.

The problem

is if we

see God

we die.

And the

solution is

here in

verse 18.

The only

God.

God.

It's the

same only

from verse

14.

The one

and only.

The one

of a kind

God.

The incarnate

God.

Jesus Christ

verse 17.

He has

made him

known.

It's a

fancy word.

Biblical

scholars throw

around the

word exegesis.

It's a way

of studying

the Bible.

It's the

making known

of what the

Bible says.

You do your

exegetical

work.

And that's

the word we

have here.

No one has

ever seen

God.

The only God

who is at

the Father's

side.

He has

exegeted

him.

He has

made him

known.

He has put

him on full

display.

time and

again in the

Gospel of

John.

Jesus says

something.

If you've

seen me,

you've seen

the Father.

Because I

put him on

display.

I am the

visible

theophany

of God.

It's where

John 1 has

been moving

all along.

This prologue

lands here.

The one

and only

God.

Fully

God.

Fully

man.

Jesus

Christ.

He has

revealed the

unseen God

whom if we

saw, we

would die.

But if we

see Jesus

with eyes of

faith, we

don't die, we

live.

He's one

of a kind.

He's the

one and only.

Our seeing

God in the

face of Jesus

Christ, when

accompanied by

faith, doesn't

result in our

death, but

results in

eternal life,

experiencing his

fullness of

grace and

truth, his

steadfast love

and faithfulness

towards us.

For God so

loved the

world that he

gave his one

and only son

that whoever

believes him

shall not

perish but

have eternal

life.

So what we've

learned here from

John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

1 through 18,

is that the

logos, who is

Jesus Christ,

the word became

flesh, the one

and only, has

made known the

unseen God.

If you see him,

you will die.

And he's made

him known,

showing him his

glory, an

incarnate glory,

full of grace and

truth, that if we

receive, we live.

He came to reveal

the Father and to

reveal salvation in

him alone.

So why must you

believe in the one

and only Jesus

Christ?

Well, his presence

is a greater

presence.

His glory is a

greater glory.

His person is a

greater person.

His grace is a

greater grace.

And his revelation

is the greatest

revelation, ultimate

revelation of God

himself.

There's no greater.

So how do we

respond to this?

Well, let's say you

came into the

building this morning

and you had a mild

or major case of

indoxia.

Chronic, not

glorifying God.

Here's how you

respond.

You don't need a

soul care pastor to

show up to your

house.

You need to see

Jesus in his glory.

You need to see

him.

You need to open up

the pages of the

scriptures.

And you need to

call out to him,

show me your glory.

God is most

pleased to show you

his glory.

It's like the

IV of 100

CC's of Jesus

awesomeness starts

to drip into your

soul.

So you need to

see him.

But not just

see him,

you need to

believe in him.

You need to

receive his

fullness of

grace and truth.

You must

believe.

You must say

yes.

You must take

that step.

And if you're

in the room and

you've never put

your faith,

belief in Jesus

before, what a

day to do it.

Come to Jesus.

Say to Jesus, I

will receive your

full grace and

truth.

I'll receive it by

faith.

And you will

live.

See, believe, and

finally, marvel.

Marvel at him.

He is the one

and only God.

The one and only

from the Father,

full of grace,

the truth.

And when you

marvel, it

just, it just

crowds out any

indoxia in your

soul.

It moves you

from chronic

not glorifying to

God to eager

wanting to

glorify God.

God.

And that's not

just a good

place to be at

Christmas time.

That's a good

place to be for

the rest of your

life.

Jesus never gets

old.

And if you think

he does, it says

more about you

than him.

What this also

does, this

marveling at

him, not only

does it compel

worship and

glorying him in

our own

heart, it

compels us to

want others to

see, believe,

and marvel at

Jesus too.

It compels us to

want to go tell it

on the mountain

that the word has

become flesh.

It compels us to

tell people,

Merry Christmas,

happy incarnation.

compels us to

want to sing

joy to the

world.

The word

has come.

When we see

Jesus for who

he is,

the only

response

pleasing to

Father is

to believe

and to marvel.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we thank you so

much for who

you are.

Spirit of God,

we know that

your ministry is

to glorify the

Son, so would

you exalt the

Son in our

lives?

Would you

help us to

not only see

Jesus, but to

believe in

him, and in

believing in

him, marvel at

him?

And God, we

ask that even

two days from

now, during

this Christmas

outreach, that

as a result of

our limited

efforts in

pointing others

to this one-of-a-kind

Jesus, God,

would you do a

work that only

you can do?

That others

would see him

and believe him

and marvel at

him?

God, we're

asking that you

would add to our

number over the

next year, and

at this time

next year, God,

we would be

singing with

more people who

marvel at the

Son.

We ask this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.