HE CAME TO REVEAL THE FATHER - John 1:1-18

Hey, if you have your Bibles, meet me in

the book or the Gospel of John, chapter

John 1 · chapter mention

1. I was about to say Acts, the book of

Acts, but we're going to be in John's

Gospel this morning. We're hitting the

pause button from our Acts series to

dive into our Christmas series that

we've entitled He Came near. As a matter

of fact, that's what we're focusing on

over the course of the Christmas season

and really understand the theological

weight and depth of Jesus coming to

earth, taking the form of man so that we

might be reconciled back to our father

who is in heaven. So, as you're turning

to John chapter 1, we're going to be

John 1 · chapter mention

looking at verses 1-8.

I want to read to you though to just

kick off our time this morning from the

book of Revelation, chapter 3. Here's

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

here's what I want us to understand this

morning. As as Jesus came near to us,

and we read about this in the Christmas

story as uh he was born to a virgin, he

was laid in a manger and the babe who

came to us in the most miraculous

circumstances imaginable over the face

of the universe. That that babe would

then grow to be the savior of mankind.

that he would indeed as it was

prophesied millennia before him through

priests, prophets, and kings that he

would become the lamb of God who would

take away the sins of the world. And

there was this longawwaited hope and

expectation.

Remember the Israelites at this point in

the story were um under Roman

occupation.

They lacked a identity. They lacked an

identity of a king. They lacked the

identity of a nation. But the one thing

that they held on to was the hope of the

coming Messiah. As we dive into the

Christmas story, we'll understand the

significance of the fact that Jesus came

near to us.

And he came near to us despite the sin

that is ever present in our life despite

the disobedience and the rebellion that

we take part in constantly.

And it's not just our past sins. It's

not even our present sins, at least not

only. It's also our future sins. Despite

all that darkness, his light shines

brightly and he invites us in to

relationship with our father who is in

heaven. And Revelation 21 really

provides the lens

by which we look at John 1 in these

first 18 verses. So, I'm going to read

it to you and then we'll dive into our

passage. Revelation 21:3 says, "Then I

Revelation 21:3

heard a loud voice from the throne."

Remember, this is the Apostle John, the

same John who wrote the gospel that

we're about to read. He's exiled an

island called Patmas. He's been exiled

because of his faith, because there's a

refusal

to stop preaching the gospel.

And so, he's exiled here. And while he's

here, he gets this revelation from God.

He gets this scene into heaven. He gets

these glimpses of the future. He would

later write down that revelation in what

we know as the book of Revelation. And

here in 21,

he gives us this beautiful picture of

really what the entirety of scripture is

pointing us towards. In the theological

world, we call this the meta narrative.

That means everything from Genesis to

Revelation and everything in between.

From the major and minor prophets, the

historical books in the Old Testament,

the poetic books and the books of wisdom

in the Old Testament to the Gospels

and the letters, the epistles in the

book of Revelation that everything is

all centered on making Jesus known to

the world. Now, why is that important?

Because without Jesus, you and I remain

lost and trapped in our sin. We remain

under its bondage, enslaved

to our own will and desires. And there's

one thing I want to make absolutely

clear. Apart from the saving grace of

Jesus Christ, your will and your desires

crave nothing more than rebellion, evil,

chaos, and sin. Which is why the gospel

is so important.

Which is why you remember son and

daughter of God prior to placing your

faith in Christ as your Lord. You

remember people telling you about the

gospel. And maybe you even remember

people being very stubborn on how they

preached the gospel to you. But in all

of that, there was a consistency

that was pointing your heart to one

thing. the repentance of your sin and

the placing of your faith in the lamb of

God who comes to take away the sins of

the world. And so the gospel is

necessary. The Christmas story is

necessary.

We need a savior who despite the things

that we do separating us from him is

willing to step into our mess.

You see, we can easily phrase this

sermon series as we came near to God.

But in reality, your sin keeps you from

coming near to God. Which is why Jesus

needs to come near to us. He steps into

the pain. He steps into the brokenness.

And so John continues, look, God's

dwelling place is with humanity.

He will live with them. They will be his

peoples. And God himself will be with

them and will be their God. Everything

that we are enduring, that we are

experiencing, everything that we've gone

through, everything will eventually lead

up to this reality.

When heaven and earth collide

and all the loss and all the pain and

all the chaos and the battles that we

fight

and the things that we engage in that we

feel there's no end in sight it all

leads to this the dwelling place of God

the creator of all things

of heaven and earth of the universe the

sun the stars the moon that our God in

heaven dwwell dwells with us. We dwell

with him. And it is only made possible

because of Jesus Christ.

That is the foundation of Christianity.

That's the foundation of our faith. It's

the foundation of our belief. And so now

John chapter 1. With that lens, let's

John 1 · chapter mention

look at chapter 1:es 1-8.

Here's what John writes.

In the beginning was the word. Now you

have to hit the pause button there for

just a moment because you've read that

before.

You read it back in Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

In the beginning, God

created the heavens and the earth.

John is not choosing random words.

He's not writing a random sentence. He's

being intentional so that the reader

makes the connection to creation.

He's going to make this absolutely clear

in the next couple of verses. And so

he's connecting Christ to everything.

This the Christmas story isn't a story

that begins in Bethlehem.

The Christmas story is not a story that

begins when Jesus is laid in the manger.

The Christmas story begins in Genesis 1.

in the beginning

and everything else that would follow is

leading towards the salvation of the

world. In the beginning was the word and

the word was with God and the word was

God.

He was with God in the beginning. The

the word of God is powerful.

Here's what's amazing. All throughout

the Old Testament, you had the word of

God proclaimed

through prophets, priests, and kings.

And that word that was being proclaimed

was a huge blinking arrow, a neon sign

saying that the words I'm proclaiming

are pointing to someone better, pointing

to someone greater. John's going to get

into this when he kind of takes a side

step and brings clarification to the

role of John the Baptist. Remember,

John, the author of this gospel, is not

the same individual who is known as John

the Baptist. Those were two different

Johns. And a bit of a biblical factoid

that many of us probably already know.

John the disciple, the one who wrote the

gospels, his letters in the book of

Revelation was known as the one whom

Jesus loved. John the Baptist was known

as John the Baptist because he

emphasized the importance and the nature

of baptism. But he was also the cousin

of Jesus.

And so the word continues, he was with

God in the beginning. All things were

created through him and apart from him

not one thing was created that has been

created. In him was life and that life

was the light of men. What was in him?

Life. What's the result of that life?

light shining in us, exposing our need

for forgiveness, exposing the sin that

corrupts, rots, and destroys the soul.

Exposes the very thoughts and the

actions and the deeds in our life that

continually push us and separate us from

our father who is in heaven. When Jesus

came to earth, when he was existing

prior to creation because of his eternal

nature, you and I

were in his mind. You and I were living

in the future according to his plan.

This is what the scripture declares.

And so it continues,

"Light shines in the darkness and yet

the darkness did not overcome it." And

here in verse six, John begins to take

aside almost like this parenthetical

statement to bring clarity about who

John the Baptist was. And he says,

"There was a man sent from God whose

name was John. He came as a witness to

testify about the light so that all

might believe through him. He was not

the light but he came to testify about

the light. This is this is why the fact

that that John is declaring that the

word is Jesus is because the word that

was proclaimed in the Old Testament all

pointed towards the Lord. And so you had

things like I will hide God's word in my

heart that I might not sin against him.

That your word is a lamp unto my feet

and a light unto my path. You see how

John is making the connection here? It's

not just words. Watch this. It's not

just words printed on a page.

Truth, powerful, foundational,

but it's what the words declare. And

it's who the word is. Why is that so

important? Why is that distinction

necessary? Because there are so many

people, and I've seen and experienced

this in my 20 plus years of ministry.

There are so many people who know this

word, who can quote this word, who will

win a biblical trivia game, champion,

first place, gold medal participants.

And yet in their heart, the living word,

Jesus Christ is not there. He's not

present. There's one thing to know the

written word. It's entirely something

else to know the actual word, the living

word. And this is what John is getting

at.

And so he continues,

"He was in the world. The world was

created through him. And yet the world

did not recognize him."

I know in a crowd this size, there are

some of us here this morning who don't

recognize the Lord.

says in verse 13

or in verse in verse 11, he came to his

own and his own people did not receive

him, but to all who did receive him. I

love this. We'll unpack this here in

just a moment. He gave them the right to

be children of God. That word right is a

legal term.

That means that you now possess all

promises and all inheritances

because you've now been given the right

to be children of God to those who

believe in his name who were born not of

natural descent or of the will of the

flesh or of the will of man but of God.

The word became flesh and dwelt among

us.

We observed his glory, the glory as the

one and only son from the father full of

grace and truth.

John testified concerning him and

exclaimed, "This was the one of whom I

said, the one coming after me ranks

ahead of me because he existed before

me." Indeed, we have all received grace

upon grace from his fullness. For the

law was given through Moses. Grace and

truth came through Jesus Christ.

And verse 18 right here is a crescendo,

right? This is this is what John is

pointing us to. This is what it's all

about. This is why Jesus came to dwell

among us. This is why we read Revelation

Revelation 21:3

21:3 that the dwelling place of God is

with man, man with God. Because of this

verse 18, no one has ever seen God, the

one and only son who is himself God and

is at the father's side. He, Jesus, the

word, the one who's filled with grace

and truth, the lamb of God who's come to

take away the sins of the world. What's

his purpose? He has revealed

him.

And all God's people said,

>> Lord, bless your word. Holy Spirit,

would you stir our hearts?

This is an incredible an incredible

passage.

It unpacked so much theology for us. And

really, we can spend the next couple of

weeks just unpacking what John is really

pointing us to here in the gospel. But

here's what we need to understand. Let

me let me just kind of go back for for

just a moment. Our sin separates us from

God.

We are born into this world with a

nature and a default setting that not

just desires rebellion against God but

takes joy and pride

in rebelling against the Lord. Which is

why when the Holy Spirit comes into your

heart and your life and awakens faith

within you so that you realize you need

to place your faith in Jesus and no

longer in the faith of the things of

this world. There is conviction and

accountability. And let me just say

this, biblical accountability and

biblical conviction will never shame

you, but will call you to repentance.

The enemy wants you to wallow in your

shame. The enemy wants you to wallow in

your guilt. And normally when we wallow

in our shame in guilt, that almost

always leads to a mindset that we're

unforgivable.

that somehow my actions are greater than

the love of God.

That there is a power that exists in me

that overpowers the grace and the mercy

of God.

And a mindset like that is at the root

of idolatry.

To think that I'm more powerful than

God. That my sin outweighs his love for

me. That my darkness consumes his light

rather than his light eradicating my

darkness. That becomes the root of

idolatry in our life. And every instance

of idolatry in the scriptures and really

if you do some self-inventory, every

instance of idolatry in your life is all

rooted in you thinking so much of

yourself,

thinking that you are more powerful,

thinking that you are better than. And

maybe outright we would never say that.

We would never say I'm better than God.

I'm more powerful than God. But your

belief system and therefore your actions

would demonstrate that

John is calling us to the greater

reality

that Jesus Christ is the one who exposes

who we are and calls us to

reconciliation with the father. So

here's what I want to do. I want us to

go back to our passage. I want us to

pull out some scenes that we see here on

how Jesus is revealing the father to us.

And and let me just say this, this could

be a sermon series in and of itself. We

see the triune nature of God here.

Well, what does that mean? We see the

Trinity

at move and at work through not just

John's gospel and really through the

entirety of scripture. And John will do

an incredible job of unpacking this.

You see the father and the son existing

at the very same time. For you Bible

nerds in uh the room, this this is

what's incredible. So here in verse one,

when John writes, "In the beginning was

the word and the word was with God.

Literally what what John is saying is

that Jesus and the father were face to

face.

This is where we get the theological

reality of three persons, one God.

There's father, there's son and there's

holy spirits. And here in the very

beginning, this is outside of time. I

know when we read in the beginning, we

we correlate that with with time. But

this is John's way. This is the Bible's

way of giving us some markers to attach

to, giving us a frame of thinking so

that we can understand. But we need to

know God exists outside of time. So in

the beginning, outside of time, eternity

has no beginning. FYI, God was there.

And it wasn't just the father. Jesus was

there with him. Now, why is this

important? Because what is John

demonstrating here? That we're lost in

our sin. We need to be reconciled to the

father. And the only way the father is

revealed to us because no one is holy

enough to go before the holy God of

creation. Remember throughout our Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 series we talked about that

what our sin is is not just rebellion or

disobedience to God. Your sin and my sin

is an affront. It's an insult. It's a

declaration of pride against the holy

nature of God, against his sacredness.

And when you and I sin, we spit on the

sacredness of God. So often we don't

realize

what our sin actually is

most often. And and it could be because

how language is is so often changing. It

could be because instead of of really

talking about what that affront is,

we'll say things like mistakes or you

messed up or or or man, you just you did

something you shouldn't have. And yes,

those all describe what what sin does

and what sin is. But I think because

words are ever changing, we really don't

take serious what our rebellion is

against the Lord. And and this is what

John is demonstrating. Listen, God has

come into the world.

And he's come into the world through his

son

so that he can come near to us

so that we don't have to remain broken.

We don't have to remain lost. We don't

have to remain wandering aimlessly

without any solution to the sin problem

in our world. We can find hope and peace

and comfort and joy despite what the

world throws at us because of the father

who is in heaven. Who has demonstrated

his love through the son Jesus Christ

whose life appeased the holy

requirements of God whose death appeased

his wrath because of your sin not his

sin. He's sinless but because of your

and my sin.

And three days later, he raises

victoriously from the grave in full

demonstration that he indeed is who he

says he is. 40 days later he'll ascend

to the father and there he sits at his

right hand interceding

>> on our behalf pleading our case

providing guidance through the

indwelling power of the Holy Spirit

awaiting the day of the second advent

where he will come in glory and power

and majesty

and all the sin and evil and the affront

to his sacred secretness, all the

insults and the spitting on his name and

holiness will be done away with and they

will be judged

because they've chosen to rebel against

the Lord. Maybe

some of us here this morning, we're

living in that rebellion.

And maybe up until today, we've actually

never heard the rebellion in our sin

phrased that way.

But that's what it is.

Today's the day. We said it last week

that the shackles of sin and the bondage

of evil in your life are broken and

loosed because of Jesus Christ. Because

he came near. He dwelt among us. He has

shown us who the father is. So, so

again, let's go back to our passage.

We'll pull out some things that we see

here. If you're taking notes, here's

here's the first thing. Jesus reveals

the father by showing us who he is.

He shows us who he is. We we talked

about this. He was face to face with God

and he is God. He was there in the

beginning. And I love this. Let's go

let's go here to verse three.

All things were created through him

and apart from him. Not one thing was

created that has been created.

In him was life, and that life was the

light of men. That light shines in the

darkness, and yet the darkness did not

overcome

it.

John is making a case here

that Jesus indeed is who he says he is.

And when we look to Jesus, we'll find

the father.

which is why he makes this connection

back in verse one to the creation

account in Genesis. In the beginning was

God. And what do we read? If you're

familiar with the rest of the creation

story, the scripture says God said, "Let

there be." And

>> there was.

Let there be and there was. So what God

spoke came into existence. What God

spoke was created. And then John in

continuing

to double down on this truth, on this

reality. Says all things were created

through him,

the word.

Who's the word? Jesus. What about the

word? He was there from the beginning.

What about the word? He's eternal. He's

central to creation. He's the lifegiver.

And it's through life that light

illuminates in you. And when that light

illuminates in you, it chases out the

darkness. That's the point.

So many of us though, that light shines

and we think the gospel is a light

switch. We shut it off

because we enjoy the darkness more than

we enjoy the light.

And you know this, you can't go anywhere

in darkness.

You can't pursue anything in darkness.

And what the devil will do, make no

mistake, this is who the battle is

against. We're battling against

spiritual powers and principalities of

this world. But also, make no mistake,

there's a greater power that rests in

you, son of God, daughter of God. That's

a light. And what does this light do?

Shines in the darkness. And the darkness

did not did not overcome

it.

Quit believing the lie that the darkness

in your life has the power to extinguish

the light of the gospel. It does not.

The darkness in your life gives way,

retreats

because of the light of the gospel. The

darkness of your life is forgiven

because of the light of the gospel. This

is how Jesus reveals the father. He

shows us who he is. And I want to

challenge us with this. If you look

anywhere other than Jesus to understand

God, and maybe this is where you are

today, if you look to yourself, if you

look to your purpose, if you look to

your job, if you look to your

accomplishments, you will only continue

in a path of darkness.

I've said it this way so many times

before. Good things can become bad

things

if those good things become our greatest

things.

And the greatest thing, the greatest one

should be Jesus Christ. That is why when

we look to Jesus, when we recognize who

he is, the father comes into view.

Paul tells us in his letter to the

Corinthian church that the veil is

removed from us

so that we could truly see the glory and

the goodness of God. And not only see

it, but John will later write in his

letters, we can know it. We can

experience it. We can live it out. But

it begins with Jesus. Here's the second

thing that we see.

Jesus reveals the father by showing us

who we are. Did you pick up on that? And

I love how he juxtaposes this with

showing us who Jesus is.

And then he inserts this this

parenthetical statement as as we

mentioned. He he kind of takes this

sideep in order to address that John the

Baptist was just the one who declared

about the Messiah who was to come. He's

not the Messiah himself.

There were so many people, especially at

this point in the biblical story, who

looked to John and thought he was the

Messiah.

He's eloquent with his words. He's

powerful when he preaches. People are

coming to him to be baptized. He's

obviously beginning this movement. John

himself must be the Messiah. John the

Apostle here brings clarity

to it.

But I love how John is showing us who we

are.

Because oftent times, if you're anything

like me, you can get in the trap of

thinking too much of yourself.

And so, you'll read the biblical story,

you'll read biblical accounts, and

you'll think, "How how could they deny

the Lord?

How could they, despite seeing miracle

after miracle after miracle, still turn

their back on Jesus?" And we think, "If

that were me, no way would I deny the

Lord." You're thinking too much of

yourself

because you've already denied the Lord.

Your entire life prior to salvation has

been a denial of the Lord. And maybe

your rebuttal is, "Yes, but I never saw

a uh miracles

like the way they saw in the

scriptures." Yeah, you did. You've seen

people be resurrected out of death and

sin to life eternal. That's the greatest

miracle. a changed life, a changed

heart. Jesus himself said, "If you can't

even believe the word of the law in the

prophets and what they declared, then

your heart is so dark and you won't even

believe if someone is resurrected from

the grave."

Which is why the testimony of a changed

life is so powerful. Which is why Jesus

will tell us in Matthew's gospel during

the sermon on the mount that the light

that dwells in you, the light here that

John is pointing us towards, a light

that overpowers the darkness, a light

that the darkness can never extinguish,

that light dwells in you. And because

that light dwells in you, you are to let

that light so shine before others that

they may see the good in you. They may

see Christ in you. They may see the Holy

Spirit's resurrecting power in you. And

when they witness that, when they see

your life transformed and changed, what

does the scripture declare? They'll give

honor and glory to our father who is in

heaven.

This is who we are. We are people far

from God, in need of God. And and let me

just camp here for just a m moment

before we move on. Go with me to verse

10.

says he was in the world

and the world was created through him

and yet the world did not what recognize

him. So, so who are we? We are people so

caught up in darkness and rebellion that

we don't even recognize the light when

he's right in front of us.

Which is why we need a movement of the

spirit.

Verse 11, he came to his own

and his own people did not receive him.

John, I I love this because this is

John's way of looking at the nation of

Israel, saying, "I'm talking to you.

You did not receive him." It's very easy

for us to hear these words and point the

finger and to say, "I hope they're

listening. I hope he's listening." But

John takes a moment to say, "No, you

better be listening because this is

about you. You rejected him.

Verse 12, but to all who did receive

him, he gave the right to be children of

God. To those who what? Who believe in

his name. He gives us the right. That's

legal language. that now because of

Jesus we possess the promises and the

inheritance of heaven which Peter will

later write in his letter tell us is

being stored up for us an inheritance

and a promise that is undefiled unfading

and incorruptible.

It is a certainty. Why? Because we now

have the right to be called his child

through what? Through belief in his

name. Here's where we run into serious

trouble.

So many of us like to cling to the right

of being a child of God without ever

professing any belief in the name of

God.

And we think that our life is okay while

we're still in active sin and rebellion

against the Lord. And we may say, "I

believe and I pray that that belief is

true." But what we gather from scripture

is that actions always follow belief.

The way you behave is going to be rooted

in what you confess.

and what you believe in your heart

because where your treasure is, your

what will be also. Your heart will be

also.

And so so many people today, they want

to claim the promises and the

inheritance of God without actually

following God. And maybe you find

yourself today in a place where you

recognize there are things in my life

that are not right before the Lord.

There's actions and choices and

decisions that I'm making that are in

rebellion against him.

I want you to know that what the

scripture declares is that the light of

Jesus

cries out to you in that darkness

and Jesus takes the wrath. He takes the

punishment on your behalf.

So that through your belief, through

your faith,

you would recognize your need for

salvation

and receive his grace, live in

accordance with his grace, and have your

life transformed.

Have you stepped

into faith? Have you stepped into his

family? Here's the third thing that we

see. I love this. Y'all picked up on

this. This is one of my favorite parts.

Jesus reveals the Father by coming near

to us.

Let's go to verse 14.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among

us.

We observed his glory, the glory as the

one and only son from the Father, full

of grace and truth.

This is what is so neat. Some of you

Bible nerds in the room, you know where

I'm going with this. That word dwelt

there

is the same word that is used throughout

the scripture for tabernacle.

And what do we know about the

tabernacle? The tabernacle was the

meeting place with God.

It was the place where the high priest

would go and intercede on behalf of the

people of God and offer atonement for

the sins of the people so that they can

be reconciled back to God. They can be

united back to God, no longer separated

because of the evil and chaos in their

life.

But one would enter into the tabernacle,

the place where God dwelled,

and they would offer up the atonement,

and God would receive his people,

and he would cover his people with grace

and provision and sustenance and

guidance. Here's the big picture. We

find that in Jesus.

Jesus is the tabernacle of God. He is

the meeting place where we discover the

father so that anyone who's anyone can

come to Jesus and can discover the

meeting place of God and have your life

transformed, have your sins atoned for.

What John is saying and the people of

Israel would have picked up on it. The

readers in these times would have picked

up on it that he came to dwell among us.

He tabernacled among us. He popped the

tent among us so that we could meet with

God because God despite the darkness and

sin in our life came near to us. And in

Jesus created the meeting place by which

we have an encounter with our father who

is in heaven. Which is why in verse 18,

John closes the passage this way. No one

has ever seen God. Why? Because we don't

bear the holiness

in order to go before God. Which is why

we need Jesus,

the one and only son, who is himself God

and is at the father's side. What has he

done? He's revealed him to us.

He's made the father known to us. He is

tabernacled among us. The dwelling place

of God is now with man.

We've all received this grace upon grace

in verse 16 from his fullness. And let

me just close with this church. If you

don't see Jesus clearly, you'll never

experience the father miraculously.

And it all begins by knowing who Christ

is.

It all begins by aiming everything

within you, your being, your power, your

strength, the way we say it, your time,

talent, and treasures, and aiming it

towards the mission and the kingdom of

God. But that only happens when we

encounter Jesus.

So come to the light. Come to the one

who expels the darkness. Come to the one

who came near to us so that we could be

brought near to the father. Let us come

to Jesus. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word. We

thank you for today.

We pray that you would continue to

move and work

in and through us.

We thank you for a gospel proclaimed.

I pray right now for a gospel received.

And Lord, as you continue to call people

out of sin

and into life eternal,

I pray that as those decisions are made

that men would become the leaders in

their home that they're called to be,

the husbands, the fathers,

the business owners, the employees that

that women would step into

being a woman of faith,

a woman who is adorned with the gospel

that we would be a church that

represents you in all that we say and

do. Jesus, we thank you that you are the

light that expels the darkness. And we

thank you that you came to reveal the

father. Christ's name we pray. All God's

people said, "Amen." Hey, would you

stand to your feet with me?