Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory or Who Is This Child?

John 1:1-18
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, December 20, 1998
Copyright © 1998, P. G. Mathew

Did you know God wants us to seek him? “Seek me and live. . . .Seek the Lord and live. . . . Seek good, not evil, that you may live” we read in Amos 5:4, 6, and 14. But how can mortal man seek God? How can sinners go to heaven and appear before the majesty of God? They cannot, on their own. God had to send his Son to seek us so that we, in turn, may seek him and live.

As we begin this study of who Jesus is as outlined in the first eighteen verses of John’s gospel, I pray that God will open the eyes of unbelievers that they may behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And I pray that God would grant those whose eyes he has already opened greater perception that they may know more of God, experience greater joy and peace in God, worship God with greater reverence, and obey God with ever-increasing zeal.

The Most Important Question

Who is Jesus Christ? In the fullness of time, about two thousand years ago, a baby came–born of a woman, born under the law. We are told in Luke 2 that this baby, Jesus Christ, was wrapped in rags and placed in a manger in Bethlehem, the city of David.

Who is Jesus Christ? This is the question we must ask today, and it is the question Jesus himself asked his disciples in Caesarea Philippi, as we read in Matthew 16. In verses 13-14 we read, “[Jesus] asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'” They did not speak about the many other things people called Jesus, including a glutton, a Samaritan, a demon-possessed man, a sinner, a blasphemer, a carpenter’s son, and a crazy man. Then Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter, representing the disciples, replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).

The question “Who is Jesus Christ?” is the most important question in the world. Why? Because our eternal destiny depends upon how we answer this question. In John 1:1-18, which is the prologue to the gospel of John, the apostle John gives a very clear description of who Jesus Christ is.

John’s gospel is addressed to non-believers and is written for the purpose of revealing to them the person and work of Jesus Christ so that they may trust in him and receive eternal life. We find this stated in John 20:30-31, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

As we study John’s description of Jesus Christ in John 1:1-18, we must acknowledge that John was not giving us his own opinion about Jesus. Rather, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John was speaking from God as he was being carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). John’s gospel, like all Scripture, is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

Therefore, whenever we think about Jesus Christ, and especially when we celebrate the Christmas season, we must ask, “Who is this baby wrapped in rags and placed in a manger? Who is this one who, when he was a grown man, said, ‘The Son of Man has no place to lay his head'”? Let me assure you, not everyone will respond the same to this question. The vast majority of people, when they think of Jesus, will curse him, reject his claim, and come under judgment. But others, a minority, will fall down in humility, faith, repentance, and worship before him and exclaim, “My Lord and my God!” It is my prayer that you will belong to the latter category of people.

Jesus Is Eternal

Who is Jesus Christ? In John 1:1 we read, “In the beginning was the Word,” which, in the Greek, is En archê ên ho logos. What is meant by the phrase “in the beginning”? It points not to the beginning of creation but to timeless eternity. “In the beginning” speaks about the preexistence of Jesus Christ. It means he was before the creation, before the universe was made–eternal, in other words.

We read about the eternity of Christ in John 17:5 where he said, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” And in John 17:24 Jesus said, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” This helpless baby is from eternity. There was no time when he was not.

Jesus is not only eternal, but he is the eternal Word. He is the One about whom John said, “In the beginning was the Word. . . .” What is the purpose of words? To express one’s thoughts and reveal them to others. So we can understand from John’s statement that Jesus Christ is the one who reveals God to us. Without him, we cannot truly know God.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God personalized. In Psalm 33:6 we read, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,” and in Revelation 19:13 we read, “He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” This Word reveals God’s thoughts to us.

So when John says “In the beginning was the Word,” he is telling us that Jesus Christ, the Word, the Revealer of God to us, is eternal. The created world is not eternal, but Jesus Christ is. He is the Cause and Creator of everything in the universe.

Jesus Was with God

Next, John tells us, “The Word was with God.” In the Greek text we read, ho logos ên pros ton theon, “the Word was toward God.” What does that mean? It tells us that Jesus Christ is equal to God the Father, but also distinct from him in terms of personality. God exists as one God in three Persons: God the Father; God the Holy Spirit; and Jesus Christ, the Word. This is a difficult concept for human beings to understand, but it is the declaration of God’s infallible word.

Additionally, when John says “the Word was with God,” that implies a certain intimacy, fellowship, and communion between Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. We read about this communion elsewhere, such as in John 17:5 when Jesus prayed, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” There is great fellowship and intimacy in the one Godhead among the three Persons.

In verse 18 of John 1 we read, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” Physical beings cannot see the invisible being of God. Not even Moses saw God. But this verse tells us that Jesus Christ enjoyed close intimacy, fellowship, and communion with God. That again shows equality and distinction in terms of personality.

In John 15:26, we read, “And when the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” Here we see the Trinity: God the Father; Jesus Christ, the Word, the One and Only, only-begotten Son; and the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Jesus Is God

John continues, “and the Word was God,” which, in the Greek, is theos ên ho logos. In the Greek text the predicate, theos, is placed first, which means the emphasis is on the subject, ho logos, the Word. Without the article it would say “God is the Word,” but here God is the predicate.

This phrase also speaks about the unity of the being of God–one God in three distinct Persons–unity of being and plurality of persons. And there is great intimacy, fellowship, and communion within the Godhead in these three Persons. Some people say, “God is love, and so he had to create something so that he could love it and to be loved by it.” But God didn’t need to create anything. Within the three Persons of the Godhead there is full, satisfying love and fellowship, and nothing else is needed.

What have we learned so far about Jesus Christ, the Word, from these first two verses of John’s gospel? We know that the Word is God and has always existed as God. We know that the Word is uncreated Deity. Do you still want to curse him, blaspheme him, disobey him, and treat him with contempt? I caution you: This Word is God, in whom all the fullness of deity dwells. He is the uncreated, self-existing, self-sufficient, infinite, eternal, personal God. I hope you will not mock him or philosophize him away.

Jesus Is Life

John continues in verse 3, “Through him all things were made,” panta di’ autou egeneto. John is telling us the Word created everything visible and invisible. This speaks against the philosophies of monism, pantheism, and the eternality of matter. The world had a beginning, which was given to it by the Word. It also tells us Jesus Christ is not a part of creation; rather, he is the Creator through whom all things were made.

In verse 4 John writes, en autô zôê ên, meaning “in him was life.” This Word is the source of all life. Do you want life? It is to be found in him. He embodies all life, physical and spiritual.

Who, again, is this Word? We read his name in verse 17: Jesus Christ. This baby is the very source of all life. We breathe because of him. A bird falls to the ground at his will. “In him was life.”

Jesus mentioned this aspect of his personality many times. In John 14:6 he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” In John 10:10 he told us the purpose of his coming into this miserable, wretched world of darkness and death and destruction. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” And as we said before, the apostle John said in John 20:31 that he wrote his gospel so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing that, you may have life in his name.”

No wonder Jesus declared at the tomb of Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life.” When he commanded, “Lazarus, come out!” the dead man came forth. Why? In Jesus Christ is life!

Jesus Is Light

The next thing John writes is kai hê zôê ên to phôs tôn anthrôpôn, meaning “and the life was the light of men.” The Word, Jesus Christ, is the light who gives us general revelation and special revelation of God. Jesus Christ gives us general revelation through creation, through which we can know his everlasting power and divinity. But he also gives us special revelation of God the Father through his life and death. This knowledge comes to us only through the Revealer, the Word, Jesus Christ.

John 1:9 tells us, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” The Word, the second Person of the Trinity, is the true revelation of God to us. He is the ultimate light. He is the Sun–not the moon. He is the Sun, the very source of light. And we are told he shines. The verb is in the present tense in the Greek, meaning he is shining right now–in the midst of the darkness of moral corruption, falsehood, errors, cults, religions, and philosophical speculations of the world. The light of Christ is now shining for you and for me.

Look at verse 9 again: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” This tells us that no one will be able to give God an excuse for not receiving his Son because the true light “gives light to every man.” Jesus Christ, the Word, has given revelation of God to us through creation as well as through the declaration of the gospel, which centers around his life and his death. Jesus Christ is the light that enlightens every person. Without the Word, there would not be any light in our fallen world. The Word has come in Jesus Christ, enlightening everyone, and all people are responsible for this knowledge. As human beings we are all responsible to respond to Jesus Christ, whether we worship him, adore him, fall down before him, repent and believe in him, or curse him and be eternally damned. It is the same Christ to whom all judgment is given.

In Hebrews 1:1-3 we also read about this ultimate, perfect, final revelation of God which has come to us in Jesus Christ:

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Jesus Christ is the only ultimate, perfect, authentic light who can give light, meaning the revelation of God, to all men. In John 1:18 we read, “No one has ever seen God.” God is spirit, and a physical human being cannot see him. But one person has seen him, “God the One and Only,” Jesus Christ. He is God, “who is at the Father’s side,” or breast or bosom. That speaks about the intimacy and fellowship of Christ with his Father. He alone knows the Father comprehensively, and so it is he alone who could exegete, explain, interpret God the Father to us. Only through Christ can we understand that God loves sinners, as we read in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” He is the exegete par excellence, the only one who is able to reveal to us God the Father. He does so, not comprehensively, but with enough revelation by which we can be saved.

Jesus Christ is the interpreter of God the Father to us, and so we must also understand that the words and deeds of Jesus Christ recorded in the Scriptures are really the words and deeds of God the Father. In John 14:9 Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Knowing the Son is knowing the Father.

The Word Became Flesh

In John 1:14 we read, kai ho logos sarx egeneto, meaning “the Word became flesh.” We have learned that this Word was from all eternity, and now, in time, the Word became flesh. Without abandoning or reducing his deity, God took upon himself human nature in body and soul. (PGM) The incarnation of Christ is essential to the Christian faith. In 1 John 4, John tells us if a person denies that Jesus has come in the flesh, he is a heretic, an antichrist.

Why did the divine second Person of the Trinity take upon himself frail human flesh? So that, as our representative he might fully obey God and procure salvation for all who believe in him. Just as the first Adam disobeyed God, and in him all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, now Jesus Christ, the last Adam, God/man, came as our representative to fully obey God so that all who believe in him can be saved. Christ became flesh that he might be the mediator between God and man. He who is God had to take on flesh so that he could die for our sins because only flesh dies.

How did the Word become flesh? It was not through the agency of man. This Word became flesh through the mighty operation of the Spirit upon Mary of Nazareth. In Luke 1:30-35 we read,

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

The incarnation of Christ is a supernatural work of God, and if you can believe that this Word created the whole universe, then you should be able to believe that the divine nature took upon himself perfect human nature. It is not man becoming God; it is God becoming man.

Though he had a human nature, Jesus Christ was without sin. In John 8:46 Jesus asked the Jews, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” and in John 8:29 he said he always pleased the Father. Again, in John 15:10 Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” He was tempted, but he did not yield to it. God became flesh, John says, and “made his dwelling among us” for thirty-three years.

We Beheld His Glory

What else does John say about this Word, the Lord Jesus Christ? Kai etheasametha tên doxan autou, “We beheld his glory.” No one beholds Christ’s glory unless his eyes are open. God opened the eyes of the apostles and others until they saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In John 2 we read how Jesus made the best wine ever made in the history of the universe by his mighty power. In verse 11 we read, “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” Throughout his gospel John describes signs performed by Jesus which reveal his glory.

In John 11:4 Jesus spoke about the sickness of his friend Lazarus: “When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.'” He knew he was going to perform a miracle that would help people understand that he was more than man–he was God. And in John 11:40 Jesus told his disciples, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” and then they witnessed the great miracle of Lazarus coming out of the tomb.

So when John said, “We beheld his glory” he was speaking about personally observing the glory of Christ in his teachings and miracles. John was saying that as the disciples observed what Jesus taught and did, they were beholding his glory. “Who is this man?” the disciples asked at one point. Why? They saw that the winds obeyed him, demons were subject to him, he was able to walk on water, still a storm, heal the sick and raise the dead. What was their conclusion? That Jesus was God.

Full of Grace and Truth

In John 1:14 John also tells us the Word was “full of grace and truth.” Grace is God’s mercy to undeserving, miserable, wretched human beings who, because of their sin, merit hell and damnation. God offers us grace through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Because Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification, we can now receive God’s grace.

Do you need God’s grace? I do. What about salvation, hope, peace and life? We all need these things. But where do we get them? From Jesus. We already read that life is to be found only in him, and here we read that grace and truth are also found in him.

Jesus Christ offered this grace to the Jews, but they refused to accept it. Relying on their own righteousness, they said, “No, we prefer Moses because Moses was the one who gave us the law, and, as descendants of Abraham, our responsibility is to keep the law. We have no need for Jesus Christ and the kind of grace you are speaking about–grace for undeserving people. Aren’t we the ones who are keeping God’s law? If so, then we are quite deserving and have full confidence that God will recognize and reward our righteousness. Who needs grace?”

Oh, how blind such people are! Sinful man can never be saved by his own works of righteousness. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. . Does the law impart life, hope, and joy to miserable sinners? No! The purpose of the law, which is holy, just and good, was to make us conscious of our sin and total depravity, but it was not intended to save anyone and it cannot do so.

God did not stop with giving us the law. He also sent his Son, in whom is life and fullness of grace and truth. Jesus Christ alone is life and the One who makes us alive.

In John 10:10 we read, “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy” but Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life.” Yes, there is darkness, death, and misery in the world, but in Christ there is also good news of great joy to all people everywhere. God so loved the world that he sent his Son, and in him is life, grace and truth. A great plenitude of grace and truth can be found in Jesus Christ.

What is the purpose of the incarnation of Christ? To make us righteous through Christ’s obedience and to grant us forgiveness through Christ’s death. It also is designed to give us grace, to give us light, and to open our eyes so that we understand truth.

John tells us, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men” (v. 4). All other religions are false; all human philosophies are nothing. They pretend to enlighten and save you, but they can never introduce you to the one and only God who alone can save you.

Who Is Jesus?

John tells us this child is the life and light, grace and truth, the eternal, perfect God and man. But if you asked Jesus himself, “Who are you and why did you come?” what would he say?

1. Jesus is the “I AM.” In John 8:24 Jesus told the Jews, “If you do not believe that I am. . . .you will indeed die in your sins.” In the Greek Jesus said “Ego eimi,” which is found in the Septuagint in Exodus 3:14 when God told Moses “I AM WHO I AM.” Ego eimi means “I am,” but its pregnant meaning is “I am the same God who appeared to Moses in the bush. I am the self-sufficient, self-existing, eternal God.” So Jesus was telling the Jews that if they did not believe that he was God appearing in the flesh, they would not be saved.”
   This is what “I AM” means, and this is how the Jews of Jesus’ time understood that expression. In John 8:58 Jesus used the same words when he declared, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!” Did the Jews think Jesus was calling himself God? Yes. That is why they immediately picked up stones to stone him, as we read in verse 59, because the punishment for blasphemy was stoning.
2. Jesus is the bread of life. In John 6:35 Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life” meaning he is the bread who gives us life.
3. Jesus is the light of the world. In John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” meaning “I am the light who enlightens you and there is no other.” I said this before: all human philosophies are empty, they are nothing.
4. Jesus is the way to God. In John 10:9 Jesus said, “I am the gate,” meaning he was the gate, the door, that gives us access to God the Father. No one can go to the Father without going through Jesus Christ.
5. Jesus is the good shepherd. In John 10:14 Jesus declared, “I am the good shepherd” meaning it is he who feeds us, guides us, and protects us.
6. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Do you want to know who this baby is? In John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and life.” Not only does he raise the spiritually dead and gives them life, but he also raises the dead from the grave.
7. Jesus is the way. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way,” meaning “I am the way to the Father. Only going through Christ can we have fellowship with God.
8. Jesus is the true vine. In John 15:1 he said, “I am the true vine.” Do you know what that means? “I am the one who nurtures you,” Jesus was saying. All branches are nurtured by the vine.

Recognizing Jesus

In summary, John’s gospel tells us that Jesus is the eternal God, the Deity and Creator of all things. He is life and light, the eternal Son, and the second Person of the Trinity. He is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One, and the King of Israel, as Nathanael declared in John 1:49. He is the Son of Man of whom we read in Daniel 7:13 and 14 where it says the Son of Man came to the Ancient of Days and was given all authority, kingdom, and worship. Thus, the term “Son of Man” does not refer to a fallen human being, but, rather to God incarnate, Jesus Christ. He is the Savior of the world as the Samaritans confessed in John 4:42, and is the Holy One without sin, as we read in John 6:69.

What should we do when we recognize who Jesus is? In John 9 there was a man born blind whom Jesus healed. When his eyes began to work, he did something that I hope you will do also when God opens your eyes to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In John 8:38 we read, “Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe.'” This man was born blind, and Jesus Christ gave him physical sight. But what else did he give him? Spiritual sight, and his response was to say, “‘Lord, I believe,'” and worship Christ. That is the proper response when we recognize who Jesus is. Did Jesus tell the man, “Don’t worship me because I am just an angel” or “I am just a man”? No. He accepted the man’s worship because he knew he is God and worthy of all worship and praise.

Finally, in John 20 we find doubting Thomas. His eyes were opened to recognize who Jesus is, and in John 20:28 we read, “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!'” That is confession and worship. That is beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Who Do You Say Christ Is?

In John 12:47 Jesus said he came to save, not condemn, the world, and in John 10:10 he said he came to give life. We must always remember that Satan kills and destroys, but Jesus saves and gives life.

In John 1:11 John says this baby, this Word of God, “came to that which was his own,” meaning his own world and especially his own people, “but his own did not receive him.” The vast majority of people are interested only in trivializing and mocking Christianity. Jesus Christ came to his own world–the world he created and maintains–and he came to his own people, yet, John says, they rejected him. They called him a Samaritan, a demon-possessed man, a crazy person, a blasphemer, a carpenter, and a glutton. But by the revelation God gave him Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” John, in essence, said the same when he declared, “We beheld his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Samaritan woman–this wretched, sinful woman–confessed, “You are the Christ.” The blind man who was healed by Jesus said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped. Thomas, a person full of doubt, was given enough proof that he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” and worshiped him.

If you do not want to have anything to do with Jesus Christ, I urge you to consider what he said in John 5:28: “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming and now has come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet, and all in their graves will hear his voice and come out. Everyone will come out on that day: all the philosophers, all the politicians, all the rich and poor people of the world. All who loved Jesus Christ will come out, and all who mocked Jesus Christ will come out. Those who have done evil will rise to be condemned while those who have done good will rise to live.

What is the one good thing we can do while we are alive? We must be born again–born not of the will of man, not of the will of flesh, not of the will of a husband, but born of God! If you are born again, it means God performed a miracle and your eyes have been opened. Only then will you look at Jesus Christ, fall down before him, and confess, “Lord, I believe!”

We asked the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” and learned that he alone is the eternal One, the Revealer of God, God himself, the Bringer of light and life, grace and truth. He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, whose glory we beheld. How will you respond to this truth? My prayer is that you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today and be saved. Amen.