The Word Of God Has Visited Us Part 1

Word logos means word or expression. In the Gospel of John we read the Word was made flesh, so the expression of God to us is his son the Lord Jesus Christ from the Moody Church in Chicago this with Dr. Irwin's teaching helps us make it across the finish line vasculature tell us what you mean when you say that the word of God has visited us. Will Dave, as you already explained the word word logon us actually has to do with the intelligent ability and the communication of God in Christ we see God most clearly and by the way, you know, there are parallels between Jesus Christ and the written scriptures. For example, the Bible is both human and divine, written by human authors nonetheless inspired and perfect Jesus also was human and divine, but how wonderful it is during this Christmas season for us to remember the fact that God has spoken to us. God has spoken to us with clarity and he has not stuttered and were so grateful now if you're like me you are looking forward to Christmas and Christmas carols and we have a special gift for you. We'd like to be able to send you a CD entitled songs for a holy night all tell you more about that CD at the end of this message, but for a gift of any amount. It can be yours.

Here's what you do go to 1-888-218-9337 or you can click online@rtwoffer.com RTW offered.com but now is we think of Jesus Christ.

The word of God, let us listen very carefully. This is the last in a series of messages in title changed by the word were all hoping and praying that the impact of these messages and our emphasis on being changed by the world word I should say will take us all the way to eternity were so glad for the many who have been listening to the New Testament or reading the New Testament for the hundreds of people here who have taken that on as a challenge and what a transforming challenge. It has been in many respects. Today is the most important message in the series because we are going to be introduced now were going to move from an emphasis on the written word to the personal word Jesus. Jesus is really the hub and everything that we been doing at the spokes that feed into that hub and that point toward it. If you asked me what the purpose of this message is I can tell you very clearly.

It is to bring you and into the very presence of God so that we encounter the Almighty, unchangeable, eternal God, that's where this message is going.

I want you to engage with me as we move through certain texts because I believe that at the end will see the importance of the written word and the word of God made flesh, you know, there are parallels by the way between the Bible and Jesus and that we should note those because it really does help us to understand it would be wonderful if I had time to preach a whole message just on those parallels. For example, both Jesus and the word were conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus, when he took upon himself flesh was conceived of the Holy Spirit. The Bible holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, both are conceived by the Holy Spirit, both, or both God and man.

This is very helpful. Some people look at the Bible and they see it as a purely human book at a certain styles. It is certain human characteristics in their right and other people looked at Jesus and said to themselves what you know Jesus is a mere man. Unfortunately, they use the word mirror because he is a man is also God just like the Bible is also human and divine, really helps us understand and both of course are filled with authority. There is no division in the Bible between the words of Jesus, you know, sometimes their Bibles that have red letter additions as if to say these words are really authoritative. Jesus spoke them. All words in the Bible whether red letter or not, are authoritative.

Equally so, and we can get to Jesus without going through the written word and both are eternal forever old Lord thy word is settled in the habit, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Well, all that is setting us up for John chapter 1 you have your Bibles please turn to it and if you happen to have a Bible but you just forgot to bring yours. You could look in the pew in front of you and I think you'd be pretty close. If you are on page 886 886 that's at least what my Bible says and I think the Bible that you have there says the same thing.

It can be found on your cell phone so that's another way that you can access it now. In the beginning was the word and and it's too it's too interesting for me to go into this in the beginning phrase because I hope to preach an entire message on the return elegy of God in the near future. But this is the beginning before any other beginnings and what it means is that in order for something to exist, something had to exist for all eternity. Because out of nothing, nothing, come.

And that's why it is so rational to believe in God, not the tonality of matter, but God more of that in the future. Message John uses the word word now in the beginning was the word.

He's thinking of the Old Testament because in the Old Testament the word word created by the word of the Lord were the heavens made the Old Testament, you have the word causing Revelation. The word of God became to Isaiah or Jeremiah on the other prophets also have the word in bringing deliverance. The Scripture says he sent his word and he healed them. Paul says the preaching of the cross, the preaching of the word of the cross is not the cross as a word but rather the message of the cross. So John begins here by saying in the beginning was the word and now notice how the nuances the Trinity in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the Word was God. What an amazing text. The more I meditated on that this week I realized this has to be inspired. Wish we could go through it phrase by phrase, but we must hurry on. He says, for example, all things verse three were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. Dr. Don Carson of Trinity seminary says that eventually when you're witnessing to people, somebody might say what you know that's your religion, but I have my own God made on into crystals or something else in because we all are spiritual at some point. What you need to do is to say you know I can't just let this lie because I'm talking about the God who created you and you owe him you owe him and your whole life is based upon his will and his purpose and and and it's it's prudent for us to investigate and to find out how we can connect in this God, which is of course what John's prologue is all about and what my messages about today so he is the creator. He's also the revealer. In him was life and the life is the light of men.

John is speaking about creation but is also speaking about moral light that God reveals God's life in him is no darkness at all. All this sets us up for the verse. I really want to get to and that is verse 14. I believe that verse 14 is the most explosive verse in the whole Bible. John 316 is the best known, but this verse is explosive because of Gnosticism Gnosticism.

Your member is a synthesis between Greek thought and Christianity and that so Gnosticism being influenced by Plato believed that all matter was evil. Plato your member believe that the forms of the mind are eternal and perfect best example might be mathematics 2+2 is equal to four. That's true even if you have a fever it's true even and grasp this if the Cubs were to win the World Series. What you find is 2+2 is still equal to but in addition to that Plato taught that all matter was evil and therefore I am in the Platonic mind and God became evil. The Word became flesh, but of course in the New Testament is very clear that not all matter is evil and the word in becoming/became something it wasn't without in any way diminishing anything that it's always been.

I hope that you are able to grasp that statement because it lies at the heart of the Christian faith.

Now were going to continue Ando and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

That's what your translations say and that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Everybody stop now. Now it's time to grasp this, that what we have here is actually a word that means it tabernacle among us, and what John is doing here is he's alluding now to the Old Testament and it's the story of Moses, that we need to grasp to put all this in context, and then what were going to see is how Jesus leads us all the way to the father. Remember the story. Moses is up on the mountain. Aaron convinces the people to make a golden calf. It's a tragic story and they are willing to do that. Moses comes down from the mountain and he's angry God is angry God judges the people and now it's time for Moses to lead the people one more time and to continue on to the promised land, but Moses is uncertain. The nation has been judged by God. Aaron has been compromised because of his leadership and Moses says I don't know if I want to go in God, you had better go with us. God says my glory, my Shekinah glory will no longer go with you. And Moses said luck if if your glory isn't going I'm not going Moses was saying it is better to be in a wasteland with the presence of God than to be marching into a promised land without the presence of God in you and I might say it is better to be poor and to have God's blessing and to be able to say that we have God's presence. It's so much better than the rich. Without God's blessing, Moses says unless you go. I'm not going God's is okay. I'll go. Moses said show me your glory. What Moses evidently was asking for is to see the very essence of God, and God said okay Moses you found favor in my sight, all show you my glory my face. You can see now this is very important because in the previous chapter, it talks about the fact that Moses spoke to God face-to-face. Clearly what the text means is this that there's no contradiction.

God is saying you cannot see my essence. You cannot see me as God because it says they're in the 33rd chapter. No man can see me. Nobody is ever seen God as God. But plenty of manifestations the Old Testament God has shown up in different ways.

They old and even the light. The Shekinah glory was a manifestation of God. It was not the very essence of God, which no man can see and Moses says okay alright I want to see more of you and God's is all hide you in a rock and then I'll let my glory pass by and you cannot see me direct leave, but you can catch glimmer Moses was there any caught that. And Moses was there in the tabernacle, administering sacrifices and everything else later on and and that's the imagery that's behind here now.

With that background, let's read this now with new eyes and the Word became flesh and tabernacle among us. He becomes the sanctuary, and we beheld his glory. What John is doing here is having a replacement motif.

What he's doing is he is showing that Jesus now is going to replace the whole Old Testament system.

That system was set up for this reason, how can men have fellowship with God without God contaminating himself and compromising his holiness and now Jesus is going to do it and do it completely. How fortunate we are to live in this era now. First of all, then Jesus reveals the presence of God. By the way, Moses said to God, he said God how else will we be distinguished among all the other people of the earth. If you don't go with us. If it's not your presence, and this is confirmed in the New Testament. How can we as the Moody church exist without the presence of God.

We can without the presence of God, we might as will become a social club without the presence of God, we might as well become the arm of a political movement without the presence of God.

We can expect nothing eternal to happen here if God is not with us were not distinguished from all the other people. It is God's presence and now notice what the text says we beheld his glory of the glory came to us in Jesus. Oh, it was veiled.

That's why we sing a Christmas veiled in the flesh I got antsy and that Jesus performed a miracle in John chapter 2 and it says that the people saw the miracle but the disciples saw the glory they said, Jesus manifested his glory to them at the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus Christ glory is seen at the cross Jesus Christ glory is seen in John chapter 12. He says when I be lifted up. This is the hour in which I'm glorified. David Bryant who is going to be with us on Saturday speaks about the cross in this way the cross was the definitive display of God's sovereignty and we might add his glory because of that slaves of the fall are liberated because of it. Satan's minions are bound because of that death is destroyed.

Sin is demolished. Judgment is absorbed in fear is banished because of it all who believe are conquered by grace and transferred into the Empire of his son. That's what happened on the cross and Jesus was thereby glorified and you know what it says in John 17. I'm not making this up, you should always make sure that whoever preaches here that is not making stuff up. Now, if he is the audit tell you that he is Bible says this in John 17 Jesus is praying to the father and uses the glory which thou gavest me I given to them and he's talking about the disciples and he's talking about us.

Jesus replaces the glory of the Old Testament, which was localized that Shekinah glory and now because he is in heaven as our high priest. He is giving that glory and sharing that glory, as we shall ultimately understand it in his blessed presence there.

We shall see the glory of God to the extent that human beings can so Jesus you'll notice in the text. He replaces the glory of God. We saw his glory. He also replaces the sacrifices doesn't hate the Old Testament there was no end to the sacrifices the priests had to stand in a shift eight hours a day three shifts, and continually why because there is no permanent sacrifice for sin and God wanted to illustrate that the Bible says in the book of Hebrews Jesus having offered one sacrifice for all time, sat down on the right hand of God. Why could he set the big because it was all finished, it was all completed. Thanks to his perfect work.

That's why we don't offer sacrifices anymore. We don't come. You know with our animals to be sacrificed because Jesus is our sacrifice. Later on in John chapter 2 is going to say destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up and the Jews are saying hey look at this big temple that Herod built us, you're going to destroyed and raise it up in three days, but then John adds but he was talking about the temple of his body. He is now the temple.

She is the sacrifice he also is the place of worship. We now come to him and we worship in spirit and in truth no longer having to go to Jerusalem in the temple no longer having to go to a place of worship that we thank God for those places of worship, and many of you are in one right now I we we thank God for that. But you don't have to go there so to speak.

Why Jesus said from now on you can worship in spirit and in truth anywhere as he was speaking to the woman at the well thought that they had to worship Samaritans worshiped in Mount Garrison but Jesus said anywhere because Jesus Christ has come so he reveals the presence of God. He also reveals the person of God. You'll notice it says in verse 16 and from his fullness we all received grace upon grace. The law was given through Moses, grace and truth comes by Jesus. How tempted I am to camp there for a while to discuss grace and truth.

But the beautiful blend of both today and some churches there so much grace you get the impression that God was never mad at anything that everything was okay with him. The balance between grace and truth comes to us in Jesus. And then notice also the very person of God is revealed. No one is ever seen God. As I explained, no one has ever seen.

The essence of God as God. But the only begotten God, or the only begotten son who is at the father's side. He has explained him. Jesus explained God, the words of Jesus are the words of God. The acts of Jesus are the acts of God. Finally, the invisible God, the mysterious invisible God comes to us visibly in Jesus so that Jesus can say whoever has seen me has seen the father takes your breath away. Whoever is seen him has seen the father and Jesus takes us into God's presence will you know my friend, this is Pastor Luther I have frequently visualized as I'm sure you have as well what it was like to see the baby Jesus in the manger. We think for example of the shepherds that had that privilege and I'm not sure exactly if they knew who they were looking at. Though they knew that he was the Messiah, but to you and me with even greater understanding we see in that baby that God was indeed in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and that's why Christmas stirs our hearts and every year we are ready to worship ready to sing Christmas carols and we have something we would like to share with you that we believe is going to be a tremendous blessing. We have a CD prepared entitled songs for a holy night. Now some of you will remember that for years.

We continued with the program songs in the night. You may remember Glenn Jory and the kings carolers and others from time to time who participated in that program. These songs were sung on songs in the night with great blessing and connection sung, such as O come all ye faithful or O holy night now for a gift of any amount.

This CD can be yours. Here's what you do go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com and I'm going to be giving you that contact info again. Hope that you have time to get a pencil or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 and of course I need to emphasize that during this Christmas season. We so much appreciate your generosity as you continue to help us to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to thousands upon thousands go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Next time I'm running to win some final thoughts on the wonder that the word of God has visited us for Dr. Erwin Luther this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the teacher