Sermon Notes + 2.5.2023

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The Word Became Flesh
John 1:1-18
Dr. Tony Chute, Lead Pastor

Overview: John’s Gospel is written for the purpose of eliciting belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God with the promise that those who believe will have life in His name. The fact that John’s audience believed in God already requires him to explain why anyone should place their faith in Jesus just as they would place their faith in God. John’s prologue addresses the matter by asserting Jesus’s divine credentials: He was with God in the beginning, all things were made through Him, He is the giver of life, He is the true light, and He grants the right for people to become children of God. John’s description of Jesus is not theoretical but practical, based as it is on the incarnation of Jesus. Thus, the utterly unique position of Jesus as God incarnate qualifies Him as the One who reveals the glory of God, the heart of God, and the fullness of the grace of God. John’s Gospel and prologue beckon us to believe as well and to have life in His name.

01. John informs us that Jesus has a divine claim upon this world as creator, life-giver, moral arbiter, and destiny-decider. Let us respond to this claim by giving our lives to Jesus and worshiping Him as God.

02. Jesus shows us that His call upon our lives originates from the heart of God, comes to us by the grace of God, and culminates in the glory of God. Let us live with the assurance that in Jesus Christ, we have all we ever need.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION & DISCOVERY

1. What is the purpose of John’s Gospel according to John 20:30-31? Note the attributes of God (eternal, creator, etc.) in John 1:1-18 that are also attributed to Jesus. How does the connection between the attributes of God in the person of Jesus support John’s claim that Jesus is divine? Is there anything true about God that is not also true about Jesus?

2. Based on John’s prologue, how would you respond to someone who claims that Jesus is not divine? What would you say to someone who says that Jesus is “a god” but not truly God? Consider other passages of Scripture that support the doctrine of the deity of Christ (i.e., Colossians 2:9, Titus 2:11-14, and Hebrews 1:1-14).

3. Based on John’s prologue, what characteristics of God do we discover through the incarnation of Christ? In what way does the incarnation show us the heart of God for sinners? In what way does the life of Christ display the grace of God? How do the person and work of Christ demonstrate the glory of God?

4. John contrasts light and darkness throughout his Gospel (see 1:5, 3:19, 8:12, and 12:46 for examples). Light often refers to moral purity and true knowledge. In what ways does Jesus show us how to live, or walk in the light, for God? How did the Jewish leaders seek to put an end to Jesus’s life and thus extinguish the light? How do the forces of darkness seek to extinguish the light of Christ in our day?

5. Comment on John 1:12-13. How does John explain the necessity of the new birth in this passage? What alternative ways do people seek in order to be right with God (i.e., through blood, the will of the flesh, or the will of man)? When you reflect on your new birth in Christ, do you give God all the credit for this work?

For Further Reading: Robert Peterson, Salvation Accomplished by the Son (Crossway, 2012)