John 1:14 Unveiling The God That Has Come To Live Among Us

19.10.08 John 1:14 (NASB)

Audio Sermon File: John 1:14

Going Deeper: Study Guide

Unveiling The God That Has Come To Live Among Us

John 1:14 tells us - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In this verse is serious - non-negotiable doctrine about Jesus Christ - as it lays down the foundation that we as Christians stand upon. (As a note - usually when I speak about theology, it is based upon, one of my favourite theological reference books, by Paul Enns. He is able to reduce the most difficult Biblical doctrines into concise articles).

Today we are going to look at a difficult to understand subject - the incarnation. The word incarnate as defined by Webster’s quick reference dictionary is this - "in human form." This is what the incarnation is about, God coming down to earth in human form - "God With Us." To understand the fullness of the incarnation is impossible for our limited minds to grasp - but God does give us enough information in the Bible to grasp the vital reality of it. Paul Enns gives us this definition of the word incarnation - "in flesh," the incarnation defines the act wherein the eternal God the Son, took to Himself an additional nature, ie - humanity, through the virgin birth. By that act Christ did not cease to be God, but remains forever fully God and fully man - two natures in one Person (Enns, 637).

Any true Christian realizes that God entered into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, specifically at one historic point in time and space by way of the incarnation. God has done this in a way that had never been done before and never has been done since. The incarnation reveals that God is present in our world and is working here.

In order for us to understand the incarnation - we need to backtrack a little and go back to in the Gospel of John to 1:1, in order to get the total impact of the incarnation. John 1:1 states that - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This is a concise way that John uses to proclaim that the Word, existed before the beginning of creation. So, our attention is confronted with the fact that the Word was already present in the beginning. John strongly brings to bear that the Word was pre-existent before anything that was created. John intentionally uses a Greek verb - translated in the English Bible with - "was," which expresses the eternal pre-existence of the Word.

If John meant to express that the Word was made or created by God then he would have used another verb, which would be translated - "was made / came into being" - as found in verse 3. Therefore John brings our thoughts back to a point prior to the beginning when finite time began. The Word predates time and creation. Literally translated the opening phrase - "In the beginning was the Word," could be translated - "When the beginning began, the Word was already there." To tie verse 14 back with verse 1, so that we keep all this in context, we find that the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And this is very fascinating, one of those realities which is very hard to grasp to the very depths of the event. And that is that we find that the Word was God (v.1) - And the Word became flesh. Therefore the logical connection - and to put this another way is that God became flesh in that He took on humanity. And so it is revealed in this doctrinal statement of verse 14 - that Jesus Christ was God and human.

Now in verse 14 of this Gospel, there is a change in the focus of the relationship of the Word. In the opening verses of this book, it was the relationship between God and the Word, but now it is the relationship between the Word and Man. And to make it really tangible - a relationship between Jesus Christ and you. There is a change in state - "the Word became flesh." What this means is that the eternally pre-existent Word, who is God, as one commentator writes - now "express[es] Himself in a human personality that was visible, audible, and tangible. He partook of flesh and blood with its limitations of space and time, and with its physical handicaps of fatigue, hunger, and susceptibility to suffering, so that He belongs to humanity as well as to God" (Tenney, 70). God reveals Himself in this mind blowing way - and He makes Himself known to mankind by appearing in the likeness of men - a real historical person - Jesus Christ.

Today we will see that Jesus Christ was fully human by examining seven aspects of His humanity. We had previously in an earlier sermon established Jesus Christ’s Deity - that He is also fully God. So to complement this - we will briefly examine seven aspects that demonstrate that Jesus Christ is also fully human (alongside His Deity): 1. His birth through a woman; 2. His human nature; 3. Jesus Christ’s human body; 4. Jesus Christ’s human physical and spiritual development; 5. His immaterial make-up (spirit); 6. His human characteristics; and 7. Jesus Christ’s human names and titles.

The incarnation is critically important to all of us - because it touches upon the human condition - as it relates to the forgiveness of our sins. The incarnation is God’s fulfillment of His plan of salvation to bring us back into a right relationship with God permanently. In so doing we may be freed from the guilt and shame caused by our sins; and the weight and penalty due to our sins may be permanently removed, if we believe in the name of Jesus Christ. (I spoke last week about what it means to believe in Jesus Christ’s name). The first aspect that demonstrates Jesus as being fully human is:

1. The incarnation took place through a woman - the virgin birth.

The virgin birth is important because it guaranteed the sinlessness of the Word, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Isaiah 7:14 of the Old Testament foretells of this actual event which states - Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. And now in the New Testament in Matthew 1:22-23 it affirms and records what took place in fulfillment of this, in Jesus Christ - Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us."

You may have wondered if there was any possibility that Joseph fathered the child in Mary? Perhaps there was some confusion? The answer to these questions is found in the historic testimony of Scripture. Both the Isaiah and Matthew passages clearly indicate that this was no ordinary birth because it was through a "virgin." This fact alone is miraculous, because never in human history has this ever taken place or will ever take place again. Matthew 1:18 emphasizes this reality - "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit." The emphasis is that their had been no intimate physical relationship between Joseph and Mary. Mary’s pregnancy took place "before they came together" - that is Mary was already pregnant, yet a virgin. This child that she was carrying was clearly due to the Holy Spirit, as revealed by an angel of the Lord, found in verse 20.

In addition, look down at Matthew 1:25 - "[Joseph]…kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus." Here it states once again without doubt, that Mary remained a virgin until a point after the birth of Jesus Christ. At no time prior to her betrothal to Joseph, and up to the point of Jesus’ birth, did Mary have any physical relationships with any man. As a side note, after Jesus was born, Joseph consummated his marriage with Mary and as a result Jesus had half brothers and sisters as noted in Matthew 13:55-56.

It is an essential Biblical fact and teaching that Jesus was born through a virgin birth, which resulted in His sinlessness. If Joseph had a physical part in fathering Jesus, then Jesus would have possessed the sin nature; just as if any husband and wife beget children, these children have the sin nature. But within Mary, Jesus was conceived of by the Holy Spirit, whom guarantees the sinlessness of Christ. The conception was fully of the Holy Spirit of God and not of man, though the mode of the incarnation is through human birth. Jesus was born through the normal human birth process demonstrating His humanity.

2. The incarnation brings about the reality that Jesus Christ possesses a human nature.

In order to be the representative sin-bearer of a fallen human race, Jesus Christ had to be a man. If Jesus was not fully human, a real man of flesh and blood, then His death on the cross was just an illusion. Jesus Christ had to be a real man to die a physical death in place of human beings. Scripture is clear on the issue that Jesus Christ was indeed fully human, with one exception, that He did not possess man’s fallen nature of sin. The Apostle John affirms these truths in his letter of 1 John.

The Apostle John states that Jesus was fully human in 1 John 4:2 - "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." John states that Jesus is the Word [that] became flesh. Jesus was truly and fully human. In 1 John 3:5, the Apostle affirms that Jesus, though fully human, was without sin like we are - "And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin."

3. Jesus possesses a human body.

Jesus’ body was composed of the same cellular makeup as ours - that is Jesus’ body was flesh and blood. The word "flesh" in John 1:14, is a reference to human life, a physical being. The word "flesh" graphically portrays in a manner which emphasizes the humanness of Jesus Christ. It also emphasizes that in no way was the Word, anything less than fully human, like you and me. John uses "flesh" to make his most important point that the Creator of all, the Son of God, descended from His heavenly glory, down to such a low and humiliating state, all for our benefit.
As John Calvin states, "How great is the distance between the spiritual glory of the Word of God and the stinking filth of our flesh! Yet the Son of God stooped so low that He took on Himself that flesh which is subject to so many miseries."

Jesus, the Word became flesh - He possesses a human body. God did not come down to earth and then pick a person and dwell in Him, but the mystery of the incarnation is that God became Man - "Immanuel - God with us." The Word of God, Jesus Christ expresses Himself in a way that the people of His time, could see Him, hear Him, and touch Him. Jesus the One who made all things - emptied Himself and came veiled in human flesh and blood, and therefore subjected Himself to the limitations of time and space, emotion, suffering, and everything that we face as humans. Jesus was fully human as He was recognized as a Jew (Jn. 4:9); he had brothers and sisters (as mentioned earlier); He suffered physical pain when he was whipped by the Roman soldiers (Jn. 19:1); He felt the full force of the effects of the crucifixion (Jn. 19:18); he had a job as a carpenter (Mk.6:3); He got thirsty (Jn. 19:28), he got hungry (Lk.4:2); he grieved (Mt. 26:38); he wept, and I could continue with more examples. The point is that Jesus possesses a human body.

4. Jesus grew up as any person would developmentally.

In Luke 2:52 it states, "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." In this verse it tells us that Jesus developed in these four areas - 1. Mental - he gained wisdom in the knowledge of different things; 2. Physical - Jesus’ physical appearance and stature changed with His age; 3. Spiritual - He found favour with God and grew in a spiritual awareness; and 4. Social - His social relationships grew resulting in His favour with men. In all four of these areas - mental, physical, spiritual, and social - Jesus developed like any person could.

Jesus as He developed inevitably faced temptations to sin, yet He was not affected by sin, and so in each area He was perfect. Hebrews 4:15 brings this fact to light - "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as [we are, yet] without sin." Jesus grew up and developed just like any of us would, yet without sin.

5. Jesus has a spirit like any of us.

Jesus as fully man, had a body and spirit as evidenced by the following events recorded in Scripture. When Jesus heard from Mary that His friend Lazarus died, Jesus’ spirit became exceedingly emotional. John 11:33 records - "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, [also] weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled."
The Apostle John once again accurately records the effects upon Jesus’ soul, as Jesus contemplated taking upon Himself the full wrath of God for the sins of the world. John 12:27 records Jesus’ own words - "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour." In these two verses John used the strongest term to express the intense emotion that Jesus felt in His human spirit. Jesus’ immaterial makeup was like any person, possessing soul and spirit.

6. Jesus Christ possessed all the characteristics of a human.

It is characteristic for us to get to a point where we would say - "I’m starving." Likewise Jesus felt hunger - Matt. 21:18 - "Now in the morning, when He returned to the city, He became hungry." Jesus also had to quench His thirst as His throat became parched from the heat after a journey - "Give Me a drink" (Jn. 4:7). Jesus faced the same emotions that we face, as he wept when His friend Lazarus died (Jn. 11:34-35). Jesus demonstrated His compassion upon the people that did not have any genuine and qualified leaders - Matt. 9:36 reads - "And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd."

Jesus truly felt grief and as a result wept over the Holy city of Jerusalem, as He prophesied about the destruction of Jerusalem under enemy hands in AD 70 (Lk. 19:41). Jesus became justifiably angered - "And after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart" this took place as Jesus healed the man with a withered hand (Mk 3:5). After walking a great distance Jesus got tired and stopped to rest at Jacob’s well (Jn. 4:6). Jesus Christ needed to sleep like we all do - "And He Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they awoke Him (Mk. 4:38).

Just as it is appointed for all men to live and die among other people, Jesus "dwelt among us" also, if you look back down at John 1:14. The literal meaning of "dwelt" is "to pitch tent" or "tabernacled." It gives the reader the same sense, as God’s presence which "dwelt" in the tabernacle of the OT. What was displayed of God’s presence in the OT was known as the "Shekinah." The "Shekinah" was the Jewish word that referred to God’s presence, God’s glory being veiled in a pillar of cloud or fire. What the Apostle John is stating, when he says that the Word "dwelt among us," is that the invisible Almighty God, has brought Himself down to earth and participated fully, in the daily lives of those of Jesus’ time - as a result of the incarnation. In other words we could say that Jesus came to earth and "pitched His tent here and lived with His creation, man."

7. People are given names and titles, and likewise Jesus had human names and titles.

His most common everyday name was Jesus, which also had a meaning - "Yahweh saves" (Matt. 1:21). Jesus was given the title "son of David," which signified that He came from the same family lineage as the great King David (Matt. 1:1). Jesus was also referred to as Rabbi in Jn. 1:38 - "And they said to Him, " Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying."
The Apostle Paul refers to Jesus as the "Man" whom God will use to judge the world in righteousness. There are many names which Jesus had which are like our own.

Jesus Christ is fully human as evidenced by His birth through a woman, His human nature, human body, human physical and spiritual development, His immaterial make-up (spirit), human characteristics, and human names and titles. Yes, Jesus Christ is fully - 100% Man, but He is also fully 100% God.

As we continue in verse 14 - we find that those in Jesus’ time, like the Apostle John and the other disciples, who were there - "saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father." The incarnation served to reveal God in a far greater way than had been possible before in all of human history. The word "saw" speaks of the eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ, being able to observe Him. There was now available for the first time, an tremendous level of physical interaction between God and man. Man, and in particular the Apostle John and the disciples were able to probe God in the person of Jesus Christ. They were able to personally interact with the Word - Jesus Christ, and question and observe Him. They certainly had an immense privilege, one which we will have to wait until we are in heaven.

In the Word - Jesus Christ - is revealed the full and glorious presence of God - veiled in human flesh. Indeed God’s glory and presence are incarnate - "in flesh" - Immanuel -"God with us." Everything that Jesus did from birth to life to death on a cross revealed the glory of our One true God. The word "glory," comes from the Greek word Doxa, and we get our English word Doxology, that stems from it. Doxology is defined as an expression of praise to God. Jesus Christ, God incarnate was granted glory by His Father as His "only begotten" which is better translated as - "One and only," "one of a kind," "the only beloved Son" - speaking of Jesus Christ’s prominence or pre-eminence.

This is the incarnation, and as in the last part of verse 14 of John chapter 1, the Apostle describes this reality as: "full of grace and truth." The Apostle perhaps had in mind Moses’ request of God in Exodus. There, Moses asks God to display His glory, and as result God responds with these words - "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." This verse describes the realities of the incarnation, which is the fullest manifestation of God’s grace and God’s truth. Grace is an act that is given freely and undeserved; there is no expectation of getting something back for the motive is pure based in generosity and love.

The two words grace and truth - are attributes which are Biblically connected with Christ’s salvation offered. For our salvation comes through receiving and believing the truth of the gospel - and the result is Christ’s saving grace imparted to us. The incarnation shows fully the extent of God’s compassion, favour, love, faithfulness, grace, and goodwill upon the pinnacle of His creation. In no other way - in the past or in the future - has the truth and reality of God, been perfectly displayed, except in Jesus Christ.

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Historical Notes

Over the years in the church there have been many heresies concerning the nature of - Immanuel God with us. Here is a brief history of some of the heresies in the early church concerning what some people believed about Christ’s nature:

In the fourth century A.D. Arius, a prominent church leader in Alexandria, began to promote the view that Jesus - was not eternal - and that Jesus was subordinate to God the Father and therefore He must be regarded as outside to the divine essence and therefore only a creature. Arius held that Christ was not true God. Arianism could be classified as the forerunner of modern Unitarianism - which believes in the oneness of God but deny the Trinity. They also therefore deny the Deity of Jesus Christ. Another group which continues Arius’ teaching are the Jehovah Witnesses.

In the fourth century, Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea in Syria, wrote against Arianism and other heresies. Zealously wishing to maintain the true error of denying Christ’s full humanity, he declared that Christ had a human body but did not possess a human spirit. Appolinaris believed that Christ’s deity simply occupied a vacant body - which was a glorified and spiritualized form of humanity. Therefore the complete, true, and proper humanity of Jesus was therefore denied.
In the fifth century, Nestorius, patriarch of Constan-tinople, taught that Christ was both God and man, but that the Godhead was one Person, the manhood another. Therefore - instead of a union of two natures with distinction in one person, Nestorians taught that there were two persons. The Assyrian Church of the East and The Nestorian Church are the modern day outworking of Nestorius’ error.

In this same era lived Eutyches, a monk of Constan-tinople, who was a zealous foe of Nestorius: yet he proposed another strange theory concerning the nature of our Lord. Eutyches went so far as to affirm that after the union - or mixing - of the two natures, the human and the divine, Christ had only one nature, that of the incarnate Word, and therefore His human body was essentially different from other human bodies. Today those who hold this heresy are primarily found in the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Thomas G. Lawrence states - The early church met these heretics with four adverbs which briefly and conveniently defined the two natures in Christ’s One Person. They said that when "the Word was made flesh" the divine and the human natures were united:
"truly" to oppose the Arians; "perfectly," to oppose the Apollinarians; "undividedly," to oppose the Nestorians; and "unmixedly," to oppose the Eutychians.

The Word came as a Person - Immanuel God with us - with the resulting union of the two natures, which is Deity and humanity - the God-Man - 100% God and 100% Man.

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The prophecy surrounding Jesus’ coming.

This subject is very interesting. The coming of the incarnation is spoken about, prophetically, in the Old Testament in Isaiah 7:14. It states in Isaiah 7:14 - "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." This prophecy looked far into the future past Isaiah’s day, when God would bring to completion His plan of salvation for all generations. The time frame between this prophecy and its actual fulfillment would be approximately 700 years.

We specifically find 2 references to the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in the New Testament. The first reference to Isaiah’s prophecy is in the Gospel according to Matthew and the second reference is in the Gospel according to Luke. The passage in Matthew states: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us." 24 And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took [her] as his wife, 25 and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus (Matt. 1:18-25).

The following facts that are presented, can be cross referenced and substantiated in the Gospel according to Luke, but just to simplify things, we will only work from the Matthew text. In this passage from Matthew we see that, what God had told to Isaiah to record, had now come to pass. Which is that a virgin, named Mary, gave birth to a child which had been conceived not of human means, but was of the Holy Spirit. Further in this passage Matthew reveals and defines to us his readers, that this child who was referred to as, Immanuel - means "God with us." In other words, found in this child is no ordinary human being, but this child named Jesus, was God Himself with us here on earth. What an awesome truth - God with us ! This is the starting foundation of our salvation from our sins through Jesus Christ coming to earth so that God is with us.

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True Hope Realized
By Noah Ressler

Have you ever hoped for something that you know is going to come to pass, but is not here yet? I think all of us, at one time or another, have held out hope. Little children dream and hold on to hope as a source of joy and happiness – perhaps grandma and grandpa are coming to visit, or their birthday is coming up and they hold out hope for some surprise mom and dad may have in store for them. Young single people hold on to hope that they may marry the man or woman of their dreams – held in some form of suspense as they seek out or wait for that right one to come along. Hope deferred or put off for a time makes the heart sick, but when it comes, it is a tree of life (Prov. 13:12).

A nation of people held onto hope, a confidence of knowing, that a Redeemer was coming. Nationally, their Hope was to deliver them from their bondage under the Romans and establish His kingdom at the temple in Jerusalem. We know that Israel was holding out hope for their Redeemer because the Gospel narratives reveal this hope. In John 1:21-25 the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John the Baptist if he was the Prophet or the Christ (Messiah). At the feeding of the 5,000 the people responded with, "… This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world" (Jn. 6:14). Their hope was based on Messiah’s coming as human and sometimes as Divine. He was to become the woman’s "seed" (Gen. 3:15); a "prophet" like unto Moses (see Deut. 18:18); a lineal descendent of David (2 Sam. 7:12); Yahweh’s "Servant" (Isa. 42:1); a "Man of Sorrows" (Isa. 53:3).

Yet, on the other hand, He was to be "the Branch of the Lord, beautiful and glorious" (Isa. 4:2); He was "the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6). As YHWH, He was to come suddenly to His temple (Mal. 3:1). The One who was to be born in Bethlehem and be Ruler in Israel, was the One "whose goings forth had been from the days of eternity" (Mic. 5:2). How were these two sets of prophecies to be harmonized? John 1:14 is the answer. The One born at Bethlehem was the Divine and eternal Word. The Incarnation does not mean that God dwelt in a man, but that God became Man. He became what He was not previously, though He never ceased to be all that He was before. The truly spiritual Israel were looking for this redemption. National Israel were looking for relief from the Romans, not concerned about their spiritual condition as much as they were for their independence again, for they had their spiritual leaders (they thought) who were hypocrites and leading the people astray.

Oh what great grace God has had upon us. Though the promises were originally made to Israel, they rejected Him – He came unto His own and His own received Him not (Jn. 1:10). So then God, in His grace turned to all who would believe in Him. He became Man so that He could rightfully represent us by His work on the cross before the Father. He dwelt among the people at that time to verify His credentials that He is in fact God in the flesh, the promised One of old. At the cross and His resurrection He demonstrated that He is in fact full to the full of grace and that He is true to His Word. Do you believe that? Have you ever confessed Christ as Lord and Savior of your life. Are you willing at this time to turn away from your sin (repent) and turn to Christ. He will save you now if you respond to His loving command.

Believer, what great grace we have been given, to perceive that Jesus is the Christ, He is our Lord and Savior, for we have been turned from our life of sin unto a life of grace and truth, through Jesus Christ. Thank God for His unspeakable gift.

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(For a full explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - click here - http://www.doihaveeternallife.blogspot.com/)
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