Abide: The Word Became Flesh
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: The Creator of all things invites us to know him through the Word who became flesh.
What happens when this sermon is believed and lived out?
We will commit to a life-long journey of getting to know this God through engaging the Word.
Primary text: John 1:1–5, 9–18
What do we believe about Jesus?
It is not only important that we believe in Jesus but we must understand what we believe about him.
We will respond to Jesus based on who we perceive him to be.
The whole purpose of the gospel of John is to help us to see Jesus for who he really is.
This is clearly stated in John 20:31—“But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
Read John 1:1–3
In this passage we see “Word” referenced several times. The Greek word here is Logos.
This shows up over 300 times in the New Testament, but there is something unique about how it is used in John 1.
The Logos was with God, and indeed was God himself.
The Logos was in the beginning and created all things.
This points us back to the creation story found in Genesis 1.
Notice the similarities in the beginnings of Genesis and John.
Genesis shows us how God created through his word:
1:3 Then God said . . . and it was so
1:6 Then God said . . . and it was so
1:9 Then God said . . . and it was so
1:11 Then God said . . . and it was so
1:14 Then God said . . . and it was so
1:20 Then God said . . . and it was so
1:24 Then God said . . . and it was so
1:26 Then God said . . . and it was so
The very first thing that God spoke into existence through his word was light.
Just as God’s Word brought light to darkness in creation, even so God’s Word would once again bring light into darkness.
(Read John 1:4– 5)
This light is none other than Jesus himself.
We see Jesus revealing himself as the Light throughout the gospel of John.
In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
Remember I made a statement earlier: we will respond to Jesus based on who we perceive him to be.
Not everyone responded properly to this light:
The darkness did not comprehend (overcome) it: 1:5
The world did not know him: 1:10
His own did not receive him: 1:11
If we read the rest of the gospel we will see this play out in the life of Jesus.
That there were those who rejected Jesus shows us a lot about the condition of the world, and even more so the condition of our hearts.
It is possible to be around the Word and totally miss who he is.
For example, if you have ever watched Undercover Boss, you can see what it looks like when the boss is right in front of someone and the person fails to recognize it until it’s too late.
As much as this passage reveals the nature of the human heart, it reveals, even more, the nature of the heart of God.
The Word that created heaven and earth became like us.
Years ago, Dr. Rice Broocks wrote a gospel summation that begins with this sentence: “The gospel is the good news that God became man in Jesus.”
The idea of God becoming man is difficult to believe for some, even scandalous for others.
How could God lower himself to be a man?
And yet there is something beautiful and amazing about the fact that the Word became flesh.
What does this reveal about God?
1. The Creator of all things desires to be near.
- “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory.”—John 1:14
- He came close enough that we were able to see his glory.
He lived the life that we were supposed to live.
What kind of life was this?
A life that reflected God’s glory in a powerful way.
- “Even so was it with the All-holy Son of God. He, the image of the Father, came and dwelt in our midst, in order that He might renew mankind made after Himself, and seek out His lost sheep, even as He says in the Gospel: I came to seek and to save that which was lost.”—Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word
- The phrase “dwelt among us” translates into one word, eskenosen, meaning “pitched a tent or encamped” (Tyndale pg. 63).
This points back to Exodus 40 and the time of the Tabernacle.
This also looks ahead at what will be in Revelation 21:3—“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God himself will be among them.”
2. The Creator of all things desires to be known.
- “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”—John 1:18
- The reality is that we don’t know God as we should.
God was willing to humble himself to make himself known to us.
As we go through John, we see God revealed through the life of Jesus.
Towards the end of Jesus’ life on earth, he has a conversation pointing this out to his disciples. “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, “Show us the Father?”’”—John 14:8–9
3. The Creator of all things desires to be received.
- “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,”—John 1:12
- God reveals himself through Jesus not so that we can simply have more knowledge, but rather that we can receive him. How will we respond?
Will we reject Jesus like so many others in his day?
Will we receive him by striving to be near to him and by knowing him?
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher