"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word -was- God." - John 1:1
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The opening sentence with which the Apostle John begins his Gospel has been studied, debated, and argued over by theologians over the centuries. Hidden in this sentence, is a secret that explains the Incarnation (as we ramp up to celebrating the Advent), the Law, the Prophets, and indeed the entire plan of God!
What is the secret hiding in plain sight? We have emphasized it in our opening text .... plainly said, the Word IS God.
Not in the sense that Jesus, as the Son of God, WAS God -- that inference from this statement has caused the orthodox Jews and Muslims to recoil in horror at attributing divinity to any other than the LORD -- but in the sense that the Word --IS-- God in a more fundamental fashion.
Let us explain what we mean, by first looking at the doctrine that Jesus was fully man, and fully God.
As a baby, Jesus could not even get His parents a room at the inn. In all respects, He was EXACTLY like ANY human baby, that needed his mother to nurse Him, swaddle Him, and watch over Him.
Yet, we are shown the shepherds worshipping Him, and bringing Him gifts --- a privilege not accorded or approved for ANYONE else in the Bible. Clearly, He was already DIVINE....or that DIVINITY was manifest in Him ALREADY....
Second, when Jesus visited the temple as a young boy, His questions/answers on theological issues stunned the professional exponents of the Law in the Temple, yet we are not told that He had any formal education or training.
Was it God the Spirit or God the father whispering in His ear, telling Him what to say? We cannot say that was the case, because of one huge fact....
To be a perfect sacrifice, Christ had to represent us as humans, and be complete in His humanness! Extra/Extraneous/Divine help, would have invalidated His mission right then and there! We know that Christ hungered, was tired, was thirsty, a person acquainted with grief and sorrow, and did not have a place to lay His head... no superpowers here...
Then how? ....
To explain this we will have to go back to Creation.
Everything in this world, we are told, has been set in motion by the LORD, and His PHYSICAL laws are BUILT INTO creation. We live in a predictable universe, one that is governed by the laws of physics! His WORD spoke into existence, is embedded in, and sustains this Creation, much like your sofa sustains your weight against gravity -- it is a sitting device that works with the laws of carpentry, gravity, action and reaction, to keep you comfortably and securely seated!
More than physical Laws, we see the workings of Instinct (embodied in animals and humans) that govern this ecosystem in which we live in. Animals nurture their young, and the more advanced animals even exhibit emotions like fear, joy, and sorrow. This is God's Word, working inside every creation we see on this planet, from trees to sperm whales, and expressing all the beauty and complexity of God Himself!
Finally, we have the spoken and written WORD... which is the means by which we come to know WHO GOD IS, and what HE is like!
It's enshrined in the 10 commandments, the Mosaic Law, the words of the Prophets to the sons of Israel, and finally, exemplified in PERFECT HUMAN FORM in the PERSON of the man Jesus Christ.
Remember, the only difference between Christ as a human, and us, is that He was not born with the autism infecting all mankind, Sin. In such a human, one that is perfectly obedient to the DIVINE INSTINCT, PRINCIPLES, and WORD embedded in every human being, the WORD finds its fullest and most clear exposition of the character of GOD!!
That is how a young teenager can confound grizzled theologians, and that is how our kids ---sometimes-- surprise us with flashes of insight.... imagine if that was a 24/7 thing!!
Christs divinity rested solely on His obedience to the promptings and actions of the Father, and He is the model for what Humans COULD be, if they were fully indwelt by the Spirit of God!
Huh... wait a minute, what is this indwelling of the Spirit of God?
Think about it. We are spirits inhabiting a physical body. God is a Spirit. What defines our personality and character as individuals?
Answer: Our thoughts, words, and our actions.
That is how people perceive "You" --- not just the fact that you are --physically distinct-- from the next person--- but that you are unique in your thoughts and actions, which are the only PHYSICAL evidence we have, of what is going on inside your head!
God as a Spirit, created this physical realm (as ONE expression of Himself) , but as a Spirit, it is HIS WORDS that tell us WHO HE IS.... what He likes, what He hates!
We are not able to do what Jesus did, but we ----are--- ABLE TO THINK LIKE JESUS THOUGHT.... when unsaved, the Word is our Conscience, once saved, our eyes are opened to the Wonders expressed in Gods Word!
How does one Spirit dwell in another? Easy, if you espouse the same principles and ideology of another person, his "spirit" is the one dictating your thoughts and actions. In the same way, if the WORD of GOD dwells in our mind, and we meditate, test, and have faith in, it.... we begin to be indwelt by the Spirit of God Himself... and HE then opens our understanding to behold even GREATER THINGS... expressed in the written WORD.
Lastly, if His Word is in us, and if we walk obedient to the Spirit of God within us, we know that this is PLEASING to Him, and He in turn is pleased to bless us with even more Grace and Favor.
There are many scriptures we can cite, but the few that we have listed below should be enough to establish that what we are saying is TRUE!
"The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes." - Psa 19:8
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth."- Psa 33:6
"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy ---law is within my heart--. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared --thy faithfulness and --thy salvation: I have not concealed --thy lovingkindness and --thy truth from the great congregation." - Psa 40:6-10
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the ---express image --- of his --person--, and upholding all things by the --word of his power---, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" - Heb 1:1-3
" If ye abide in me, and my ---words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." - John 15:7
"Let the word of Christ --dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." - Col 3:16
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." - Heb 4:12
There are much more than we can cite!! Psalm 119, is a paean to the Word of God expressed in the Law, and now we can see what David was talking about... He saw through the Law, to the principles and philosophies of the great LAWGIVER, and was absolutely gob-smacked with the brilliance of the beauty and person He met there!
Imagine those that saw the spirit of God in the flesh... and what an example Jesus is for us! Kind to the needy, but brutally honest when facing down hypocrisy... compassionate and tender to the needs of a Samaritan and adulteress, but a whip wielder and table turner for those that converted the temple into a place of business! He had a sense of humor, woud have been the coolest person to hang with, loved kids, knew how to have a good time with His friends, and yet, was always about His Fathers business.
What a lesson for us today! Get the Word into your head, meditate on it, think about it, and grow up in the LORD, day by day, as you put those WORDs, and that WORLDVIEW into action.
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
--- Wherefore ---God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Phillippians 2:5-11
The apostle Paul sums it up masterfully! The MIND OF CHRIST, the SPIRIT OF CHRIST... these are theological terms people have argued about for centuries, but Praise be to God who has given to us an example of what perfect unity with His Spirit looks like, at the practical human, level !
A profound mystery, a profound revelation -- putting to bed the controversy of how Jesus could be fully man, fully God, in perfect unity with the Father and the Spirit of God, the Word made flesh!
Hallelujah!