Let us turn again to God's Word
in the familiar words of the first chapter in the Gospel according
to St. John, directing you to words
that we have here at verse 14. At least we have a great text. In John 1, 14, And the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." And considering then something of the glory of the
Eternal Word, which is so much the subject matter of the opening
parts of this Gospel, according to the Apostle John, And the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." The Eternal Word. And that Eternal Word, of course,
is none other than the second person in the Godhead. Interesting, what we have in
the opening words in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God and the Word was God. We observe what John is saying
in these words concerning the Eternal Word. He is God. and yet at the same time John
says that he is with God. There are two distinct persons
being spoken of at the very beginning. The two persons of course being
the Father and the Son and together with the Holy Ghost. They are
the three divine persons. The great doctrine of God, the
doctrine of the Trinity and although God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit
we know that He reveals Himself, He makes Himself known, He speaks
in and through the Son who is the Word of God. We see it at the very beginning
in God's works of creation Remember the language of Psalm 33, by
the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host
of them by the breath of his mouth. Is there a general revelation
that God has given to us in creation? Well, in that revelation it is
by and through the words. that God is making himself known
by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and you are
familiar with the language there in the opening verses of the
holy scripture in the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth, and the earth was without form, and void, and darkness
was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light, and
there was light." And here, of course, again we see these three
persons, the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters,
and God, and then the Word of God. God said, Let there be light. He is that One who is the Word
then, the Eternal Word of God, the One by and through whom God
is pleased to make Himself known. Verse 18, No man hath seen God
at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, He hath declared Him. And observe what John says
in this 18th verse. He doesn't speak of the Son as
that One who has revealed Him. The Son is that One who has declared
Him. He is the Word of God. And the Word was made flesh. Or the Word is that One who is
the image of the invisible God. We can only see God. In the Lord
Jesus Christ we can only know God by Him who is the eternal
Word. No man knoweth the Son, but the
Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. And we read that remarkable opening
chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. where we see so clearly
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, God who at sundry times and in
diverse manner has spoken in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. He has spoken by His Son. He is the words, the words of
God. And what does the Son do? He comes to accomplish a great
work and then He speaks of God sending another. You know the
language there in that 14th chapter of this Gospel, those Valedictory
Discourses that run from chapter 14 through 15 and 16, and how
the Lord Jesus constantly speaks of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter,
I will pray the Father, He says, and He shall give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit
of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him
not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him. For He dwelleth
with you and shall be in you." And who was it who inspired John
to write these words, this whole Gospel, this chapter, this particular
verse that we come to consider tonight? why John is one of those
holy men of God who was moved by the Spirit of God. What a wonder it is then when
we come to consider this book and in particular this Gospel
according to Saint John. Well, let us turn to these words. As I said, it's a great verse
of Holy Scripture, remarkable text. And one can hardly really
do justice to the truths that are being declared. And if you
take nothing away, I trust that you'll take away the text and
remember the words of the text. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The glory the glory of the eternal
words. First of all, I want us to consider
something of the glory that belongs to the words, who is in fact
the Son, the eternal Son of God. It says we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Who is this One
spoken of as the Only Begotten? It is, of course, the Son of
God. And He is that One who is the
Eternal Son of God, and that is very much part of His Glory. He is not merely the Son of God
by office in the Covenant, the Covenant of Redemption or the
Covenant of Grace. There have been those who have
said that He is the Eternal Word, but He
is not the Eternal Son, that He became the Son only in terms
of the Covenant. But in the Covenant, we do not
see Him as the Son. Surely in the Covenant, we see
Him who is the Eternal Son, who is equal to the Father, becoming
the servant of God. That is the wonder of the Covenant.
He becomes God's servant. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God's, but made himself of no reputation, it
says, and took upon him the form of a servant. Is that one of whom God speaks
when he says, Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth? He is not then the Son of God
in terms of His covenant relationship to the Father and His covenant
engagements. Nor is He a Son simply in terms
of the Incarnation. There are others, you see, who
would argue that He became the Son of God at the Incarnation,
but surely then He becomes the Son of Man. That's what the incarnation
is. It's God manifest in the flesh. And who is the one who is made
man? Well, think again of the language
of scripture. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son. He sends his son and his
son then is made of a woman. or the language of Isaiah chapter
9, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. God gives
the son, but he doesn't become the son of the incarnation, the
child is born. And who is that child that is
born? Well, here is the mystery of
course, that is the human nature. that nature that was conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary and united
to the eternal Son of God. That holy thing. That's how it's
spoken of there in Luke chapter 1. That holy thing that shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God, the great mystery
of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. He's not a son in
the covenant. He's not a son in the incarnation. Nor is he the son of God. Only
at the resurrection there have been others who have made that
argument. Or he didn't become the son of God until he was raised
again from the dead. And they appeal to words such
as those that we find in Romans chapter 1. Declared to be the
son of God with power. according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead. And they say, ah, there
it is, you see. It's in the resurrection that
we see him as the Son of God, that he becomes the Son of God.
But it doesn't say that. It says he was declared. I think
the margin says something like determined. Mr. Philpott, who was himself, of
course, a Greek scholar, says that the word that's used literally
means distinctly marked, clearly defined. That's the point and
purpose of the resurrection. He is always the eternal Son
of God and yet how he had humbled himself in the incarnation, made
himself of no reputation, was obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross, but now in being raised, why again He is
plainly declared to be what He always was and always is, the
Eternal Son of God. And so when we read here in this
parenthesis in the text, we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father. What is that glory? In reality
it is this, that He is the Son of the Father in truth and in
love, the son of the Father in truth. He always has been the
son of the Father. He is that one eternally begotten
by the Father, who's going forth to being from of old, from everlasting,
we're told in Micah chapter 5 and verse 2. And you know the language
there in Proverbs chapter 8. When there were no depths, He
says, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, was I brought forth. Before there was anything created,
He was brought forth. The Only Begotten, the Eternal
Son of God. All that language that we have
in the 2nd Psalm, Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten
thee. Or this day, today. And remember
the words of Luther as he endeavours to expound that remarkable text. He says, this day, today, implies
neither yesterday nor tomorrow, but always a present time. He
neither began to be born, nor will he ever cease to be born,
but he is ever being born. He is the eternal Son of God. And what is the ministry, what
is the witness of John the Baptist? Well, we read the chapter through
to verse 34, and this is what John says, I saw and bear record
that this is the Son of God. That is the witness of the one
who is the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He bears witness
to that truth that He is the Son of God. What a doctrine is
this? Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the
Son, says John. Right in there in his second
epistle. If there is no eternal Son of God there can be no eternal
Father in God. And so the very doctrine of God,
you see, is at stake here. But this is His glory, that He
is the only begotten of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, begotten
not made, of one substance with the Father in the words of the
Nicene Creed. But also, let us not lose sight
of the fact that if we are believers, if we are those whose faith is
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are the sons of God, and we
come to address Him as our Father in Heaven, our adoption, our
adoption as the sons of God, is rooted and grounded in Christ's
eternal Sonship. Isn't that what the Apostle is
saying? There in Galatians chapter 4,
when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son. God sends His Son. His Son is
made of a woman, made under the law. He takes to Himself a human
nature. The Son of God becomes the Son
of Man. He is made of a woman, made under the law. Why to redeem
them that were under the law? that we might receive the adoption
of sons and because you are sons of God God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son in your hearts crying, Abba, Father all our
very sonship to address God in that most intimate of terms and
to say, Abba, Father He's bound up with the eternal sonship of
the Lord Jesus Christ or the glory then of Him who is the
Son of God. Those glories that belong unto
Him in His Sonship. But then here, of course, in
the text it is very much speaking of His manifestation as a man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us he says the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us he is a man like us we are of
the earth and he is one who has descended even into this world
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. And what does that mean? The
word was made flesh. Well, flesh here is to be understood
in terms of the whole of his human nature. Not just his body,
but also we're to think in terms of his soul. He is made flesh and He dwells
among us. Remember how God created the
first man? He creates by His words. Throughout
chapter 1 of Genesis, God said, and it was so. He spoke and it
was done by the Word of the Lord. But when he comes to man, God
doesn't work in that way. God speaks, yes, but he speaks
with himself. There's a counsel in the Godhead.
God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness.
And when God comes to make the man, as we have the detail there
in chapter 2 of Genesis, he forms his body out of the dust of the
earth and he breathes into his nostrils the breath of life.
and he becomes a living soul, his body soul now we're told by Paul there
in 1st Corinthians 15 that that first man is of the earth earthly
he's made of the earth, the second man is the Lord from heaven but
that first man is a type of this last man The first man Adam was
made a living soul, the last Adam is made a quickening spirit. Now the first Adam is as it were
foreshadowing him who is the last Adam. That second man, the
Lord's from heaven. And he is as truly a man as ever
Adam was a man. otherwise the type does not hold
and we know clearly from other scriptures that he was in possession
not only of a human body but when the word was made flesh
there was also a human soul, a reasonable soul Think of the
language that we have at the end of Isaiah 53, that remarkable
chapter that speaks of the suffering servant of the Lord in terms
now of the outworking of the covenant. He is God's servant,
and as God's servant he will suffer. He comes to be obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. He comes not to be
ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom
for many. And how is that sacrifice spoken
of at the end of Isaiah 53? He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. All the travail of his soul,
he has a soul. And he pours out his soul unto death,
it says. And he does that very thing,
of course, when he comes to die. When he utters those words upon
the cross, it is finished. He commends his spirit, commits
his spirit, his soul into the hands of his God. Oh, He's made then a real man,
body and soul. And how important it is that
we recognize the significance of that human nature. We sang
of it just now in that lovely hymn of hearts. A man there is
a real man. He is a real man, as really human
as any and all of us. And what does John say concerning
this doctrine of the human nature. There in that fourth chapter
of his first general epistle he says, Hereby know ye the Spirit
of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that he
should come, and even now already is it in the world. To deny the
reality of the Lord's human nature is Antichrist. Oh, there was
a man Apollinarius in the early church, and he denied, you see,
the truth of the Lord's soul. He said, where there is soul
in man, in Jesus of Nazareth, There was no soul. His divinity
was as his soul. And that is the spirit of Antichrist.
It's a denial of the reality of the human nature of Christ.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. And how the Spirit of God
is so important in all the life The human life that the Lord
Jesus lived here upon the earth. The ministry of the Holy Spirit.
He lived a life, as a man, in which he was so dependent upon
the Holy Ghost. We, as God's adopted children,
we are so dependent upon the Holy Ghost. All our religion
comes from Him. And how the Lord Jesus, when
you think of His life, and the details of it, how was it that
he became a man? well Mary is told the Holy Ghost
shall come upon them the power of the highest shall overshadow
them therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God in his conception, in his birth
he is dependent upon God the Holy Spirit and then remember when he comes
to enter into his public ministry and that's marked of course by
his appearance there at Jordan where he is baptized by the Baptist
and as the Lord comes up out of the waters of baptism the
spirits open and the heavens open and the spirit descends
upon him in the form of a dove or the Father giveth not the
Spirit by measure unto Him. He is the Anointed One, He is
the Messiah, He is the Christ. And so the Spirit comes upon
Him at His baptizing and the heavens open and the Father speaks,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And then under
the Spirit's influence He's driven into the wilderness. The Spirit
drives him into the wilderness to be tempted there of Satan. All the Spirit is there as he
is baptizing in his temptations. And then by faith he overcomes
all the assaults of Satan. Satan leaves him for a little
season and then he returns. It says that he returned in the
power of the Holy Ghost into Galilee. And then, as was his
wont on the Sabbath day, he goes into the synagogue at Nazareth. You can read these things there
in Luke chapter 4, verse 16 following. You know the account, how the
minister in the synagogue gives him the book of the prophet Isaiah
and he turns to those words in Isaiah 61 and he reads that passage
of scripture the Spirit of the Lord is upon us he has anointed
me to preach the gospel and so forth oh he is so much under
the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit as a man as a real
man and he performs miracles He cast out the demons. How does
He do that? Well, He tells the people, if
I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then is the Kingdom of
God among you. Oh, the Spirit is there. The
Spirit is there when He comes to the end of His ministry, when
He comes to die upon the cross. Who through the Eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God, we read in Hebrews 9.14.
Now, I know that in many ways is a disputed verse. What is to be understood by that
reference to the spirit of God? There's some debate. Some say
that the eternal spirit is really a reference to himself, to his
soul, making his soul an offering. It's the reality of the man,
body and soul. His sufferings are not just physical,
his sufferings are spiritual also in their very nature. But
then others say that that references again to the spirit and the wondrous
work and the assistance of the spirit that he knows as a man.
Well, I like to think that there's truth in each of those interpretations. It's a difficult passage. There
are passages so profound that we cannot really begin to understand,
to fathom. We simply scratch away at the
surface, as it were. And that is very much the case
here in Hebrews 9.14. And it's the case here with our
text this evening. What a text! The Word was made
flesh. and dwelt among us. He lived
life as a man and he was dependent as a man upon the ministry of
the Holy Spirit. Why? He was living always that
life of faith. Here's the pattern you see. He
lived the life of faith. He prayed to his Father in heaven. He spent whole nights in prayer
to his Father. He was dependent upon his Father.
He was dependent upon God the Holy Spirit. Let us not be afraid
to say these things, to realize these things. He is one with
us, you see. Touched with all the feeling
of our infirmities. We knew what sort of temptations
were. He was without sin. There was nothing of sinful infirmity,
but there was real physical infirmity. He had to live his life as a
man. And so when we read there in his dying, who through the
Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God. Is it wrong to see something
of the Spirit's ministry there at the end? For the Spirit is
certainly there in the resurrection, He's declared to be the Son of
God, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection
from the dead. There's a connection, you see,
between the Spirit of holiness and His rising again from the
dead. You know, when we think of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, again, we see all the Godhead there. In a sense, He
raises Himself. In another sense, He's raised
by the Father. And then there, in Romans 1-4,
clearly, it is the Holy Spirit. And yet, though he is living
this life as a man, a real man, dependent upon God the Holy Spirit,
just as we are dependent upon God the Holy Spirit in our sonship. And yet, in all this humiliation,
he is never anything less than true God. That's the wonder.
He is never anything less than the eternal Son of God. We read of Him being in the form
of God, thinking it not robbery to be equal with God, yet making
Himself of no reputation, taking upon Him the form of a servant,
being made in the likeness of men, humbling Himself and becoming
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. What is the emphasis here? Surely
the emphasis that the Apostle is making in that second chapter
of Philippians is the truth of lowliness and humility. He's not denying the truth that Jesus
is God. He thinks it not robbery to be
equal with God. That's not something that he
has to grasp after. It is. He is equal to the Father,
equal to the Spirit, but the whole of that chapter speaks
so clearly of humiliation. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And then that
remarkable passage, that great Christological passage concerning
Christ being in the form of God and so forth. But see the whole
context, it's Paul doing as he's well to do on occasions and he
weaves together the doctrine and the practice. He roots our
responsibilities and our duties as those who are the followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the necessity of that lowliness
of mind and that humility. He weaves it all together with
the great doctrine of Christ and the Incarnation and how the
Lord of glory humbled himself to become a man, a real man. And what does Christ say? If
any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me he is a pattern of that you see
he never commands anything that he does not do himself if any
man will come after me to be a follower of the Lord Jesus
Christ is to deny oneself and to take up the cross and to follow
him Or the hymn writer speaks of us having to venture to be
nought. Venturing to be nought. Isn't
that what we see in a man like the Apostle Paul? Remember he
is in many ways the pattern of them who shall hereafter believe,
as he tells Timothy. And I like to think of that,
him as a pattern believer, those experimental or experiential
portions that we find in the Pauline literature in the New
Testament in these epistles. We often say he sets forth great
doctrinal truth and then he shows the practical implication of
what that doctrine is, as I've said there in Philippians chapter
2 we see it. But on occasions he also has
to speak of himself and of his own experiences Not because he
has a big ego and wants to project himself, that's not the case.
He's writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, but he has to
do that, in a sense, because he is a pattern to them which
should hereafter believe. And so what do we have when we
come to the end of 2 Corinthians, the thorn in the flesh? And now he beseeches the Lord,
repeatedly, that the Lord would remove this from him. And yet,
the Lord doesn't do that. He has to come to the realization
that there's a needs be. There's a needs be, and He is
brought to that point of complete submission. That lowliness of
mind, that humility. And what does He say? Though
I be nothing. Though I be nothing. Oh, that's a venture to be nothing,
to be naught, a cipher, a zero. And this is what we learn in the humiliation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. There is the eternal Son of God,
spoken of here in the parentheses. There is that mystery of godliness,
God manifest in the flesh, the Word was made flesh, the human
nature of the Lord Jesus. And then, finally, there is this,
there's the mystery. The mystery of the person that
is being spoken of, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is the
first mystery that we find here in Holy Scripture? Well, the
first mystery must be the doctrine of God. Isn't that the first, that the
greatest of all mysteries? That God is one. There is only
one God who is the creator of all things, that one God who
is the upholder of all things, that one God to whom as his creatures
we all must give account in the day of judgment. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God
is one Lord, one God, and yet it is the mystery one God who
subsists in three persons, the three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost. And how can it be
that one is three and three are one? We can't explain. Where reason fails with all her
powers, there faith prevails and love adores. Or we cannot
find out God with all our searching but that shouldn't surprise us
we are but creatures at best and alas we are sinful creatures
and God is the eternal one the creator of all things this is an eternal mystery isn't
it when we think of it the doctrine of God God always was God is
the one who created time and space. He dwells in eternity. He always has been. There is
the first and greatest mystery. And then, the second mystery
is in many ways like unto it, and the second mystery is the
doctrine of the incarnation. Now there was a time when that
mystery came to be. That is not an eternal mystery,
the mystery of the Incarnation. It came to be in the fullness
of the time, when God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made
under the law. The Word was made flesh, in the
words of our text this evening. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us." That child that
was born was never anything less than
true Almighty God. That little babe, we've had a
baby with us this evening, And the Lord Jesus Christ himself
was once a little babe like that, and even as a little babe, and
I can't understand, I can't begin to understand this, even as a
little babe, he was still the eternal Son of God, upholding
all things. It's a great mystery, isn't it? Emmanuel, being interpreted,
God's with us, And we can't divide, you see,
those two natures. We mustn't divide those two natures.
He is one person. We're not to think of the person of the Eternal Son of
God, and then on the other hand to think of the person of Him
who is referred to as the Son of Man. No, there's one person.
And in the one person there are two natures. There's his divine
nature, and then there's the human nature. That holy thing
that was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin. For two natures in one person,
who, although he be God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ,
it says in the Athanasian Creed. One Christ. And that's a mystery. God is a mystery because God
is one God and yet three persons. and Christ is a mystery because
he is one person and yet in that one person there are two natures
in everything he does he is God-man in every part of his ministry
here upon the earth he is always the God-man and we can't separate
those two natures in that one person and what do we read of
him here He is full of grace and truth. Or the law was given by Moses. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Or what grace is in this? The
unspeakable gift of God. that He doesn't withhold His
Son, even His only begotten Son. We beheld His glory. How did
they behold the glory of this one? Think of the miracles again.
In chapter 2 we read, this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana
of Galilee and manifested forth His glory. And His disciples
believed on Him. Or they saw something of the
glory of who he is, the glory of his deity in the miracles.
And what is he doing in the miracles? He's constantly ministering grace.
He's a real man. He has a body, he has a soul,
he knows what it is to feel for men. He feels for men when they
suffer in their bodies. He heals them of all manner of
diseases. This is how he manifests his
forth, his glory. by constantly revealing the grace
of God and the goodness of God. As God has a concern for man
in the totality of his humanity, he's concerned for us in all
our physical frailties. He's concerned, of course, for
the well-being of our never-dying souls. Why? He poured out his
own soul unto death in order to redeem his people. in order
to save them from all the consequences of their own follies and their
own sins he's full of grace and he's full of truth oh how that grace is poured into
his lips that's what it says in the psalm grace is poured
into thy lips so what does he do? he comes to speak words of
grace He comes to declare all the counsel of God. Is He not
the Amen, the faithful and the true witness? Is He not the Word
of God? As I said at the beginning, He
is that One by and in whom God reveals Himself, be it in creation,
And certainly we see it in that great work of redemption. He is the eternal Word, the Word
that was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory,
the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth or that we might be favoured friends to hear his
gracious words and what gracious words he speaks in the gospel
what tender invitations he makes to sinners the weary, the heavy laden or
this is the man who receives sinners this is a man who eats
and drinks with sinners he is ever the sinner's friend And
this is the one that John seeks to bear his own testimony to.
Does the Baptist bear testimony to him? As I've said, he certainly
does. John bear records saying, I saw
the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon
him. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with
water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the
Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which
baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that
this is the Son of God, the witness of John the Baptist. And here
we have the witness of John the Apostle. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the
Only Begotten, the Father, full of grace, and truth. May the Lord be pleased to bless
His word to us. Amen.