Amen. John is led to begin his book,
the book that bears his name. He's led to bring forth a magnificent
truth right from the beginning, and that is the eternality of
the Son of God. He is unique in this way. John is unique in mentioning
our Lord Jesus as being the Word. He is the Word of God. He mentions this in his book
that bears his name. He mentions this fact in the
three epistles, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. And he mentions this
also in the book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the living Word. He is God told out. If you want to know what God
is like, if you want to know more about God, in His glory,
in His essence, in His beauty, study the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the Son of God. Someone said, and I read it this
morning, A writer said the first chapter of John is a marvelous
collection of truths concerning our Savior. Here we see, first of all, that
in the beginning was the Word. Those words teach us the eternality
of Christ. I know His manhood had a beginning. His manhood had a beginning.
But as God, when the beginning began, He's the one who began
it. He is the eternal God. In the
beginning was the Word. He goes on to tell us that He
was the creator of all things. So in the beginning was the Word.
Secondly, the Word was with God. This one who was God told out,
He was with God. That teaches us the of our Savior with the Father. Christ said in John 10, I and
my Father are one. One in will, one in essence,
one in power, one in being. I and my Father are one. The
Word was with God. That's His equality with the
Father and with the Spirit. And then he says, and the Word
was God. That teaches us the absolute
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ as well as the plurality of the
persons in the Godhead. He was God. He wasn't a god. He wasn't one of many gods. The Word was God. He was God. He is God. Even when He came
to this earth, He didn't cease to be God. He was God over all, blessed
forever, when He dwelt in eternity before anything was made that
was made. And when He walked on this earth,
He was still God of very God. He veiled His Godhead, I suppose
that's a good word to use, He veiled His Godhead with our flesh. But He was nevertheless still
God. And He gave ample evidences of
that throughout His public ministry. When He spoke to the stormy sea,
the Lake of Galilee. and said, peace be still, and
the wind stopped blowing and the waves stopped washing up
on top of the ship. He showed his God who can control
nature except the one who made nature. He's God. And then he says the same was
in the beginning with God. This teaches us His pre-existence
as the Word and as the Revealer of God. Before the heavens and the earth
were made, Genesis 1-1, there was the Son of God, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then John tells us all things
were made by Him. He's the creator of all things. And understand this, in His creative
abilities, He expended and lost no energy in creating. When we labor to do something,
we spend some energy. And if we labor very much, we
begin to get weary. We get tired. But with the Son
of God, by whom God made all things, He only had to speak,
such as the omnipotence, the great power of who He is, He
only had to speak and it was done. I made the remark here not too
long ago, there in Genesis chapter one. He said, let there be light,
and there was light. And in the original, it's just
two words, light me, light, turn on. And everything was illuminated. Now who could do that but God? All things were made by him.
And then John tells us in him was life. He is life and He gives life. He said in John 14, I am the
way, the truth and the life. Physical life, you have that
as a gift from Him. Your life continually existing,
you have that as gift from Him. He is life. He gives life. But He not only
gives physical life to many people, He gives spiritual life. So we
read in John 5, the Son quickeneth whom He will. He doesn't quicken
everybody, but He does quicken many people. Those ordained unto salvation
before the world began. We're born again by His authority,
by His power, and by His Word. He said, my words are spirit
and life. And when He speaks to a spiritually
dead person, they're going to be raised. Now that's for sure. He never speaks words of life
in vain. He's never disappointed. He's
never weakened. He's as almighty today and as
powerful today and as life-giving today as He's ever been. And He gives eternal life too
because eternal life is to know God. and Jesus Christ whom He
sent. Do you know God? That's salvation,
really. Do you know Him? Well, the reason
you know Him is because He knew you first. And He quickened you
to know Him. And He gives everlasting life.
He gives you a life that will never die. That's what he told Martha in
John 11. He that liveth and believeth
on me shall never die. Do you believe that, he said? We'll never die. We'll change
residences. We'll change locations. But we're
not gonna die. Because Christ died for us. He
died in our stead. And then John tells us that the
light shineth in darkness. These words speak of the revelation
of Christ. The light shineth in darkness.
He came down here to this spiritually darkened world. And his light
shone brightly. But the darkness comprehended
it not. You say, what's the reason for
that? Light came into the world? Yeah. The very brilliance, the
very glory of God walked on this earth. Well, how come men didn't
see that? Because the dead are spiritual
and the blind are spiritual. They can't see. And if you see, that's because
He granted you eyesight, spiritual eyesight. And then John says,
and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He tabernacled
here on this earth. We never get over the fact, the
glory of the fact, that our Lord Jesus, the eternal God, who has
eternally been clothed with glory and honor and majesty, was clothed
with our flesh. Here's the way the apostle Paul
put it. Look over at Romans chapter eight. This is how Paul put it. Romans chapter eight. Romans eight. I'll read you just
a couple of verses. Three and four, Romans eight,
three and four. For what the law could not do,
and that it was weak through the flesh. We couldn't keep the
law. God sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, that is, He came into
this world on a mission concerning sin. It had to do with sins Removal. That's why He came. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh, but He wasn't sinful flesh. He looked like sinful
flesh. He looked just like any other
man, and He was, in many ways, just like any other man. But
with the glorious exception, He didn't have any sin, and He
was the God-man. He came concerning sin and He
condemned sin. Why am I not condemned? Because
He condemned my sin. He put my sin to death. Verse
four, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. This is our Savior. Now go back
to Psalm 1. I want to finish up a few thoughts
in Psalm 1 tonight. If the eternal God, the Son of
God, if He would be our saving surety as appointed in the covenant
of grace, if He would be our representative Redeemer, that
Lamb who was slain from before the foundation of the world,
If he would be our seeking shepherd, coming to find and save those
that were lost, it was necessary for him to become one of us. One of us. That's why Isaiah
talks about Emmanuel's going to come. Isaiah 7 verse 12. Emmanuel, what does that mean?
Well, the angel told Joseph what it means. In the book of Matthew
chapter 1, God with us. Who is that baby who was born
of Mary the virgin? Who is that baby? You can't comprehend
this and I can't either, but when that baby came forth from
her womb, born, that's God in the flesh right
there. No wonder that a lot of people
don't really believe that. But it's a glorious truth. He's
God in the flesh. To redeem us, He had to have
a body and a real soul. And so our Lord Jesus, when He
came into the world, Hebrews chapter 10 says this, when He
cometh into the world, He said, a body thou hast prepared me. That body was prepared for Him
and predestinated for Him from old eternity. But when he was conceived in
the womb of Mary, both his body and his soul came into being
as a man. As a man, he had no pre-existence
except in the eternal purpose of God. He has always been God. But his body and his soul came
into existence in the womb of Mary. One old writer, I like reading
J.C. Philpott. If you ever have an
opportunity to read him, he'll do you good. Just stick with
him. He'll do you good. I read this this morning. He
wrote this, the sacred humanity of our blessed Lord, consists
in a perfect, perfect human body and a perfect human soul taken
at one in the same instant in the womb of the Virgin Mary under
the overshadowing operation and influence of the Holy Ghost. That's our Savior. Remember the angel said to Mary, when the angel said, you're going
to bear a son. She said, how can that be? I've
never known a man. And the angel, the messenger
from God, answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. That's
who he is. You see, the incarnation of our
Savior has always been the purpose of God. Everything was pointing
to the incarnation from old eternity. His incarnation, His life of
perfection, His substitutionary sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary,
His glorious resurrection, His victorious ascension to glory,
and His exaltation and rule and reign over all things, as well
as His second coming when everybody's going to bow the knee to Him
and confess He's the Lord of glory. It's all been purposed
of God from old eternity, and it can't wind up any other way. It's always been the purpose
of God. And Psalm 1, we're given a description
of humanity in its perfection. And whenever in the Bible you
read of humanity in its perfection, your mind needs to go immediately
to the God-man the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Psalm 1. Blessed or blessed
is the man, and well, I'll finish reading it. Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel, in the aims or the goals, the
principles of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. The language of the first verse
is really much stronger than it is in our English translation. It might be read this way. Oh the blessednesses, oh the
happiness of that one man. That's the emphasis in the original. Oh, the blessednesses, oh, the
happiness of that one man who has never walked in the council
of the wicked, who has never stood in the way of sinners,
and who has never sat in the seat of scorners. Who is that
man? Who is that man who has never
walked according to the principles and the aims and the goals of
the ungodly, the wicked? Who is that man who has never
stood in the way of sinners? The way of sinners is the broad
way that leads to destruction. We stood in that way one time
before conversion. And who is the man who has never
sat in the seat of those who would scorn or mock or blaspheme
the truths of God? Who is that man? Is it you? Is it the finest man that you
might imagine who's ever lived in this world? This is apparel
and righteousness that fits and suits only one man, and that's
the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. No son or daughter of Adam could
ever lay claim to such blessed behavior. No son or daughter of Adam could
lay claim to such wonderful conduct. No fallen man could ever lay
hold of and say, I have a personal holiness and I've always had
it. But when we read these words
as a description of our ever blessed and infinitely Holy Savior,
they fit Him perfectly. Perfectly. He alone is that man
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Therefore,
He is made higher than the heavens. Our God-man mediator, He came
into the world to save sinners by substitutionary sacrifice. He took poor sinners in the arms
of His grace. And He took all of His elect
as it were into His very bosom. And we were in Him when He lived.
And we were in Him when He died. And like Noah and his family
were in the ark, and they remained safe. So we
were in Christ Jesus, the ark of our salvation, and all of
the flood of God's anger and vengeance fell on Him, and not
a drop hits us. Not one drop. We were in Him. We were in Him. In Him when He lived. In Him
when He died. In Him when He was buried. In Him when He arose.
In Him when He ascended. And you know what Paul says in
Ephesians chapter 2? We're actually in Him for He's
seated in glory and we're seated in Him right now. We are as safe and we are as
secure as if we were already in the bosom of our Savior in
Heaven's eternal glory. Because we're in Him and never
going to be outside of Him. He never walked in the counsel
of the ungodly. He didn't stand in the way of
sinners. He didn't sit in the seat of the scornful. And his
life of perfection, you know what he's done? He's imputed
that to us. That there's my life. I didn't
do it, but he did it for me and he put that on my record. That's
my record right there. You can't attribute that to anything
but grace. Grace. And it says in the second verse,
his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, in
his word, in his gospel, doth he meditate day and night. Is
that true of you and me? Only by imputation. Because our Lord delighted in
the law of God. He delighted in the word of God.
It was His Word. And in the Word of God, He meditated
day and night. That's not me. I'll just be honest
with you, that's not me. I don't meditate on His Word
day and night. I sleep at night. I'm not meditating
on His Word. But my substitute did. My Savior
did. And I'll tell you what David
says in verse three, he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water. God planted him in the covenant
of grace. And God planted him as our Savior. And he brings forth his fruit
in his season. And all of us who are converted,
we're his fruit. And he bears us in His season,
in His season. We're all of us converted at
different times, but through the same gospel and by the same
power of the Spirit, but He bore us as fruit in His season. Some of you, the season of you
being the fruit that Christ bore many, many years ago. Some of
you just recently, perhaps. It's not important to know when,
but it's just to know in Him you have life. His leaf shall not always wither,
or shall not wither, excuse me. His leaf shall not wither. No
withering of the Savior and whatever he does, prosperous. Isaiah chapter 53, the purpose
of God in redemption prospered in his hand. And not only was his death prosperous
and successful, when his gospel is preached, accompanied by the
power of the Holy Spirit, That gospel will be prosperous in
the thing to whom he sends it. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. I'll tell you this, the ungodly,
not so. See, this description of our
Savior, that describes his people by imputation. In Him we honored God. In Him
justice has been satisfied. But the ungodly? Oh, no. Those who live and die without
God, without hope, without Christ, there's nothing good that awaits
them. That's why David, in Psalm 73,
finally at the end says, Let the wicked have their days of
joy. This is all they're going to
have. They're like the chaff which
the wind driveth away. I tell you what, the wind of
God's judgment is not going to blow you away. Not going to touch you, but it
sure is going to touch the chaff. Therefore, he says, the ungodly
They're not going to stand in the judgment. And sinners are not going to
stand in the congregation of the righteous. To the righteous
He'll say, over here to my right hand, position of glory and acceptance
and royalty. But to the sinners, Those left in their sin, those
bypassed with the grace of God over here. I never knew you. That's what he's gonna say, I
never knew you. I never loved you. I never cared for you. And you never cared for me. You
never believed me. Depart, ye cursed in everlasting
fire. And he winds up the psalm this
way, for or because the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall
perish. There's a way that seemeth right
unto man, but it's no good ending. But we're gonna have a good ending
if you can even call it any. Actually, the ending's gonna
be our beginning. When we end up this life, we
just gonna step into glory, never miss a beat, never lose consciousness,
soul won't lose consciousness. We'll step into heaven and join
the choirs of glory singing the praises of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect man. The only perfect man. And in
him, we're perfect. We're perfect. Well, let's sing
a closing song, shall we?