Well, let's go to the first chapter
of John. John chapter 1. And we're just
going to look at one verse this evening. That's verse number
14. John chapter 1 verse 14. We'll talk about the glory of
the Word. The glory of the Word. Chapter 1. Verse 14, And the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John says, And we beheld His
glory. Whose glory is it? The glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. As I look at the, especially
the first chapter, and actually the first 18 verses of the first
chapter, I would say that this really gives us in a nutshell
what all the rest of the book of John is about. It's about
the word. It's about the word. In the first
few verses, we've discovered he's the living word. He is God. He is light. He is life. And these verses, they sort of
form an introduction to everything else that John is going to say
in this book because these first few verses they inform us as
to who the word is. Whatever he would do and the
success of what he would do is absolutely dependent on who he
is. And so the Spirit of God leads
John right from the beginning. You know, John doesn't talk about
the birth of our Savior. Our brother just read to us from
Luke chapter 2 where Luke is led by the Spirit of God to write
about the birth of our Savior. A little later in Luke chapter
2, he writes about what happened a few days after his birth, and
then of course Luke talks about what happened to our Savior at
least one event when he was 12 years old. Matthew also writes
about the birth of our Savior, but not John. Because John's
design is to set before us the deity of this one who is our
Savior. He writes these things as he
says at the end of the book that we might believe that Jesus is
the Son of God. He is the Everlasting One. And so without any real introduction
as to our Lord's birth or His early life, John just begins
with a declaration of our Lord's eternality. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. He is the manifestation of God. This One who is our Savior, He
is God told out. He is the revelation of God. He is the Word. He makes known
to us the mind of God and the will of God. and the way of God. Hebrews chapter 1, the writer
says, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers, he hath in these last days spoken
to us through his Son. He is the everlasting Word. He is the eternal Word of God. He is the life giving word. He's the light giving word. He is the illuminating word. He's the word who John the Baptist
came to declare. John's sole reason for existing
was to set forth the word, to set forth this one who is the
light. John said, I'm a witness of the
light. That was His ministry to set
forth the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Word. He's the unrecognized
Word. We've studied that. But though
He was in the world that He made, the world that He made did not
recognize Him, nor receive Him. But while He's not received by
the world, He is received by some. In fact, He's received
by many. And those who receive Him, receive
Him as He set forth in the Scriptures. Those who receive Him, receive
Him as the Savior to rescue them from their sin. They receive
Him as the substitute. Believing the Word of God that
Jesus Christ the Lord died to save his people from their sins. Joe read to us right there at
the very end of his reading that his name was called Jesus. Eight days after his birth, he
was officially named, and that was the way it was with the babies
in Jewish families. Eight days after they were born,
they were officially named, and the name given to this one born
of Mary, who never knew a man, who was overshadowed by the Spirit
of God, the name given to that infant, that precious baby that
she bore, is Jesus. For he shall save his people
from their sins. Those who receive him, receive
him as the one who saves from sin. Those who receive him, receive
him as their prophet, who teaches them spiritual truths. And those
who receive him, submit to his word. We believe him. We lay aside all preconceived
ideas as to what we think salvation is or who God is or what we are. We lay all of those aside and
we bow to the authority of our prophet. He is that prophet greater
than Moses who came into the world. Never a man spake like
this man. He had the doctrine of God and
He spoke as one who fully believed His doctrine with boldness and
courage. He had a courageous spirit about
Him. So much so that even those who
did not believe Him realized He spoke as never other man spake. We receive Him as our prophet.
Those who receive Him receive Him as the priest. That one who
offered to God the sacrifice of himself in order to honor
and satisfy God's broken law. Justice has been violated. We have transgressed God's law
and the law says the soul that sinneth it shall die. Our Lord
Jesus is God's great high priest who sent into this world for
us, for us, and he offered to God that sacrifice that fully
silenced and satisfied, both words, silenced and satisfied
God's justice that demanded vengeance for sin, death for sin. Our Lord Jesus offered to the
justice of God the sacrifice that would satisfy it, and that
was the sacrifice of Himself. Of Himself. We receive Him as
the priest. Those who receive Him, receive
Him as their King. That is, as their Lord, to rule
over them, to govern them, to direct them in the path that
He has ordained for them. They receive Him as their righteousness. They cast aside all of their
so-called righteousness and they're delighted to be received solely
on the basis of the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Those who receive Him, receive
Him as that one and only one who could ever fully honor God
and meet our needs. And these who receive Him, do
receive Him For this reason, they're born of God. Everybody
doesn't receive Him. Everybody doesn't love Him. Everybody
doesn't believe Him. Well, who does receive Him? What
is the reason why one believes and another one abides in unbelief? Why is it that some receive Him
in all of His offices, and they believe Him fully and trust in
Him wholly, while others say, we will not have this man to
rule over us? Well, the reason is to be found
in verse 13. These who receive Him are born.
They are born into the Kingdom of God. But they are not born
as a result of family ties. And they're not born as a result
of their own free will. And they're not born as a result
of the will or the willingness of others or the desires of others
who want them to be saved, who want them to be converted, who
want them to be born again. Those who receive Him do so because
they're born of God. The new birth comes first. And that which follows immediately
is faith in the Lord Jesus. These receive Him. Now when we
get to verse 14, it is emphasized once again who this Word is and
what the Word did. In verse 14, those two things,
who He is and what He did. who He is and what He did. 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. Let's make sure that we know
who this is. This is the same word John has
been saying so many things about in the first few verses, and
now he goes on to tell us that this word is none other than
the only begotten of the Father. That is, he is the son of God. He is the second person of the
Trinity. And by saying he was the only
begotten of the Father, John is saying this one who is our
Savior whom we receive, he is himself the eternal Son of the
Father. John frequently refers to the
Savior as being the Son of God in this book. The Jewish readers
immediately knew what he meant by that, as is evident from,
look at John chapter 5. When the Savior said, and when
John does in fact record, that the Lord Jesus was the Son of
God, the Jews knew exactly what was being said, what was intended. John chapter 5 and verse 17. But Jesus answered them, our
Lord had done a miracle on the Sabbath day, and because He had
done it on the Sabbath day, verse 16 says, because He did these
things on the Sabbath day, they sought to slay Him. They tried
to kill him. Verse 17, but Jesus said, John
5, 17, Jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto, and
I work. Therefore the Jews sought the
more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
but he said also that God was his father, making himself equal
with God. They knew exactly what he was
professing to be, what he was claiming to be. If God was his
father, that means he's saying he is the son of God. And so
John, as he goes through the book, You'll find he often refers
to the Savior as the Son of God. And sometimes he even says this
in addition to that. He's the only begotten Son of
God. In other words, he's the unique
Son of God. He's the Son of God in which
nobody else is the Son of God. You see, God the Father is the
everlasting Father, and He, being the everlasting Father, has an
everlasting Son. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. John writes of Him, go back to
chapter 1 and verse 18. He says, No man hath seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, there
it is, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, He has declared Him. He's the Word who has declared
the Father, this One who is the only begotten Son of God. John chapter 3 and verse 16. Just about everybody in the religious
world can quote this. at least if they profess to believe
the Bible, John 3.16, for God so loved the world. This isn't
the gospel. This is the reason for the gospel.
The gospel is found in verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
He must be lifted up to satisfy justice. He must be lifted up
to make propitiation for our sins. He must be lifted up if
we're to be forgiven. He must be lifted up if we're
to be righteous. He must be lifted up that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Look at verse 18. Verse 18. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. He's the only begotten Son of
God. He's one of a kind. He's one
of a kind. He's of the same nature. The
exact same nature as the Father. He's the same essence as the
Father. He is God. He is as much God
as God the Father is. He is as much God as the Spirit
is. He's altogether God. As God is
the eternal Father, He is the eternal Son. Now yes, it is a
wonderful fact that we're sons of God. Those of us who believe
we're said to be sons of God. But wait, we're adopted sons. We're not like the son of God.
He's the only, the only, he's the only one like this. Now He
has many sons. Our Lord Jesus came into the
world to bring many sons unto glory. Hebrews chapter 2 says
that. Many sons. Millions of sons to
bring us all to glory. But He Himself is the only begotten
Son of God. Since He is the only begotten
Son of God, then there aren't any more like Him. There aren't
any more like Him. You know, every once in a while,
and I've heard preachers say this, that Jesus Christ became
everything that we are so that we can become everything that
He is. Ever heard anybody say that?
I've heard preachers say that. I've read that. I've read that. That Jesus Christ became everything
that we are so that we can become everything that He is. Now listen
carefully. That is incorrect. That is not
right. That is not right. Be careful
of statements like that. Because we will never be all
that He is. And these words right here prove
that. They give evidence of that. He
is the only begotten of the Father. So are we ever going to be like
that? No. No, that's impossible. So it
isn't a true fact. It isn't a truth that we will
be everything that He is and that He became everything that
we are. If He's the only begotten of
the Father, that means that none of us are going to be like that.
He's the only one. You'll never become everything
that he is. You'll never become God. You'll never become God. He's
God. You'll never become omnipotent. You're never going to become
all-powerful. You're never going to become
omniscient. You're never going to know everything.
You're never going to be omnipresent as He is, the Divine One. You're never going to be a sovereign. Are you going to become a sovereign?
No. No. So it isn't a fact that we
will become everything that He is. And neither is it a fact
that He became everything that we are. That just can't be. He wasn't
born of a human father, was he? But we were. I tell you, people
need to think about things before they say stuff. That's all of
us, really. Before we open up our mouths
and we spew something out that sounds real profound and real
theologically deep, we need to just stop and say, is this really
true? Yes, he was a real man, but he
wasn't born of the seed of Adam. He was of the seed of Abraham. He'll never be the seed of Adam. Yes, he was a real man, but he
wasn't a transgressor of God's law as we are. The Bible says he was holy and
harmless and undefiled. He'll never be as we are in every
way. He wasn't ruined by sin. We are. Sin didn't pollute everything
that He did. It does us. No, He didn't become everything
that we are. And even though He died, He did
not die as we do. Because we have no control over
our death. But that's not true of the Savior.
He had absolute control over His death. He said, nobody takes
my life from me. He said, I have the power to
lay it down, I have the power to take it again. This commandment
have I received from my Father. Hey, what did He do? He bowed
His head and gave up the ghost. Yes, he died at the time appointed
by God as we will But he died at the time he appointed You don't appoint the time of
your death, but he did Yes, he was made flesh and dwelt among
us. He was made flesh and But He
wasn't made everything that we are, and He didn't become a sinner. He did not become a sinner as
we are. He didn't become an enemy of
God, that's what we are. He didn't become ungodly, He's
God! How could God become ungodly? The very idea is absolutely contrary
to scripture and contrary to reasonable thinking. Understand
this. He is the only begotten of the
Father who united himself to human flesh in a union that will
never be dissolved. And God cannot be defiled by
sin as we are. So He is the only begotten of
the Father. Those two little words, the only,
the only, tells us He's one of a kind. He's one of a kind. Nobody like our Savior. Nobody. And He says the Word, go back
to our text, the Word was made flesh. What a statement. Heaven read 1 Timothy chapter
3. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Joe read to us of our Savior's
birth in Luke chapter 2. The Son of God was made to be
as we are as far as having a soul and a body. He was a real man. He's God who's man. He didn't
stop being God. He never did stop being God.
No, what He did, He took human nature into union with His deity. And I say again, that's a union
that will never be dissolved. The Word was made flesh. Let
me read it to you out of the Amplified. I don't know whether
you ever read the Amplified version, and most of the time it's good.
Every once in a while it's not so good. But most of the time
it's good, and it's very good on this. Here's the Amplified
version. And the Word became flesh, that
is, He became human incarnate, and He tabernacled, that is,
He fixed His His tempt of flesh, He lived for a while among us,
and we actually saw His glory, His honor, His majesty, such
glory as an only begotten Son of God received, as the only
begotten receives from His Father, full of grace, that is, favor,
loving kindness, and truth. Because the word dwelt and actually
in the amplified it's correctly translated as tabernacled. Tabernacled. We know this about the book of
Exodus and each morning I'm teaching the young people, I'm giving
them a summary. Monday of Genesis and then yesterday
of Exodus, today of Leviticus, tomorrow of Numbers, then Friday
of Deuteronomy. Then speaking about the book
of Exodus, I gave them this little bit of information. The book
of Exodus, almost one third of it is about the tabernacle. There
are 40 chapters in the book of Exodus, 13 of them have to do
with the tabernacle. That tabernacle was the very
glory of Israel. It was the glory of Israel. Well,
what was the tabernacle? Well, it was a tent. where God
met man and man met God. You know that tabernacle was
the most precious thing to the Jews? It was their glory. Because no other nation had it.
I mean, throughout the world. Ever had many nations existed
back then? No other nation had the tabernacle.
No other nation had the very presence of God within. They
enjoyed the Lord within the tabernacle. That tabernacle, it was a tent
to which men went when they wanted to worship God, when they wanted
to speak with God, when they wanted to commune with God. And
it was where God promised that He would meet with and He would
commune with men. There God and His chosen people
met each other through the blood, through the slaughter of bullocks
and goats and sheep and turtle doves and pigeons. It was there
in the tabernacle that the two were reconciled, a holy God and
sinful men. At the tabernacle, that was their
glory. And we know that tabernacle pointed
to our Lord Jesus. It pointed to who He is and it
pointed to what He did, or what He would do, what He would accomplish. And it's in the Lord Jesus Christ
that God meets men and men meet God. as the ancient Jews went to God's
camp. And in the center of the camp,
that's where they met Him. You know, it's interesting, and
tomorrow we're going to be talking about the book of Numbers. Those
of you who are going to be here tomorrow, you can close your ears or else
you can kind of get a little foretaste of what we're going
to be talking about in the morning. that tabernacle. And in the Book
of Numbers it tells us it. That tabernacle was in the very
center of the camp. And if you look at, sometimes
you can get a book or something, it tells you where all the different
twelve tribes were. But they all faced the tabernacle.
They surrounded the tabernacle. Right in the center of all the
twelve tribes of Israel, there was their glory. There was the
tabernacle. Let me tell you something. In
God's eternal purpose, right in the center of all of it is
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's right in the center. Everything
points to Him. Everything is directed toward
Him. He's the glory of God's purpose
of redemption. He's the tabernacle. He's the one everybody talks
about. He's the one everybody's looking at. He's the one everybody's
focusing upon. His work of redemption and His
glory as person, God has established it in the middle. And every eye
of every believer is focused on the Lord Jesus Christ who
is in the very heart, in the very center of God's eternal
purpose. It was to the tabernacle, he
was to this tent, that a Jew went to be forgiven of his sins.
He brought his offering. He brought his sacrifice. It
was received in his stead. That offering died as the substitute
for the sinner who bought it. Our Lord Jesus died in the stead
of the Lord's people. So the glory of Israel was the
tabernacle. And you know what the glory of
the tabernacle was? The Holy of Holies. So the glory
of Israel was the tabernacle. Then the glory of the tabernacle
was the Holy of Holies with the Shekinah glory. Because there
the mercy seat was over the Ark of the Covenant. The mercy seat,
that solid gold lid that covered the Ark of the Covenant, and
in that Ark of the Covenant was the Law of God that men had broken. But it's covered with the mercy
seat, sprinkled with blood, sprinkled on the top and in the front of
it with blood. Every year Aaron would do that.
And over top of the mercy seat, two cherubim looking down at
the lid of the mercy seat. And there was the bright light
of God's glory. And it went out through the top
of the tent. And it was to Israel a cloud
by day and a bright light by night. It was the very Shekinah
glory of God. That bright light, it represented
God's continual, unending presence with the children of Israel. It was their glory. And our text
says that this one who is the only begotten of the Father,
he's God's tabernacle. Here's what John is saying. God
came in the tent of flesh. He dwelt among us. That's what
John says. He dwelt among us. So much so
that John said, we beheld His glory. His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We beheld His glory. Well, when do you think that
was? Well, that says on the Mount of Transfiguration, wouldn't
you? That's when they beheld His glory. Peter, James, and
John on the Mount of Transfiguration. When Moses and Elijah came and
talked to Him about His decease that He would accomplish at Jerusalem.
Moses, the Law. Elijah, the Prophets. What do
the Law and the Prophets speak about? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And there they are on the Mount
of Transfiguration talking about His decease that He would accomplish,
that He would finish at the cross. And He revealed to them His glory. His glory. Brighter than the
noonday sun. I tell you, Moses had been in
the presence of the glory of God before. when he was up on
the mountain. In fact, when he came back down,
they said, man, your face is a glow. You're just glowing. Where have you been? I've been
in the presence of the glory of God. And you know, by God's grace,
we behold His glory. We behold His glory. The glory
of God's only begotten Son. We see and we behold the glory
of who He is. The glory of His blood. The glory
of His righteousness. The glory of His accomplishments. And you know what? We find that
He's full of grace and truth. He's full of grace and truth.
This is where the Lord Jesus greatly surpasses the tabernacle
in the wilderness. He's full of grace. You know
what the tabernacle is full of? Laws. Isn't that right? It's full of laws. He's full of grace. That's good
news for sinners. That's what we need. We need
grace. And He saves us and He blesses us out of the riches
of His grace. He gives grace and gives grace,
and yet the riches of His grace are never depleted. They never
go down at all. We come to Him, we come boldly
to the throne of grace. It's the throne of grace, and
we come for grace. And He gives us grace, and after
He gives us grace, after He gives you grace, and you grace, and
you grace, and you grace, and He gives me grace, He's still
got just as much grace as He had before He started giving.
He's got grace to say He's full of grace. That's what John says.
There's one who is the only begotten of the Father. whose glory, John
says, we've seen, He's full of grace. He's full of grace. And watch this, He's full of
truth. You see, the old tabernacle,
it was full of shadows. It was full of symbols. It was
full of pictures. It was full of types. But the
Lord Jesus, the true tabernacle, He's full of truth. He's the
substance, not the picture. He's the reality, not the shadow. Here's our great joy. We come
to Christ who's the true tabernacle of God. And I ask you, have you
seen His glory? John said, we beheld His glory. But not everybody sees His glory. Let me give you one other passage
we'll go. Look at 1 Corinthians 2. Look at 1 Corinthians 2. Let
me read three verses. 6, 7, and
8. 1 Corinthians 2. The Apostle Paul says, among them that are perfect,
mature. And yet, not the wisdom of the
world, nor of the princes of this world that come to naught. That's not the wisdom we're talking
about. Oh, wisdom you're talking about, Paul, the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God seen in the
gospel that tells us how God can be just and justify the ungodly. We speak the wisdom of God in
a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For if they had known it, or
if I could put it this way, if they had seen his glory, they
wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. None of the princes of the world
saw his glory. And you know what? If you see
His glory, there is only one reason why you see His glory.
He has given you eyes to see. Spiritual eyes. Spiritual understanding. We see Him. We see Jesus. Have you beheld His glory, the
glory of His person? The glory of His blood, the glory
of His righteousness, the glory of His attributes. Oh, that God
would give us eyes to see His glory. Our Lord said to His disciples,
who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, well,
some people say you're one of the prophets. Some people say
you're Isaiah. Some people say that you're Jeremiah
because you weep a lot. Jeremiah was a weeping prophet.
He said, who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Peter said, thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Our Lord said, blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-Jonah, Simon, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't
reveal that to you. My Father did. He gave you eyes
to see my glory. May He do the same thing for
all of us. Amen. Let's sing a closing song.