The Glory of the Son - a podcast by Lewis Marsh

The Gospel of John 2021

Part One: The Glory of the Son

By Louie Marsh, 4-18-2021

 

Intro – 4 cartoons – last one robbed left with bad sheet.

 

The Glory of Jesus:

 

1) Jesus is eternally GOD.

 

“1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1–3, ESV)

 

In the beginning (ἐν ἀρχῃ [en archēi]). Ἀρχη [Archē] is definite, though anarthrous like our at home, in town, and the similar Hebrew be reshith [bərēʾšîṯ; בְּרֵאשִׁית] in Gen. 1:1. There is no argument here to prove the existence of God any more than in Genesis. Three times in this sentence John uses this imperfect of εἰμι [eimi] to be which conveys no idea of origin for God or for the Logos, simply continuous existence.

 

The Word (ὁ λογος [ho logos]).

• old word in Homer to lay by, to collect, to put words side by side, to speak, to express an opinion. Λογος [Logos] is common for reason as well as speech.
• Heraclitus used it for the principle which controls the universe.
• The Stoics employed it for the soul of the world (ἀνιμα μυνδι [anima mundi])
• Marcus Aurelius used σπερματικος λογος [spermatikos logos] for the generative principle in nature.

 

At any rate John’s standpoint is that of the Old Testament and not that of the Stoics nor even of Philo who uses the term Λογος [Logos]

 

It therefore signifies both the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed, and the inward thought itself, the Latin oratio and ratio: compare the Italian ragionare, “to think” and “to speak.”

As signifying the outward form it is never used in the merely grammatical sense, as simply the name of a thing or act (ἔπος, ὄνομα, ῥῆμα), but means a word as the thing referred to: the material, not the formal part: a word as embodying a conception or idea

 

As signifying the inward thought, it denotes the faculty of thinking and reasoning (Heb. 4:12); regard or consideration (Acts 20:24); reckoning, account (Philip. 4:15, 17; Heb. 4:13); cause or reason (Acts 10:29).

 

Vincent (1887) sums this up nicely for us:

 

As Logos has the double meaning of thought and speech, so Christ is related to God as the word to the idea, the word being not merely a name for the idea, but the idea itself expressed. The thought is the inward word...

 

The Logos of John is the real, personal God (1:1), the Word, who was originally before the creation with God, and was God, one in essence and nature, yet personally distinct (1:1, 18); the revealer and interpreter of the hidden being of God; the reflection and visible image of God, and the organ of all His manifestations to the world...

 

He made all things, proceeding personally from God for the accomplishment of the act of creation (1:3), and became man in the person of Jesus Christ, accomplishing the redemption of the world. -

 

With God (προς τον θεον [pros ton theon]). Though existing eternally with God the Logos was in perfect fellowship with God. Προς [Pros] with the accusative presents a plane of equality and intimacy, face to face with each other.

 

And the Word was God (και θεος ἠν ὁ λογος [kai theos ēn ho logos]). By exact and careful language John denied Sabellianism by not saying ὁ θεος ἠν ὁ λογος [ho theos ēn ho logos]. The subject is made plain by the article (ὁ λογος [ho logos]) and the predicate without it (θεος [theos]) just as in John 4:24 πνευμα ὁ θεος [pneuma ho theos] can only mean “God is spirit,” not “spirit is God.” So in 1 John 4:16 ὁ θεος ἀγαπη ἐστιν [ho theos agapē estin] can only mean “God is love,” not “love is God” as a so-called Christian scientist would confusedly say. For the article with the predicate see Robertson, Grammar, pp. 767f. So in John 1:14 ὁ Λογος σαρξ ἐγενετο [ho Logos sarx egeneto], “the Word became flesh,” not “the flesh became Word.”

 

2) Jesus is the CREATOR of the universe.

 

3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3, ESV)

 

3) Jesus is the LIFE & LIGHT of all people.

 

“4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:4–9, ESV)

 

• Jesus is our

 

“10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:10–13, ESV)

 

• Jesus alone reveals who & what GOD

 

“14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:14–18, ESV)

 

4) Jesus is the core all true Christian TESTIMONY.

 

“29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”” (John 1:29–31, ESV)

 

 

 

 

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