John 1:14-15 — On Riddles and Enigmas

[14  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.] [The Word Who always WAS GOD], was with God, and He came to be flesh.  The Incarnation.  [In carne = in flesh].  In flesh He came to be.  Same word, the verb for genesis, came to be something else.  We say He “took on” flesh.  He didn’t cease to be God or change His divine power or eternal essence in any way.  Christ TOOK ON flesh.  John gives us another mind-blowing truth.  THE great Enigma.  How does the immutable infinite take on the finite?  How does the Eternal robe Himself in a “mortal” body?  Lungs filling with air, heart pumping blood, legs walking, hands holding.  The Word came to be flesh.  It’s one of the great antinomies of Christianity, where two things cannot both be true, but somehow must both be true. A riddle for the ages.

And THEN He dwelt among us.  Literally, He tented in us.  Jesus camped out, in our midst.  Of course bodies are tents —> not permanent dwellings [2Cor. 5:1-2  For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,].  So… the King of Glory basically came and [lived in a tent].  God with us.  But there is another amazing beautiful picture here, because the place where God had lived among His people, His shekinah glory, was literally a tent.  [The Tabernacle] was a really big, very special tent.  “The Tent of Meeting”.  THE place where the people of God encountered the presence and power of almighty God Himself.  [THE God•send]…

AND WE SAW HIM!  John says, He tented among us!  He showed up and lived in our midst.  We had a front row seat!  Maybe we wouldn’t have believed it if we didn’t see it with our own two eyes.  [The Word became flesh…] [1John 1:1  What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life...].  We saw Him, we touched Him.  We beheld Him.  John loves this word, behold.  It gives us our word, theater.  Theatrical.  Something to notice, and watch.  We noticed it.  Cuz it’s possible for something to be in your field of vision and you [don’t see it].  Not really [Matt. 13:14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,  ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE].  We beheld Him.

And what exactly did we behold?  We saw His glory.  We saw exactly what you’d expect if God showed up in human flesh.  Glory makes you say, [whoa].  Talk about noticeable.  Breathtaking goodness, greatness that is so good it’s hard to describe.  Pictures and words don’t do it justice - you know that kind of extra-ordinary?  Beauty.  Majesty.  But THIS goodness, THIS glory - it was on another level.  Jesus came to be that Place where people encounter the presence and power of almighty God Himself.  God with us.  He camped out, WITH US!  We saw His glory. [Like Moses, we need to turn aside…!]

When John says WE saw His glory, I think he’s recalling the Mount of Transfiguration.  The [unforgettable sight] he and his brother and Peter beheld up on that mountain…  [Lk 9.28-36].  John is the only Gospel writer who was actually on that mountain, and (strangely) he’s the only one who does NOT mention it.  Except I think here.  We SAW it.  Up on that mountain.  We saw His glory.  Glory.  As of the only begotten of the Father.

The Only Begotten of the Father.  Only begotten.  I.e., there is no other.  This word describes a parent who only has one child.  Only begotten means there are no others.  The word is [mono-genes].  That which makes God God, which is peculiar to His makeup, the “divine DNA”?  Jesus - and NO ONE ELSE - has the same DNA, the exact same essence.  The same glory.  And He always has.  Divinity.  Eternal.  Holy holy.  Almighty.  God.  Enigma.  People bear God’s image yes, and He adopts us into His family as sons and daughters when we believe in Jesus yes, but Jesus is the only begotten God.  There are no others.  There is no one else like Jesus.

And this Word, Who was God, DID become flesh.  Somehow - God the Son was conceived by God the Spirit in the womb of a young Jewish virgin.  Somehow.  And He lived, He tented among us.  For a season.  Took on flesh.  He got tired.  He got hungry.  He had to use the bathroom.  He got splinters.  He bled.  He was tempted.  He was rejected and disrespected.  He was mistreated and misunderstood.  He felt everything that we feel - in the flesh.  He knows.  He can sympathize [Heb. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.].  Jesus feels what we feel.  What is it you’re going through?  He knows.  He knows how you feel.  He knows what it feels like. He sees you, struggling up that hill.  He is with you.  Emmanuel - God with us.

Perhaps you’re not struggling like that so much in this season (give it a minute…?).  Maybe it’s everything around you.  Maybe it’s those people around you?  Jesus was around all kinds of annoying people.  All kinds of brokenness.  Think about how messy people are.  Think about this holy eternal Son of God, taking on flesh, and camping out in the midst of all our messiness.  John says, we saw it all.  Front row seat.  But when we looked at Him, when we beheld Him, we saw Glory.  The breathtaking goodness of God.  We saw Love.  We saw Perfect Patience, and loooong suffering.  We saw great Kindness.  True Compassion and caring.  We saw Full Mercy, and gentleness.  We saw total Faithfulness.  We saw righteous Zeal.  We saw power, and holiness.  He camped out with us.  He took on flesh.  Subject to ALL the same temptations that we are.  Jesus was IN the flesh - BUT He never gave in to the flesh.  He related to ALL the messiness around Him in ways that showed off the great goodness of God.  He could enjoy all the good things His Father had given, but they did not consume Him.  Zeal for His Father consumed Him.  Somehow He never took His eyes off the Father.  And when our eyes were on Jesus, John says, they saw glory.  We saw His glory.  

[15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”].  John the Witness repeats this exact phrase in v. 30.  John the author includes it twice - so this must mean something.  We don’t want to hurry past it.

Literally, the One coming [BEHIND me, has come to be IN FRONT OF me, because BEFORE me HE WAS].  He WAS.  This is where John started us out, the very first thing he said about Jesus - He was.  [In the beginning The Word WAS].  He always WAS.  And THIS gets Jesus to the head of the line.  IN Front, front and center.  For all of history.  For all humanity.  For you and me and Bobby Lee.  

The preexistence of Christ - “He WAS” - establishes the preeminence of Christ.  He must come to be first because He came first.  He must come to be first because He was.  In the beginning.  And before the beginning - He was.  Always was.  And one reason then that the preexistence of Christ becomes so central to John our author is, it was central to John the Witness.  It’s the first thing John writes about - and it’s the first thing we see John the Witness talk about.  The One coming behind me HAS come to be in front of me.  He must come first.  He must increase - in your heart and my heart - and every heart.  Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.  He is first.  He must increase…  May that be true in our lives and hearts - and in our world...

John 1:12-14 — Born of God

So far we’ve seen how the Word, Who was and is God, Who is the Life and [True Light] of all people, came into our world to enlighten every person.  Came into our world of darkness, but darkness did not eagerly take Him, the world He made didn’t recognize Him, and even His own people did not receive Him.  BUT [12 But as many as received Him, to those who believe in His name, to them He gave the right to become children of God]  Whoever DID receive the True Light, Whoever DID believe in His name - all these get the right to become children of God.  And remember, this is not just believing about.  Knowing things about Jesus.  [Receiving = believing (IN).  Believing = Trusting].  Trusting in Jesus --> The right to become children of God.

This right, this authority to become God’s children - this is not merely a mind-boggling unparalleled privilege of unprecedented proportion.  This is a guarantee.  When you have authority, you have the [guarantee] of that thing happening for you, or thru you.  This is my right.  I have the authority to receive it or do it, whatever it is.  And the authority-granting Power is pledged to back it up.  They guarantee that [right].  For believers, THIS particular authority [12], this guarantee is given and backed up by God Himself.  Whoever receives Jesus, to any and all who believe/trust in His Name, is guaranteed - by God Himself - to become a CHILD of God.

THIS word for child does not mean a very young person.  Oh, you’re just a child.  It’s not just any old child.  This word is about the relationship with the parent [A child vs MY child].  This child is the true child of the parent in question.  Belongs to their family.  When you and I trust in Jesus, we become a true child of our Father in heaven.  We truly belong to His family [Rom. 8:15b-16 …you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God].  When you trust in Jesus, suddenly the nebulous God up there in the heavens somewhere is now “Our Father”…  He's MY Father.

But we become a child of God.  It’s this same verb of the noun, genesis.  You become, you come to be something else.  You were NOT that, but then you came to BE that.  In other words, when we are born the first time, out of our mommy’s tummy, we are not truly children of God.  Not in this sense.  Spiritually speaking we are born not children of God but actually children of wrath [Eph. 2:3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.].  Look at that life.  It’s all about what I want.  It’s all about me.  Children of wrath - this is really bad news.  But John is saying, we CAN come to be true children of God, actual members of His family.  But what does it mean to become a true child of God?  

[13 ...who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.]  Born of God.  Born of God.  What does that mean?  God is spirit [John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”].  God is spirit —> we’re talking about a spiritual birth.  Because… [Eph. 2:1  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…]  Even tho we were physically alive, we were dead.   Our spirits are dead - from the moment of conception.  The Light of Zoe is out.  The spiritual death, this separation from God, we inherited from our first father, Adam [1Cor. 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.  Rom. 5:18   So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.].  Zoe.

We all get bios life in the womb, passed down from Adam, but NOT zoe life.  From Adam we get death.  Physical death, and spiritual death.  So much [death] in our world, images of death.  Death truly haunts our reality.  The Lord really meant it when He said, this one thing I’m telling you NOT to do, if you do it, you will die [Gen. 2:17 “…but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”].  When we’re conceived as babies, our spirits are actually dead.  And we are born separated from God and His zoe life.  His Light is out in our hearts.  Darkness, remember?  Living/walking in darkness.  But there is good news! God made a way back to Zoe.  To Him.  Born of God.  The right to become true children of God!

And yes, God is the One Who makes it happen.  He is the One Who so wants it to happen!  He wants it for you and me way more than we do.  This spiritual birth, John says, we are born of God’s will [13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.].  This is God’s [thelema], God’s [desire].  THIS is what HE wanted.  He wanted us to be restored.  God so wants us to have Zoe, to enjoy abundant life with Him, this vital connection to Him.  You know how much He wants it?  You know how much He wanted it, for us, AND for Himself?  He wanted it SO MUCH!  [God SO loved…].

But THIS birth is NOT of blood.  NOT from some fleshly desire, in some heat of passion.  NOT because some couple wanted to make it happen.  This is definitely NOT a biological birth.  Spiritual birth is not a result ANY thing that ANY person does.  It happens because God SO WANTS it to happen.  All we have to do is receive.  Receive Him.  Believe IN Jesus.  God sent the Word, the Light of life, AND He has sent messengers, so many messengers with messages of words to tell us about the Light.  And when we believe, when we trust in The Message, we are authorized and guaranteed to become the true children of God Himself.  Actual members of HIS family.  Children of the Light. [Rom. 9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.]  Born of God, in His family.  God’s promise.  Guaranteed by God Himself.

This is a different kind of family, tho.  Not of blood.  This family is not a bunch of blood relatives, maybe who gather on occasion at some family [reunion].  This is God’s family.  He is our Father, ALL those who believe in Jesus, and WE who believe are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  Family.  WE gather all the time to learn more about Him, and to celebrate this One Who makes us one.  Who makes us family.  Who makes us His.  Born of God.  This is the re-genesis of zoe, the igniting of spiritual life.  And this Light is kindled in us, our spirit is made alive, we are born of God when we receive Jesus.  As many as receive Him.  When we eagerly take Him and believe in Him.  Have you done this?  When are you going to believe?

Note that John gives us three triple-clauses (double ands) in this prologue:

1:1  In the beginning was the Word, AND the Word was with God, AND the Word was God. 

10  He was in the world, AND the world was made through Him, AND the world did not know Him. 

14 The Word became flesh, AND He dwelt among us, AND we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Note the progression of the three climax statements here: 

The Word was God --> The world did not know Him --> We saw His glory.

But WE saw His glory, John says.  The world didn’t recognize Him, they didn’t know Him [darkness, remember?] - but John did!  We DID know Him!  And we saw His glory, he says.  Glory is God’s blazing breathtaking greatness and goodness.  To see Jesus, this Word Who was God, to receive Him, to eagerly take Him, to know Him is to have a glimpse of how brilliantly glorious He is.  The Light of His truth and glory blazes up and shines in your heart.  The Light is shining… The darkness, it did not eagerly take it.  BUT whoever does, as many as do receive Him, who believe in His Name (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God. 

Patrick Henry once said, “The most cherished possession I wish I could leave you is my faith in Jesus Christ, for with Him and nothing else you can be happy, but without Him and with all else, you’ll never be happy”

How about you?  Have you received Him?  Will you eagerly take Jesus into your heart today?  Born of God.  There is no real Zoe, no lasting joy apart from Him...