What we’ve seen in John's book so far is that - In the beginning was, The Word. And the Word was God (always was), AND the Word created. With words. Heb. 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. John stresses this point: [3] All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ALL things, through Him. The very elements of the universe. All things, through Him came to be. John says it 3x here, for emphasis. It’s the root of the word, [genesis]. Sometimes it means, you come to be something else. You become a child of God. The water becomes wine. But in this case, it means, come to be, period. Some thing didn’t exist, and then it came to be. Here, we’re talking ALL things. No thing, not one blade of grass, not one molecule or quark, not one person has come to be apart from this One-Who-Was-God. No one. We all [came to be - through this Word]. Through Jesus. He made each of us.
Therefore, everything in the universe - including us - is [contingent: kuhn-tin-juhnt, adj, dependent for existence on something else]. Our very existence depends on Someone else, this God of words Who spoke the universe into being. Now, inanimate objects, and all other living things, ants and algae and antelope - don’t even think about existence [“Who made me?”] - much less [talk] about it. They’re not self-aware. But humans - we can/do ask the zillion-dollar question, “How did I get here? Why am I here?” We humans use words to consider it and discuss it and write about it. AND contingent image-bearers even have the freedom to think that maybe I am NOT contingent - as misguided as that idea is. Maybe I’m an accident. But John is telling us, look, I saw Him, I know Him. All things came into existence through Him.
Now some of you smart kids are thinking, well Chris, I actually came from my mommy’s tummy. My mommy and daddy. And you’d be right - but where did your mommy and daddy come from? Well, from their mommy and daddy, and so on and so forth. All the way back to the first mommy and daddy back in the beginning. Where did they come from? The Word. And He spoke. ALL things, every [molecule] came into existence as He spoke. But wait, there’s more. There’s something else. Because molecules don’t just come to life. Not on their own. That primordial soup that so many unbelievers so desperately want to believe gave rise to life? That cocktail of atoms and energy - those are building blocks of life, but they are all caused by something/someone, AND there’s STILL something missing. Life does not spontaneously arise out of non-life. Which is why… [4 In Him was life…]. 4 of the most powerful words in the entire Bible. [In Him Life was.] Always. [Zoe]. That which is alive. There is an animating power, a supernatural force, which animates and separates all living things from all those which are not. Life only comes from life. Always. In the beginning was The Word. He was towards God, always was, always will be God, and in Him always was this creative force. In HIM was life… He had the [spark].
An honest person cannot simply dismiss what John is saying here. Many people do, of course. If you grow up in a home where there is no faith and the assumption is that we’re all an accident, then that IS most likely what you grow up believing. That’s just foolish, the idea of a Creator. Really? I like the simple logic of [intelligent design] here. How did THINGS get this way? How did THIS happen? Every time we see [order], we infer intelligence. EVERY time. The best, really the only obvious answer is that something intelligent made it that way on purpose. NOT an accident. Yet the one glaringly obvious exception happens to be the most important question of all - life. How did life come to be? Highly [irreducibly complex] structures, AND this miraculous scientifically-unreproducible force of [zoe]. Life. Life is no accident. In HIM was life. Jesus. Life comes from Jesus. That’s where we came from, how we came to be. And it’s why we came to be: [Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and FOR Him.] For Him. He is the Why of life, The Meaning. Why AM I here, people ask. And the mind-blowingly simple-yet-profound answer John gives us is, Jesus. The Word. [In Him was life]. He gives life its life. And He gives life its meaning. Apart from Him, life is meaningless. Empty. Life is so much more than [survival of the fittest], just surviving and reproducing. You and I came to be, NOT an accident - we were designed by the Ultimate Designer of the universe, outfitted with a glorious purpose - to seek out, to enjoy, and to show off the breathtaking goodness of this One Who Created all things. To make much of Jesus. All things, through Him, AND for Him. [In Him was and IS life].
At this point, now that John has declared that there IS a Creator, THE Source of all life in the universe, we can go in one of two directions. One is a path known as [deism]: God is an absentee dad. I.E. He is NOT involved with the world He made. This Word made everything, wound up the clock, and just let it go. Turned it loose, left it to all to its own devices. That’s what a lot of people would like to believe. Because it removes most of our contingence. Reduces the almighty Creator to a toothless Grandpa. MAYBE he shows up in a [red suit] once a year? Worst thing that might happen to you is a lump of coal in your stocking? But deism is less than that. It’s the [Prime Directive] taken to the extreme. Non-interference. Don’t interfere. Deism says, God does not care. Not enough to show up.
Many people do live their lives as practical deists. There’s even a term for this: [Moralistic Therapeutic Deism]. MTD. God is a Divine Therapist. A heavenly butler. I am not here FOR him - he is here for me. When I’m in a pinch. Or whenever it suits my purposes.
But think about it, how does deism jive with the notion of a God Whose lovingkindness is everlasting? Who is clearly not at all absent? The Lord always shows up, over and over. Who called Abraham out of paganism? Who called Israel out of bondage in Egypt? Who showed up in the furnace with Rack, Shack and Benny? Who called Lazarus out of the grave? And what about this whole idea of [Emmanuel-God-With-Us]? Deists, saying (or living like) God is not involved, haven’t read their Bible. Not lately. Not the best parts. Sadly they’re just spiritualized examples of those who want less (or no) accountability. God always intervenes for the good of those who bear His image. The Word is actively involved with ALL of His creation - and ESPECIALLY with those who bear His image - because He totally loves us. He interferes. [In Him was life]. In the beginning was [the Word, He was God]. All things came into being through Him. And in Him was life. The power to create, to give and to sustain life.
Think about it - who on earth has this kind of power? There is NO power on earth that can do this, impart life to that which is not alive. Breathe the breath of life into so much dust. And we’ve talked about this before - once extinguished, once the life force, the zoe has been extinguished, there is no bringing it back. No power on earth. No amount of medicine, no amount of science can bring the fully dead back to life. Yes, some life functions can continue on life support for a time. Those who are clinically dead have been resuscitated, yes. But you take a bug - a fly, or an ant or a mosquito, and [squish it] - (yes please do that to pests btw) - and it ain’t coming back. Once zoe has left the building, leaves behind the tent which we call our body, all that’s left is a bunch of life-less molecules. [Life IS a precious miracle.] It’s a wonderful impossible. [In Him was life.] The Word Who was God. In the beginning. In Him is your life, and mine. We need Him - for all of life. Will you trust Him today?
If NOT deism then what? More on this other direction to take next time...
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