The Person of the Son

… God, the Father, God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, God, the Father, God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, God, the Father, God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, God, the Father, God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, God, the Father, God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, God, the Father, God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Goodness of God and King of Lords, Eternal will be Thine, And with Thee for a thousand years We shall pray in humbleness, We shall pray in humbleness. Let us briefly commend ourselves to the Lord. The epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 1, verse 1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Chapter 2, verse 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. Chapter 3, verse 1. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. Yesterday we had an introductory session to what we are hoping to look at these three evenings, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and use was made of expressions that the Lord Jesus uses of himself, as recorded in the book of the Revelation. In seven different places, not surprisingly to give a complete picture, we get references to one or more of the phrases, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, First and Last. And the proposition was made, that the term, the compound term, Alpha and Omega, tells us that the Lord Jesus is the sum and substance of all that God has to say. The term Beginning and End, likewise, reminds us that the Lord Jesus is the sum and substance of all that God has to do. And then, the term First and Last, teaches us on meditation that the Lord Jesus is the very sum and substance of the being of God. Now, while that pulls them all together very neatly, and we are happy that scripture does it in that way, we are indeed blessed that scripture helps us to concentrate on one and another scripture, which looks at these things one at a time. By way of emphasis, we can see them all wherever we look. But, this evening, we are going to look in a little more detail at what's involved in the Lord Jesus being the Alpha and Omega. The one by whom God expresses himself in speech. If the Lord will, we shall hope to look tomorrow at Colossians 1, which teaches us that it is in the Lord Jesus that God has expressed himself in deeds, things that he has done, as the beginning and the end. And then, that sublime consideration for Wednesday night, if the Lord will, John's Gospel chapter 1, the prologue to John's Gospel, which reinforces our view by faith that the Lord Jesus is the expression in person of the very being of God. We can be happy that these things are summarised, but we can also be happy that we get individual scriptures which spell out the detail for each one. Now, while you might say, well, we could have looked at John 1 for this matter of God expressing himself, and so we shall. But, it becomes clear with detailed consideration why it's proper to link this treatise on the person of Christ in Hebrews with the expression Alpha and Omega. Alpha and Omega being the first and last letters of the language in which the New Testament was written, it's very appropriate that this expression is, we would say, in speaking about the complete treatment of a subject, we might well say something covers the whole subject from A to Z. It's a figure of speech that we are used to, and so we approach the term Alpha and Omega. The letters, which are built into words, which we use to communicate our thoughts in speech one to another. And in the goodness of God, God has given us this letter which spells it out in an unmistakable way. If we begin at chapter 1, putting together words from the first verse and the second verse, we get this expression, God has spoken. Chapter 1, verse 1, the first word God, verse 2, hath, and then the fifth word spoken. Taking all the subsidiary clauses and phrases out, we get this immense statement, God has spoken. If we turn over to chapter 2, the middle of verse 3, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord. Spoken by the Lord. Chapter 3, verse 7, wherefore, as the Holy Ghost says, and then because it's an epistle of great challenge, when the truth is presented, chapter 12, verse 25, see that ye refuse not him that speaketh. The epistle is about the speaking of God. Now, if God is to speak, who is he going to use? And for what purpose? Well, first of all, let us look at the purpose of the speaking of God. And for that, we go to chapter 3 and verse 1. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession or confession, Christ Jesus. The concepts introduced into the text of the epistle to the Hebrews were well known to the Hebrew believers. Christians converted out of the national Jewish position. They looked back. They knew what an apostle was. An apostle was someone sent by God to the people to speak on behalf of God, to represent God with his people. Now, for them, the nation of Israel, the leader, the apostle, was someone who came out from God to speak. For God was Moses. They were used to the concept of a sent one coming from God. They were also used to the concept of a high priest. And if the apostle is God's representative in the presence of the people, the high priest is the people's representative in the presence of God. The apostle comes out from God to speak for God. The high priest goes into God from the people to represent the people and to speak on behalf of the people. Now then, God is going to speak. God is going to establish for himself, from himself, and to himself a channel of communication between himself and his people. A two-way channel of communication. Who is there that's great enough to take up this mighty dual task? We are used in scripture to saying that many types need to be taken together to fashion the whole of the truth that's presented in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. And in this matter of two-way communication, on earth, amongst God's earthly people, it needed two people to set out the whole truth. Moses coming out from God to the people, Aaron going into God on behalf of and for the people. Well, there is one required who will carry out this dual function, the speaking for God and the speaking to God. Can such a person be found? Now again, it is significant, surely, that the way the Lord Jesus, I love that expression, the Lord Jesus, it's a term of endearment, isn't it? It's a term of intimacy. It's a term of devotion. And it's a term that we Christian believers are happy to use. We don't get it used anywhere else that I can see in scripture other than in the present day. We love him because he first loves us and we have this special way of speaking of him to one another which is found in scripture but seems to be limited to the present time, the Lord Jesus. When he was here, in the days of his flesh, known by his personal name of Jesus, appreciated by the multitudes, loved by his disciples, although we notice, with the care of scripture, I don't think we ever get anyone speaking to the Lord Jesus personally and speaking to him using his personal name Jesus, do we? But what we do get is that the personal name of Jesus became the name by which he was reproached. The Hebrew nation, particularly Hebrew believers, had to learn, and we need to be reminded, that the name that was used of our Lord Jesus in his days of humiliation is the name that God uses in the epistle to the Hebrews to remind the Jews, especially Jewish believers, that the one who was despised of the nation from which they had come was the name that's going to be exalted. The person who is exalted a prince and a saviour is the one who in humiliation could say I am meek and lowly in heart. The epistle to the Hebrews is the one that tells us again and again that his deserved status, his deserved place, his deserved position is at the right hand of God in power. And there is the constant reminder that the one who was at the right hand of God was the one who lived a life of subjection and humiliation in the days of his flesh. And so the personal name of Jesus is used more than any other. But interlaced with the use of his personal name in humiliation, Jesus, there is another name which is used. But just before we turn to that, let me just say this. I've been in many conversations and in many Bible readings where much time has been wasted in my estimation in discussing whether the physical hand that penned the epistle to the Hebrews was Paul or Apollos or someone else, one of several that are suggested. On each occasion, if I'm disposed to take part, I invariably suggest that if we try to track down who it was that God used, we are wasting our time and we are missing the whole point of the epistle to the Hebrews. It's interesting. In Romans, Corinthians, and other epistles, to notice who is introduced as the earthly author, used, guided, drawn along by in the power of the Holy Spirit, and we can see the significance. But if we notice the journalistic style of all the epistles, and we note that the first person that's introduced is the one who's writing at the time on behalf of God in the power of the Spirit, the first one mentioned. Paul, an apostle. Paul, a servant of God. Simon, Peter. James, Jude, and so on. Just as clearly, the authorship of the epistle to the epistle to the Hebrews is given right at the commencement. Whose voice is it that we are intended to hear in the epistle to the Hebrews? Not Paul. Not Peter. Not James. Not Jude. Not John. Here, we are listening to the voice of God himself. God has spoken. Oh yes! God spoke to us and he continues to speak to us through all the scriptures, Old and New Testament. We get Christian teaching particularly in the New Testament epistles and God used five servants to bring the epistles to us. In addition to that, the nation of Israel was used to God speaking to them through mediators or intermediaries, someone in between. But the epistle opens by saying, God is not now speaking indirectly. He's not speaking through a medium. He's not hiding behind a veil. God is now speaking personally. Not governmentally, not mediatorially, not provisionally, but finally, God is speaking. Now, it must have been a bitter pill for even Jewish converts to swallow that it was through the lowly Jesus that God was deigning to speak to his people and talk about this very important matter of the two-way communication signified in the apostle and the high priest. Oh, but there's something even greater than that. The humility of the Lord Jesus in his perfect manhood needs to be stressed, essential as it is. But there's another line of teaching that comes through that is unmistakable and that the final speaking of God, the full speaking of God, must be done by God in person. And when the person who was introduced as embodying the speaking of God, we are told plainly it is God the Son. When the Son speaks, God speaks because the Son is God. Now, this is where we come to grips with the epistle to the Hebrews. I took time earlier today just to jot down the occasions in the epistle where the Lord Jesus is referred to as Son. Not a difficult exercise. And I propose that for the rest of our time we just quietly go down these references to the Lord Jesus as Son to show how essential it is that we grasp the major lesson of this major epistle that when God speaks finally in reality and brings out his final thoughts only God the Son can speak on behalf of God. Now, in verses 2 and 3 of chapter 1 there is a sevenfold reference to the personal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where we are. If we want to meditate upon the personal glory and the glory of the person of the Son of God we turn to John 1, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1. We have this additional key now, don't we? This Hebrews 1 that takes up this matter of two-way communication between God and man and to reinforce this we get the deity, the pure gold of deity in chapter 1 and we get the chitim wood, the perfect manhood of our Lord Jesus Christ drawn attention to in chapter 2. In chapter 3, verse 1, as we've seen, the only one who's fully competent to be apostle and high priest of the Christian confession must be very God, chapter 1 and very man, chapter 2. And this is the way the truth unfolds. It's only when we get the truth of his purity and deity in chapter 1 and his spotless manhood in chapter 2 it's only then that we are invited to consider him as the apostle and high priest of our confession. Now, in chapter 1, verses 2 and 3, there are seven aspects of his personal glory. On another occasion, time could well be spent in looking at the details of each of the seven aspects of his personal glory. We'll merely read them to distinguish them. Heir of all things, number 1. He made the world, he's the creator of all things, number 2. The brightness of the glory of God, number 3. The express image of his person, number 4. He upholds all things by the word of his power. He's not only the creator, but the sustainer of the universe, number 5. He purged our sins, number 6. And he is sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Now, looking at that loosely, we might conclude that these are seven jobs, seven pieces of work that the Lord Jesus has done, seven deeds. When we look more closely, I'm sure we'll establish to our satisfaction that whereas in natural life, the office a man holds reflects honour on the person, in spiritual things, and certainly in divine things, it is the glory of the person that reflects honour on the office that he fills and the work that he does. And so, in each of these seven references to offices that the Lord Jesus has filled, does fill, will fill, or references to work that he's done, lustre is added to the office and the work by the glory of the person who is in the office and does the work. As always, the spiritual is the reverse of the natural. And who is it that fills these offices in a way that redounds and reinforces our impression of the glory of the person, it is God the Son. Some of the things that are said caused time to roll. Other things that are referred to will bring time to an end or will occur when time has ceased to be. Whether the reference is to things that happened before time began, in this time period, or when time has ceased to be, they are attributed to the Son in person. There can be no doubt to the mind of the simple, honest believer in Christ and we've never doubted that he is Son. We can use the ever-present to accommodate the finite, limited understanding of our natural minds. We can make it easy for ourselves and say, yes, he was the Son before time began. He continues to be the Son in time and he will continue to be the Son when time has ceased to be. What pseudo-intellectual quibble with the clear presentation of Scripture can cause us to doubt not a bit? God the Son is the one who reflects glory and honour on all these things that are listed of him because of who it is that has done them. Chapter 1. Well, that's the first reference. God has spoken in Son. If you check your accurate translations you'll find that the preposition is not so much that God has spoken by his Son, he has. But it's more precise than that. God has spoken in Son. And when that kind of expression is used, it's not only the detail of what is done that is referred to, it is the character in which they are done and the character of the one that is doing it. This is why there's no article God has spoken in Son. When the Son speaks, characteristically it is God speaking because the Son is God. It is another affirmation of his deity and we do well to notice that. Well, that's the first reference in verse 2. Verse 5. Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son. Throughout the epistle, we are told, he's greater than creation, he's greater than any earthly priest, any earthly prophet, any earthly apostle. And in each case, the measure of his greatness, his comparative greatness, is affirmed in that he is the Son. It is because he is the Son that he, the apostle of our confession, is greater than any other apostle that there has ever been. And so on with each of the other relative terms that are given. But when we come to chapter 1 in verse 5, again greater than the angels. Unto which of the angels could God say, Thou art my Son? None at all. Notice the order in which the phrases come. First of all, this eternal present remark, Thou art my Son. Sonship is his in Deity. But this perhaps a little difficult expression that follows. This day have I begotten thee. There's beginning to be a change in the ministry here. The Deity, spotless, incorruptible Deity of the Son is stressed in the first part of the first chapter. By the time we get into the second chapter proper, it's all about his manhood. But here we begin to get a change. And there is a reference here. If we check the psalm, which gives this prophecy, we are getting to the point where we are given to understand that if the Son is to take up the reins of government on the earth and put down the enemies of God, it can only be done by the Son coming into manhood. Notice, there's no suggestion here or anywhere else in Scripture that in becoming man, he became the Son. Not a bit of it. Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten thee, not into sonship, but into manhood. Entering into a condition which he had never been in before, we'll come back to this in Colossians and John, but entering into a condition in which he had never subsisted before, it is stated of him that his sonship doesn't begin, it continues. Change in condition, no change in the person. Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten thee. And then in verse 8, an acclamation of deity. Thy throne, O God. And to whom is this addressed? It is addressed to the Son. Sonship and deity go along together in this wonderful person. Thou art my Son. He continued to be Son in becoming man and yet in so doing, in person, very God and very man. Not easy for our creature minds to understand If we didn't have the clear statements of scripture, we would find it difficult to accept. But the attribution of deity here to the Son, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Eternally subsisting sonship stressed here again. We move on to chapter 2 because time is moving on. Chapter 2, verse 6. One No, sorry, chapter 3, verse 6. This consideration from chapter 3, verse 1, Moses and Aaron with the important jobs they had to do, but they were appointed to that job and given the authority to do it on behalf of God who established them in the office. But Christ is greater than Moses and Aaron and the reason is given. It's because it's not an office he's been appointed to by a master. It's something that he deserves in person and in the dignity of sonship in his own house. A son over his own house. Personal dignity, the assertion of personal rights, something to which he was due and something which was due to him because of who he is, he is the son. We move on to chapter 4. In passing in chapter 2, we read the verses just to affirm that the one who is God became man so that it would be possible for him to experience death. Death is contrary to the very concept of deity, the eternally existing one. In order that he might die, in order that he might settle matters on our account before a holy God and so that he could qualify by himself by experience things that were foreign to him in deity, he became a man so that he could provide the sympathy, succor and salvation that are latent in the priesthood. So that was chapter 2 leading on to chapter 3. Chapter 4, verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed through the heavens, that preposition should be passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession. This wonderful person has passed through the heavens twice. In pre-incarnate deity, in the very presence of God, because he is God. He came through the heavens, he bypassed angels, he entered into a condition which in the order of beings is lower than angels, he became a man. The Lord Jesus is in no way inferior to angels in person, but he entered into a condition in manhood which as an order of being in the hierarchy of beings is lower than the beings of angels. Wonderful grace. He didn't become an angel to redeem the angels, he became a man to redeem men. He became a kinsman-redeemer as typified by Boaz in the book of Ruth. Having become man, having suffered the death of the cross, having been raised by the glory of the Father, he's ascended where he was before, he's passed through the heavens a second time and is now settled at the right hand of God. And in case we're in any doubt as to who it is, this one is Jesus, the son of God. If we were having Bible readings on this, I trust we might sometime, we might want to distinguish the terms God the son and the son of God. But for tonight's study, it's the same person and it's in the glory of his person that we recognise he was the only one who was competent to pass through the heavens twice, downwards and upwards, in order that he might be the apostle and high priest of the Christian confession. And it's because he's done just that, that he's the only one who's fully competent to speak for God, the Alpha and Omega, none else could ever tread such a path. And that's given here in chapter 4 verse 14. Quickly then chapter 5 and verse 5, another reference to Psalm 2. In chapter 1, the one who was in heaven in the presence of God, Psalm 2 is quoted as the reason why he came. Now after he's come and gone back, passed through the heavens twice, in case there's any doubt, as to the nature and the glory of the person who is our great high priest, yes, Jesus, the son of God, as we learned in chapter 4, and again, when the subject of Melchizedek is introduced to identify the same person, Psalm 2 is again quoted, Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. Manhood, being fully manned, spirit and soul and body, was absolutely essential if the Lord Jesus was to become a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And then in verse 8, though he was son, yet learnt he obedience by the things which he suffered. He was always son, he will ever be son, and yet, grace upon grace, he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, that he might know what it feels like for us. He didn't experience everything that we've experienced in detail, but what he did experience in manhood qualifies him, and we use that word advisedly, to enter into the feelings of every circumstance that we have to go through in this world. And this experience is attributed to who, even though he were son, was gracious enough and merciful enough to undergo such experiences. Chapter 6, verse 6. Another difficult section, perhaps the most difficult in Hebrews, the first six verses of Hebrews 6. The Jews had turned their back on Judaism, they'd realized that it was out of date now that Christ had come, they'd confessed Christ as Saviour and Lord, and now they were having second thoughts, some of them. Have we made a ghastly mistake? God, speaking in son, says to them here, be very careful. You've cut yourself off from Judaism, you can't go back. If you refuse to go on to full-blown, mature, fully developed Christianity, you're left in no man's land. A self-constructed no man's land, you've got nowhere to go, you're in an utterly disastrous situation. They couldn't go back, they'd acknowledged that Judaism had gone. But if they refused to go on to full Christianity, it was almost as though they were declaring what Jesus did when he was crucified wasn't quite enough. Were they daring to imply that he had to suffer again, be crucified again? Such was the implication of what their actions suggested, and so we get this very strong challenge. It's impossible, if they fall away, to go through repentance again, they're crucified to themselves, the son of God afresh, put into an open chamber. What? They would do that to this glorious person through whom God is speaking to them? Never. And again, it is the honour and the glory of the person, the son, that is pointed to, to show them the folly of their ways. Chapter 7, verse 3, that lovely little picture, Genesis 14, Melchizedek, I've only picked this out, and towards the end of chapter 7, verse 3, made like unto the son of God. Now this is in time, in the days of Melchizedek, the days of Genesis 14, these big battles and so on, before Christ came into the world, before God was manifested in flesh. But at that time, it says that Melchizedek is brought to light after the pattern, on the example, made like unto the son of God, evidently in being even then. Another nail in the coffin of any who would try to convince us simple believers that the Lord Jesus ever was, is and ever shall be the son. Melchizedek was brought on the scene after the pattern of someone who was already in existence, the one that we now know as our saviour. Chapter 7, verse 28, again about the high priest, and the oath of God, and the way in which the son is consecrated for evermore, and what establishes not only the commitment, not only the contract, not only the attestation, the oath, but the person that's involved. It is the son who gives this eternal character to that which God has brought in. Another thing to consider in Hebrews, we can't do it tonight, are the everlasting, eternal things that God has established in the son. Is it six or seven times we get things which are eternal, everlasting, or done for evermore. And here we have one at the end of chapter 7. Now 10, 29. Chapter 10, verse 29. After talking of the terrible punishments due under the law, we read in verse 29, of how much sore a punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the son of God. Again, the writer, the speaker, God through the son, lays the challenge to the Hebrew believers. Some of you are acting and speaking as though you haven't really thrown overboard the things you were connected with and you're almost giving the impression that you're not true believers. And God says through the son to them, it's just like the days in the wilderness where mixed up with the true people of God, there were the people that were attracted and came along for the ride. In other words, what scripture speaks about as the mixed multitude who didn't really deserve to be there. And here we read, don't shilly-shally, don't hide your light under a bushel, go on to perfection, go on to full Christianity, drop all the trammings and the trappings of Judaism. The honor of the son is at stake. And so again, the son is referred to as such. Chapter 11, verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son. The term only begotten is so special that almost always it's used only about the only begotten son of God. It's a term that John uses in particular that he refers to the Lord Jesus five times over as the only begotten. Now, we might be in a little doubt as to the force of the expression if it wasn't for the fact that both in the Old Testament in Genesis 22 and in the reference to Genesis 22 in this scripture, Hebrews 11, the term is used because the details, the circumstances in Genesis 22 are intended to give us a picture of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. Many things in the Bible can be used as illustrations but some things are so definite, so clear, so specific that it is evident that we are intended to refer the truth that's suggested in the type, the illustration, to the one that the type speaks of. Abraham had many sons but he only had one, Isaac. And when God gives his message to Abraham, again, before Abraham took Isaac up the mountain and certainly before Isaac was put upon the altar, God speaking to Abraham says, take thy son. He didn't become the son when they went up the mountain. He didn't become the son when he was laid on the altar. He was already the son when he went up the mountain with Abraham and when he was laid upon the altar. And this special term that's used, take now thy son, thine only Isaac. That's the way it comes through. Take thine only Isaac. He had other sons. He had only one Isaac. Isaac was unique to him. Isaac was the depository of the promises of God. All the promises of God to Abraham were to be made good in this special person, the darling of his heart is the expression means his only Isaac. And that special use of the term is given so that when we read John's writings and we learn that the son, God the son, is the only begotten of the father, what a dishonor it would be if we say there was a moment in eternity, a moment in time where because of any special act or necessity that he then became the son. He is the son. The psalmist says thou art the son. Abraham had to take Isaac, his only Isaac. There was a special relationship enjoyed between father Abraham and his only Isaac that wasn't true of the relationship between father Abraham and any of his other sons. And it is in that way that we are intended to learn and enjoy such scriptures that we again, John's writings, the father loveth the son. So here we have in 1117 something which leads us on to Paul and to John but here in the epistle to the Hebrews the last reference that I've noticed to the son. It is this only son, this special unique relationship between Abraham and Isaac intending to remind us that in the son God the father finds special delight. We hope to look further into that if the Lord will but perhaps we just have time for another two verses of hymn 401. Verses 5 and 6 Yet loving thee on whom his love inevitable doth rest our hearts are led to him above and we with thee are blessed. Verses 5 and 6 of hymn 401. Yet loving thee on whom his love inevitable doth rest our hearts are led to him above and we with thee are blessed. Oh, how sweet the sound of thy salvation Oh, how sweet the sound of thy salvation Of the maturing of the maturing of the maturing of the maturing of the maturing They that will claim a place in heaven shall not be offered shall not be offered Hail to the Savior Hail to the Savior of the world Hail to the Savior of the world Hail to the Savior of the world …

… Hymn 132 The person of the Christ, enfolding every grace, once slain, but now alive again in heaven, demands our praise. 132 The person of the Christ, enfolding every grace, once slain, but now alive again in heaven, demands our praise. 133 The name of every sin, take we with them again, our God this day, with Christ alone in Christ our God in heaven. 14. More and more and more and more and more gives us the Christ alone. Our reading tonight is from Paul's letter to the Colossians chapter 1. Beginning at verse 12 Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins Who is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of every creature for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist and he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven that's all for the moment There are three major sublime dissertations on the personal glory of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God in the order in which they come John 1 Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 We began our meditations on this line by looking at the book of Revelation to terms that are used of the Lord Jesus by himself Alpha and Omega beginning and end first and last Taking that order we considered last night some of the detail involved in the Lord Jesus being in person the Alpha and Omega the sum and substance of all that God has to say and because we were thinking of the speaking of God in the person of the Son we looked at Hebrews chapter 1 we move now to a development of the terms beginning and end and so we move to the epistle to the Colossians necessarily we begin and spend most of the time I suppose on chapter 1 but we will need to see how chapter 1 fits into the structure of the epistle as a whole you will be acquainted with the fact that of the seven major epistles that bear the name of Paul addressed to Christian assemblies two of them were almost entirely instructional instructive Romans laying the basis and foundation and Ephesians the top stone of Christian truth in between we have five cities in what then was called Asia which were the recipients of letters in each case dealing with a problem that was there one of them being Colossi and the problem of Colossi was bad doctrine they had been affected their minds had been poisoned and disturbed by things that sounded well but they were not the truth of God and in particular they were getting misguided teaching about the person of Christ and so in a major way the epistle to the Colossians is doctrine concerning the person of Christ and the particular aspect is that which we have thought of as the beginning and the end the one in whom by whom and through whom God has done is doing and will do whatever he has purposed to achieve in looking at Hebrews last night we saw a list of many things that the Lord Jesus did but the emphasis was that in the doing of them he was in an active way expressing God speaking for God in what he did it was his personal glory that was being displayed in everything that he said and everything that he communicated and we have something very similar in Colossians chapter 1 indeed if you compare the works of the Lord Jesus directly or indirectly referred to in Colossians 1 generally speaking they are the same things as are referred to in Hebrews 1 there may be time to make a little parallel later on but in particular the epistle was written to correct the errors that had been brought in now it was on this in this kind of way there were those who were saying there are many beings in the universe there is what men would call a hierarchy steps and stairs all different levels from the very bottom right to the very top man is towards the bottom of the scale God in person is right at the very top and they said Jesus Christ is towards the top not quite at the very top on a level with God but certainly greater than the animal kingdom and man and the whole bent of the apostles teaching in Colossae was to counter man that and to say in several ways it's all wrong to say that the Lord Jesus as high and lofty but not quite at the top you cannot get higher than the station that is proper to the person of the Christ of whom we've been singing and so the whole teaching is geared to set forth the paramount glory of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and we'll come back to the presentation in a minute These teachers of error were saying to the simple Colossian believers what you've learned is alright you've come to Christ for salvation, the forgiveness of sins and that's right and proper oh but there are mysteries you know nothing about there are tremendous philosophical truths you have no idea about Christ's alright for a start but really if you want to get into the depths and the heights and in particular they said if you want to get into the fullness of the knowledge that's available and what they called the Greek mysteries or they said you'll have to allow us to teach you Paul says knowledge fullness completeness if you have Christ you have all you have everything in having him you are complete now if you turn over to chapter 2 briefly verse 9 says in him in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily what does that mean? in person he is God he came into manhood he was here in the world bodily he took to himself a body he became man and in person he is no less in personal glory in a body on earth than he ever was subsisting in heavenly glory in pre-incarnate glory before he came into the world Hebrews won Colossians won John won are all clear as to this the Lord Jesus has lost nothing in personal glory in becoming man he goes on to say and ye are complete in him in having him you have everything you have all again and again and again we get the word all and everything coming into the Colossians epistles and again and again this is the emphasis pay no attention to these purveyors of poison if you have Christ in all simplicity you could have no more you have the one in whom and who is the fullness of the Godhead no less when he came into the world than when he subsisted in pre-incarnate glory and so the writer Paul says and ye are complete in him well we leave that for the moment and we'll come back to chapter 2 later on we'll go back to chapter 1 and look at verse 13 notice the thought begins in verse 12 the father if we just take the major statement the principle clause we can say pick up the words the father substitute those words for the who in verse 13 and read this the father hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son take whatever literal accurate translation or text is available to you and you will find that the last phrase could and should be rendered the father hath delivered us translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love now mention was made last night that the term only begotten well beloved one unique object of affection is a term almost unique to John and the term means unique that if someone is your only begotten he or she is absolutely unique absolutely special there's none to compare and we saw that Isaac the well beloved of his father Abraham had other sons he only had one Isaac his Isaac was his only begotten now what John conveys by the term only begotten Paul conveys by this term the son of the father's love check the text it's not the same word as is used for only begotten but if there is a word in Paul's vocabulary which is equivalent to John's word only begotten it's this phrase the son of the father's love now just in passing let us notice who is it who in pre-incarnate glory was right at the pinnacle of glory honor and subsisting honor who was it that from those lofty heights became man who was it that took upon himself a body who was it who subsisting in the form of God as we read in Philippians came down and took and entered into the condition of manhood that he might become obedient unto death and that the death of the cross this epistle says totally in agreement with Hebrews one and John one that the one who came from glory into manhood then into death was no lesser person than the son of the father's love like the other scriptures I need no other scripture than this if it were the only one to tell me it was the son of the father's love who came it was the son of the father's love who took that lawless death in obedience to the will of him that sent him it was the son of the father's love that went into death more will come as we move on but that's all of that for the moment we then get a series of vital works that are referred to remember if in Hebrews it's the speaking of God in Colossians it's the doing of God acting on behalf of God we can go simply down the verses verse 14 he is the redeemer verse 15 he is the image of the invisible God he is the first born of every creature verse 16 he is the creator of the universe verse 17 he is the sustainer of the universe by him all things hold together verse 18 he is the head of the body the church he is the beginning he is the first born from the dead in verse 20 he is the reconciler notice the emphasis is not on what was done although what was done was exceedingly important the emphasis is upon this that here in each case was a work to be done, an office to be filled which was so important to God that no less a person than the son of the father's love was competent to do it for God he is the beginning and the end it is a tribute by God to the eternal deity eternal being and eternal power of the son of the father's love that these tasks were given to him to do the father the source the origin in complete control the son the instrumental agent on his behalf and it is he because of his personal glory who was deemed only competent to do these mighty tasks on behalf of the mighty God and so we have here again and again notice in whom verse 14, verse 15 who is and verse 16 by him notice the emphasis on the personal pronoun who is in whom, by whom by him in him and so on he is the head of the body, he is the beginning he is the firstborn from among the dead these mighty offices these mighty titles sufficient to merit a detailed study when time permits, we'll have to leave that to our private meditation to do some of the terms that are used highlight indeed the fact that he is the beginning and the end the fact that he is referred to as the image of the invisible God he is the one whom in virtue of his personal glory is alone competent and sufficient to represent God because he is God he's the only one competent to act for God and do things for God because he is God now we take that from chapter one and those verses twelve to twenty why did Paul consider it to be so important, we'll pause there John Newton the converted slave trader put pen to paper and he wrote those graphic words what think ye of Christ is the test to try both your state and your scheme you cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of him the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews knew it that led to Hebrews one being written in the power of the spirit Paul knew it and under the guidance and power and control of the Holy Spirit he wrote this dissertation on the personal glory of Christ, he said to the Colossians these teachers are taking you along the wrong path if you follow them you'll be wrong concerning the person of the Christ there is no one greater there is no greater person there is no need for anyone else when we read the detail Paul says, Colossians you have him what want you more ye are complete in him now we have to keep moving on look again at chapter 1 verse 19 end of verse 18 summing up these personal glories of the Lord Jesus Paul says that in all things he might have the preeminence preeminent in the father's love the special object of the father's love, the son of the father's love and it's God's intention it's the father's intention it is the mind of the spirit that is preeminent in our estimation also verse 19 for it pleased the father that it was for the pleasure of the united Godhead that in him should all fullness dwell now that is speaking of him when he was living on earth in spotless pure manhood the one who was sublime perfect in glory in pre-incarnate deity now entering into the world and being found here in a body bodily still the pleasure of the Godhead was centred in him now that was on earth in manhood and in chapter one because of that we get our position our spiritual status in association with him and he came into the world to perform the mighty work of the cross in order that having died and being raised again and having gone back to where he was before we might here on earth be united associated with him in glory but we move on to chapter two now in him dwelleth notice the present tense in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily well there we have it again if chapter one nineteen said his personal glory living on earth in the form of man was no less than it had ever been in pre-incarnate deity chapter two says having moved from earth back to heaven again in a condition in which he had never subsisted in heaven before he has taken his manhood to heaven with him subsisting in exalted manhood no less in personal glory than he was in pre-incarnate glory or when in incarnation he lived here in the days of his flesh his personal glory no less in each of the conditions in which he subsisted at the time now having said that um that in chapter one the matter under consideration is the personal glory and our position in association with him when we get to chapter two the emphasis is he's no less in person than he ever was before your association is with him but think of the steps that were necessary in order that your present position might be conferred upon you now in order to develop that we move on to the main body of teaching in chapter two as we would say in a bible reading it's the section that's governed by the four prepositions words that explain our spiritual status and condition in association with the Lord Jesus Christ now we look at them briefly first of all chapter two verse eleven in whom also ye are circumcised now this is it we are circumcised in him verse thirteen being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him we are not only circumcised in him we are quickened together with him and that's different when we get to verse seventeen the shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ circumcised in him buried with him sorry I missed verse twelve buried with him in baptism verse seventeen we derive everything of him and verse nineteen not holding the head from which all the body having nourishment ministered increase of with the increase of God quickening is important but the four major matters here are that we are circumcised in him buried with him in baptism which leads to the quickening we derive everything we are derived of him and we receive everything from him now quickly scripture tells us about the circumcision of Christ in fact the end of verse eleven circumcision is a complete cutting off a complete severance and we get an Old Testament prophecy Daniel 9 26 is it that foretells the day when the long promised Messiah would be cut off in the midst of his days now this term very graphically says the death of Christ at Calvary was a complete clean cutting off a complete severance and the teaching of the epistle and the teaching of the chapter is that in the death of Christ we have been cut off completely from the old life that we lived before we trusted Christ as Saviour it's no good the false teachers at Colossae say now you've got to educate your mind you've got to purify yourselves you've got to train yourselves you've got to refine yourselves it's a matter of education and culture God through Paul says to the Colossians it's a complete cutting off if you educate the flesh it's nearly educated flesh it's still flesh if you cultivate the flesh it's cultivated flesh even cultured flesh but it's still the flesh the old life has to be judged before God counted as completely gone cut off in the cutting off of the Christ the circumcision of the Christ is the death of Christ in the sense of cutting us off completely from what we were before buried with him in baptism baptism recognises the truth of circumcision baptism recognises that in the cutting off of the Christ a complete break has been made with the world that crucified Christ when he was here and so the teaching of baptism very very close it's an association with Christ this time not in him as to status but with him in association baptism associates us baptism identifies us with the death of Christ and opens up the way to a new life to be done in association with Christ in resurrection and this is why baptism leads on to quickening in the verse the body is of Christ this is not Christ's personal body for the major teaching on shadow and substance we must go to the epistle to the Hebrews a major matter there but it comes here whether it's Jewish ordinances or Grecian philosophy these are mere shadows Christ is the substance Christ is the truth Christ is the reality of what God has to say and to do and in demonstration of that these things these mighty works referred to in chapter 1 were not achieved in answer to keeping the law keeping Jewish ordinances or paying heed to Grecian philosophies they were done by the one who was the beginning and the end the substance, the reality is of Christ and then he says there is a need in practical terms to hold, hang on, keep the channel of communication going to the head the Lord Jesus is the head a major subject, the headship of Christ is spoken of in seven different ways in scripture, we cannot go into that but in every case it is a matter that there is a head who directs for God there is a head who nourishes on behalf of God and there is a head who controls everything on behalf of God, again associated with the one who was the beginning and the end briefly then in chapter 3 we get the practical answer to this display of glory in Christ as the beginning and the end, in the major epistles generally speaking the doctrine comes in the first half of the epistle, the practical answer to it in the second half, and so in these opening three verses, the challenge is laid, if he then be risen with Christ if this association with Christ in this fourfold way is true of you, circumcised in him, baptised with him, deriving everything of him and receiving everything from him, it's due to him in virtue of who he is in personal glory, you owe it to him to give due answer and to live in the light of what you know to be true, looking on to the time when Christ will appear in glory. Now, how can that be done? I move you on to verses 17 to 24 very practical exhortations. Notice this is a section which seven times over speaks of the son of the father's love as the lord, the lord the lord practical answer to what we are in association with the son of the father's love is dependent upon our yielding to his authority as lord. It's the practical truth of lordship. Now, just to go down then verse 17 do all in the name of the lord, Jesus end of verse 18, as it is fit in the lord, end of verse 20, well pleasing unto the lord. Verse 23, as to the lord and not unto men twice in 24 that of the lord he shall receive the reward, ye serve the lord Christ. Now, that's six of them. Now, very happily when we look at the end of verse 16 admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts, if you look at your accurate texts, you'll find that it's singing with grace in your hearts to god which is appropriate. So that's one less. But when you come to the end of verse 22 in singleness of heart, hearing the lord. So in fact there is a complete testimony to the need to yield to the authority of your lord if you are to live in a way that is well pleasing to the father of the son of the father's love. How fitting that the term that is referred to in chapter 1 is put into happy perspective by things that are said in the later chapters. Now, the end of the epistle, verse 18. Chapter 4, verse 18. The last part. The salutation by the hand of me, Paul, remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. Amen. If you are devoted to the son of the father's love, if you live in the light of the truth of being circumcised in him, buried with him in baptism, deriving of him and receiving everything as from him, and you desire to live in the light of heaven while here upon earth, setting your mind on things above, as chapter 3 says, it won't be an easy life. It won't be a bed of roses. Paul found that himself and when he says, remember my bonds, he is reminding the Colossians that living in the light of this, these truths got him into prison. Got him into bonds. And he says, it won't be easy but there'll be spiritual blessing in doing what you know to be right. And he says, you'll need grace to live like this. Grace be with you. Amen. Elijah thought he was alone. Cried to God, I'm the only one left. He was wrong. There were 7,000 others that hadn't vowed to be. But if he were the only one, he was prepared to go alone in faithfulness to the revelation that God had given him. Paul tells the Colossians the testimony is in reproach. But he says, be prepared to go alone and you'll always find that there are others who are prepared to go alone in weakness with you. And so chapter 4 details these other servants of God, who were prepared to identify themselves with a testimony that was in rejection. Inesimus, Aristarchus, Marcus, Barnabas, Epaphras, Luke, Demas, the others. There will be those that you can have fellowship with. Oh, if the testimony was in reproach in the days of Paul and the Colossians, how can we avoid the conclusion that nowadays the testimony is hastening on towards total ruin? The teaching is the same. The person of the son is the same. There will still be the need to be prepared to go on alone if necessary. But we have the assurance of the whole testimony of scriptures that if we are prepared to go along with what is right, even in smallness and weakness, we are assured that there will be those provided of the Lord that we can have fellowship with along the way. When we turn to the Gospel by John, if the Lord will tomorrow, we shall hope to see other but similar aspects of the truth. Our closing hymn is number 54. When we are enraptured by the thoughts of his personal glory, let us never forget his touching sensitive love for every one of us which causes this kind of response how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. Even in such a little hymn of Christian experience as this, 54, we get these words. Our life, our Lord, our life, our way, our end. He set out in the epistle to the Colossians as the object of all the one who is ever in mind in all the activities of God. And he who is the beginning and the end in eternal terms is also our object while we live here. Our Lord, our life, our way, our end. Accept the praise we bring. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. It makes the wounded spirit whole. It hands the troubled breast. It palates with the hungry soul. And with the weary breast. More still the hope of which we live until the mighty waves are never freely yet filled with the soul of bliss. Jesus, our Savior, champion of broken peace and fear. Our Lord, our life, our way, our end. Accept the praise we bring. We hitch the anchor of the night and pull the waters o'er. What can we see here as the world in faith here as we know? Till then we would wine of proclaim with every beating breath and triumph in thy blessed name. Jesus the Lord. …

… We worship at thy holy feet, thou glorious Lamb of God. Thy blood has washed us from our sins and brought us nigh to God. We worship at thy holy feet, thou art evermore the same. The first and last, the faithful, true, all glory to thy name. Four hundred and seven. We worship at thy holy feet, thou glorious Lamb of God. Thy blood has washed us from our sins and brought us nigh to God. We worship at thy holy feet, O Satan, Nazareth. In heav'n's unsullied light thou art, God's glory in His name. We worship at thy holy feet, thou art evermore the same. The first and last, the faithful, true, all glory to thy name. We worship at thy holy feet, all praise to thee belong. Our life, our gift, our only hope, our never-ending song. We worship at thy holy feet, and all who serve thee still. We bow our heads before thee, and bow them to thy name. Would you turn please to the book of Revelation, chapter 22, and verse 12. Revelation 22, verse 12. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. We have been spending our time together, considering the meaning and the implication of these three double terms, and we have followed through the proposition that the Alpha and Omega presents the Lord Jesus as the sum and substance of all that God has to say. The beginning and the end presents the Lord Jesus as the sum and substance of all that God will ever do. And the first and the last presents the Lord Jesus as the one who in person is the sum and substance of all that God is, in nature and in character. Perhaps another way of saying the same thing is that as the Alpha and Omega, the Lord Jesus is the epitome of all that God has to say. As the beginning and the end, he is the epitome of all that God will ever do. And as the first and the last, he is the epitome of the being of God. The epitome, the living embodiment in person. In amplification of that proposition, we've looked at Hebrews 1 as filling out and amplifying what we can learn from scripture about the Lord Jesus as the Alpha and Omega, God speaking in sum, Hebrews 1. We've looked at Colossians 1 as the filling out, amplification, dissertation in scripture of the Lord Jesus as the beginning and the end. God, anything that he brings into being, anything that he begins on earth, or in any way in the universe, anything he terminates, he does in Christ, the creator and sustainer of the universe. And so we pass to this last double term, the first and the last. Now, we can do no better than see what scripture says about this term which is used sparingly. So, would you turn back please to the book of the prophet Isaiah and chapter 41. Isaiah 41 verse 4, Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning, I the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he. Chapter 44, verse 6, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. And who as I shall call and shall declare it and set it in order for me since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid. Have not I told thee from that time and have declared it? Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God. I know not any. Chapter 48. End of verse 11. I will not give my glory to unto another. Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called, I am he. I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. When I call unto them, they stand up together. It is abundantly plain from those three references in Isaiah that being the first and the last and whatever the term involves is an attribute of deity. Only God, the ever existing one, can speak of himself as the one who before there was any other was in being. And then, when all time, when all matter, when all creation has been brought to its appointed end, God is the last. I am the first and the last, a clear attribute of deity. That God speaks of himself through the lips of the Prophet Isaiah. So when we turn to John 1, as we do, if we are following the original proposition that we've seen the development of the Alpha and Omega in God's spokesman in Hebrews and we've seen the development of the beginning and the end in Christ as God's instrumental agent in Colossians 1, in each case emphasising his personal glory in so being and so doing, we can expect a similar approach and a similar response when we put John's Gospel and particular John chapter 1 to the test of the context of scripture as a whole. So when we turn to John's Gospel, and I will proceed my comments by reading verses 1 and then verses 14 to 18, notice in so doing that the main theme of the chapter runs like that, verse 1, verse 14 to 18, verses 2 to 5 are in brackets, they are a parenthesis, verses 6 to 13, another pair of brackets, another second parenthesis. So the main theme goes on from the end of verse 1 to the beginning of verse 14 and that's how I read it and it makes the proper sense. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and 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. God, John, bear witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I speak, he that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me, and of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. The immediate presentation of the Lord Jesus in Hebrews 1 was as Son, God speaking in Son. The immediate presentation of the Lord Jesus in Colossians 1 was the Son of the Father's love. The immediate presentation of the Lord Jesus in John 1 is as the Word. While there may be several words that can be translated Word and its similes, there are two major words used in the New Testament that are translated into English as Word. One is the full scope of the declared purpose and mind summed up in totality in one way. The other is a more detailed application. It's a specific word for a specific purpose on a specific circumstance and incident. As to the latter, when we get to the whole armour of God in Ephesians 6 and we read that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, it's there the particular word that's needed for a particular education, a specific purpose, and on any particular occasion, whatever the onslaught of the enemy, there's a particular word which is appropriate which God by the Spirit will supply, a specific word for a specific occasion. But when we come to John 1, it's not a specific detail, it's telling us about the expression of the whole mind of God. And it's even more than that. When it tells us, in the beginning was the Word, it's telling us that that which is being referred to does not only express on behalf of God, what needs to be said, but that the one who is the Word is the very expression of what he expresses. I'm not sure if that's clear. I better say that again. It's one thing to have a message to pass on to other people. It's another matter, a fuller matter, to be the living expression, the living embodiment, to use our word again, to be the epitome of the message. Living it out, acting it out, being the very thing that has to be conveyed. And when we get this introduction, this prologue to the Gospel of John, our minds are turned to the fact that God has expressed himself in a person, and that that expression has been in a person who is the living expression of the message that he carries, the tale that he has to tell. And in the orthodox way that we've all appreciated for many years, we get a threefold expansion of the truth in verse one. In the beginning was the Word. The Word has eternal being. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. The Word has distinct personality. These are not the first, this is not the first time in history these words are used. If I tell you anything new, absolutely new, that nobody has ever said before, it's most unlikely to be true. The old adage, if it's new, it's not true. And if it's true, it's not new. Of course, on any occasion, it might be new to you, or new to me, but not new in itself. Well, the Word has eternal being. He was there in the beginning. He has distinct personality. He was with God. This Gospel frequently tells us things like, he came forth from being with the Father. Again and again the emphasis, distinct personality. And the Word was God's essential deity. If these terms are new to us, let us listen well, write them down, consider them, reflect upon them, think them through. Of the Word, attaching to the Word, there is the declaration of eternal being, distinct personality, essential deity. And just to go into the first parenthesis in verse 2, in case there's any doubt, you know if any problems arise, if any questions need to be asked, provided we know where to look, the answer is in Scripture long before the question is posed. And in case we are still in any doubt, verse 2 says, the same was in the beginning with God. So, not only eternal being, not only distinct personality, not only essential deity, but this person was eternally distinct. There was never a moment when he began to be a distinct person in himself. Again, if we accept the simple force of the Scripture, it answers the error before the error was brought in. Eternal, distinct, deity, and eternally distinct. And the one who in himself is the very expression of God. When God speaks, Hebrews 1, it is the Son that speaks, the only one competent to speak for God because he is God. Colossians 1, the only one fully competent to act for God because he is God. And here, the only one competent to express God fully, to declare him, because in himself he is God. Now, having looked briefly then at verse 1, we'll move straight on to verse 14. Did you notice the starkness of the statement? The word was in the beginning, he was with God, he was God, and the word was made flesh. It follows straight through. We are speaking about the same person. Now, what does verse 14 have to say? The word became flesh. Ah, yes. If you're a simple soul, like me, you like a simple approach. Now, happily, for our simple minds, much of the vital teaching in John 1 is given by the use of two verbs. One is the verb to be. To have being and to continue in being. Various forms and tenses and parts of the verb to be. No consideration of being brought into being, but having being in itself. But there's another verb. And while it's translated in various ways, if the verb to be is concerned with having being, this other verb, used in the prologue of John several times, is not a question of having being so much as being brought into being. Something being brought into being that wasn't there before. Something whose being has a commencement. Sometimes a person, sometimes a thing, sometimes a condition. Now, I just want to go through these verses and draw your attention to the occasions where the verb to be, to have being, is used. Verse 1. In the beginning was. We would say, past tense, past imperfect, of the verb to be. It could be put this way. In the beginning, the word had being. It doesn't say was brought into being. He had being. He was in being. And the word was in being with God. And the word was God in being. Verse 2. The same had being in the beginning with God. Now, a simple understanding of the verb to be as a continuing condition of being, without reference to a beginning of existence, just fits the bill. When we are thinking about the one spoken of as the word. Now, again, if we move on to verse 9. That was the true light. The true light was in being. No suggestion of beginning. Then verse 18. The last one for the moment. The only begotten son, which is, who has being in the bosom of the father. No beginning, no end, no commencement, no cessation. The only begotten, who has being, whose home, whose residence, whose right it is to be there, whose being is in the bosom of the father. Again, there's nothing new about this. It's the same, it's the use of the verb to be. To have being without any indication of commencement or cessation. Now, we go back again to verse 3. We are now looking at a verb which could be translated brought into being, or given being, or as is often found in the Bible, to become. To have being where being did not previously exist. Verse 3. All things were given being by him. By the way, are you used to the concept, the idea, that the translators of this excellent translation didn't always translate the same word in Greek by the same word in English? Maybe this is one reason why this translation is so honoured, and it's so majestic, and so dignified. That our language being so rich in synonyms, things that mean almost, if not quite the same thing, we find that the translators used one word here, another word there, if you'll accept the phrase, to give a bit literary variety and colour to the text. Not a mistranslation, not a misinterpretation, but equally valid into our English, which has so many words that might mean the same thing. But, just to cement this thought, that it's the same word, if we stick, instead of saying was, or is, or shall be, if we concentrate on the verb to be, and talk about having being, and then we come to this other word, to become, and use it in the sense of being given being, having being where being was not there before, it helps us to distinguish between the two. So, as to creation, verse 3 says, all things were given being by him. Verse 6, there was a man given being from God, or there was given being a man who was sent from God, whose name was John. Clearly, John, a natural man, hadn't been in existence before. He was brought into being, he was given life, and he was given the name John. A commencement of something that hadn't been there before. Verse 10, the world was made by him, by the word, the world was given being, the world was brought into being, the world was created, as we would say, simply. Verse 12, as many as received him, to them gave he the power to have being as the sons, the children of God. They were given the status of being children of God, which they had not been given before. Something new, which had not been there before for them. Verse 17, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth was brought into being by Jesus Christ. Follow that up at your leisure, you'll find that there's a wealth of truth in the distinction between the two verbs, one to have being inherently, and the other, which means to be given being by another. Now, with that, we come to verse 14 and 18. Verse 14 then, the word, who has eternal being, distinct personality, and essential deity, we learn something fresh about him in verse 14. The word became flesh. He was given being in flesh. He did not begin to be, he did not begin to have being, but for the first time, he was found in flesh. He didn't become the word of the incarnation. He didn't become the son. He didn't become the only begotten. He became flesh. We are used, aren't we, to the sequence that begins with him becoming flesh. We also read that he became poor, he became obedient, he became dead, he became a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, and so on. And yet, in that graphic term we looked at last Saturday, he did not become sin. This was abhorrent, absolutely foreign to his holy nature. It was something that he was made. He was made sin. He was made an offering for sin. Well, here we have it. The word became flesh. And who was it? How is the person identified as the one who entered into a condition in which he had not had being before? He is the only begotten. Notice, he didn't begin, he did not become the only begotten, but the only begotten, the word, the son, he became flesh. He entered into a condition where he could pass through death on account of sin. Well, again, the only begotten of the father. We'll come back to only begotten in a minute or two. But we'll just look at this section as such. Verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son, there's this bit added now, verse 14 says, the only begotten of the father, and verse 18 adds the only begotten son, who is? Who ever was, is and ever shall be dwelling in the bosom of the father in the enjoyment of that eternally subsisting relationship of the father and the son. The plain force of the scripture. By the way, many phrases gain currency over the years. For myself, I hear a little bit there, a little bit there, I put them together, sometimes I'm brave enough to add a bit of my own. How about this one? When you're studying scripture, if the literal sense makes sense, there's no sense in looking for any other sense. Got that? If the literal sense makes sense, there's no sense in looking for any other sense. There's no need to be abstruse and complicated and complex and wriggling away from the plain force of the simple statements of scripture. And even from this chapter, if I only had this chapter, when I'm told that a certain person is the very expression of all that God is, filling out the term first and last, that he has eternal being, that he is eternally distinct, that he has essential deity, that he is the only begotten of the father, what other conclusion can I ever come to? That when it says this person, the word, the father's only begotten, the son of the father, when scripture speaks of him as being in the bosom, he is, this verb to be, this continuing sense of the verb, that he is in the bosom of the father, what other conclusion can a simple believer come to than that the Lord Jesus ever has, is and ever shall be the eternal son of the eternal father. Whatever words we put to it, the simple force of scripture is abundantly plain. Perhaps we'll now look at the five times when the word only begotten is used. Whenever we think of the term only begotten, inevitably we think of the term firstborn. The only begotten used by John of the Lord Jesus five times telling us that he's absolutely unique. It's what he is in person, in his relationship with the father. And as we saw in the illustration in Hebrews 11, Abraham and Isaac had that unique filial feeling between the two of them, enjoying that father-son relationship in a way that Abraham had with nobody else that was related to him. That relationship was absolutely unique to Abraham and Isaac. And when God says take Isaac, he says take your unique son, take your only Isaac. Now that's a pale picture of the truth that's conveyed in the five times that the term only begotten is used by John in referring to the Lord Jesus. We do know more than read them, they are self-explanatory. Chapter 1, verse 14, we've had, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father. Verse 18, the only begotten son who was in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. There was no beginning to the relationship, but there was a beginning to the revelation of the relationship when the word became flesh. How it fits in with Hebrews 1. Previously, God had spoken partially, transiently, for the time being in a less than full way, using prophets and the patriarchs and so on. If God was to be fully declared, it must be in the person of his son, Hebrews 1. John 1, not quite the same terminology, the revelation of God as the father, the full, final, true revelation of God as father, awaited the coming into flesh of the only begotten son of God. Perhaps this is why some get confused. There was no beginning to the relationship, there was a beginning to the revelation of the relationship that we might be instructed in it, with the coming into flesh of the word. No doubt we could say even then it was the beginning of his public ministry and gathering together those that he called his own that made the sphere available where the revelation of the father could be fully known. Chapter 3, verse 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Again, the literal sense makes sense, doesn't it? The one that we now know as the father sent the one that we now know as the son. The father didn't begin to be the father when he sent him. The son didn't begin to be the son when he was sent. The father, as such, sent the son as such. Time and again in John's Gospel we read, in John's epistle, we read words like the father sent the son. Let us remain uncomplicated and accept the clear meaning of the words expressed. Verse 18 of chapter 3. 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. Again, not only as the revealer of the father but as the one who should bring eternal life within the reach of those who believe on him. Wonderful thing that you and I, as simple believers, have been brought within the realm where eternal life can be enjoyed because the father sent the son into the world that we might have life through him. Verse 9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. The knowledge of God is father. The enjoyment, the reception and enjoyment of eternal life. The enjoyment of the subsisting eternal relationship father and son and all that that conveys because God sent his only begotten son into the world. Well, the revealer of the heart of God, the bringer of eternal life into the world that those who trust him might have the enjoyment of it. A word on John 17. So much in John's Gospel fills out the detail of this eternally existing one, the son of the father, that we must be extremely disciplined to see what we can look at in one hour. John 17. Verse 5. Now, O father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Verse 22. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. Verse 24. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. When we are reading in the Synoptic Gospels and we read the sample prayer that the Lord gave to his disciples, some speak of it in a general way as the Lord's Prayer. Perhaps more accurately, we might call it the disciples prayer. Some might say, oh you don't get the Lord's Prayer in the Synoptic Gospels, you get the Lord's Prayer in John 17. Well, I wouldn't quibble with that, but I would like to say and suggest that in John 17, it's not so much the Lord's Prayer as the Son's Prayer. The Son, in the enjoyment of that subsisting relationship of Son to Father, comes into the Father's presence and breathes this communion between Son and Father. Notice, again setting the stall out of the chapter, verse 1, the Lord says, well the Son says first, Father. In verse 11, he says, Holy Father. In verse 25, he says, Righteous Father. When he's speaking about personal matters, breathing that personal communion, he uses the direct term Father. When he speaks of things concerning his own in relationship with himself, he uses the term Holy Father. And when he speaks of his own in their relations with the world, he uses the term Righteous Father. It's a help to the layout of the chapter. Another help is to say these references to glory. Again, how well, how often we've heard it. In verse 5, that which is entirely personal to the Son, a glory as we speak of it, that we can neither behold nor share. In verse 22, the Son prays for a glory that's been given to his own, and it's a glory that we shall both behold and share. And when we come to verse 24, we read of a glory that we can behold but never share. These are important distinctions. Notice then, in verse 1, Father, glorify thy Son. All the way through, Father, Son, Father, Son. And when we come to verse 24, with which we must end, how many times we can say this. If there was no other chapter, if there was no other verse, it's sufficient to encourage us to understand that between the Father and the Son, there has been, there is, there ever shall be, the enjoyment of an eternally subsisting relationship without beginning or end. Notice what the prayer says. Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Who is speaking? The Son. Who is he speaking to? The Father. So, the prayer in verse, or the statement in verse 24, Thou, the Father, lovest me, the Son, before the foundation of the world. Simple but sublime statement. I trust we are encouraged, not only on the immediate study, but to search out these terms that are used about the Lord Jesus and to see how much blessing there is in following them through. There is a little hymn we often sing. We're going to sing it now. Hymn number 23. I wonder if it'll mean just that little bit more to us now, when we sing it, to say, Tis Jesus, the first and the last. Whose spirit shall guide us safe home. We'll praise him for all that is past and trust him for all that's to come. Number 22. His love is as great as his power, and those neither measure nor measure. Tis Jesus, the first and the last. Whose spirit shall guide us safe home. We'll praise him for all that is past and trust him for all that's to come. …