Who Jesus Really Is: Jesus is the Eternal Word (Part 2)

If Jesus created all things and holds all things together, then stop worrying about things in your life; nothing is outside of His control.  

John 1:1-5 - ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Our passage reveals three divine attributes of Jesus that make Him God: Christ’s Preexistence, Christ’s Preeminence, and Christ’s Power. Today, we will recap the first and look at the second divine attribute of Christ.

What image comes to your mind when you think of God? Whatever that image is, hold on to that and answer the following question: “When you think about Jesus, what picture or description first comes to mind? Why?”

If you attended one of our small groups last week, we discussed what picture or description first comes to mind when we think of Jesus. The reason I asked those two questions in that order is because many Christians, though, believing in the Triune God, see them as different individuals in hierarchical and chronological order in which Jesus is often depicted as inferior to God. It might be less common among Anglo background believers because of the two thousand years of Christian cultural influence in the West. 

The problem is that it does not matter why people struggle to see Jesus equal to God; their limited view of Jesus makes Him something He really is not. They need to know that either Jesus is completely co-eternal and co-equal with God, or He is not God at all, in which case He cannot be the Jesus of the Bible, because Jesus of the Bible saves, secures, and sanctifies. 

In John 1:1-5, the Apostle John, in the Greco-Roman culture where a pantheon of gods was worshiped, differentiated the Christian God from millions of gods and avatars of gods by introducing Jesus in His pre-creation, pre-existence form as the uncreated Eternal Word of God who forever existed in the community of the union of the triune God. 

The big idea is, unless Jesus is the uncreated eternal God, He cannot carry the weight of our sins, our salvation, and our sanctification because only God can satisfy God’s wrath against sin and only God can redeem to recreate a new being in us, to restore us to God.

Therefore, the focus of the prologue in John 1:1-5 is to reveal three divine attributes of Jesus that make Him the uncreated, eternal God: Christ’s Preexistence, Preeminence, and Power. Even though we looked at the first divine attribute that makes Jesus, God last time, I want us to revisit it because it is the precreation, preexistence of Jesus that tells us He is not one third of God, not inferior to God, but completely and fully coeternal God.

Christ’s Preexistence (John 1:1-2)

John 1:1, in the ESV translation, reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The three clauses in the verse reveal three divine truths about the existence of Christ:

• Jesus preexisted with God;

• Jesus co-existed with God;

• Jesus self-existed with God.

We studied that last time because God who has a beginning, cannot be God. Only the uncreated one who has no beginning or end can be God. 

 Equipping to Share Jesus

Last time, we talked about Jehovah’s Witnesses. They don’t believe Jesus is the uncreated one and follow the early church heresy of Arianism, which believed Jesus was not one with God the Father but instead was created by God, as a holy man. The founder of the Bible Student movement, which later became the Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Russell, reintroduced this old heresy. He translated John 1:1 as he wished. So, in their New World Translation, John 1:1 reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”  If you talk to them, they will give you a compelling reason why they believe the third clause of the verse should be translated as “a god.” For some reason, they think other translations done by hundreds of Greek scholars got it wrong, but not Charles Russell. 

The problem is that when you change the origin story of Jesus, you change the story of God who reached down to us to save us, and in doing so, you change the way humans can be saved. The Scriptures say there is no other way that we can be saved but through Jesus; the only God who came into this world and died on the cross to save our souls.

Therefore, what Jehovah’s Witnesses and other heresies and cults say is not just human error but rather the active, creative work of demonic forces.

The best illustration of the belief that Jesus was the only God is the early church. Christians in the first century were not persecuted, thrown to the lions, burned in boiling oil, or hung on crosses because they believed in Jesus as a prophet or a god; rather, they believed Jesus was the only God. During John’s time, the Roman Empire had no issue with adding another deity to its existing pantheon. Their problem was with the Christian claim that Jesus is the only God, the uncreated one. This brought the wrath of the Empire against Christians.

Today, Muslim extremists persecute Christians because they think Christians are polytheists. In John’s time, their crime was theism, not polytheism. In their polytheistic society, if you said there is only one God, that would get you killed. You see, what you believe about the existence of Jesus changes everything about the cosmos and your life here and in the hereafter.

Application

Study God’s Word and know what it says about who Jesus really is, and be aware of the demonic forces that work through people, preachers, and powers to denounce the pre-existence of Christ. John 1:1-5 shows that not only did Jesus eternally exist, but also, He is the reason for the existence of everything seen and unseen, which highlights the second divine attribute of Jesus that makes Him God, the preeminence of Christ, in John 1:3. 

 

Christ’s Preeminence (John 1:3)

John 1:3 reads, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” The word “him” here is logos, which is Jesus. The Greek word here for “was made” is “to come into being.” In other words, nothing came into existence without Jesus, and He brought everything into existence from nothing. From the vastness of the universe to the microscopic organism, from inanimate objects such as rocks to the largest animals that ever existed on land and in the seas, from visible to invisible beings, whether human or angels, including the fallen angels— demons. Nothing was created without Jesus, not a single thing. He is the source of creation, sustainer of creation, and reason for creation. 

One of the reasons I felt compelled not to depart from John 1:1-5 too fast is John 1:3 and its application in the context of verses 1-2 for our immediate cultural context. Our immediate cultural context is similar to the Greco-Roman culture.

Our church is surrounded by a large influx of Hindus who believe in many gods. We have Hindu friends and family members. The largest Hindu temple outside of India is the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, NJ. As Hindu nationalism grows in India and Christian work and witness are restricted by Indian laws, God is bringing them here. It is not coincidental that our church happens to have many believers from an Indian background. Some of you came to Jesus right here in this very church. In the US, we have over 5 million Indians, and the majority of them are Hindus, and by the grace of Christ, we have the freedom and resources to evangelize them.

The reason I am talking about evangelizing Hindus is that the Gospel of John is an evangelistic book, and the purpose of this book is that people may know Jesus is God, believe in Him, and have eternal life. Besides, Jesus gave us the command to make disciples in all nations. If we cannot go there, God is bringing them here. 

Equipping to Share Jesus

Now the problem is:

• How do you start an evangelistic conversation with Hindu friends who believe in millions of gods?

• How do you tell them, who like the Romans of John’s time, have no problem accepting another god? Their problem is when we call Jesus the only God.

• Who do you point them to as the Supreme God when in Hinduism, there is no one single Supreme God like Allah in Islam, or Yehovah in Judaism?

We can explore what they believe about God and existence. This is how John was able to share Christ with his audience, a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. He used one simple word, logos, which means two different things to two different mindsets and cultures. I explained last time how the two meanings of logos, “word” and “reason,” had a profound impact on Jews and Greeks. For Jews, logos, the Word, created everything, and for Greeks or Gentiles, logos, the reason, was the principle behind the universe. 

So, what do Hindus believe about God and the universe?

First, Hindus believe the ultimate source of all things, knowledge, and consciousness, is an impersonal abstract concept of a metaphysical reality to which all things eventually return, called Brahman. Brahman is viewed as the singular, eternal, impersonal formless divine entity in Hinduism. Hindus don’t worship Brahman but what came out of it— millions of gods and goddesses.

Second, Hinduism is both polytheistic and monotheistic— polytheistic because they worship many deities, the manifestations of the Brahman, and monotheistic, because ultimately, they believe in one divine entity, Brahman. 

Third, if that was not confusing enough, Hinduism also has a concept of the divine trinity, called the Trimurti, a group of three gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma is the creator, Vishu is the preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer. 

Fourth, different Hindu denominations see different gods as supreme among the other gods. However, all Hindus believe Brahma, often depicted in Indian shows and pictures with four heads, was first among the Hindu gods. 

Fifth, Hinduism teaches that Brahma originated from Brahman at the beginning of time to create the universe, yet it is Brahman, the unknowable, impersonal, genderless, eternal cosmic power behind everything that exists, that holds everything together.

Now that we know more, let me suggest a couple of ways that you can launch an evangelistic conversation:

• Carefully differentiate the Trinity in Christianity from the Trimurti in Hinduism. Share how the Triune God in Christianity is singular in His divine nature or being who eternally exists as three persons— God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit— not the manifestation or mode, or role of one another, not three people or individuals or a collection of three separate gods, but three distinct persons in the Godhead who always existed.

• Share that the eternal cosmic power behind everything that exists, and holds everything together, is not some formless, eternal, unknowable, divine impersonal, genderless entity Brahman, but rather Jesus, fully man, fully God, who wants to have a personal relationship with them. 

A good illustration is in Colossians 1:16-17 that says, “¹⁶ For by him [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” In other words, Jesus is the glue that is holding the very fabric of the universe together. If Jesus lets it go even for a nanosecond, chaos will plague the universe and send Earth back to an unshaped chaotic place. 

There is a huge theological point for our lives too. No matter where you are in your walk with Jesus. Whether you are following Him wholeheartedly or halfheartedly, know that the only reason you are breathing and have what you have, whether a little or much, is because Jesus is holding everything together for you. He is holding together: your sanity, your job, your family, your health, everything. 

Application

If Jesus was not passive in the creative process and continues to sustain His creation, then He cannot be passive in the process of your salvation and continues to sustain you for the day of salvation. His participation was necessary then and is necessary now. Since Jesus preexisted the creation and brought all things into existence, He has the power over everything. We will look at Christ’s Power next time. 

Closing Thought

As I close, imagine a breathtaking painting, a building, or a music composition.  We marvel at human creativity— an artist’s painting, a composer’s symphony, an engineer’s design. But can they create those marvels without the help of what is already created? The answer is no. Only Christ creates out of nothing. He alone speaks life into being.

Action Step

If Jesus created all things and holds all things together, then stop worrying about things in your life; nothing is outside of His control. 

Appeal

Trust that the same Word that spoke the universe into existence can speak peace into your storm, order into your chaos, and hope into your despair. You just need to do one thing: believe.

Study Questions

1. What do these verses reveal about Jesus’ role in creation?

2. How does recognizing Him as Creator change the way you view your daily life, work, and relationships?

3. How does His sustaining power challenge our tendency to think we must “hold everything together” ourselves?

Equipping Resource

1. Read the article in the link: https://carm.org/islam/methods-muslims-use-to-attack-christianity/

2. How can the ideas in the article be used with other people groups?

Application Questions

1. How would you explain the doctrine of the Trinity to Jews and Muslims?

2. How would you defend your faith regarding who Jesus is against Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons?

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