John 1:9-18

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

July 22, 2020

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

We have previously shared several messages from the first Chapter of the Gospel of John. In this message we will look at verses 9-18 of John, Chapter 1. The first thing we want to note is that the words He, Him, and His, speaking of Jesus, occur 

18 times in those ten verses. That does not include the other four references to Jesus and four references to the Father. 

This pattern is common to each of the five Christology Chapters of Ephesians 1, John 1, Philippians 2, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

All throughout the history of mankind there have been and still are partial lights and false lights. Men still follow both of those two types of lights, which still exist in Christian churches today. But Jesus is the only genuine Light, the only true Light, the real Light to guide us on our way by the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came into this world as a Man, He came like a light in the dark. Without Jesus we walk in darkness. Jesus came to us not only to light every man who would accept and receive Him, but to dissipate all doubt, despair, and death. When Jesus came, men saw full-displayed what God is like. Jesus said, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father" (John 14:9). Because of Jesus the bitterness of pessimism, despair, doubt, and death is past.

Hebrews 2:14-16, "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." 

Jesus, by His coming to earth, by His life, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension showed us the way to eternal life. Scripture says very little about what life will be like when time is no more and His chosen and faithful people dwell with Him for eternity. We do know that in heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage, and we know that we will have a new, spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44), which has flesh and bones, but no blood (Luke 24:39). The blood of Jesus, which was poured out at Calvary, was not poured back in after His resurrection. We also know that there will be no more disease and no more tears. I believe it also is safe to say that almost all or more likely all of the natural events that attract our attention today will be gone. I also believe that we will have no more need for bible teaching. No wonder Paul could say, in Philippians 1:23, that it is far better to depart this worldly, corruptible body and to be with Christ!

Jesus is the Light and the only true light Who lights every man who comes into the world. All we have to do is accept Him, receive Him, believe Him, trust Him, and obey Him. When the word says that Jesus lights every man, that implies no distinction between Jew and Gentile. The sun rises and sets on all men alike. Rain falls on all men alike.


10 He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him

11 He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.

The Lord created the world and breathed life into every man, but His very own, His chosen people of God, did not receive Him. Instead they crucified Him. However no man has any excuse for his ignorance ... for not knowing Him, because He enlightens every human being who comes into the world. All creation points to Jesus.

Romans 1:19-20, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

God so designed the visible things of the world such that if men had looked with open eyes and an understanding heart at the world, their thoughts would be led to the Creator of the world. It was always a basic Greek thought that where there is order there must be a mind behind that order. If we look at the world we see an amazing order. Day and night, the four seasons, the regularity of the tides, the stability of the planets in their courses, all speak of an order in nature. Therefore equally clear there must be a mind behind it all. That mind must be greater than any human mind because a human mind can never achieve such an order. No man can make a seed that has in itself the power to make a living thing. No man can turn day into night or night into day. No man can alter the courses of planets, stars, sun, or moon. Therefore the mind behind all nature must be far above the greatest mind of the greatest men.

An astronomer can tell us exactly when and where an eclipse of the sun or moon will appear, even years in the future, but he cannot control the event itself. Immanuel Kant, an influential German philosopher in the Age of Enlightenment, once said that two things convinced him of the existence of God ... the starry heavens above him and the moral law within him. Where did we get our ability to think, to reason, to know? How does the most evil man know that he is doing the wrong thing? Where does the sense of regret and guilt come from? From Job Chapters 38 through 41, the Lord chastises Job concerning Job's complaining and lack of understanding.

I would encourage you to read a book by Brand and Yancey titled, "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made." In that book a surgeon describes the amazing intricacies of the human body and the spiritual counterpart. Everything about us humans, spirit, soul, and body, is a miracle that could come only from God.

Then consider how all trees grow upright and the beauty of nature, such as flowers. Jesus said, in Matthew 6:28-29, 

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

 

We could probably go on for hours giving examples of the fact that all of nature, including man, has been designed to point to God. Many years ago a slogan stated, "Be all you can be in the Army." That slogan has a counterpart for every Christian ... "Be all you can be in Christ."

The Pharisees had no valid reason to question whether Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah. They knew what was written in Scripture. John the Baptist said, 

Matthew 11:2-6, "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto Him, Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me."

That was prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 35:4 and by Zechariah in Zechariah 9:9. Therefore, from Scripture and from the mouth of Jesus Himself, the Jews had no reason to reject Him. But a prophet has no honor in his own country. Further, the Jews had a nice, comfortable, prosperous religion going and liked the status quo. Does anyone today have a nice, comfortable, prosperous religion going and like the status quo?


12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: 

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Not everyone rejected Jesus when He came to the earth as a Man. Some received Him and welcomed Him. To them Jesus gave the power or right or privilege to become the sons of God. There are two types of sons, as epitomized by the parable of the prodigal son as recorded in Luke, Chapter 15. The younger son went to his father and said, "Give me," and the father divided to the two sons their living. The father could not give an inheritance to the younger son unless the elder son first received his portion. Then the younger son left and wasted his inheritance with riotous living, where "riotous" simply means he focused on self and what he thought would satisfy him. The sovereignty of God intervened and the younger son repented and returned to his father and said, "Make me," whereupon the elder brother became very angry and complained to his father. The elder son always stayed at home but never seemed to appreciate what he had available to him. Scripture does not tell us whether or not the elder son ever accepted what the father had for him and his heart was not right. Both sons received the power to become sons of God but only the younger received that which the father had for him.

Both these sons were sons, but the sonship was very different. The younger son became a son in a way that the elder son never was. So the "prodigal son" was actually the elder son who always stayed at home. The parable could perhaps be called the parable of the "loving father." There is a world of difference between sitting in a teacher's classroom and being one of his students. All men are the sons of God in the sense that all men owe to God their creation and preservation; but only some men become the sons of God in the real, intended depth and intimacy of the true fellowship or communion with the Father. Further, when the younger son said to his father, "Make me," he expressed the truth that no man can make himself to become a son of God. What God offers man has to appropriate,

14 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.

This Verse is undoubtedly one of the most important verses in the Gospel of John. Of course the living Word of God was never created or made. The sense here is that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. This speaks of a transition because the Word existed before He became a Man. This speaks of God's plan and desire for all born-again Christians ... Christ in you, the hope of glory. Jesus revealed His glory to His disciples by the miracles He performed and by His death and resurrection. Unless the Word comes to us, we can never go to Him. The word translated as "beheld" means actual physical sight, not some spiritual vision. Jesus did not come to talk to men about the Father; He came to show men what God is like. Could we learn something from that? The sense of "the Word was made flesh" is that Jesus became flesh, and many translations read that way.

That also speaks of God's purpose and desire for each born-again Christian ... that the Word is to be made flesh within us. Christ in you, the hope of glory. When John says, "and we beheld His glory," he probably speaks primarily of the time recorded in Matthew 17:1-8 when Jesus took Peter, James, and John into a high mountain apart and He was transfigured before them. Scripture records that the face of Jesus did shine as the sun and even his raiment was white as the light. The three disciples also saw and heard Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. But when they heard the voice of the Father they fell on their face and were afraid. When the three disciples had lift up their eyes they saw no man but Jesus only. That is also an object lesson for us. The Lord is bringing us to a place when we look only to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and we hear Him.

15 John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me.

16 And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

The word fullness means the sum total of all that is in God. In Christ dwells the totality of the wisdom, the power, and the love of God. The phrases "bare witness" and "cried, saying" sound, in English, like past tense. However the Greek is in the present tense, even though when John wrote it the action was in the past. This suggests that John the Baptist's message still sounded in people's ears beyond his death.

Colossians 1:19, "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell;"

 

Colossians 2:9, "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

The phrase "grace for grace" can be translated as "grace upon grace." When any man enters into the study of any subject, such as science or music or poetry or art, he never gets to the end of it. There are always fresh experiences, fresh insights, just waiting to be discovered. So it is with Christ. The more we know of Him, the more amazing and wonderful He becomes. This phrase is John's way of expressing the limitlessness of Christ. The different ages and the different situations in life require a different kind of grace. As man has become more technologically advanced and more educated in the worldly sense, new challenges have arisen. Now it is much more common for men and women to live together and even have children together than it was 50 years ago. With more leisure time, men today have turned to more drugs, more entertainment, and more fleshly pleasures. Now we have a greater number of families where husband and wife both work, in an effort to make more money in highly inflationary times. That has had a negative effect on children, who now are involved much more in drugs, alcohol, sex, and LGBTQ relationships ... starting in elementary school. The LGBTQ relationships are so widespread in public school grades 7-12 now that you could call it the "new normal." We need one type of grace in the days of prosperity and another in the days of adversity. The Church needs one grace in the days of persecution and another when the days of peace and acceptance are prevalent. Of course the most dangerous times for Christians is when everything seems to be going along smoothly because then we tend to get comfortable and see less need for the grace of God. The grace of God is always dynamic in nature, never static. His grace never fails to meet the situation. All through life we constantly receive grace upon grace which is more than adequate to meet any situation.

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century tended to make man physically lazy with a resultant lack of physical exercise and a great increase in obesity, which in turn affects our health and requires more drugs. I have read that the United States is home to the highest number of overweight and obese people in the world. In the U.S., 70.9 percent of men and 61.9 percent of women are overweight or obese, compared to 38 percent of men and 36.9 percent of women worldwide. The Computer Revolution of the 20 century tended to make man mentally lazy and therefore less creative. The prolific increase in the number of Christian books, conferences, and teachings has tended to make Christian man spiritually lazy. The Women's Suffrage movement, which began in the mid-19th century and became a national law in the early 20th century has resulted in a lack of understanding of the unity, the oneness, within a family that God has always designed. If husband and wife are one (or at least should be), then why do they get two votes? That led to the Feminist Movement, more women in politics, more women competing for jobs ... and more inflation. In the mid-1940's I used to walk to town during school lunch break and buy two hot dogs with everything on them and a large RC Cola drink for 15 cents total, no tax. Now that costs about 7 dollars. Scripture is very clear that God's intention for man has always been for the man to provide for the family's physical and spiritual needs and the wife take care of the home. When the husband is in a right relationship with the Lord, everything else in the family falls into line. Children are cared for by both parents, but primarily by the wife. (See Genesis 3:16-19; Exodus 16:16; and even the life and ministry of Deborah, if we rightly understand her role as a judge. Scripture speaks of 15 judges before Saul became the first king of Israel. Deborah was the fourth of the 15 judges. The key to understanding the real role of Deborah is that she was the ONLY judge who had to combat enemies within the boundaries of Israel. All of the other male judges fought enemies outside the boundary of Israel.)

Isaiah 3:12, "As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."

Today we see an ever-increasing number of women CEO's, women in politics. One good brother in Christ told me not long ago that shortly before the 2016 national presidential election he had a dream or vision in which he saw a multitude of people in a very large room. Then he saw Hillary Clinton, dressed in all white, enter the room. She said, "All Christians up against the wall." He said that because of that vision he was convinced that Hillary would win the 2016 election. Of course that did not happen, but that does not mean that it will not happen in the future. You might recall at the last presidential state of the union address, all of the Democratic women Congress members wore white. Joe Biden has stated that his vice-president running mate will be a woman. I would not be surprised if his secretary of state is also a woman. Now to be absolutely clear, I do not support Republicans or Democrats, I am very apolitical. However, I do believe that Isaiah 3:12 will be fulfilled and is being fulfilled in the United States. That is and will be the last sign of the judgment of God against America.

Do we Christians need more grace upon grace today?

20 Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Note that Verse 20 says, "is able to do." Yes, God can do anything and at any time that He so desires. But for us as believers, there is nothing automatic. "Once saved, always saved" is not scripturally sound. The bride of Christ is not the same as the Church. There is a difference between going to heaven one day and becoming, by the power of the Holy Spirit, an overcomer and thus qualifying to rule and reign with Christ on earth during His millennium. We will not here substantiate those statements but it is not difficult to do so.

The phrase "exceeding abundantly" deserves our consideration. In Greek the phrase is one word, huperekperissos, which occurs only two other times in Scripture (1 Thessalonians 3:10, where it is translated as "exceedingly" and 1 Thessalonians 5:12, where it is translated as "very highly'). In effect, "exceeding abundantly" is the ultimate possible measure of that which Christ is and what He can do; i.e., there is nothing beyond. It means "no limitations." When Jesus came to earth in the form of a man, He limited Himself considerably. He could only be in one place at a time. He set aside the fullness of His glory. He only did and said that which He saw and heard from the Father. But there are no limitations to the risen Christ; therefore there are no limitations to the Christ in you the hope of glory. We are limited only by our own decisions and our earthly body. But we must emphasize ... everything for a believer after we are born from above is conditional ... conditioned on the choices that we make.

Now let us consider God's eternal purposes. If we desire to be firmly rooted and grounded in our Sure Foundation, we need to understand five things about the purposes of God. First, God has a purpose for everything He has ever done or ever will do. Second, His purposes will be fulfilled, with or without you and with or without me.

24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? Isaiah 14:24, 27

The third aspect we must understand is that God created everything for His purposes, not for your purposes and not for my purposes; not for your pleasure and not for my pleasure.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11

The next thing we must understand is that all of His purposes go back to eternity past before the foundation of the world.


18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 1 Peter 1:18-20

Finally, and most importantly, Abba Father has purposed that all things shall be centered in His Son, Christ Jesus. He works always and only in relation to His Son. Father never sees us apart from the Lord Jesus; it is in Him that the blessing of God is found. His purpose in His Son is to be realized in the corporate man in which Christ is to have His fullness (Ephesians 1:23).

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!

34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?

35 Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?

36 For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36

In addition to understanding His purposes, we need to understand His judgments and His ways (Verse 33), neither of which are available to the natural, carnal mind. 

"The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29). 

The purpose of revelation from the Lord is not simply to make us feel good or have a mental understanding but rather that we might walk in His ways and do His will. 

In Psalm 103:7, 

"He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel." 

Why? For two reasons: (1) Moses asked the Lord to show him His ways (Exodus 33:13); and (2) Moses was faithful in all his house (Hebrews 3:2).

17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Of course the law was given by God through Moses. Now we know that grace and truth were both available under the Old Covenant.

Psalm 119:142, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth."

Romans 7:12, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."

Genesis 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

Exodus 33:17, "And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name."

So what did John the Baptist mean when he said that "the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ"? I believe he meant that Jesus was and is the personification of grace and truth. Jesus IS the Truth and He IS the manifestation of the grace of God.

18 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 phrase, "the only begotten Son," is an explicit declaration of the uniqueness of Jesus. The word "begotten" means brought into the world by the Father. Revelation 1:5 speaks of Jesus Christ as the first begotten of (or from) the dead. Where there is a first there must be a second.

God said to Moses, in Exodus 33:20, 

"And He said, Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live."

No one under the Old Covenant would have thought it possible to see God. No one would disagree with John when he said that no man has ever seen God. But John goes on to make a startling statement that Jesus has fully revealed to men what God is like. Perhaps a key note of John's gospel is if we want to see what God is like, look at Jesus Christ. Jesus is unique and especially beloved. He is the only One who can bring God to men and men to God. Moreover, Jesus is God the Son and the only begotten son of God. Then John adds that Jesus is in the bosom of the Father. In Jesus Christ, the invisible, unknowable, unreachable God has come to men.