Welcome to Grace - and a Happy New Year! Croeso I Gras - Blwyddyn Newydd Dda I chi gyd!

Welcome to Grace- and a Happy New Year!

Croeso I Gras- Blwyddyn Newydd Dda I chi gyd!

John 1:18IntroductionChristmas what WAS that about?!No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God andis in the closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.Quiet.Which all too often means: Disappointing!Words that really shouldnt be but all too often ARE associated with Christmas.So what WAS it all about?Does it matter?John 1:18 gives us a pretty good answer to that one What it celebrates admittedly all too often in the wrong way at the wrong time of year is Jesus coming to earth in order to make God and all that He is about to be known.Were looking at John 1:18 on this and yes it DOES matter because today, I think were going to be dealing with the source of one of the biggest problems we encounter with living the Christian life and probably with living life at all.Were dealing with the big thing the lack of which saps the life out of us, and the thing without which our crises (too) become the most unreachable of challenges.Were dealing with how we know God.2John 1:18IntroductionChristmas what WAS that about?!Knowing GodHeres the issue at the heart of most of the problems that anyone has living the Christian life.Its not so much the understanding of whats going on.Forgive me, but its usually not so much the difficulty of our circumstances themselves.Its usually much more the difficulty that we cannot say weve found Him, known Him, WALKED with Him as we encounter our circumstances it would be different if we were constantly conscious of Him THERE with us.So theres where we need to be going.There are several distinct propositions in this verse 3John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen God

The noun God here has no article in the Greek text, which indicates that the author is presenting God in His nature or being rather than as a person.Deity might be a better translation.The meaning here is that no human being has ever seen the essence of deity.

4John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodA problem for those without faith

Now, this invisibility of essential Deity is a problem for those who do not believe If a person does not perceive spiritual truth on account of being spiritually blind then they are still in the position of the person whose natural vision cannot see by the light of the x-ray machine.The materialists criteria for the assessment of reality relate to stuff you can see, smell, touch, throw a brick at you know?But you cant SEE God so He lives outside the things the materialist is prepared to acknowledge as being real.Thats an absolute problem for MANY without faith.5John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodA problem for those without faithWhat about Old Testament Theophanies?

But its a problem for some believers and theologians too because there are times in the OT when people SEEM to, and thats important because they dont SEE God in the sense intended here.

6John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodA problem for those without faithWhat about Old Testament Theophanies?Exodus 33-34 Moses

This incident in the OT where Moses was allowed to hide away in the cleft of the rock as Gods Glory passed by has just been alluded to in John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.But MOSES DIDNT 7Exodus 3318Then Moses said, Now show me your glory.19And theLordsaid, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, theLord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.20But, he said, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.21Then theLordsaid, There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.22When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.23Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.

Bruce We should perhaps say that Moses saw, so to speak, the afterglow of the divine glory.In that diminished sense God speaks with Moses face to face (but without the face) and Moses sees the form of the Lord (Numbers 12:8)8John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodA problem for those without faithWhat about Old Testament Theophanies?Exodus 33-34 MosesIsaiah 6

In Isaiah 6, the prophet cries out in anguish at the thought that his eyes have seen God 9John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodA problem for those without faithWhat about Old Testament Theophanies?Exodus 33-34 MosesIsaiah 65Woe to me! I cried. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, theLord Almighty.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet cries out in anguish at the thought that his eyes have seen God But what had Isaiah ACTUALLY seen?Not a lot.It was just the hem of Gods robe that filled the Temple, around which the Heavenly creatures then flew!Carson: The fact remains that the consistent Old Testament assumption is that God cannot be seen, or, more precisely, that for a sinful human being to see Him would bring death (Ex. 33:20; Dt. 4:12; Ps. 97:2). Apparent exceptions are always qualified in some way.But then John earth-shatteringly says the Unique and the Beloved One, Himself God, has expounded God and made Him known to us.What it means is that the beloved Son, the Word made flesh (v. 14) Himself fully God whilst being the One Who is at the Fathers side, has broken the barrier that made it impossible (even DANGEROUS) for human beings to see God, and by Christs coming has made Him known.10John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God came and explained .

How do we KNOW that Gods come?!Contemporary accountsGospel accounts.But thats not Johns primary concern he is concerned with Who the Jesus Who came is because John has such good evidence that He did!Who is this One the Word?11John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God came and explainedGod the One and Only

InA Greek-English LexiconofLiddell&Scottthe following main definition is given:A. the only member of a kin or kind: hence, generally, only, single, "child" (pais, )Hesiod,Works and Days376;HerodotusHistories7.221; cf.Gospel of John1.14;Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews32.1; HesiodTheogony, concerningHecate.2. unique, of (to on, ),Parmenides8.4; . PlatoTimaeus.31b, cf.ProclusInstitutio Theologica22; .Friedrich Preisigke'sSammelbuch4324.15.[6]There have been exhaustive debates about what is the right text and what the correct text should be.The external evidence strongly supports the only begotten God rather than the suggested the only begotten Son.Internally, althoughfits the immediate context more readily,is much more difficult. As well,also explains the origin of the other reading (), because it is difficult to see why a scribe who foundin the text he was copying would alter it to. Scribes would naturally change the wording to however, since is a uniquely Johannine christological title (cf.John 3:16, 18;1 John 4:9). Butas the older and more difficult reading is preferred.As for translation, it makes the most sense to see the wordas in apposition to, and the participle as in apposition to, giving in effect three descriptions of Jesus rather than only two.God the One and OnlyThe only begotten of the FatherThe One in closest fellowship with the Father.12John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God came and explainedGod the One and OnlyThe Son

13John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God came and explainedGod the One and OnlyThe SonClosest fellowship with the Father

The NIVs Who is at the Fathers side might more literally be rendered Who is in the bosom of the Father.You get a similar expression used to describe Lazarus in the parable as being in Abrahams bosom (Lk. 16:22-23) or to describe the disciple John leaning on Jesuss bosom at the Last Supper The idea is of close proximity as you lie at table together.It becomes a metaphor that describes the closest of table fellowship intimacy, mutual love and knowledge of one another.It is this intimacy that enables Jesus to make God known but we are coming to that.14John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God came and explainedAnd made God known .

It is from this Greek word (here ) that we derive our term exegesis the unpacking and explaining of what lies in a text.Elsewhere in the NT the word means to tell the story or to narrate (so Lk. 24:35, Acts 10:8; 15:12, 14; 21:19).J.P. Louw suggests you could say that Jesus is the narration of God.15John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God cameAnd made God knownPersonal HE came to US

John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God cameAnd made God knownPersonal HE came to USRevealing

John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God cameAnd made God knownPersonal HE came to USRevealingRevealing WHAT of Him?

John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God cameAnd made God knownPersonal HE came to USRevealingRevealing WHAT of Him?Not what was expectedNot what was wanted

John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God cameAnd made God knownPersonal HE came to USRevealingRevealing WHAT of Him?Not what was expectedNot what was wantedRevealing what made sense of the rest of it!

In knowing Creator we understand whatever else has been made.D.T. Project James Dyson studied, not vacuum cleaners!20John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God cameAnd made God knownConclusionIts that personal aspect of discovery and learning Him that is CRITICAL.You get to know God in Him through FOLLOWING Him.The challenge for us as a church through the things we have known this year and anticipate for next year is to know Him through following Him and in doing so, ourselves, to follow Him in making God known.21John 1:18IntroductionNo one has ever seen GodThen God cameAnd made God knownConclusionThis is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9The emphasis of the Prologue then is on the revelation of the Word as the ultimate disclosure of God Himself.The being and nature of God which cannot be perceived directly from ordinary senses has been adequately presented to us by the Incarnation and John gives us the record of the revelation of this Jesus Who reveals God to us.If you want to know Who God is more than that if you want to know HIM Johns Gospel is the place to read about Him and to meet with Him.Its that personal aspect of discovery and learning Him that is CRITICAL.You get to know God in Him through FOLLOWING Him.The life and words of Jesus are more than an announcement.They are an explanation.More than that they make an introduction to Someone.The challenge for us as a church through the things we have known this year and anticipate for next year is to know Him through following Him and in doing so, ourselves, to follow Him in making God known.22