John 1.1

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Now please, if you have your Bibles, would you open them up to the Gospel according to John? And our Bible reading this morning will be from John chapter 1.

We'll be reading from verses 1 through 18, but we'll be concentrating our efforts only on the first two verses. As we'll soon see, the Apostle John sets up in the first few verses of this book the essential truths for the rest of of the Gospel of John. If this was a building, then the first few verses will be the foundation that underpins the whole structure. The integrity and reliability of the contents in the next 21 chapters of this book will all depend upon the truth statements found in the first few verses, the prologue of John. And they are exceptional truths.

It's important that we pay careful attention and concentrate our efforts and our understanding to what John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is saying here. You see, what John pronounces in the first few verses, every believer and follower of Jesus Christ must believe and hold to. These are critical declarations that never must be underestimated. They are not negotiable. and they are not up for debate.

It's a take it or leave it kind of situation. And the consequences are indeed a matter of life and death. I stand upon the authority on the word of God and say, unless someone comes to believe what's written in the first few verses of this gospel, as we will examine this morning, he or she cannot be Christian. Your salvation and my salvation depends upon believing in these truth statements found in the prologue of 1 John. Now, let me give you a word of warning.

John is revealing things in this first chapter, in the first few verses, that will stretch our minds beyond the limits of our comprehension. But that's okay. We expect the greatness of our infinite God to be beyond the boundaries of our mind. But I believe, by the illumination of God's Holy Spirit, that we will marvel and be amazed, even in the things we don't fully understand. This morning, we'll explore teaching concerning Jesus Christ being from everlasting to everlasting, because he is both divine and human, both fully man and fully God.

Beloved, these are the most profound truths that we will find in the Bible. May the Lord give us ears to hear and hearts to believe. So, if you have your Bibles open, let's read in John chapter 1, and we're reading from verses 1 through 18. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, that all might believe through Him.

He was not the Light, but He came to bear witness about the Light. The true Light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried out, this was he whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me. For from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. from the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's right hand. He has made him known. Amen. As I said earlier, we'll be concentrating our efforts only on the first two verses of this passage that we read here this morning. Now you might be thinking, at this rate, if we only examine one or two verses a week, then it's going to take us 17 years just to get through this one gospel.

And I've done the sums, it will take 17 years. But no, it won't take us that long at all. We just need to take our time here in the prologue, in the introduction of John, the first 18 verses, because it's critical that we understand what John is saying here. Because if we miss the point in these few verses, will miss the point of the whole book. The first verses, as I said before, are the foundation for the rest of the book.

So bear with me, and I trust that the Lord will bless the preaching of His Word. A few weeks ago, we started in the journey of this Gospel, and we took some time to examine the first few words. In the beginning was the Word. I explained then that Jesus is the Word. We all presuppose this already.

And that's okay because it's true. But in that sermon a few weeks ago, I took some time and went through scripture to make those presuppositions of ours irrefutable proofs. We won't go into those details here this morning, but this is all to say that if you are presupposing that Jesus is the word, then you're 100% right. Having said that, the Apostle John in the first chapter lays down some of the heaviest theological concepts. this book.

On the forefront of his mind is the deity of Christ and the Trinity. In the beginning was the Word. Here John takes our mind back to the first verse of the book of Genesis, back the first verse in the Bible. You remember the verse, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now a few weeks ago we established that although John's usage of is similar to Genesis 1, it's also different.

You see, in Genesis, the author, Moses, wants our minds to go back to the starting point of all creation, way back to where everything began. When the triune God of all the universe created all things that were made in six days, and then, on the seventh day, he rested. Moses takes our mind back to that starting point, and then he begins to move us forward in time. to day one, and then day two, and then day three, and so on. You get the picture.

Here though, in John 1.1, John also wishes to take us back to that same starting point. But rather than take our minds forward into time and space, John takes our minds back before time and space. In the beginning was, the word. Beloved, you have to get this point, if nothing else.

I explained a few weeks ago, but it's worth mentioning again. The verb was in this clause is in the imperfect indicative. What that means is simply the usage brings out a continuous action in the past. How is this possible? John has already taken our minds back to the beginning of time.

How can we comprehend something that goes before time began? You see what John's doing here. He's emphatically telling his readers that before anything was, the Word was already. We'd agreed already that Jesus is the Word. So John is telling us that Jesus existed before all things.

He has no beginning. He has no end. He always was. Jesus does not belong to the category of creation. He belongs to the category of creator.

This is unbelievable to the natural person. Already in the first six words, John is ascribing to Christ an attribute that belongs only to God. Eternity. Beloved, we all know there is only one Eternal God. This is not a fabrication of John's mind.

He doesn't make this up. Christ always claimed and taught that he is eternal in existence. You remember back in John 8, 58, let me remind you of the story. The Jews were arguing with Jesus. This proud group of men were arguing and claiming that they were the privileged sons of Abraham, but knowing their hearts, Jesus replies to them with a piercing response.

He tells these self-righteous Jews that they're not the sons of Abraham, but indeed the sons of the devil. For if they were the sons of Abraham, they would do as Abraham did. Rather, Jesus says, in him saying that they're the sons of the devil, he is being brutally honest But this is what I find remarkable in that response and in this story. Although Jesus' words are a huge insult to these Jews, they remain composed and continued in dialogue with Christ. They did say that Jesus had a demon in him, but they weren't violent.

Not yet. But then, then Jesus says these astonishing words, before Abraham was, I am. With that, they pick up stones to stone him. Make no mistakes. These Jews knew exactly what Jesus was saying.

And Jesus was claiming the designation, the title that belongs to God alone, I am. On Mount Sinai, God tells Moses, I am who I am. You want to tell the people, I am sent you. By the way, in the gospel, according to John, there are seven I am statements. And as we get to them, God willing, we will slow down and examine them carefully.

Jesus is also professing to have eternal existence that belongs to God alone. In John 8, his response was, before Abraham was, I am. Jesus, this 30-something year old man standing before these Jewish men, is claiming not simply that he existed before Abraham, but Jesus is inferring a timeless eternal existence. These Jews were not ignorant of this. They would have been well familiar with the Old Testament passages that spoke only of God being eternal.

Isaiah 40, 28, the Lord is everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Psalm 90, verse 2, before the mountains were brought forth or even had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. They knew exactly that eternity Eternity belongs to the great I Am, to God alone.

So they picked up stones to stone Christ. Why? Brothers and sisters, please listen to this. The man who stood before them, Jesus Christ, was claiming to be the eternal God. In their minds, this was blasphemy and worthy of death.

in the beginning was the Word. John clearly is emphasizing the eternal existence of Jesus Christ. This is obvious. But now we need to ask a different question. Why?

Why does John give Jesus the title, the Logos? And Logos is simply the Word that's been translated Word. So Logos is the Greek for Word. Why doesn't he use one of the many obvious titles of Christ, like Son of God, or Son of Man, Messiah, the Righteous One, Lamb of God, or simply Jesus? Why the word?

For starters, we know that for sure the word concept is not unique to Scripture. In fact, most would suggest its origin is in Greek philosophy, maybe as far back as Heraclitus, and he lived, he's a Greek philosopher that lived around 500 years before Christ. In fact, much has been written on the concept of the word, and it comes from Greek thoughts. And to be honest, these writings can be rather complicated and confusing, because as time progressed, philosophers would bring new nuances to the Logos concept. And remember Logos simply means word.

But fundamentally, the Logos was used to refer, hear this, to the rational principle of reason and life source of the universe. This means the Logos was seen to be the world soul or mind that gave the universe life. a comprehensive mind and energy which gives order and harmony to everything else in the world. Now, as I said before, the concept of the Logos is complicated, but I'll give you a way to think simply about this complex term. Just think, according to Greek thought, the Logos is an impersonal force or energy that brings life and meaning to everything we see.

Now, with that in mind, maybe John was thinking a little about Greek philosophy when he used this term of Christ. After all, at the time of writing the Greek culture and philosophy, which was passed down from Alexander the Great, was well alive, was alive and well in this time. And it was very likely even the common folk of this time would have at least a simple understanding of the concept of logos. But I propose that John's usage of logos, or the word, is much more than an appeal to Greek philosophy or Greek thoughts. You see, although this concept can be a point of reference with the Greek thinkers, I think the Greek philosophy alone falls very short of explaining the richness of what John is trying to communicate to his readers.

Sure, there are similarities. For example, it's true that Jesus is the giver of life. John goes on to say this in chapter 6. And it's also true that without him we can't truly make sense of the world we live in or even our own existence. Yes, this agrees with the concept of Logos with the Greek thinkers, but there's a critical difference that I want to make you aware of.

It's really important that we apprehend this point. You see, in Greek thought the Logos is seen as an impersonal and separated from the material and historical world. The Logos was an abstract concept in the mind of a person. Logos is not personal and not intimately involved with his creation. The prologue of John is declaring the exact opposite of this.

Verse 14 in this prologue clearly states, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word, according to John, is not an impersonal force, but a real person. who has shared in our humanity. This is absurd to Greek thinkers for them even to imagine the divine word to become a physical human being and to interact with people is foolishness and devoid of all wisdom. Now let's think about that for a moment.

Honestly, are these philosophers really that strange in their thinking? Now I agree they have a very wrong view of creation life and the order of the universe. I agree. But brothers and sisters, think about it for a moment. How can a simple human mind be brought to comprehend the mysteries found in the first two verses of this book?

John is telling his readers that the God of the whole universe, the one who has no beginning and no end, the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, unchangeable, self-sufficient creator of all things, would become real flesh. Not a vision or a mirage, a real person and dwell among his creatures. This is far-fetched. and unbelievable, not only to the Greeks, but also to the natural man. Now let me ask you this.

How is it that you and I are able to believe these truths? So do you really think that we would come to believe this mind-boggling, incredible reality if it were not for God, by His Holy Spirit, opening our eyes to see and believe these truths? I just hope, I just hope that we will always remind ourselves of the humility of Jesus Christ in the Incarnation. May we never forget what needed to be done for our sins to be forgiven. May the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the grace of God never cease to amaze us.

So I think John had a couple of things in mind when he gave Jesus the title of the Word. You see, despite the philosophical overtones of the concept of the Word, we know even in simple English, Word has a strong meaning. We all use words all the time to communicate. Words are used to express one's thought, to reveal one's mind, to disclose the contents of one's heart. What is inside us cannot be communicated to others with minds, but with words using languages that people can comprehend.

We speak words that people can understand. They express our heart and mind. Has God not done this very thing throughout history? Hasn't God been effective in His revelation and communication with His own people? Yes, He has.

Listen, beloved, God has always revealed Himself through the Word, Jesus Christ. You see, even before any Greek philosopher was born, The Old Testament had already a theology of the Dabar of God, and Dabar just simply means word in Hebrew. The Scripture already had a concept of the revelation of God called the Word of God. And more to the point, I think this is the concept that primarily is on John's mind. This notion is so rich that we couldn't possibly in one morning exhaust it in our study.

In fact, we could not exhaust this concept for eternity. But I will seek to try and demonstrate that the Word of God concept is multifaceted. It represents the speech or voice of God. These are sometimes used as synonyms. But not only that, We are told in the Old Testament that the Word of God has power to create the universe.

Psalm 33 verse 6, By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. We are told also that the Word of the Lord applies judgment in Psalm 29 verses 7 and 8. The Word reveals the will of God. Isaiah 38 verse 4, The Word accomplishes the will of God, Isaiah 55, 11. And the Word saves His people from destruction, Psalm 107, 20.

These five are just a fraction of what's said about the Word of God in the Old Testament. I hope this is all starting to make sense. Can you see now why John would use this title for Jesus Christ? Let's see those five characteristics of the Word of God again, but this time in the New Testament. Number one, the Word of God has power to create.

Colossians 1, 16, 17. For by Him, that's Christ, 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, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. The second, the Word of God will bring judgment. John 5, 22-23, For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. And again in Acts 17, 30 and 31, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent.

because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, hear this, by a man, that's Christ, who he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all, raising him from the dead. The third one, the word of God accomplishes his will perfectly. John 4, 34 says, Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and accomplish His work and again John 6 38 for I have come down from heaven not to do my will But the will of him who sent me for the Word of God reveals the works and the will of God Jesus said in John 14 chapter 20 chapter 14 verse 24 Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words, and the word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me." Jesus not only reveals the will of God, He reveals God Himself. Matthew 11, 27.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, Jesus speaking. And no one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father, hear this, except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. John 14, eight and nine, Philip said to him, to Christ, Lord, show us the Father and it's enough for us. And Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the father. And the fifth point. And finally, the word of God saves his people from destruction. Luke 19 verse 10. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."

John 3, 17. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. And finally in Acts 4, verse 12, And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Beloved, Jesus is and always was the Word of God. It was He who spoke to the prophets of old and revealed the plans and purposes of God.

Jesus is the full communication of the Father. Beloved, do you want to know the mind and the will and the heart of God? Look to Jesus Christ. All that can be known of God is found in Jesus Christ and His words. He's the Alpha and the Omega.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus would call himself the Alpha and Omega? Yes, it does convey that he's the beginning and the end because the Alpha and Omega is the beginning of the Greek alphabet, the first letter and the last letter of the Greek alphabet. But this expression also represents all the letters in between. I believe Jesus is telling us also that he is the full alphabet of God. He is the only way God makes himself known to man, and he is the complete revelation of God.

He is the Word of God. He is the speech of God. He is the communication of God, the revelation and the full interpretation of God. Turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 1. We're reading from verses 1 through 3.

Hebrews. chapter 1 on reading 1 through 3. the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

After making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. It's interesting that in the original text, the pronoun his is not there. It literally reads, but in the last days he has spoken to us by son. Now this sounds a bit strange to us, but do you understand what he's saying here? This is to say that the language God speaks is son language.

What does this mean? Simply this, Jesus is the means of God's revelation. Jesus is the means of God's communication. And hear this beloved, Jesus Christ reveals the attributes and perfections of God to us. When God opens his mouth, he speaks through Christ.

Jesus reveals God to us. If you wish to hear God speak, listen to the words of Jesus. If you wish to see God, look to Christ. If you wish to know God, know Christ. This is profound truth and beloved, we cannot possibly fully comprehend this.

But listen, every attribute essential to the being of God is found in Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side. He has made Him known. Jesus can make God known to us because in Him is the fullness of deity bodily. For in Him is the fullness of deity dwells bodily.

Beloved, This doesn't mean that Jesus reveals some of God or particular attributes of God. No. No. Jesus is the full and final and perfect revelation of God. You know why?

Because He is God. And this is John's point in this verse. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Everything about these two verses highlight the deity of Jesus Christ.

In preaching class at seminary, the professor teaches that in order to communicate well, you need to emphasize the main points from two or three different angles. Make the same point, but say it in a different way. This helps people to remember the main points of your sermon. Well, I have to say, that by the time one reads through the prologue of John, the deity of Christ is either etched in your mind because John says it in so many different ways, or the reader is being dishonest and hardens his or her heart to these obvious truths. But before John makes the clearest, I think, declaration of Jesus being God, I think in the whole Bible he writes the word was with God.

And again, just in case anyone misses the point, he repeats it again at the end of the verse, he was in the beginning with God. Same point said in a different way. My seminary professor would be proud of John. But seriously speaking, we are now entering into deep foundational doctrine that is essential for the Christian faith. In other words, these truths that John describes, they have the power for life and death.

A few weeks ago when we walked through the introduction of this book I mentioned that John had a specific purpose for writing. You remember I took you back to John chapter 20 verses 30 and 31 and it reads like this. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." The believing here is not only in the signs, but what the signs point to, the true Christ of the Bible.

John is stating that unless one believes in the Jesus as He has been revealed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Holy Scripture, then one cannot have eternal life. One cannot be saved. You see, beloved, it's not our perception of Jesus that counts. No, only the Jesus of the Bible, as he is described in all his attributes, is able to save. Jesus of the Bible is to be apprehended and believed.

So let's briefly see that Jesus, the Apostle John, describes for us. Firstly, John tells us that the Word was with God. As I said earlier, the Word was before all created things, and if He was with God before time began, from everlasting to everlasting, then this eternal Word of God, Jesus Himself, is clearly stated in the very next verse, the Word was God. The doctrine of the Trinity states or starts to come into view here. And it's amazing that he brings this doctrine in the very first verse of this book.

John is saying that Jesus is distinct to the Father, but also one with the Father in his divinity. He's categorically denying the idea that Jesus is an impersonal force controlled by the Father, but rather John is stating that the Word is a person who always had personal relationship with the Father. I love how the Greek depicts this verse. It connotes Jesus was face to face with the Father. He delighted in the closest possible fellowship with God the Father.

This point is evident in Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17 when we read these words, and now Jesus speaking, Father glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. From eternity past, Jesus always enjoyed the presence of the Father. Beloved, Scripture tells us that our union with Christ enters us also into this precious personal fellowship with all the members of the Trinity. This is incredible. To be clear, many deny the doctrine of the Trinity, but irrespective, the God of the Bible is both one and three.

The Shema of Israel, as we find it in Deuteronomy chapter 6, confirms and upholds the oneness of God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. God is one in being, yes, but scripture teaches us that God is three in persons. As Christians, we ought to commit to study in order to better understand these deep doctrines of the Trinity. But if you're thinking you'll be able to fully comprehend them, you're going to be sorely mistaken.

The doctrines of the Trinity is to be believed because the Bible teaches it clearly. But the depth of the infinite triune God will always remain a mystery to finite creatures like us. Our little minds cannot comprehend or fully fathom this mystery. But because the Bible teaches it, we must be willing to believe it. Remember, it's not our fabrication of God which saves.

It is the God of the Bible in His fullness and in His mystery who saves. This doesn't in any way take away or detract from our communion with God. As Christians, we are still able to have a genuine rich relationship with God in Christ even though much remains a mystery. In other words, if you find yourself baffled of how God can be one in essence and three in person, that's good sign. It means you're a normal human being with normal human limitations.

But praise be to God who has revealed Himself genuinely in our Savior Jesus Christ. And by the witness of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of Scripture, we believe in the Trinity. The Apostle John doesn't allow for misinterpretation. Just in case his readers don't get his point, he pens the clearest verse, I think, in Scripture to confirm the deity of Christ. The Word was God.

Jesus always was. Jesus is distinct from the Father. Jesus in person, not in essence. Jesus was the eternal fellowship with the Father, and now Jesus is God. By the time we come to this phrase, it's almost a formality.

The previous part of the verse, as we've already seen, can only be true if Jesus is God. But John spells it out in the plainest of words. Anyway, the Word was God. Beloved, it's critical that when we think about our Lord Jesus Christ, we don't confine our thoughts to created things. Many have done this throughout history, but to do this is blasphemous.

This thinking profanes the being of God. Beyond this, it is, Jesus were a mere man. We have no hope for salvation. You see, reconciliation with the Father is only possible through the finished work of Jesus Christ, only if Jesus is God. And me, man, could not do this.

This is why the Jesus of the Jehovah's Witness cannot say. You see, the Jesus of the Jehovah's Witness was the first of created beings. You may ask, how do they explain this passage? Well, they do some strange grammatical things to argue their point without being consistent with the rest of the Bible. The Watchtower Society has a particular Jesus in mind, a Jesus who they've created, and they'll do anything to make the text say what they want it to say.

Now, but their Jesus, their Jesus cannot save. Now they do this, maybe out of ignorance, or maybe out of evil, but it's important that we know that unless Jesus is God, he cannot save. Even if you give prominence to Christ, as they do, but if he's not the eternal God, beloved, he's powerless to save. How, I ask? How, I ask, can a finite creature bear the infinite wrath of a holy God in full?

He can't. It's impossible. This is the reason why sinners go to hell for eternity. The infinite wrath of God can only be satisfied with eternal punishment of a mere person. But Christ is not a mere human.

The passage is clear on the deity of Christ, but this truth resonates throughout the whole Bible. As we journey through the Gospel, we will see that Jesus ascribes on many occasions to himself the attributes and the characteristics that belong only to God. To name a few, Jesus claims, as I said before, the I am title which belongs to God alone in John 8. He is the giver of life, John 6. He is the light of the world, John 8.

He knows the thoughts of the heart, John 2 and John 4. He heals by his own power, John 4 and John 5. He creates food and feeds the crowd, John 6. He raises the dead, John 11. And he even claims to be one with the Father, John 10.

Jesus is God. John, as with all the members or all the authors of the New Testament, announces that Jesus is the eternal God. And beloved, it's important that we believe this, because as I said before, only God is able to satisfy the infinite wrath of God that we deserve. This morning we're here only because Jesus has done exactly that on our behalf. If Jesus is not God, we remain in our sins and the righteous judgment of God remains on us.

But rejoice, because we stand upon the authority of the word of God and declare without any hesitation that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Both are essential for our salvation. And brothers and sisters, these truths are not negotiable. They cannot be. The deity and the humanity of Jesus Christ is a truth that cannot be refuted and it is not up for discussion.

Beloved, this is a hill every one of us should be prepared to die on. Now, do you know what's absolutely wondrous about these truths? The eternal God gave up his heavenly position to become a human like you and I in order to redeem his people by shedding of his own blood and bearing the wrath of God on our behalf so that you and I can have an intimate love relationship with the triune God. In light of these truths, I hope you are all in wonder of this unthinkable depth of humility that Jesus Christ took upon himself in the incarnation. These amazing truths are undoubtedly too incredible to be believed unless God himself opens our eyes and our minds to see the reality of it in all its beauty.

For me, this affirms when Paul says to the Corinthian Christians, the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. May God, by his grace, never allow us to forget the word who became flesh for your sake and mine. as we contemplate the richness of the mystery of the deity of Christ, the trinity and the incarnation may bring us to our knees in humble worship and adoration to our triune God in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, we have salvation. We have peace with God and we have eternal rest only because in the beginning was the word.

And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Amen.