The Godhead Pt. 7 The Word May 7, 2014

We’re in a study on the Godhead and our main verse is First John 5:7—“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” We know from the context that they bear record that we’ve overcome the world and that we have eternal life. We’ve seen over the past several weeks how the Holy Spirit is involved in this and how He gives life and keeps us until the last day. We’ve also seen that the Father is called that because of His part in giving the inheritance to His Son and all His children. Now we’re going to turn to the third Witness and look at the one called the Word. None of the Witnesses are simple, but the Word is unique. We’re going to see that He exists as both God and Man. He is called the Word, but He is also called the Son. He is God, and yet He is the man Jesus Christ. He is omnipotent and yet He submitted to death at the hands of men. He is omnipresent and yet He confined Himself to a body within the nation of Israel. He is special and unique. The first question we want to answer is why is He called the Word? He’s called that here in First John, but I can think of at least three other places that use the same name. Let’s look at the first two:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God (Jn. 1:1-2).

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God (Rev. 19:11-13).

The Greek word for “Word” is λόγος (logos) and it does mean “word.” In the Liddell and Scott lexicon you’ll find a definition saying this word means “that by which the inward thought is expressed.”1 Words are the basis of communication

1 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=logos&la=greek#lexicon

and the expression of thoughts. We have an English word that comes from this Greek word. A “logo” is a “symbol representing graphically a product, idea, etc.”2 God is a Spirit, so He has no known form other than Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who reveals God to us. How does the Word reveal God? First of all, He is the image of God:

[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: […] 19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell (Col 1:15; 19).

In Christ “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9)

[Christ] is the image of God (II Cor. 4:4).

Second, being God’s image He took on the form of a servant:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:5-8).

The word for “form” is μορφή (morphe) and it means “shape” or outward appearance.3 He was in the shape of God but instead took on the shape of man. He was the outward appearance of God but instead took on the outward appearance of man. Go back to John and see the third place where the name Word is used:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14). The word for “made” is ἐγένετο (egeneto). It means to come into a new state of being.4 When applied to Christ we understand the Word was not made or created but that He went from being in the form of God to being in the form of a servant. It’s important to understand this because we read that Jesus Christ (who is the

2 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=logogram&allowed_in_frame=0

3 http://biblehub.com/greek/3444.htm

4 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=egeneto&la=greek#lexicon

image of God) is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). Jesus Christ was “with” God in the beginning. So to say He was “made” flesh doesn’t indicate that He was created but rather that He changed form. He went from the form of God to the form of man and dwelt among us. So, the third Witness is called the Word because He is the visible representation of the invisible God. This is accomplished in His body in which all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. Now let’s summarize and make a few observations about this third Witness: Observations about the Word: #1- The Word exists in two forms with one nature: He is both God and Man. These are inseparable, but as the Word He is God and as the Son He is Man. This is important because as God He is worthy of worship and able to defeat the last enemy. As Man He is able to stand in our place and purchase our redemption with His blood. #2- The Word was pre-existent. In other words He wasn’t created and He didn’t have His beginning at the incarnation. He was “with God” in the beginning, He is the Creator of all things, and He is all over the Old Testament. Sometimes people are surprised to hear that Jesus lived then, but remember what He told the Pharisees: “Before Abraham was, I AM” (Jn. 8:58). The “I AM” refers to Moses and the burning bush. In other words, before Moses and Abraham existed Jesus was there. He was the one in the burning bush. Think also of the three men in the furnace. When the king saw them walking around he said, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Dan. 3:25). He wrestled with Jacob (Gen. 32:30; Jn. 1:18), He talked with Joshua (Josh. 5:13-15), He ate with Abraham (Gen. 18:8), and there are lots and lots of other examples in the Old Testament that refer to the angel of the Lord or some divine being visiting men. No man has seen the Father, but Christ is His image who has always existed. This is important because it helps us understand the Old Testament, it proves that people back then weren’t saved in a different way, it shows that the Old Covenant was always about Christ and that the types and shadows point toward Him, and it glorifies Him because we see His work throughout all of history.

#3- The Word is the only means of knowing the Father. When Jesus came He explicitly said that no one knows the Father or can even come to Him unless they come by Him (Mt. 11:27; Jn. 14:6). The reason why is because God can’t be approached; the spiritual can’t be apprehended by the physical. As Job says, “The Almighty is beyond our reach” (Job 37:23). But the Word is the connection between God and men: “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Jn. 1:18). The reason this is important is obvious: “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Jn. 17:3). We’ll stop here for now and when we come back to this study, Lord willing, we’ll ask: What is His part in the covenant? Until then we join with the rest of the saints in saying, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” newgracebaptistchurch.wordpress.com