Jesus Christ – The Word Dwelling Among Us
Pastor Tan Thai · Mar 2, 2014
This sermon explores the title 'the Word' (Logos) given to Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John, affirming that He is God from eternity who became flesh to reveal God's love and plan of salvation. The seven miracles in John's Gospel are presented as signs pointing to the identity and power of the Word, leading listeners to faith and eternal life.
The sermon opens by introducing the unique background of the Gospel of John compared to the three Synoptic Gospels. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke share up to 90% of their content, about 90% of John's content is entirely independent. Rather than beginning with a genealogy or birth narrative, John begins with Christ's pre-eternal existence before creation.
The title 'the Word' (Logos) is analyzed through four aspects in John 1:1-3: Christ's pre-eternal existence, His distinct personhood within the Trinity, His divine nature as God, and His creative power over all things. Colossians 1:15-17 is cited to further confirm these truths. Through the title 'the Word,' God chose the most fitting means to reveal His will, love, and plan of salvation to humanity—not through the silent grandeur of nature or the diversity of living creatures, but through Scripture and through Jesus Christ Himself.
The seven 'I Am' declarations of Jesus in John's Gospel are presented in detail: I am the Bread of Life (6:35), I am the Light of the World (8:12), I am the Door (10:9), I am the Good Shepherd (10:11), I am the Resurrection and the Life (11:25), I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (14:6), and I am the True Vine (15:1). These declarations connect to God's self-revelation as 'I AM WHO I AM' to Moses in Exodus 3:13-14, clearly affirming the divinity of Jesus before His Jewish audience.
The seven miracles in John's Gospel are presented as 'signs' with deep theological meaning: turning water into wine (a new beginning), healing the sick (restorative power), feeding the five thousand (the Bread of Life), walking on water (sovereignty over nature), healing the man born blind (spiritual sight and light), and raising Lazarus from the dead (resurrection and life). Each miracle points to the identity and work of the Word, but the sermon emphasizes that miracles are not the means of salvation—salvation comes only through Christ's suffering and death on the cross.
The sermon concludes with three essential stages: know, believe, live. The purpose of the miracles recorded in John is that readers may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by trusting in His name they may have eternal life (John 20:30-31). Witness leads to faith, and faith leads to life—this is the pathway of salvation that the Gospel of John conveys to both believers and those who are still seeking.