David's Sermons - The Word

Names of the Lord - The Word

Date: 23/02/99
Speaker: David Meiklejohn
Text: Revelation 19 v 11-16, John 1 v 1-14

Revelation 19 v 11-16

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.
His 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.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

The Word of God is perhaps a strange title for Jesus, but think about what a book, in particular an autobiographical book, is:

A revelation of the author to others

Necessarily less than the author

Written to help, encourage, profit, etc.

In a similar way Jesus is:

A revelation of God to us. He is what God showed of himself.

Less than God, in his human form. As we look at him we see a glimpse of God, but only a limited one. He made himself "a little lower than the angels"

Presented to us for a reason. He came to teach, to help, to heal and to save

Let's look at the most prominent text to refer to the Word of God.

John 1 v 1-14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
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:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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.

What is this Word that John speaks of? If we look to verses 15 and 29-30 we see clearly that he speaks of Jesus. Why does he call Jesus the Word? Because he is God's revelation to us, like an autobiography God has written. Jesus doesn't just give us God's message, like the prophets, He is God's message.

Let's have a look at the passage above, and see what we can learn:

v1 - although Jesus is called the only begotten son of God, that doesn't mean He came after God. John tells us that He has always been, that He has a close relationship with the Father ("with God") and He is, in fact, God Himself. Right at the start, John is teaching the unity of the Father and the Son.

v3 - we learn that Jesus is the creator of all things. We read elsewhere that God is the creator, and again this reinforces the idea of the Trinity.

v4 - He is the source of life, both physical and spiritual. He is the only means by which we can have life. He is also the source of light, the revelation of God to man. As well as revealing God to us, the Light also reveals us to ourselves. This is partly why man rejected Him.

v9 - He is the true Light. In the olden days, smugglers used to work on dangerous coastlines. They would shine a light to ships, pretending to be lighthouses. The ships would be guided by this false light and would run aground. We must be careful to follow the true Light, and not one of the many false lights that would shipwreck us.

v11 - Jesus came to His own people, the Jews. If they had accepted Him, He would have set up His kingdom here on earth. But they rejected Him. They chose their own ways rather then His, and refused to take Him as their king.

v12 - He came to His own, but salvation is on offer not just to that select few, but to as many as receive Him. He presents Himself to each one of us individually, and we have the choice to accept or reject Him. If we accept Him as our king, He gives us the authority to call ourselves the sons of God.

v14 - God was made flesh, came as a man, revealed the truth to us, revealed God's glory and God's grace. John was witness to that, and wants to tell everyone he can.

Jesus came as God's message to us. His message is one of judgement, but also of love, of man's sinfulness, but God's grace. His message is one of salvation, to as many as receive Him.