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A Sermon on John 1:18

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I had the privilege of preaching this sermon to my local church family on Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Like Father, Like Son

John 1:18

I would like to start off by thanking those who serve us by taking care of our children on Sundays and Wednesdays. Those who have spent any time with my son Benjamin actually have a lot of insight into my personality, even if they don’t know me very well. Here’s a concrete example of how to know Ben is to know me. Last month I took him on a daddy-date to a monster truck show in Minneapolis for His fourth birthday. He absolutely loved it, but if you were with us you might have been hard-pressed to discern that. When I took him to his seat, the trucks were already “warming up” and were making a lot of noise. He managed to remain almost motionless – possibly even without blinking His eyes – even as I unbundled him from his winter gear and put his earplugs in. As I repeatedly shouted questions and explanations to Him, I realized that He was engrossed in the monster truck world as He sat completely stone-faced. A few minutes later he started shaking and complained that he was cold. I think he had so much stimulation that his little body was overrun with adrenaline. So what does this show you about me? Well, you might be shocked to find out that I love monster trucks so much that the mere mention of seeing them makes me shake with uncontrollable excitement. No, I’m kidding, but if I did like monster trucks I wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it. Just like Ben, when I get really excited I don’t shout or jump around. Instead I get still and usually sport a large grin. But if you know me, you’ll definitely know when I’m excited. When pastor Bob sees my still, wide smile, he usually feels compelled to explain my excitement to others by saying (and this is a direct quote) “that’s Dave psyched out of his gourd!”

Another example of how parents are often reflected in their children comes from my pre-marital counseling. My pastor turned to Sherry and said something like, “look at David’s dad – that’s who you’re marrying, in a manner of speaking. Are you OK with that?” Likewise, he said “look at Sherry’s mom – that’s who you’re marrying.” After almost 13 years of marriage we can both see how much wisdom was in that statement. It’s hard to admit how much like our parents we can really be, but it’s true.

The Phrase “Like Father, Like Son”

The phrase “like father, like son” has ancient roots. In fact, it is an idea as old as humanity itself since God designed the process of genetics by which we pass on many characteristics of our bodies and personalities to our children. And it’s that fundamental likeness among family members that God uses as an illustration for His own relationship with His Son, which we are going to explore today. The single verse we will focus on today is John 1:18. Let’s turn there and read.

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

The idea in John 1:18 that Jesus explains the Father is not simple. Even though John is perhaps the most linguistically simple gospel, it is the most theologically rich and complex. So I’m asking you to dive into a complex verse at the end of a theologically dense portion of a book we haven’t been preaching through recently. That means we’ve got a little bit of groundwork to do to help us get ready to think properly about John’s metaphors and ideas.

The book of John is called a “gospel” because John is concerned with telling the story of the good news of Jesus, the Savior of humanity. John is one of the few books to make his purpose in writing explicit, as we see in chapter 20:31, which says “these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” His great aim is to present who Jesus is that His readers might believe in Him and find both spiritual and physical life in Him. The book of John is not only evangelistic but apologetic in that it seeks to convince us of Jesus’ true nature as divine, as the “Son of God.” We see this right from the start in what’s called the prologue, in verses 1-18.

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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

This prologue presents, at a dizzying pace, the titles and analogies that John uses throughout the rest of the book to explain who Jesus is. In fact, you could even look at this section as a template for the rest of the book. Verse 18 is the culmination or summary of this theological prologue, the goal He has been working towards. You could almost say that the rest of John is an expansion of 1:18. If you understand this verse you have gone a long way to understanding the book of John. So let’s dig in and unpack this verse, paying particular attention to the last phrase.

No One Has Seen God at Any Time

First, John says “no one has seen God at any time.” He’s is probably referring to the encounter which Moses had with God in Exodus 33-34. [ Summarize briefly the story – Moses asked to see God’s glory and God allowed Him to see His back. ] When God passed by Moses, He proclaimed His nature, using the phrase “abounding in lovingkindness and truth.” Notice the similarity in language to verse 17 where it says “the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” You see the phrase “grace and truth?” The words are the Greek approximation of the Hebrew words “lovingkindness and truth.”

In the Exodus encounter, God told Moses that he could not see God’s face, “for no man can see [God] and live.” Why can no one see God directly? Not only is He a Spirit who does not possess a body or dwell in the confines of space or time, but even when He takes on a form that we can see, like when He revealed Himself to Moses, He is holy and utterly set apart from creation. 1 Timothy 6:16 says that God “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.” God is so holy that even the angels cannot look directly at him. That is why the angels surrounding God’s throne in Isaiah’s vision use two hands to shield their faces. So we have a dilemma. How is it that a holy, invisible God, can reveal Himself to sinful creatures? John moves immediately to answer that question. Someone came bearing the unique likeness of God and has demonstrated His character and nature to us.

The Only Begotten God

The next phrase is “the only begotten God.” John is now clearly referring to the eternal Son of God, who is Himself very God. In verse 14 he introduces this interesting term, translated “begotten.” There John describes Jesus as “the only begotten from the Father.” We also know this word from the more famous passage – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Most of us don’t use the word begat or begotten in everyday life. We don’t say “did you hear the news that Frank and Susan begat a son?” And even if we were to use it that way to refer to our own children, it might lead us to believe the heresy that Jesus was actually created by God or born, as it were, by God as His literal child. The Greek word behind “begotten” is a compound term. The first part signifies uniqueness – the fact that Jesus is the one and only. One and only what? The second part of the word can be translated “kin” or “kind” in addition to “offspring.” Using John’s term of “Son,” we could call Jesus the unique, one and only Son of God. But in verse 13 John calls redeemed humans “children of God.” Even though humans can be “sons,” only Jesus is the son, the son par excellence, the son who is the perfect and complete image of His father, a son like no other, having no beginning and existing with His father in this unique relationship from all eternity.

Who is in the Bosom of the Father

Let’s move on to the phrase “who is in the bosom of the Father.” Here’s another term we don’t hear too often anymore. Perhaps the last time I heard the word “bosom” used in mass culture was in the title of a ridiculous 80s show called “Bosom Buddies” which was just wrong on so many levels. For many of us it has an almost junior high-ish, snickering kind of connotation. But it is a term of endearment, and we can see that illustrated for us in John 13:23 at the Lord’s supper. John says that “there was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.” The Jews wouldn’t sit at a table for the Passover dinner– they would recline on their left side, propping themselves up with their left hand and eating with their right. Imagine 13 guys lying in this way in a circle. To Jesus’ right was John, and if Jesus wanted to tell John something John could simply lean back and Jesus could whisper it into His ear.

For Jesus to be “in the bosom of the Father” means that Jesus has occupied this place of love, intimacy, honor, and communion with God from all eternity. And it’s that unique place at the Father’s table that gives Jesus the knowledge of the Father which He shares with humanity. The picture of Jesus reclining on the bosom of the Father may also be a direct contrast to Moses only being allowed to see the “back” of God. While Moses could not know full intimacy with the holy God, Jesus does, and is the only one who can offer that intimacy to us. Through Jesus we can see not only the “back” of God but also lie on His bosom and see Him face to face. It is this intimacy which Jesus has with the Father that is the basis for the last phrase of verse 18.

He Has Explained Him

Look at the phrase “He has explained Him.” The ESV translates the verb as “made Him known” while the King James uses “declared.” It is the word from which we get the term “exegesis.” This word can not only be understood as interpreting or explaining, but also as “narrating” or “telling the story of.” So John is saying that Jesus explains the unseen God, as it were, verse by verse. This is the great cavern of truth that John has worked towards and which He will spend the rest of the book exploring.

If someone were to ask you in a casual conversation, “how does Jesus explain or reveal the unseen God?” could you answer him? I think this is a pretty hard concept to grasp, and I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 6 months studying and thinking about this very question. In fact, I have been working on a project with a pastor friend of mine that is, in part, designed to set the answer to this question to song. We have been writing hymns on God’s attributes, with each hymn having three stanzas. The first stanza teaches what the attribute means, the second shows how it was demonstrated in the person and work of Jesus, and the third applies it to our every day life. I want to park on this last phrase of verse 18 for the rest of our time and take you through a few of our hymn texts and several passages of Scripture to show you how Jesus explains the Father’s nature, point by point.

Both Jesus’ person and work demonstrate the character of God. Put another way, both His life and death show us what God is like. We began the second stanza of each hymn with the phrase “the Lord has” and moved on to explore some objective reality that God has accomplished through Jesus’ life or death that demonstrates His character. As we spent hour after hour together, moving systematically through all of the attributes of God, we were amazed and blessed to see, again and again, every facet of His character demonstrated uniquely at the cross. We talk about the gospel a lot here at Redeemer, and for good reason – it is the perfect window into the character of God. If we want to know the true and living God more deeply, we should mine Calvary’s mountain.

My goal in demonstrating God’s character in the person and work of Jesus is two-fold. First, that those of you who have come to know Jesus and God the Father through Him, would treasure Him even more. And second, that those of you who do not know Him would be convinced of His deity and bow the knee to Him as Lord, finding new life in Him.

The hymn project forced me to study and express 15 different ways the cross demonstrates God's character, but this morning we only have time to look at 5. So let’s look together at how the cross demonstrates five of God's attributes: His holiness, righteousness, patience, grace, and love.

God’s Holiness

Let’s first tackle holiness. How does Jesus reveal the holiness of God? Let me start by quoting our hymn stanza:

The Lord has welcomed sinful man into His sacred presence
By sending Christ, the Lamb of God, to bear His holy vengeance.
Through faith the Lord applies this perfect sacrifice.
The Spirit now ensures His people are made pure
That they might bring Him glory.

The first way that the cross reveals the holiness of God is that it is the way God made for sinful people to come into His holy presence. Like John said, “no one has seen God” nor can anyone stand in His presence. But God did something through His Son that enabled Him to open the doorway to His presence and extend His welcoming arms to us. He did this by sending Jesus to die as a sacrifice for sins and pay the punishment of God’s perfect vengeance for all those who would believe in Him. Not only did Jesus bear the punishment God’s holiness requires, but He Himself is the Holy One, the perfect Lamb of God. He never sinned in thought, word, or deed, and due to His unique nature as the Son of God is set apart from the rest of creation.

God’s Righteousness

Next, Jesus and His work on the cross demonstrate God’s righteousness. This was perhaps the most rewarding attribute to work on for me personally. Before sharing our hymn stanza with you, we should look at the single passage that most significantly informed our lyrics, Romans 3. Look to verses 25 and 26.

God displayed [Jesus] publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God put Jesus on display to the world in His crucifixion. What was God demonstrating? Think about God’s justice for a minute. If our sin is really as bad as the Bible says, that we offend an infinitely holy, worthy, and beautiful God and deserve torment in hell, doesn’t it seem odd that we never see that punishment here and now? Imagine if a group of Americans allied themselves with Al Qaeda and failed in a plot to murder the president? Can you imagine the outcry that would happen if the judge in the case threw out the charges? What would that say about how much the judge honors the name and office of the president? Well, since God doesn’t give people what they deserve when they sin it would be easy to conclude that He doesn’t care about His name being disgraced. But God did something to prove to all mankind, beyond the shadow of a doubt, just how much he hates sin and will not leave even one transgression unpunished. He gave His own beloved Son up to be tortured and to bear the full weight of His wrath that Jesus might take the sentence for all those who put their trust in Him. Through His sacrifice God demonstrates that He is just, that is, that He punishes sin as severely as it deserves, and that He is the justifier, or the one who legally excuses, sinners who trust in Jesus as their substitute.

With that in mind, listen to how we put these great truths to verse:

The Lord has shown Himself as both the Just and Justifier:
The Christ has died to satisfy what Justice did require.
The guiltless One was slain for guilty sinners' gain-
Through faith His work is theirs, the righteous Judge declares;
And none can stand against them.

God’s Patience

Let’s move on to patience. To see how the cross demonstrates God’s patience we need look no further than the passage we just consulted, Romans 3:25. We just read that God “passed over the sins previously committed.” That’s getting at God’s patience. Despite being constantly provoked, God keeps patiently waiting, restraining Himself from lashing out in anger. Instead he stored up a bank balance, as it were, of sins mankind committed before Jesus’ death. Think of the millions of people who lived and died, each committing millions of sins. Each offense should have justly roused God’s anger, yet He waits … He waits … He waits. We struggle to be patient at the checkout line at Target where no one is out to get us (at least not usually). Imagine if you had someone in your life who continually, and I mean continually, attempted to dishonor, disgrace, harm, make fun of, take advantage of, or even kill you! Isn’t God’s patience amazing?!

Here is how we expressed God’s patience demonstrated at the cross:

The Lord has patiently endured, delaying condemnation
To show His justice when the Son made full propitiation.
The Holy One endured man's scorn in deed and word;
His patience with our sin leads us to turn to Him
And find Him gently waiting.

God’s Grace

Moving on, the fourth attribute of God that Jesus demonstrates is His grace. Remember that grace is being treated well despite deserving exactly the opposite. It’s when a person who deserves punishment instead is lavished with acceptance and blessing. You could also think of it as being “let into a place you don’t deserve.” Not only do we not get what we deserve in the gospel, but so does Jesus. It’s just that Jesus gets treated like scum despite being royalty. He is cast out of the place He deserves when He is abandoned by His father on the cross and loses, for a time, His place at the Father’s bosom. Here’s how we put it:

The Lord has shown His grace to those who come by faith to Jesus;
Despite our sin we know his love, for through His Son He sees us.
The wrath for us reserved Christ bore, though undeserved,
That we, whom hell should know, might live, His grace to show
To all in earth and heaven.

God’s Love
Lastly, the cross is the clearest place we see God’s amazing love. Romans 5:8 says that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 John 4:10 is also pretty clear: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” And if we step back into eternity past, we see the love of God expressed in election. Just as God chose Abraham out of all the people of the earth to set His love and covenant on, He chooses people based on the kind intention of His will and covenants to love them faithfully forever. And He loves them knowing full well that they would reject and despise the gift of His Son. And let’s not forget the goal of the gospel, that God would make Son-lovers out of Son-haters, turning people into worshippers of His Son who will honor Him and bring Him glory forever. Here is our stanza:

The Lord has shown His saving love to those of His own choosing
Who would reject His only Son, His gift of love refusing.
To Him the Father gave a people He would save,
That they might find in Christ ineffable delights;
Forever we will love Him.

Applications

Let me leave you with three applications of John 1:18 and the fact that Jesus perfectly reveals God’s character to us.

First, consider that Jesus is the only way to know the Father. God has perfectly revealed Himself through Jesus and only Jesus. There is no other way to know the true God and to be right with Him. John 14:6 says that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Are you trusting in this One Way today? If not, what is holding you back? Why not let go of the load of doubt, guilt, shame, or pride that you’re holding on to and run into His patient, loving arms?

Second, if you want to know God better, you only have one starting place – the cross. There are millions of theological rabbit trails we can run if we study the Scriptures without starting and ending at the cross. As Jesus says to the Bible experts in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” You can be faithful to a Bible reading schedule, read complicated commentaries, or take Bible study classes, and still remain relatively shallow in your knowledge and experience of God. Remember to meditate long and hard on what happened at the cross and seek to view your daily life and struggles through the lens of the gospel. That’s why we talk about living the gospel or preaching the gospel to ourselves so much!

Third and last, in every passage of Scripture that you read, listen to, study, or preach, look for Jesus. Since Jesus is the exact representation of the Father’s nature, as you read about God in the Old Testament you’re learning something about Jesus. You who attend Redeemer regularly may forget how blessed you really are to hear Christ-centered messages each week. When I hear sermons that don’t give me Jesus I feel a sense of disappointment, like following the signs for Wall Drug throughout the Midwest, only to find that the store doesn’t exist any longer. A preacher doesn’t have to be eloquent, have the tightest arguments, or have amazing rhetoric abilities (or I wouldn’t be up here!). What God’s people want and need more than anything is Jesus. And the only thing that will bring people to saving faith is Jesus. The apostle John believed this—that’s why he gave is life to defend and preach this Jesus, the perfect picture of the unseen God. His desire was the same as mine, that you might believe in Him, and that by believing you might have life in His name.

If you have tuned much of this message out, let me leave you by impressing upon you your greatest need. Your greatest need is not financial security, a spouse, to have a baby, to have freedom, to get that job or promotion… your greatest need is to know God and be known by Him. And how do you know God? Through the person and work of Jesus, the one and only Son of God who perfectly explains Him to us. Whether you are a Christian or not, I urge you to seek God while He may be found and to start at the cross, for every other starting place will only lead you to a false god of your own making and to emptiness and misery. And God has promised that those who seek Him through Jesus will find Him! What a wonderful promise. May God be glorified as we seek to know and love Him through the gospel.

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