Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Introduction:

Who are you?

What is your identity?

How would you answer if someone asked you that question?

To better understand that question, we need to look at the definition of identity.

Look with me at how the Webster’s dictionary defines “identity.”

Definition of identity

1a : the distinguishing character or personality of an individual : individuality b : the relation established by psychological identification 2 : the condition of being the same with something described or asserted establish the identity of stolen goods 3a : sameness of essential or generic character in different instances b : sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing : oneness 4 : an equation that is satisfied for all values of the symbols 5 : identity element

1a : the distinguishing character or personality of an individual : individuality b : the relation established by psychological identification 2 : the condition of being the same with something described or asserted establish the identity of stolen goods 3a : sameness of essential or generic character in different instances b : sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing : oneness 4 : an equation that is satisfied for all values of the symbols 5 : identity element

Now think for a moment what your answer might be if someone asked you this question.

Identity-see pictures Think a moment what your answer might be.

A movie came out this past year that addressed this question.

Watch with me their discussion on the subject.

Who am I?, part 1 video clip (2:54)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgqaGu9KlDwC

If God is Lord of our life, He is number one in our life.

He is what defines us.

That should be our number one identity and it should

If Jesus is Lord of your life, He is to be number one in your life.

That should be your first identification and that identification should influence all other identifications.

But if we are to identify with Christ, we have to have some perspective of who He is.

We have just come through the seasons of Advent and Christmas.

Tomorrow is the Day of Epiphany and it begins the season of Epiphany.

So look with me at the definition of “epiphany” a moment.

Definition of epiphany

1 capitalized : January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ 2 : an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being 3a(1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure b : a revealing scene or moment

What are the stories of the Magi’s coming and the Baptism of Jesus epiphanal moments?

Because they were events that suddenly made clear who Jesus was; God’s Son.

However, He is even more than that as we will see today.

January 6 begins the season of Epiphany.

The season continues until Ash Wednesday at which point we begin the season of Lent.

the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi ().

the festival commemorating the Epiphany on January 6.a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being.a

moment of sudden revelation or insight.

noun

noun: Epiphany; noun: epiphany; plural noun: epiphanies

the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi ().

the festival commemorating the Epiphany on January 6.a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being.

We have just come through Christmas where we have celebrated the birth of Jesus and we have seen the uproar it caused; some rejoiced, some ignored and some reacted violently to it.

So who was this king baby born in such a humble way.

It seems fitting to spend the season of epiphany exploring that subject.

Although all the gospel writers declared who Jesus is, the one who was most graphic was John.

They each wrote with a different group of people in mind and a different focus.

Matthew wrote for the Jews and focused on Jesus fulfillment of prophecy showing He was the foretold Messiah and King.

Mark wrote for the benefit of the Romans giving emphasis to the servant Jesus.

Luke wrote for the Greeks placing his emphasis on the sympathetic Son of Man.

However, John wrote to Jews and Gentiles presenting Jesus as the Son of God.

Throughout John’s gospel he focuses on seven “I Am” statements that Jesus made and those will be what will explore of the next seven weeks.

However, today we will look at John’s introduction which is a beautiful thesis declaring Jesus deity.

John 1:1-18

Pray

I. Who is Jesus?

John knows it is essentially for everyone to understand who Jesus is.

John declares his purpose in his writings in .

If we are to be saved; if we are to have life in Jesus name, we have to know who Jesus is.

So John boldly declares it first thing in his gospel...

John boldly declares it first thing in his gospel...

A. Jesus is eternal God (vv 1-2, 14)

This is one of the most profound references to the relationship of the Trinity.

If you have never heard the teachings of the Trinity before, I will do my best to describe it for you, though no one fully understand it.

By very nature it is alien to us, but the truth is that the concept of God is foreign to us.

We have no idea really, of who exactly God is.

The idea of the Trinity is best understood through tradition of those who interacted the most with God.

People like Moses and the disciples who spent time at the feet of Jesus listening to His teachings.

It is the idea that God is one, yet presents in three unique beings; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Often an illustration is used of an egg.

You have one egg, but three parts; shell, whites, and yoke.

But we do not describe an egg as three, but as one.

Now this is not a perfect illustration as it is an item, not a person.

But as we look into these first few verses of John we see this unity and association between Jesus Christ and God the Father.

First, John points to Jesus as...

1. Jesus is pre-existent, eternal God (v 1)

John begins with “In the beginning...” taking our mind back to .

He says “In the beginning was the Word.”

Word is capitalized designating it a name.

The word used here is “Logos” and it is a brilliant beginning.

The word “logos” was familiar to both the Jews and the Greeks.

For the Jews, it reflected their wisdom and prophetic writings.

For the Greeks, it was an important word as they were very philosophic in their thinking.

They were always seeking the meaning of life, and the word “logos” meant “speaking, a message, or words.”

It is the word for which we get our word “logic.”

For the Greeks, they were on a quest for logic, or “the purpose of life.”

They loved to read, discuss and philosophize on the subject.

So this word “logos” would instantly grab their attention.

And John does so as he declares that “the Logos” is a person, but even more than that, pre-existent and eternal God.

The beginning John is talking about is so easily understood by his wording to be the creation of all things.

We have no concept of that and what we often think is very wrong.

I am going to demonstrate it as best I can with our ppt.

We have this idea that God is an entity that was floating alone in space.

However, that is incorrect.

There was no space.

There was no atmosphere.

There was no time.

There was God as demonstrated by the 2nd slide.

But next we see that God was not alone because

2. Jesus is eternally in community with God (v 1)

Eternally in community with God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.”

There is this continual sense of community between Jesus and God and in other places we see that the Holy Spirit is also part of this Holy union.