John chapter 1 and beginning at verse number 1 and I want to speak on the eternal existence of Christ. The eternal existence of Christ. The Bible says here in John chapter 1 and in verse number 1 in the beginning In the beginning, somebody said that means baseballs in the Bible, in the big inning. Thank you. 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 anything 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. The theme of the Gospel of John is the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. We see in these opening verses of the Gospel of John a picture of Christ before creation. For with God there is no beginning and no end. So here's a picture of the deity of Christ and a picture of his life before creation, before the world as we know it ever existed. Before there were ever any hills and valleys and trees and rivers. The scriptures teach us that before there was a sun in the sky, Jesus, the Son of God, existed. Before there was a moon to reflect the sun, or for men to go up there and look at, Christ existed. before the stars garnished the heavens. I love going down to the beach in Ocean Springs at night. I don't get to do that as often as I'd like. And to look at the vast expanse and see the stars shining in the sky without the obstruction of trees and buildings and all of that, just to see the garnishing that God has given us. How beautiful and how wonderful. Before a rose ever bloomed, Christ, the Rose of Sharon, existed. He is eternal. We notice in verse number one, in the beginning, in the beginning, This means that when the heavens and earth were created, this means that Jesus already existed, already existed from the beginning before all things. because all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. And since He was in the beginning, this means that He is eternal. He has ever been and He will ever be. Before there was a world as we know the world and we look at a globe and we see all these countries and all of these oceans and rivers In all of that, before there was a world, there was a sun, but not the sun that shines that we see day to day, but the son of God who shines within the heart of the believer. So what does that mean? Well, in John chapter 17 and verse 5, the Bible says, And now, O Father, glorify me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. before there was ever a world. Jesus said, I was there and I've ever been and glorify me. Before anything else existed, Christ was with God. Christ had no beginning. He has no ending. He will never perish. In the beginning, was the word. The word for word in the Greek is the word logos, and we're going to look at that in a minute. And then we have here was is the word ito, which means to personally subsist. Jesus personally subsist. Now, you and I have to have air. You and I have to have blood. You and I subsist only because we have these things. He subsists without all of that. He is able to continue on. Jesus did not come into being or begin to be. He was with God eternally, eternally, for He is an eternal being, not a created being. We saw what eto means, and now we look at the Greek word logos, or word, which means that Christ is the spokesman for God. There's a publishing company called Logos, or Logos. And when you read something, it's speaking to you, and Christ is the spokesman. He speaks for God. He is also the alpha. and the Omega, he is the beginning, he is the ending, he is the alphabet of God. Although he has no ending, he is everything, he is all. Dr. John Bassanio, who was pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas for many years, said this concerning Christ, He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Alpha, the Bread of Life, the Christ, the Deliverer. the everlasting Father, the faithful and the true, the gift of God, the healer, Emmanuel, the Lord of Lords, the Messiah, the name above every name, the omnipotent God, our Passover lamb, the quickness of the dead, the resurrection, the Savior of the world, the truth, the unspeakable gift. And because of the unspeakable gift, we have joy unspeakable. Full of glory. He's the vibe. He's the way. He is the express image of God. He's yesterday. He's today. And forever the same. unchanging. He is Zion's hope. He is the hope of Israel. Jesus Christ is God. Do you believe that? He's God. In John chapter 1, not only do we read in the beginning was the Word, but it says that the Word was with God. which means that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, existed in perfect harmony and fellowship with God the Father from all eternity. The Word was present before the beginning as we know it. Proverbs chapter 8. Verses 27 through 36 says this When he prepared the heavens This is Jesus speaking when he prepared the heavens speaking of God the Father I Was there when he set a compass upon the face of the death. I When He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree that the water should not pass His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth, then was I by Him. as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him." What a great passage! How marvelous our God is! We read that the Word was God, not a God. I was some years ago down in the islands with the missionary Sentoma Jaggernaut. And on that island, they worship different gods, different gods. And they have god houses. And they will put their gods in a box. And they'll worship those gods. And I remember preaching there on the island. And a woman who had grown up worshiping gods as a Hindu heard the gospel, the Lord quickened her heart, and she believed on the Lord Jesus as Savior. Trusting the Lord Jesus when she came forward, I said, Dolly, I had talked to her before, I said, Dolly, you know what I've been preaching. that there's one God in two persons, in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And she says, I know my God house must go. She did away with her God house and is still worshiping the God of heaven because of belief in what Christ did. When you support missions, That's what you're doing. You're helping people to be set free, amen? Set free from the so-called gods of this world who entangle people in sin. Jesus is the only one through the Holy Spirit who can reveal God unto us. He's the revealer. of God. Arthur Pink said that Christ is not only the revealer of God, but God Himself revealed. He's the revealer, but He is God Himself revealed. In verse 2, it says, and the same was in the beginning with God. Once again, the Holy Spirit of God expresses the deity of Christ and the eternality of Christ and the personal pre-existence of Christ. Jesus Christ was in the beginning. He did not begin, He was and is and evermore shall be. He subsisted before time even began. How marvelous, how wonderful. is, not was, but he is eternally God and eternally was he with God. In verse 3 it says, all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. Creation is ascribed to Christ. And think of this, and none but God can create something out of nothing. He created it all. He created it. How did he do that? By his word. By his word. One thing after another, came into being. 1 Corinthians, or excuse me, Colossians. Let's look at Colossians. Colossians 1 and verses 16 and 17. Colossians 1 and verse number 16, the scripture says, for by Him all things were created. Colossians 1.16, for by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. And He is, and I love this, He is what? He is before all things. He is before all things and by Him, all things consist. You're here because of Him. I'm here because of Him. And then in verses 4 and 5 of John chapter 1, it says, and in him was life, and the life was a light of men, and the light shineth in darkness. And the darkness comprehended it not. Jesus Christ is the life giver. He is the life giver. He is the life and He is the light. But He's the life giver. This is just one of the wonderful attributes of our Savior. He is the giver of life. In Him was life and is life. Jesus is the stream from which life flows. 1 John 5 says, and this is the record. I like going to archives. I like going to the library. I like studying genealogy. I like all of those different things. I like records. And this is the record. What is this record? What is this record that we are talking about? It is a recorded Word of God, and this is the record that God has given to us eternal life! If you are going to have eternal life, you get it from Jesus Christ! And the Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. You say, don't I have to do something else? No. You believe that Christ is the Son of God who died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That's what you must do, is believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. the Son of God. Why must you believe? Well, because man is dead. Spiritually, man is dead. We died in Adam. In Adam, all men sinned and died spiritually in Adam. So we must go to the life giver if we're going to have life. Ephesians 2.1 says, speaking of the believer, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. What does that mean? What does it mean? It means that you were dead and He made you alive. And you have been quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sin. I went to one of my cousins' house the other day, and he had been a Josephite Mormon as I had been, and I gave him a copy of a book that I had written, and he said, I'm glad that you mentioned in there that you used to be. in the Reorganized Church of the Latter-day Saints of the Latter-days, Independence, Missouri. But now I'm a Christian, and I'm a Baptist by conviction. Amen? I never did really understand why I would want my own planet, nor several different wives. One's enough. for many reasons, good reasons. She's here, so very good reasons. He holds it all together, doesn't He? It's in Him that we have life. He's given us eternal life, and this life comes because Christ gave His life's blood for us. You cannot have spiritual life by doing good things. That's what frustrated me about religion. You've got to do good, you've got to do good. My grandma Goff, who was a Mormon, she would tell me, and I was bad. There's none righteous, no not one. For all have sinned, I was bad, so were you, and were you, amen? We're all sinners by nature. But she would say, if you don't be good, Lula's gonna get you. I had a grandmother who was pretty, a great grandmother, Lula. But she was talking about the devil. She was saying, the devil's gonna get you. You'll be in bed one night, the devil's gonna get you. Scared me. Woo. But the devil can't have me. Now he can tempt, he can still come around. But you can tell him to hit the road, Jack, don't you come, oh, I shouldn't be singing that. None of y'all know that, never heard. But anyway, we've got victory in Jesus, amen! Salvation by grace, through faith, and not out of ourselves. Because He's quickened us, He's given us life, and you have to be quickened who are dead in trespasses and sins. You see, spiritual life is in a person. The life of the flesh is in the blood thereof. And the life spiritually is in the blood of Christ thereof. To be saved, you don't trust in a church. You don't trust in a church. You don't trust in a religion. You trust in Christ. We trust in the one who took our place, the person of Christ. Bible says he that believeth on the Son hath life We have life because we believe on the Son of God And Jesus Christ is the light and the light shineth in darkness I'm so glad That the light shined in the darkness of my heart and illuminated me that I might see the truth of salvation by grace through faith. That's what verse 5 says in John chapter 1. And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. That light penetrates the deepest darkness. But then we also know that men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds are evil. But that light can penetrate the darkness of your heart. It penetrated the darkness of my heart. And through the centuries, evil forces have tried to snuff out that light. But that light shines in darkness. That light continues to shine. It shines now. That light keeps on shining and shining and shining in this world. Continues to shine and will continue to shine. Matthew 11, 11 says, Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen greater than John the Baptist. Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. How do you get in this kingdom? You gotta have the light! John was great, yes. He was a great man. But friends, he's not the light. Jesus is the light. Do you see what I'm saying today? What is the gospel? The gospel is how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. and how that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. He was buried. He died. He was buried. But he rose again. The tomb is empty. He's not there. For he is risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay. But he's not there. Amen. He's not there. He's not there. He is your hope today. is your help today. Let's stand together. Our musicians will come, musician will come, and our song leader.