Join us now for the chapel hour, coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University. Our speaker today is the late Chancellor of BJU, Dr. Bob Jones, Jr. His message was originally preached on December 26, 1993. The title of his message is, The Word Was Made Flesh. The text is from John chapter 1, verses 1 through 14. The message of the morning will be preached by Dr. Bob Jones. The Scripture portion in preparation for that message is found in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, John chapter 1. Reading John 1, verses 1 through 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 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. 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 was born not of blood, nor of the will of 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. The Lord will add His blessing to this reading of His Word. This is a bad time of the year for me. I don't know how it is for you. The thrill of Christmas is past, and the excitement which was built up to is now expanded, and here we are. We have the expectation of a year coming when we can serve the Lord, and the hope of the coming of the Lord Jesus in the new year. So we have no reason to be downcast. But there is a letdown at this time of the year. We need to feel ourselves spiritually lifted, and where better for that than to go to the Gospel of John? Of all of the Gospels, he seems to understand heavenly things better than all the rest. I'm not surprised God gave to him the revelation because he had an eye to see beyond this world. He had a vision that looked toward the future. The other evangelists tell us about the life of Christ on the earth, they record his teachings, but it's all from the standpoint of narrative and of this world, as it were. But in John, we find a spiritual atmosphere, a heavenly presence, No wonder God chose him to deal with the grand drama of the final things. In his epistles, he seems to open up the very heart of God toward us, and how our heart should be open toward him. And in his gospel, he deals with the things that began in the beginning. What a wonderful opening there is to this gospel. In the beginning. Well, the whole Bible opens that way. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But there's a wonderful sweetness about this. In the beginning was the Word. What Word? God's Word. It's interesting the names that are given to our blessed Lord. But none is more appropriate than this, the Word. Listen at the contrast in this passage. Eternity and time. heaven and earth, emptiness and fullness, recognition and blindness, acceptance and rejection. All here. The Father and the Son in the beginning together and separated on earth by a cross. In the beginning was the Word. What is the Word? Well, it's a thought, because behind the word there must be the thought. It's the thought expressed. May I use a kind of a queer contradictory expression here? It's an invisible thing seen. So the word is the unseen thing heard. Not written down necessarily, but in the concept and the heart and the mind, the Word has its birth. And it comes into being as it's spoken. Strange, isn't it? In the beginning was a Word. What Word? Let there be light. Let this be. Let the dry land appear. All this creating Word was there. And this word was God. Well, we know God's a spirit, and if we worship Him, we have to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We do not worship Him in the flesh. We must worship Him in the spirit. But in order that we may properly worship Him in the spirit, He came in the flesh. Do you ever think about that? If He hadn't come in the flesh, we'd never have seen Him. We'd never have known Him. We've never understood God. And as much as we can understand deity, as much as we the mortal can understand the omnipotent, we can understand God because we see him in Jesus Christ. And this word which was God, unsubstantial, was made flesh. I don't know anything that can speak more of the debasement of Christ than this. Flesh. After the flesh, fleshly. After the flesh, the lusts of the flesh. This flesh that becomes contaminated with diseases, destroyed by death and corruption. He was made flesh. And this flesh was made to be sin. flesh uncorrupted, and without sin made to be sin. But because the flesh had sinned and the flesh was guilty, he had to be made flesh. And in the beginning he was God. It's interesting how he emphasizes the beginning there. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God, and in the beginning the Word was with God. He wants us to know that He is the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Always Was, the Always Will Be, the Eternal God. And in the beginning, when nothing was and everything was about to begin, when nothing was but God and all things were to be made by Him, He was with God. And He came to earth and He dwelt amongst us. He didn't just pay us a visit, he came to stay a while. That's the celebration of Christmas, that he came and he came like we are, baby, born of a mother, born into poverty, never dwelt in a palace, in fact had little of this earth's goods, a garment that was worth a good deal and that men cast lots over because of its value, but that was the gift of some kind-handed woman that wove it. He had to borrow a tomb when he was dead. He had nothing on earth, made of no reputation. He who was rich became poor. How many poor there are in the earth. Worse poverty than the poverty of the flesh and the lack of things. There's the poverty of intellect, the poverty of imagination, the poverty of thought, and the poverty of spiritual reach out, and all these things. But he who was rich became poor, but not in these things. For he was still rich in knowledge, though he grew and increased in it as children grow and increase. Yet all knowledge was in the heart of that baby, and all wisdom was there, and all of deity was there. For in him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily, but he dwelt amongst us. Oh, he'd been here before. Moses met him by a burning bush when in the form of an angel he spoke from the fiery bush. Abraham had known him. He appeared to Abraham under the yoke of Mamre. But these were isolated visits, just the fraction of a second in eternity spent in a few hours in time. But he came now to dwell among us, to know our heartaches, our hungers, our needs, the requirements of life, what it meant to have a spiritual burden and have to pray over it, what it meant to be lacking to fast forty days, how much further he went in the flesh than we have gone. And he dwelt amongst us, came down to live among men. If I had to pick a time in history to live I think, knowing what I know now from the revelation of God's Word, I would rather have lived in those days in Bethlehem than any other time, but how it would have torn the heart to see Him put on a cross. He dwelt amongst us. He created all things. Do you ever stop to think what that involved? This creation of His? No architect ever designed anything as wonderful, as complicated, as varied, and as large as these worlds he made. He kept no notes, he made no sketches, but he built it. No engineer ever did what he did without computers and instruments and pencils and drawings. He weighed no weights and measured no expanses and figured no theorems, but he engineered it perfectly. He set it in motion. He evolved all of the intricacies of a great system that must move exactly on time to avoid collision. He built into it a sense of security and accuracy so that it would wind down at a definite speed and be finished in the time that he envisioned. It was perfectly engineered, beautifully designed, and marvelously made by a word. A whisper here, and a tiny utterance there, and a dramatic cry yonder, and worlds appeared. And then those worlds surrounded dead suns, and he said, Let there be light, and there was light. And he struck eternal matches by word. He looked at barren soils and said, Let seas appear, but go no further than the boundaries I have set. These things were made and made within their boundaries and for their purposes. And he made flesh, this God who was in the flesh, the flesh of fish and fowls and birds, and all that word was concentrated for a little while upon a tiny earth. We don't know how many universes there are and how many worlds there are in these universes. We're trying to find out now because we want to pluck down God from heaven. But he concentrated on this little earth. And he said, I'll dwell there. And in preparation for his dwelling, he made man knowing he'd have to come to die because that man would sin. And he who dwelt amongst angels and in the bosom of the Father, That's a wonderful expression. He was in his father's bosom. That is, he shared all the father's knowledge, all the father's secrets, all the father's love in the closest companionship possible. We say sometimes they're bosom friends. That is, they're close. They have nothing to keep secret from each other. But he dwelt in the actual bosom of the father. He who is God, a spirit, Spirit, the eternal Son, not made the Son of God at birth, but the Son of God eternally made flesh to leave the Father's bosom and to dwell among men. And He dwelt amongst us. And this creating Word gave life, because a dead universe would be a dull thing, and God's a God of life. And he was the life of men, and the light of men, because this light is found in life. And he who is alive, eternally alive, but alive at his coming in the flesh, is the light of men. His life is an example. His life sets fire to the soul of men as they look upon Him. And men can come into that life and be partakers of that very light of His by a wonderful mystery. We'll talk about that in a moment. So He's the Word, but He's the Word made flesh. And He came into this world, and the world knew Him not. Surely they must have known who he was. There was prophecy. There was a sound of angel songs to a little group of shepherds. There was a star that guided philosophers and scholars from afar. And yet the world knew him not. Herod had to ask where he'd be born. The wise men had to look it up. They should have known it. And the world went on its way just as if he hadn't been here. Didn't make a bit of difference to Rome. Caesar on the Palatinate had no concern about his coming. But Caesar passed a decree that all the world should be taxed and that they'd go to their own cities. And by that was fulfilled the prophecy that out of the city of David he would come. who's the root and offspring of David, and they went there because of taxation. And the world moved on. You know this world fulfills its purpose all unaware. Men don't know God. How few people know Him. How few! And yet the world is shaped by Him and made by Him and sustained by Him. And we are the sheep of His hand and the creatures of His pasture. And we don't know him. So he came into a world unrecognized. His own refused him. His own. After the flesh, he was a child of Abraham. After the flesh, he was an heir to the throne of David. A royal child, born in a stable. And he whom the world did not know was rejected and refused by those whom he had a right to claim and over whom he was lord. For the father had made special provision for these people, had chosen them, had called them, had given them his name, and now their prince appears. And they said, no, we don't want him. Oh, a few took him. And as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. But for the most part, it was not the people of God that chose Him. Though out of those people He came, He came unto His own, and His own refused Him, received Him not. But as many as received Him out of that crowd and out of all the world, as many as received Him, to them He gave power. What power? Power to be the sons of God in fact, which these who were the people of God, chosen of God, and named of God, were not in reality. And though the altars were burning and the sacrifices were made, God was to them afar off. There were lots of politics in religion and religion in politics. and world concern and slavery and ambition to be free, they were all there, but the one who comes to make men free was not received by them. And these who were the children of the promise rejected the promise fulfilled in the coming of their Messiah. And the strangers who accepted him became sons of God. Wonderful thing. Adam, made in God's image, was in-breathed with the breath of life by this One who came among men. And this One who came in the image of man was the God who had made man in His own image. Now, the image of God in man is not exactly physical likeness, because God is a spirit. But man was made in likeness of God in this fact that he became a living soul. All the other creation, nothing. Flesh, flesh alone. Flesh of fish and beasts and creatures. Man's a creature. Made of dust, shaped and formed out of the very dust to which he'll return. But he had a divine life breathed in him. He didn't just simply become alive. He became a living soul, an immortal being in that flesh. And in that sense, he was like God. But he lost the image. It went into decay and death by sin because man sinned. And now this one comes who can take sin and who comes to take sin and to bear sin and to suffer the judgment of sin and to die for sin. and to give life to the sinner and restore the likeness of God to decayed and rotten spirits in the flesh. He takes on in the form of that flesh and he's here for the new birth. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Not the Father's glory, but the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. God is glorious in all his ways. His works are wondrous. But you get no idea, really, of what God is like in the Old Testament. Not completely. It's all veiled in types and shadows. Not much to see. Sometimes the shadows are dark on darkness and show up vaguely. You see God in his judgmental place. You see God in his righteousness. You see God in his holiness, demanding righteousness, demanding holiness, expecting it of his creation and of his creatures. You see God in his providence, in the order of the world, passing of the seasons, seed time, harvest. cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night. You see God in His judgments when the floods come and the earth is shaken and the storms beat. And God in His anger destroys the earth except for one little group in a little boat afloat on the stormy waters of a flood. But that's not God fully revealed. And God's love for man and God's plan for man, God shows, but He shows it in types. Every sacrifice speaks to the cross, but how few people grasp that. Job alone seems to have grasped it fully. And all these things, God was trying to get into man, get over to man, to make man see it. But man couldn't see it. Man didn't have an eye to look up, and man didn't understand it. He came into the world, the world knew him not, and his glory was revealed, and men didn't understand that. But turn with me to the first chapter of the book of Hebrews. It's interesting, these are both in first chapters, the passage that was read from John in this chapter. God, who at sundry times and in various fashions spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir to all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his purpose, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more glorious report than they. Sundry times, various ways God spoke, using men who somehow grasped His words and conveyed them without a full understanding of their meaning, men who were prophets but whose prophecy was of no personal interpretation, because half the time they didn't understand at all. The only begotten. Why does God mention here in Hebrews the angels when he's talking about the only begotten Son? Because God had created these angels, and these angels were creatures of spirit, though they seemed to be able to take upon themselves bodies as needed, and these creatures were glorious, were sinless, were perfect. But the Son of God was made to be a little lower than them, because they were made for God's glory, and as the servants of those who are appointed to be heirs of eternal life, swift to move in flames of fire in accomplishing His task. But now God's Son has, by reason of what He's done in obedience to the Father on this earth, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and He's more noble than any angel. For God never said to any angel, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. For they were created people, also creatures, God's glory is in the law, but God's love is revealed in Jesus Christ. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. What is God's grace? It's God's unmerited favor extended to lost men and women. That which God did We cannot say that God did not have to do because His very nature made Him do it, but that which God was not obligated to do. Man had no claim upon God for this gift, but He gives us that gift of eternal life because of the work of the Son who took our sins. How wonderfully it always ties together. It's as marvelous a plan as the plan that formed the earth. that set all the stars in motion. And this grace we see in him, full of grace and truth. He spoke clear words and demonstrated fully in his life the very nature of God that all the prophets had tried to show and could not fully. and all the plan of God which ancient sages had tried to open up to our eyes and sights. Fullness of grace, fullness of truth, and of His fullness have we all received. And every saved man has in him the very nature of God Himself, and God dwells in our hearts. Oh, how this One who came had in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All of God was in Him, but God sets the spark of His likeness in us. And grace for grace. Not only fullness, but grace. Grace to serve Him, because grace has been given to us And by grace we are saved, and by grace we are called, and called to this service. We have the grace we need to do that which grace requires, and it's grace on grace, daily grace, grace supplied, grace to meet and face whatever lies before. And here we come to the new year. because this Sunday hangs between the two, the dying of the year and the new year which lies before. Of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace. And we have His promise, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. It's not going to be a good year, not with this crowd in Washington. It's not going to be a good year with Satan knowing his time is short, being doubly busy, wars and rumors of wars and famines and pestilence and earthquakes in divers' places. But there's grace, the fullness of his power, the fullness of his truth, the fullness of his love for us. And we've all received it when we receive the Son. who is the very treasure of wisdom and knowledge and the fullness of God's glory and God's love. Let us pray. We thank Thee, our Father, for all that our Lord is and all He means and all He does, but we thank Thee for Him, for Him who, though He was God, was willing to lay aside deity, as it were, to take upon Him our flesh, that we who are of flesh and shall be forever flesh, but a different kind of flesh in that day when we have our new bodies, shall be like Him. We pray thee, hasten the day when that shall come to pass, when we shall see Him and be like Him. You've been listening to the Chapel Hour, coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University. Today you heard a message by the late Chancellor of BJU, Dr. Bob Jones, Jr., originally preached December 26, 1993. For a cassette or compact disc copy of today's message, send a check for $6 to Campus Store, Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina 29614. Be sure to mention the name of the speaker and today's date. The Chapel Hour has been sponsored by Bob Jones University.