"The Story of Our Life" (John 1:1-18)

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast! Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This year, we're examining the Gospel of John to learn about the words and work of Jesus. We live in a world that values self-expression— it seems natural to us that someone would want to share, display, and communicate about ourselves to others. When humans share about ourselves, we usually do it for validation, or community, or for a sense of security. In other words, we mostly self-express out of a sense of neediness.  In this passage from John's prologue, Jesus is described as “God’s self-expression”— that’s what "the Word” (logos in Greek) is getting at. Jesus is God’s message of revelation, expressing himself to his creation. And what we find is that when the eternal God, who made everything, expresses and communicates himself to his creatures, he’s not motivated by neediness, but by fullness. He's driven by an overflowing wealth of creativity, power, goodness and love.  And when the Eternal God reveals himself most fully, he doesn’t express himself in a poem or a post, or a painting. Instead, his self-expression comes in a person, Jesus Christ. A creature like us— a “self-portrait in a person.” That's who Jesus is. And John (the writer) is going to show us why we should listen to Jesus' message. QUOTES: "The way we understand human life depends on this question: What is the real story of which my life story is part?”— Lesslie Newbigin “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic ... or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” ― C.S. Lewis DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What are some ways that you express yourself to others? Do you use words/clothes/hobbies/social media? Why would God (who needs nothing) want to express himself to his creation? Missionary and Theologian Lesslie Newbigin said, “The way we understand human life depends on this question: What is the real story of which my life story is part?” What are some common stories that we tell about our identity, our purpose, and our future? What are the sources where people go to find these stories? The sermon mentions the idea that Jesus could either be Lord (who he says he is), a liar, or a lunatic. He can’t be just a good teacher who is not God but is worth following because wise, moral people do not claim to be God. How have you viewed Jesus? What have you been taught about who Jesus is? How does John 1 speak to this? Read John 1:9-11, 14. How would you describe the relationship between God the Son and his creation? How might a God who is only power/truth respond to this conflict and rejection? What is surprising about the way Jesus relates to rejection and conflict? Read Romans 5:6-11. What does this passage tell us about God’s motives in coming near to people who are opposed to him? How do you feel about the idea of a God who comes near? Does that feel scary? Comforting Encouraging? A mixture? How might this be good news for us? Early Christians read Proverbs 8:12-36 and saw it as a prophecy about the Jesus the Son, God’s eternal Word. Read Prov. 8:12-36 and see where you find parallels with John 1:1-18. What words  or phrases jump out at you? How does it change your view of Jesus to think of him as “Wisdom?”