Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 1 Study # 2
August 28, 2022
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: The creation of all things by "The Word" calls for "Faith" in "The Message Of The Word".
Introduction: In our last study we considered the significance of "The Word" as "A Messenger/Message From One Who is God". As a brief aside, we showed how the "Oneness" of God does not preclude a multiplicity of personalities in what the Bible calls "The Godhead". In that aside I forgot to show how Joseph's word to the Pharaoh regarding two dreams was that they were "one" (
Genesis 41:25), using the very same term that
Deuteronomy 6:4 uses in its declaration that "The Lord our God is one...".
"Oneness" does not preclude multiplicity just as the statement of the "One" God reveals: "Let US make man after OUR image and in OUR likeness".
This morning we are going to take another step into John's revelation of the Grace of God in the Person of The Word Of God. John immediately jumps into the very same type of revelation as did Moses: Creation following God's utterances in "Words".
- I. All Things Through Him Came Into A Particular State Of Being.
- A. The "all things" is emphatic by way of repetition in this same verse.
- 1. This declaration is rooted in the identity of "The Word": Creator.
- 2. Thus, this declaration has its significance in the function of "The Word": Creating.
- 3. The major thesis of John is that "The Word" exists as a "Message", and every man is a fool who refuses to "listen": "The fool has said in his heart, 'No' to God".
- a. Admittedly, this "Message" is filled with an infinity of complexity.
- b. But, even though complex, this "Message" gives clarity for "The Living".
- 1) According to 1 John 1:1, The Message of The Word concerns what the Bible calls "Life".
- 2) And the very next verse in our current text (John 1:4) puts the "focus" of "The Message" upon "Life".
- 3) This "Life" is far beyond the reality of "existence".
- a) The vast majority of those things which He brought into "existence" have no capacity for "Life".
- b) But every single thing which He brought into "existence" exists for the purpose of enabling and enhancing the experience of "Life" for "The Living".
- B. The issue of "coming into a particular state of being" is established by 1:12 (where people were moved from one condition of existence into another); 2:9 (where water was altered from the existence as 'water' into an altered state called 'wine'); by the group of uses in 5:4-14 (where the 38-year-long infirmity of a man was immediately altered into a state of health).
- 1. First is "existence" as the basic reality and "being" is the particular reality. One can exist without "Life", but one who has "Life" is in a particular "state of being" that is superior to existence alone.
- 2. Next is "an altered state of being". The characteristics, or attributes, of the existence are altered into a new "state of being": "Children of God".
- C. The claim is that the condition of "all things" was, initially, an "existence" that had certain particular characteristics, and that there was not one thing that partook of "existence" except by His agency.
- 1. The "Agent" is "The Word" (The Message of Infinity Personified).
- a. This "Message", Himself, came into being as "Message" as soon as there was a viable audience that could "hear" it.
- 1) The point is that the "beginning" of creation was the initial act of creation as a cause and effect reality of "function". As soon as "consecutive action" began to exist as a reality, "Time" was born and "The Word" was prior to "Time" in that as soon as sentient beings were brought into being, a "Message" was absolutely necessary because "omniscience" cannot be made into a characteristic of any created being. Thus, before "The Word" created anything, He had a "message" that would be made known as necessity demanded it.
- 2) There once were no "words" as omniscience does not need them. But creatures do need them because one of the characteristics of "persons" is their necessity to act with the "cause/effect" reality in place. The "need" arises out of the possibility that a less-than-omniscient "person" might take some action that would create the reaction of "evil".
- b. The point of The Word being the Creator Of All Things Without Exception is this: there is a critical "body of information" that exists beyond "creature-capacities" that must guide all choices/actions so that Death does not occur.
- 2. The issue of "not one thing" coming into this "Time" dominated reality is that there is nothing in all of creation that does not have a "contribution" to make for the participation of the "persons" in that state of being called "Life". Not. One. Thing. The "condition" of being extraneous is impossible with God; He does not "create" for no purpose.
- a. At this point in our understanding, all things are united bodies of "quarks".
- 1) A 'quark' is a sub-atomic particle of matter that is so small that its size is measured in "light years" of smallness and only exists in the minds of men because they press the boundaries of the most fundamental principle of this creation: the Law of Cause And Effect.
- 2) The claim of men that there are such things as "quarks" is the foundation for the condemnation of all who refuse "The Word" and "His Message".
- b. At this point in our understanding, the largest accumulation of "quarks" is the Hercules Corona Borealis Great Wall, which is thought to be the largest created thing in the universe: 10 billion light years across.
- 1) According to the positive declarations of men, the universe itself is close to seven trillion light years in diameter, and this adamant declaration is rooted in that most fundamental principle of creation: the Law of Cause And Effect.
- 2) The claim of men that there is such a thing as the "Hercules Corona Borealis Great Wall" is the foundation of the condemnation of all who refuse "The Word" and "His Message".
- c. The Bible has multiple statements in it about how "foolish" it is for men to readily posit The Law of Cause And Effect and then turn right around and deny the reality of Creation.
- II. This Raises A "Necessity" That Did Not Exist Before There Was A Message: Faith.
- A. When "words" are used, responses follow.
- B. When "responses" follow, consequential actions are taken.
- C. When "consequential actions are taken" an entire down-stream set of action/response is set into motion so that an inevitable "final state" comes into view.
- 1. This 'inevitability" can only be stopped by destruction of the entire process: in other words this corrupted setting must be destroyed and a New Heavens and New Earth created in which all of the earlier actions/reactions are purified into "Life"-giving processes.
- 2. Thus, "faith in The Message/Messenger" is essential for "Life" but, for "Life" to triumph there can be no "failures of faith".
- D. There are two most basic "truths" of "The Message" that bring men to "Life" and sustain them in it, and only "fools" refuse faith in these "truths" of "The Message".
- 1. Faith in the promise of "Life" unto regeneration into "Life": 1 John 2:25.
- 2. Faith in the promise of "Sustained Life" through the submission of one's entire being to God as a "living sacrifice" to The Creator/Redeemer: Romans 12:1-2.
