Isaiah, and John the Stickler for Detail

By the time we read John 1:1 in our Bibles, if we don't get why Jesus came--we don't want to, or something is wrong. I guess, maybe, is just isn't revealed, yet.

Isaiah's prophecy began more than 700 years before Jesus came, and lasted about 40 years. Isaiah spoke of Jesus, as if He was a contemporary of Jesus Christ. His prophecies of the coming King were so vivid, it was undeniable--(and is still undeniable) that Isaiah spoke of Jesus Christ--the Messiah, the Son of God. He "saw" the One Who would come to save His people from their sins--he saw their rejection of Him. Isaiah got a glimpse of the Glory of God [St. John 1:14] (the Shekinah), that would be revealed in the manifestation of the Son, Jesus Christ. Isaiah knew that the great I AM Who delivered His forefathers from the land of Egypt--was yet to be born of a woman--a young virgin, who would bear a King. Isaiah saw this Lamb of God, Who would feed His flock, like a Shepherd.

Isaiah saw, too, the horror of His death--He saw what Jesus looked like--that there was nothing in His physical appearance that we would desire Him. He saw the rejection that He would endure for his stiff-necked generation and many more of them to come. He saw the stripes, the wounds, the bruises, "the chastisement of our peace" as we went astray, and go astray, still. He saw Him being oppressed, for us--and he saw the King of Kings, God (in flesh) stand silent without defense being afflicted grossly, for our sin. He saw Him in prison, cut off, and in the grave--not in rest, but numbered among the wicked, to rescue us from the snare of satan--once [Hebrews 9:26] and for all. He saw Him do what all of the sacrifices that had been offered to God since Moses, could not do. He saw Him bring grace to redeem us from the curse of the Law [Galatians 3:13], so that we could serve God, in the newness of life--eternally.

Isaiah saw what John knew--He got to see mankind rescued from the eternity of death.
John the Baptist was seen by Isaiah, too. Isaiah saw Jesus' beloved cousin in the wilderness, (hundreds of years before he was actually in the wilderness) preaching repentance and preparing the way for the Savior.

 John the Apostle now begins where Isaiah left off. He starts to talk about the Creator--Jesus. John calls Him, "The Word" [St. John 1:1]. John says, "In the beginning [Genesis 1:1]" was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Bottom line. No confusion. John tends to repeat himself--I think he wants to ensure that we understand that this Jesus Christ--the Anointed flesh of God, the Son of God, is still God, as well as the Son--all at the same time! In Revelation 19:13, John repeats it, again. Repetition is a great learning tool--John seemed to know that. Some people get confused about Jesus the Word being "with God" and being God, and that's okay; it's revelatory. However, there are some keys that might help you get to the revelation a lot easier.

Genesis 1:26 is one of those verses that exasperates many and gets folks arguing over the plurality of God, as if He is three and not One. He is One [Deuteronomy 6:4]. To clear it up, let's have a short lesson in English-Hebrew Grammar; that way we can put to rest once and for all any concept of the so-called plurality of God [as far as the Godhead is concerned] we know of course, that God represented Himself in many different forms in the Old Testament--burning bush, cloud, pillar of fire, etc. 

Many make the claim "that the Hebrew noun ‘Elohim’, rendered ‘God’ (Strong’s #430) in the first clause of Genesis 1:26, denotes more than one God (typically thought of or explained as “3 in 1” or “2 in 1” as in “one” family).  In support they point to the second clause of verse 26, "Let us make man in our image", being plural.  It is true that in both English and Hebrew this second clause contains the plural subject ‘us’ and that this governs the plural verb ‘make’- But these are not governed by ‘Elohim’ (God) of the first clause.  What is not realized, or otherwise mentioned in this issue is that in the first clause, “And God said”, ‘Elohim’ governs the singular Hebrew verb ‘’amer’ (Strong’s # 559), which is rendered ‘said’ in English.  So linguistically there is no basis for claiming that ‘Elohim’ denotes, represents, or contains more than one God. It is also claimed that the Hebrew ‘Elohim’ is a uniplural or collective noun and that such nouns (e.g. the English noun ‘crowd’) often govern singular verbs.  This claim contradicts leading Hebrew grammars, which claim that throughout the OT and when referring to the true God, the Hebrew noun 'Elohim' behaves as a singular noun, and governs only singular verbs, singular adjectives and singular pronouns.  And only when 'elohim' refers to a number of pagan gods or humans (e.g. judges), that it behaves as a plural noun; and then governs plural verbs, plural adjectives and plural pronouns.  So grammatically ‘Elohim’ is never a collective (uniplural) noun.  That in reference to the true God, the noun ‘Elohim’ is singular, is well illustrated in Genesis 1:29, where this noun governs the singular pronoun ‘I’.

From the Hebrew for verse 27 it may be seen that the Hebrew noun 'Elohim' (God) again governs a singular Hebrew verb ('created').  But even more importantly, that ‘Elohim’ also governs the Hebrew singular pronouns 'His' (that is God's) and 'He' (God).  Note that verse 27 does not say that 'they' created Adam in 'their' image, but that ‘He’ created Adam in His image!  So verse 27 declares that one God created Adam and that He did so in His image.  Not two or more Gods but only one God created Adam.

Verse 27, through the two singular clauses, “So God created man in His own image” and “in the image of God created He him”, twice states that one God created Adam.  From Genesis 41:32 it may be inferred that this repetition emphasizes certainty."

So, now we understand that the One God was at the beginning, creating--and He was the Word. St. John 1:14 says that Word was made (or more correctly interpreted) "became" flesh. God??? Flesh??? Yes!!!! Paul corroborated John's story in his letter to the Philippian church,
 "Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]

    Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [^[b]possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not ^[c]think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped ^[d]or retained,

   But stripped Himself [of all privileges and ^[e]rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.

   And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!" [Philippians 2:5-8, AMP]

God "became" Man--the God-Man. You see, it was the ONLY possible way to redeem us--no one else could do it. No one else met the requirements. Only Someone without sin would be able to. Only Someone Who was willing could redeem us. Only Someone with the means could get the job done. God sent Himself--He was perfect, He love us, and He had the only blood that washes white as snow--that purifies and cleanses away every vestige of sin!

So, John was painting a picture for us--like Isaiah was. He was showing us the same Jesus--Isaiah showed us the Jesus Who was to come, John showed us the Jesus Who came and then later He showed us the Jesus Who was resurrected and returned to live within us, in Spirit, no longer flesh, walking on the earth, except through us.

So now, he is reiterating these things--probably because of the awesomeness of the sacrifice. John doesn't want us to become forgetful about the grace that God has expended so much to gift to us. John wants us to understand that as "partakers" there is a difference. Since God is Light and there is no darkness in Him, we cannot have fellowship with darkness; we must be children of that same Light. We have to practice living the Gospel--those things which Jesus taught, those things which Jesus did--how He lived; Jesus lived a sacrificial life. To be like Jesus, is to put others first--to live peaceably with one another, preferring one another--loving and forgiving one another, because that is what Jesus did for us.

Adopted sons of God go through an adoption process. He chooses us, but to make the adoption complete involves repentance and the New Birth. There has to be a change. That's why John repeated himself, I guess. And, that's why Isaiah was privy to so much information about our King--now, we have no excuse. It's all here.

The Gospel--Jesus, from Genesis to Revelation, He's from the beginning to the end, for you.