The Word

What if the key to understanding God's love lies in the very words that introduce Jesus in the Gospel of John? Join us as we explore Jesus as the Word from John 1:1, and reflect on how it paints a picture of a God who is not only powerful but intimately personal. By connecting the opening lines of John's Gospel with the creation story in Genesis, we examine the significance of Jesus bridging the gap between our imperfection and God's holiness. 

As we journey through these transformative insights, we're also extending a heartfelt invitation to become part of our community at Grace Baptist Tabernacle in King, North Carolina. Share your stories of salvation and rebirth as a beacon of encouragement to others. Let’s come together to celebrate the power of personal testimonies and the life-changing impact of connecting through faith.

Chapters

• 0:15 Personal Savior
• 16:39 Global Ministry Outreach Invitation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Hello, greetings and welcome to the Redeeming Love Bible broadcast. My name is Phil Duddy, evangelist with Grace Baptist Tabernacle of King, north Carolina. Glad to be behind the microphone today and glad to be coming to you. Glad you're here with me on the program. Thank you for supporting the program and, as always, please do reach out to us at redeemingthelostaticloudcom.

Speaker 1: 0:37

We are going to be in the Gospel of John today and we're going to look at the first sentence of the Gospel of John, john 1.1,. And this is how the Word of God reads In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And this is going to be our focus today. What a precious reminder this is that the Lord is personal. God is personal, he doesn't stay far away, he doesn't stay distant, but he is personal and he has been personal ever since the beginning the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit three in one, one in three, interacting with one another. And the Gospel of John is very, very interesting if you cross-reference John 1 with Genesis 1, because we have the Word in the beginning and the Gospel of John focuses on Jesus, but it goes on to say that 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, creation itself very, very personal thing that the Lord did. And you'll remember in the book of Genesis God spoke, god spoke, god spoke, god spoke, god said, god said, god said. And now we have John introducing us to Jesus as the Word, the Word with a capital W, and this was a title that John would use for Jesus. He used it here in the Gospel of John. He can flip over to 1 John and you can see it again there. But very, very personal title. And this title for Jesus is also a description of who he is and it's a description of the Lord's heart toward us, the Lord's heart toward every man, woman and child, the Lord's heart toward humanity at large. The Lord doesn't want to stay distant. The Lord doesn't want to stay distant. The Lord doesn't want to stay far away, but the Word is someone that we can relate to.

Speaker 1: 2:53

We ourselves use words. You know I'm sitting here behind a microphone. I'm using words to speak with you and you use words to speak with other people. We use words to express that which was in our hearts. That which is in our hearts, we use our words and our will, sort of comes up out of our heart and through our mouth. Our desire sort of comes up through our heart and through our mouth. That which we value, that which we love, that which we hate, that which makes us happy and that which we hate, that which makes us happy and that which makes us sad, that which makes us angry, it all comes up in words. And those words come from somewhere. They don't just come from nowhere. They come from our hearts, they come from our wills, they come from our desires and we as people and I'll remind you, we are formed in the image of God. God very, very intentionally formed us to be in his image.

Speaker 1: 3:51

And the funny thing about it, we use words and the Lord introduces himself to us. The Lord introduces himself to a fallen generation, introduces himself to a fallen generation, to a generation of people who need him, who need him quite honestly and it was true in John's day and is true in our day today Folks need Jesus and Jesus doesn't stay far away, but he comes up and he introduces himself, and he introduces himself in John in this way. In the beginning was the word. And the word is descriptive again of who he is and it's descriptive of his heart. And you'll find Jesus doing this in other places. He says you know, in I want to say it's John 11, I am the resurrection and the life. He says in John 14, I am the way, the truth and the life. He says I am the good shepherd. Now he describes himself in the way he introduces himself so that we can humanly relate, because Jesus is Lord, jesus is God, jesus is King of Kings.

Speaker 1: 5:07

Jesus is in the Word. He was in the beginning. He always has been. He's existed before there was time. All things were made by Him and all things were made through Him. New Testament also says that everything that is made is sustained by Him and it's all by him, through him and for him. And so he introduces himself to us.

Speaker 1: 5:29

Why does he have to introduce himself? Because we are fallen. We are fallen and we are strangers to him. We are strangers to holiness and it all goes back to Adam. It all goes back to Adam. You can find that in the book of Romans. It's another great source of about 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 messages. It goes back to Adam folks, adam sinned and we fell. And for you today, you know, listener, for you and I, today, we are born in sin, we are born estranged from God, we are born apart from God, we are born not knowing him, and so the Lord doesn't again, he doesn't just sit back, but he comes and he closes that distance and he introduces himself and he says hi, I'm the word of God, I am the expression.

Speaker 1: 6:28

Jesus is the expression of the Lord's heart towards humanity, the Lord's heart toward the liar, toward the thief, toward the religious hypocrite, the Lord's heart toward the murderer, toward the religious hypocrites. The Lord's heart toward the murderer, the Lord's heart toward the abuser, the Lord's heart toward you know, even the worst sin that you can imagine, jesus is the Lord's heart to fallen humanity. He is, you know, he's the Word made flesh. You know. Jesus would both, you know, say you know, I'm going to go to Jerusalem and I'm going to be lifted up. The Son of man is going to be traded into the hands of men, you know. And he, but the point today, my friend, you know, I want you to get this Jesus is the heart of God toward us, he's the expression of God toward us and he's the highest expression of God toward us and for a person in sin, a person who's not born again, a person who's not saved, a person who's not spirit-filled. I want you to know that the Lord's heart toward you is love, the Lord's heart toward you is mercy, the Lord's heart toward you is goodness.

Speaker 1: 7:50

And you know people might ask you know, why is that? While we were yet sinners, christ died for us and any brother or sister out there who's born again listening to this. You were there at one point. You were in your sin. You were dying in your sin. You were hopeless in your sin. You were helpless in your sin. And this promise that God both made and fulfilled long before any of us were born, while we were yet sinners, christ died for us. Your sin was dealt with even before you were born. My sin was dealt with before I was born. Your sin was dealt with before you were born. Hallelujah and amen. That's the Lord's heart force. The Lord's heart force is to take sin off the table. The Lord's heart force is to deal with the sin. The Lord's heart force is to deal with the sin. He dealt with the sin. He shed the blood. You know. Jesus became our sin. He died an atoning death and glory, hallelujah and amen. He's alive today and sin is off the table at this point.

Speaker 1: 9:02

And you might ask well, why isn't everybody saved? We're saved by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ, and the reason why a person isn't saved is because there's no faith, there's unbelief instead of faith, there's resistance to Jesus instead of running to Jesus, there's hostility toward Jesus instead of trust toward Jesus. But, my friend, you know, the heart of God toward you is goodness and mercy and grace. Goodness and mercy to keep you unto grace, Goodness and mercy for you to hear this message. Perhaps, if you're lost, if you're dying and you're in your sin, you're hearing this message. That is God's goodness and that is God's mercy, and this is the word of God expressing himself. This is the Lord in me and through me, and by the Holy Ghost towards you, today, expressing himself and saying sinner, I want you to come home.

Speaker 1: 10:04

Liar thief, fornicator, you know, whether you're violent, whether you're in the pit of despair, whether you're in gloom, doom, despair, whether you're in fear, anxiety, hostility, whatever the case may be, whatever expression of sin is going on in your life right now, the Lord says I've dealt with it, jesus has dealt with it. It is finished. That work on the cross is finished and Jesus is coming to you and saying hold on, stop. Are you going to listen to me, number one? Are you even going to listen to me? Are you going to listen to me, number one? Are you even going to listen to me? Are you going to hear me? And are you going to believe me?

Speaker 1: 10:47

Because, my friend, whosoever believes on Jesus, whosoever believeth on the Lord, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. And that's the Lord's heart for you, his heart for you, is not for you to perish in your sin, it's not for you to perish, it's not for you to see a devil Verse 3. And, my friend, you need to hear this you will see that lake of fire except you repent and except you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's God's heart that you believe on him, it's my heart that you believe on him, it's the heart of every legitimately saved, born-again Christian who is in this world today for you to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. You know the Lord is for you, the Lord is for you and the Lord is drawing you to himself. He's not leaving you in your sin, he's not content to leave you in your sin.

Speaker 1: 11:57

That's why, in the beginning, you know, in the beginning was the word. The word was with God and the word was God. That's why the word came, the word showed up, the word went to a cross, the word shed his blood. He's the word. He is God expressing himself, god expressing himself. He is God expressing mercy, he is God expressing the truth, he is God expressing justice, he is God expressing judgment, because, hallelujah and amen, my friend, you know, the judgment upon sin and sinner alike fell upon Jesus and Jesus willingly took that judgment upon himself.

Speaker 1: 12:43

And, my friend, that's why, you know, you'll see it in the book of Hebrews there's no other sacrifice, there's no other sacrifice for sin, because Jesus did it all, jesus paid it all. It was once and it was for all. It was for humanity, it was for the Lord, it was for the Father, it was for the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah, it was for all and it was for humanity, it was for the lord, it was for the father, it was for the holy ghost. Hallelujah, it was for jesus himself. And it's done and it's finished, and it's never going to be, it's never going to be repeated because it's not necessary. It's not necessary for it to be repeated and there is no other sacrifice because the blood of Jesus is accepted. Hallelujah, hallelujah and amen.

Speaker 1: 13:24

That's why, my friend, there is not life anywhere else. There's not life, not real life anyway. There's imitation life there's. You know, all these things that you know people call life. I mean, in America, if you lined up 10 people and asked them what is life, you would get, you know, 10 kind of different answers.

Speaker 1: 13:47

But my friend Jesus said he is the way and the truth and the life. He is the word of God. He is the expression of God to this generation and to all generations. He's an expression of the Lord's victory. He's the expression of the Lord's victory over death, over sin, over hell, over the grave and over Satan and over every demon and devil. He's the expression of the Lord overcoming this fallen world.

Speaker 1: 14:20

And how did the Lord overcome this fallen world? Well, glory, hallelujah and amen. He began with grace, he began with mercy, he began with a way for you and I to be reconciled to him. He began with a way for sin to be dealt with, apart from eternal damnation in hell, because God is faithful and God is just to forgive anybody who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus in faith and in belief. You call on him as a humble, broken, contrite, sinner, sin, weary, heavy laden down, but wanting to be saved, wanting life, wanting jesus, in submission and in faith and glory.

Speaker 1: 15:08

And hallelujah. The lord does a work, the lord does a wonderful work, the lord does an amazing work. The lord does a work and at the end of that work, you're born again, you're saved, you're reconciled, you're filled with the Holy Ghost and glory. Hallelujah and amen. It's shouting ground and he's the Lord's expression of all of that and that's the heart of God. All of heaven stops and rejoices when even one person gets saved, when even one person gets born again. And, my friend, if you need it and the Lord's calling you and the Lord's drawing you, that can be you today. Will you believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, will you believe in Him, on Him and call upon His name and be born again?

Speaker 1: 15:54

Because the word hallelujah and amen there's only one, and it's an expression of who the Lord is, an expression of God's heart, it's an expression of grace and mercy, he's an expression of forgiveness, he's an expression of reconciliation. He's the expression of justice, he's the expression of judgment and there's not life found in any other. And glory and hallelujah. May you trust him today, because he is the only way, he is the only truth. He is the only truth, he is the only life, and the Lord doesn't want to see a single soul in hell, and the only reason a single soul will ever end up in hell is because they refuse Jesus Christ. And glory and hallelujah. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 16:39

I believe the Lord is speaking to folks today and, as you respond to him, we would love to hear about that here at the program, especially if you've been saved, especially if you've been born again. We'd love to hear about that. That's an encouragement to us. Write us an email. That's the best way to reach us.

Speaker 1: 16:57

Redeemingthelost at iCloudcom is the address, and I want to remind you we are a ministry of Grace Baptist Tabernacle. We're located in King, north Carolina, and we would love to meet you. You know our website, gbt ministries dot com. You will find service times and service locations on those websites. I want you to feel welcome at every single one of those services and so please come and meet us in person. Come and share what the Lord's done in you. Also, if you're a brother and you're a sister around the world in the church, we would love to be able to pray with you and pray for you specifically. Let us know specifically how we can pray for you at that same email address redeemingthelost at icloudcom. Thank you again so much for supporting this program. Being a part of this program, sharing this program around the world, that's a blessing to us. Please keep on doing that and may the Lord continue to richly bless you. Amen. You.