The Word Became Flesh (John 1:14)

The Word Became Flesh

 

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 

There is the biological term DNA. This is the acronym of Deoxyribo-Nucleic Acid, which is found in every living cell and contains the genetic information of the living thing. The information on a living creature such the shape, size, color, and function of its various organs is all capsuled in DNA. A life grows, fruits, and reproduces exactly as commanded by the words written in its DNA. Monozygotic twins have the exactly same DNA, namely, genes, and therefore they resemble each other in every way. DNA is transmitted from the parents to their children through “a seed,” and once an offspring inherits DNA from its parents, the DNA does not change but continues throughout the lifetime. For this reason, DNA is often used to denote some unchangeable fundamental trait of a person, group, or thing. For example, we can say, “Diversity is the DNA of International Community Church.” We can find some words corresponding to DNA in the Bible. What are they? Genesis 1:26,27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 5:3 also says, “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.” In these verses, “image” and “likeness” mean DNA. It is natural that Adam had a son in his own likeness. But what is told by Genesis 1:26,27 is marvelous. It says that we humans have God’s DNA. Of course, this DNA does not mean God’s shape or color. God does not have a flesh body as we do. God’s DNA is His divine natures. And He endowed us with His holy and divine traits.

 

As man fell and was separated from God, he lost the divine DNA from God. And instead, he came to bear the DNA of this world under the rule of Satan. This DNA is hostile to God, and resistant to God’s will. If I have to choose a Bible text explaining clearly the DNA of this world, I will take 1John 2:15-17. Apostle John proclaims, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” In these verses, we can find the root of the worldly DNA, which is deeply rooted into our human souls. It is “If anyone loves the world……” The root is “Love for the world.” Furthermore, love for the world is expressed and materialized in the form of “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” John says that these things do not come from God but from the world, and they will pass away together with the world. We, fallen beings, are all born with this DNA of the world. Following the inborn nature of love for the world, we have to live a meaningless and fruitless life. The only things we can harvest from our life are many sins and death, God’s wrathful judgment, and eternal punishment. Whatever luxury we enjoy in the world and whatever treasures we boast of in the world, they wither and disappear like grass and flowers, and they are nothing in God’s eyes.

 

What I want to say through this sermon is that the Word of God is God’s DNA given to us in a seed. In today’s passage, Apostle John testifies, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” As introduced at the beginning of John’s Gospel, this Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God and was himself God. This Word is also the Creator through whom all things were made. And Jesus is this Word that became flesh and made his dwelling among us. How should we understand Jesus, the Word that became flesh? Jesus is “the seed planted on earth.” And this seed carries God’s DNA. This is a divine seed that is whole and perfect. This is a seed clean, beautiful, and strong, bearing delicious, fragrant, and imperishable fruit. God planted this seed on earth. This is the meaning of Jesus’ coming down to the world. Apostle John calls the saints “those in whom the word of God lives” (1John 2:14). This is what meant by “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

 

I said above that the root of the worldly DNA in fallen people is love for the world, and more specifically, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Then what is the root of God’s DNA? We can find it in the same verse 1John 2:15b, “If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in them.” The root of God’s DNA is the Father’s love, that is, God’s love. God’s love is the origin of divine DNA. In his book Communion with God, English church leader theologian John Owen said, “The origins and source of all divine dispensations lay in the Father’s love” and “All the graces of the Spirit in us, all sanctified enjoyments whatever, are the fruits of the Father’s love.” He said rightly. We can say that every existence is from God and His love. In Luke 12:6,7, Jesus said, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” This word is talking about God’s love. God remembers and takes care of every sparrow. God counts the number of all the hairs in us. How deeply does God’s caring love soak into the cells of his creatures! A flying sparrow is fed with the Father’s love. Peter’s messy and smelly hair whisper Father’s love. A lily on the roadside wears Father’s love. The full moon rising above the mountain reflects Father’s love. Stars and galaxies tell us the infiniteness of the Father’s love. The origin of everything is God’s love. And even more truly, the DNA of God’s children, namely, God’s image came from God out of His love, and it is even “God Himself.”

 

These days, many people do not believe God’s existence, and instead, they accept evolutionism as a scientific fact. As they deny God’s existence, they also deny God’s creation and, of course, God’s love. They say that the universe, the earth, and all living things in this planet have happened by accident. In Wikipedia, evolution is explained this way: “Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the ｅxpressions of genes that are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction.” According to this description, evolution assumes reproduction and inheritance and these two are indispensible vehicles for the happening of evolution. The problem is that reproduction and inheritance are highly complicated vital activities. Have you ever heard about “Synthia”? This is a kind of bacteria, but it doesn’t exist in nature but was synthesized by scientists in the lab. Of course, the scientists didn’t create Synthia but obtained it from base bacteria through modifying its DNA. The purpose of this experimental project was to find the minimal set of genes required in order to be a living being that ingests nutrition, grows, and reproduces by itself. Through many trials and errors, they reached the outcome Synthia Version 3.0, synthetic bacteria with 473 genes and 531,560 base pairs, each gene having 1,100-1,200 base pairs on the average. This suggests that one should have at least 473 genes in order to be a reproducible life. If, as maintained by evolutionists, the first life happened by accident on earth, it should have been some being with 400 or so genes that were actually an orderly sequence of half a million base pairs. It is another matter for these genes, which are merely information, to be expressed into their corresponding types of protein in the cell. Even if we concede that a being with one or two genes might have happened by accident, it cannot evolve without the vehicle of reproduction and inheritance. Evolutionists say that it takes about one million years for the increase of one gene. That is, in order for bacteria with 1,000 genes to evolve into humans with 25,000 genes, it takes about 24 billion years. It takes at least 400 million years for the primitive one-gene being to reach the level of Synthia. The primitive accidental being should survive such a long period of time and evolve by itself without “the vehicle of reproduction and inheritance.” Of course, there is not such a being.

 

To those who believe in evolutionism, single-cell bacteria is their light, their life, and their DNA. To them, single-cell bacteria is the foundation of their faith. And this faith becomes a bridge connecting them to the realm of darkness. This dark realm has nothing in it except emptiness, lifelessness, and meaninglessness. Of course, there is no gene, no DNA, not even single-cell bacterial gene. It is sheer darkness and it is where people who deny the living God will reach at the end by crossing the bridge that they have built proudly with “science.” Romans 1:20-23 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” Yes, it is. The world and all the living creatures filling every space of the world are testifying to God’s eternal glory, power and wisdom. It is reported that among 473 genes of Synthia, 149 have not been explained how they function in sustaining the life. In this way, even single-cell bacteria hold God’s secret in them, which is beyond the reach of human science. They are also pointing with their fingers at the divine glory of their Creator in Heaven.

 

Why do people believe in the false story of evolutionism? It is not because evolutionism is science. It is because they destroyed the bridge to God. Out of their love for the world, they rejected God’s love and even denied His existence. Out of their pride, they pulled down the bridge to go back to their Father. Now they don’t have the way back, their only destination is the dark world where there is no trace of life at all. Without the way back to God, people have built the bridge in the air by weaving many lies and a few bacteria together. What is waiting on the other side of this bridge is despair and death. Nevertheless, people do not have any other option but crossing the bridge with fear. This is not truth. The truth is that God is living, and He is our merciful Father, and out of His love he created us in His image. Our true DNA is not what we received from our parents in our flesh and blood, but the image of God transfused into our souls by Jesus, the Word of God, and by His Holy Spirit. In order to restore God’s divine natures in us, Jesus became flesh. Jesus is a seed carrying God’s DNA in him. This seed has been planted on earth, and also in each of us.

 

The DNA of the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These things are so attractive that it is almost impossible to resist their temptation, and these days it is rather foolish and even is considered evil not to join the race of seeking these worldly genes. In contrast, Jesus is “like a root out of dry ground, having no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). Still Jesus is “the Seed” that holds in it all the beauties of God, that is, His glory and power, His life and wisdom, and His love and mercy. What the Bible teaches us is the holy DNA that God gives to us through Jesus the Seed. 2Timothy 1:7 says, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” Galatians 5:22,23 says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Philippians 2:5 also says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” As described in these verses, when the seed of Jesus Christ is planted, roots, and grows in us, we are transformed into the beautiful image of God day by day. Can there be any other greater fortune to us? No, not at all. In fact, this is the only fortune we have. Every good thing is encapsulated in Jesus as a seed, and only in Jesus. Life comes from life. Bacteria come from bacteria, lily comes from lily, and sparrow comes from sparrow. Man comes from man, and God’s children come from the Son of God, and eternal life comes from Jesus who is the Word of eternal life. And all these come from the love of God who loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. So I pray that we repent and throw away the DNA of the world and receive the Word of Jesus Christ so that God’s holy DNA grows in me and shapes me into the image of God. Thank God for giving such a precious gift to us!!!