March 6, 11:00 a.m. 
Speaker: Mike Riccardi
Topic: The Excellent Word
Passage: John 1:15–18

Message Summary: 

The beginning of John’s gospel introduces Jesus as “the Word”— the supreme revelation of God the Father to mankind, the pinnacle self-expression of God to man.

John closes his prologue by speaking of how this eternal Word made flesh excels and surpasses all others—even the greatest and most significant figures of redemptive history.

In John 1:15–18, we find four excellencies that set the Lord Jesus Christ far above everyone and everything, that feed our faith, and that strengthen our souls to declare Him to all the nations.

#1. He Surpasses the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived (John 1:15)

Jesus Himself says that John the Baptist is the greatest man who ever lived (Matthew 11:11).

But, “John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me’” (John 1:15).

John says that Christ, according to His humanity, was born after and began His ministry after John. But Christ was before John, because, according to His deity, He is the uncreated, eternal God of heaven and earth.

Jesus says it Himself: “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

#2. He Supersedes the Glorious Mediator of the Old Covenant (John 1:17) 

The Law was a wonderful gift from God to His people. It was gracious for God to reveal His mind to His people, to direct our steps, and to guide our path into the path of blessing.

But the law can’t change hearts. It could never provide the power for the obedience it demanded. For that, only the grace of the New Covenant would suffice (Galatians 3:22, 24).

The law points to the need for grace, but grace comes in the person and work of Jesus who has instituted the New Covenant.

Moses was a faithful servant, but Christ was a faithful Son. This excellent Word supersedes the glory of the glorious mediator of the Old Covenant. He far excels him.

#3. He Shows the Glory of the Unseen Father (John 1:18) 

Verse 18 says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Jesus shows the glory of the unseen Father. He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) and “the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3).

If you want to know what the unseen Father is like, you look at Jesus. He is God incarnate. He is the Word of God—the ultimate and pinnacle self-expression of God.

#4. He Supplies the Grace Sufficient for Every Sinner (John 1:16) 

We are spiritually destitute with no resources of our own to commend ourselves to God or save ourselves from our just condemnation. Oh, but here comes our Savior—God the Son incarnate—and He is full of grace. He is full of unmerited favor to be bestowed upon poor sinners who could do nothing but go to their ruin.

We can live upon this Christ who is so full of Grace. We never need to fear that we will deplete His fullness. You may draw grace from the fullness of that fountain, and you will never exhaust His supply.

And in fact, so far from diminishing Him, bothering Him, or annoying Him, when you fly to Him for fresh grace, you magnify His fullness. You glorify Him as one who is so sufficient to supply your every need.

This Jesus, brothers—this excellent Word—this is the Christ we proclaim to the ends of the earth.

Dear friends, fly to Christ every day of your life. Drink from that fountain. Draw from that fullness. Live upon the grace of Christ, and so fill your heart with satisfaction and joy and love, that you seek it no more in sin, where it’s not to be found.