“The Word Became Flesh” (8)

[John 1:1–4, 9–14]

A question is posed: When God created Adam and Eve, was it His will that they be served, or that they serve?
The answer is that God created Adam and Eve with the purpose of serving.
They would have served well, but in Genesis chapter 3, Eve was deceived by the serpent, who was the most cunning of all the wild animals (Gen 3:1).

The core of that deception was the desire to “be like God”:
“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (v. 5).

Why did Satan, in the form of the serpent, deceive Eve in this way?
Because Satan, a fallen and evil angel, desires to become like the Most High God.
Isaiah 14:12–14 says:
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Satan desires to exalt his throne, to sit in a high place, and to become like the Most High God.
That’s why, disguised as a serpent, he tempted Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:9), telling her, “you will be like God” (Gen 3:5).

Eve fell into that deception, and seeing that the fruit of the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, Adam, who was with her, and he ate it (v. 6).

By falling into the deception of Satan disguised as a serpent and disobeying God’s covenant command — “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:17) — Adam and Eve sinned, and through sin, death entered the world (Rom 5:12).
Ultimately, because of the sin of one man, the first Adam, sin entered the world, and all people sinned. As a result, death came to all people (v. 12).

The core of Satan’s deception is the desire to exalt ourselves, to sit in high places, to become like the Most High God, and to be served rather than to serve.
A clear example of this is a man named Diotrephes in 3 John 1:9–10:

“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church” (NIV).

Diotrephes was a man who “loved to be first.” He refused to welcome traveling missionaries and even prevented others who wanted to do so — going so far as to expel them from the church.
Even today, there are people within the church who, like Diotrephes, love to be first.
Such people prefer seats of honor over humble service and desire to be served rather than to serve.

Satan deceives these people into disobeying God’s Word and leads them into sin.
As a result, they fail to “be of the same mind in the Lord” (Phil 4:2) and do not strive to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3).

However, Jesus Christ, who is the “second Adam” and the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47), came into this world to save us, who had come to death through sin in the first Adam. Although He was in very nature God, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Philippians 2:6-7).

Matthew 20:28 says:

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus’ 33 years of life on this earth can be summed up in one phrase: a life of service.
He not only washed His disciples’ feet, but also fed the hungry, healed many who were sick, and lived a life serving others.

He served even to the point of giving His own life—that is, shedding His blood and dying on the cross.

1 Timothy 2:6 says:

“He gave Himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”

Here, "He" refers to Christ Jesus, the one and only mediator between God and mankind, who is Himself human (v.5).
This mediator, Jesus Christ, gave Himself as a ransom for us, for our salvation.

In the Old Testament, Exodus 21:28–36 states that if an ox was known to habitually gore people, and its owner failed to restrain it and it killed someone, both the ox and its owner were to be put to death by stoning.
This was because the owner, knowing the danger, neglected his responsibility and was held accountable for the death caused by his ox.

However, there was an exception: if the owner paid a ransom or compensation determined by the judge to the family of the deceased, he could be spared from death.
This was because the issue involved the livelihood of the deceased’s family.
(For example, if the person killed by the ox was the head of the household, killing both the ox and its owner might seem just, but it would leave the victim’s family in immediate financial crisis. Likewise, if the owner of the ox—possibly also the breadwinner—were executed, his family too would be left without support.)

So, the owner could be exempted from the death penalty if he paid compensation set by the judge.

Understanding this concept of “atonement sacrifice” in the Old Testament helps us grasp the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:6, that Jesus gave Himself as a ransom.

Just as slaves or prisoners of war were sold in the slave market, and someone could pay their redemption price to set them free, Jesus Christ paid the precious price of His blood on the cross to free us from sin—because sin entered the world through the first Adam’s disobedience, and all people became sinners, enslaved to sin, and destined for death.

Ephesians 1:7 says:

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have received redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and now enjoy freedom from the power of sin.

Therefore, we too must follow Jesus’ example and live a life of service. We should live a life of service, and like Jesus, we must be willing to give even our lives in service. In other words, we must serve unto death, just as Jesus did (Philippians 2:8).

However, we are weak and cannot live such a life of service on our own. But the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Jesus, helps us. In other words, the Spirit of service, the Holy Spirit, helps our weakness and enables us to live a life of service following Jesus’ example.

Romans 8:26 says in the first part:

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness..."

The Holy Spirit does not only help us in prayer but helps us with everything we must do through the Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit makes all things beautiful in the Lord.

Because of this, we must pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. God the Father promised to give the Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:13). We must not be drunk with wine and indulge in debauchery, but rather be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and live a life of service like Jesus.

When we live a life of service like Jesus, not only will we be filled with personal joy and gratitude, but we will also build the kingdom of heaven in our families and churches.

I pray that all of us, following Jesus’ example, will not seek to be served but will strive to serve, so that we may bring joy not only to ourselves, our families, and our churches, but also to the Lord.