The Word Who Came For You
The 4th of July represents the declaration that this country was independent and free from British rule. It signaled the beginning of a new country. We celebrate this date every year as the birth and beginning of the USA. In our study this week (John 1:1-14) John’s gospel begins with the beginning… literally the beginning of the world! He does that to establish just who Jesus is (God), and the fact that He was in existence before the world began. In fact, John says that Jesus is the creator who made the world and all created things. Having established who Jesus is (God who created everything), John helps us begin to understand the profound significance of what Jesus did. He came down from heaven to live and interact with us in the flesh! He came so that we could know God intimately, that we would become the children of God and that we might have freedom and new life with God. I pray that you would open yourself up and invite God to dwell within you in an even deeper way this week.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5). John begins His gospel establishing Jesus as the Word (Logos in Greek - divine reason. order and creative power). The Word was already in existence before the beginning of everything. Furthermore, the Word is with God in the beginning and also is God. He is a distinct person of the triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Additionally, John identifies the Word as the creative force of everything. Finally in his opening of this gospel John said the the Word was the light and life of all mankind. The power of the light is such that it can not be overcome by darkness. Wherever and whenever there is light, it pierces through the darkness.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (John 1:6-8). Throughout John’s gospel, he uses contrasts of light and darkness. Jesus is the light of the world, and He came into a world that is filled with sin and darkness. The apostle John dispelled the notion held by some that John the Baptist was that “light”. The apostle states specifically, “He was not the light”. He goes on further to say that John the Baptist’s purpose was “only as a witness to the light.”
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:9-13). There are many things that give off light (fire, the sun, light bulbs, etc.). But Jesus is the true light., the spiritual light for those lost in darkness. Although, as John established earlier, Jesus created the world and nothing was made without Him, many in the world have not recognized Him or received Him. They have rejected Him and continued to live In darkness. Yet, those who do receive Jesus as God and have faith in Him as Savior, are born again (“born of God”) and become children of God. (Notice that not everyone is considered a child of God. Only those who believe in Jesus and receive Him as their Savior).
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. (John1:14). John made it clear that Jesus did not come into this world as a spirit, as some had claimed. Jesus came into the world, from His place with the Father, and His divine presence dwelled among us in the flesh. This was an astounding statement to both Jewish and Gentile readers of this gospel. Jews thought of God as being too far above them to interact with them in person, and the Greeks thought of gods as merely persons who were superhuman. John further established that he himself, along with others, had witnessed Jesus and His divine glory, and that the fullness of God’s grace and truth was in Him. John concluded from his and other’s studied witness of Jesus (we have seen…), that He is the only begotten Son of God.
Why did John write this gospel and begin it the way he did? In John 20:31, he tells us… “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. Our God is not so far away from us that He can not be found by us. We don’t have to go looking for Him, He came near to us so that we might know Him. The same God who has the power to create everything that was created, desires a personal relationship with you and me. He is the light of the world and no matter how dark things may be in our lives, we have access to the light who overcomes any darkness. He is the source of all life and, by believing on Him, we can receive everlasting life. We should never let the profound significance of what John illuminated for us in His gospel to be minimized or lost on us. We can know God intimately, we can have a relationship with Him and we can be saved, all because ….The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
