{"id":30542,"date":"2024-04-01T22:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/jonah-4_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-03-19T14:30:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T21:30:45","slug":"john-1_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-1_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The Word In The Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 1:1-13\u00a0 \u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

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The Gospel of John is one of the most beloved books ever written.\u00a0 While of course people like to debate everything, the best and most reasonable conclusion based on internal and external evidence is that John, one of Jesus\u2019 closest disciples, wrote the Gospel of John.\u00a0 While it\u2019s unclear when exactly he wrote it, scholars I respect tend to date the Gospel of John between approximately 65 A.D. and 85 A.D.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 1:1-13.\u00a0 These first 13 verses, along with verses 14-18, are known as \u201cThe Prologue\u201d by scholars.\u00a0 It serves as an introduction to, and in some ways, a summary of the entire story that John is going to tell about Jesus in this gospel.\u00a0 According to many scholars, these verses contain \u201csome of the most tightly reasoned patterns of theological reflection in the New Testament\u201d<\/a>[1].\u00a0 Profound simplicity, as others have called it.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

John 1:1-2 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He was with God in the beginning.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 John uses the title \u201cthe Word\u201d to describe Jesus.\u00a0 Why the Word?\u00a0 It\u2019s because \u201cthe Word\u201d (logos\u00a0<\/em>in Greek) carried special meaning for both Jews and Greeks in John\u2019s time.\u00a0 For Jews, \u201cthe Word\u201d was a name for God and carried with it the idea that God was actively and personally involved in our world.\u00a0 For Greeks, \u201cthe Word\u201d was a term used by famous Greek philosophers like Plato to describe that which governs the entire universe.\u00a0 Thus John chose a title that was meaningful to both Jews and Greeks.<\/a>[2]<\/p>\n

Here in verse 1 John makes three important statements about who this Word \u2013 Jesus \u00a0\u2013 is:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First, \u201c[i]n the beginning was the Word\u201d.\u00a0 Jews reading John\u2019s Gospel would immediately think back to the first sentence of Genesis 1, which says \u201cIn the beginning God made the heavens and the earth.\u201d\u00a0 When John writes that \u201c[i]n the beginning was the Word\u201d, he is saying that before anything else was created, Jesus existed. Jesus was there at the very beginning.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Second, \u201cthe Word was with God\u201d.\u00a0 In other words, at the very beginning of time Jesus existed with God the Father in perfect relationship to one another.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Third, \u201cthe Word was God\u201d.\u00a0 In other words, Jesus Himself is God.<\/p>\n

Verse 2 affirms that Jesus was in the presence of God the Father and in perfect relationship with God the Father from the very beginning of time.<\/p>\n

John 1:3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 3:\u00a0 In other words, Jesus played an indispensable role in creating the universe.<\/p>\n

John 1:4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In him was life, and that life was the light of men.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4:\u00a0 In Jesus there is life like no other, life eternal, life so full that nothing else apart from Jesus can possibly be called life.\u00a0 It is this life in Jesus that is \u201cthe light of men\u201d.\u00a0 In other words, the life we have in Jesus is what truly makes people alive and gives us hope, purpose and wisdom.<\/p>\n

John 1:5 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5:\u00a0 Here begins one of the big themes of the Gospel of John: while Jesus himself is light and life, people who live in the darkness would misunderstand who Jesus is and miss out on that light and life.<\/p>\n

John 1:6-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-9:\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cJohn\u201d being referred to in verse 6 is not John the disciple of Jesus and the author of this Gospel.\u00a0 Rather, the \u201cJohn\u201d referred to here is John the Baptist, the older cousin of Jesus, who spent his life preaching God\u2019s Word and baptizing people before Jesus began his ministry. In so doing, John the Baptist was preparing the people of Israel for the arrival of Jesus Christ, so that through John and his ministry \u201call men might believe\u201d (v7).\u00a0 John the Baptist himself was not the light (v8) but was a witness who pointed people to the light who is Jesus (v8), and who was coming after John (v9).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 God uses people to lead you to Jesus.\u00a0 Likewise, a big reason God placed you on this earth was to lead others to Jesus as well, to make Jesus known, and to be “a witness to the light” so that through you others in our world would know who Jesus is.<\/p>\n

John 1:10-11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-11:\u00a0 Once I heard the tragic story of a young child who has been diagnosed with a combination of MS and Alzheimer’s, such that in time doctors predicted that this young child would not recognize her own parents one day.\u00a0 I can think of few things more tragic than that, but that is the predicament John describes here: \u201cHe was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.\u201d\u00a0 Similarly, our world is sick with a condition akin to spiritual Alzheimer\u2019s where many people do not recognize Jesus the one who made them.\u00a0 To not recognize Jesus, who is life itself and the light of men, is to be spiritually dead.\u00a0 But what follows in the next verses is one of the most important and precious promises in all the Bible.<\/p>\n

John 1:12-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-13:\u00a0 When we place our trust in Jesus Christ \u2013 when we believe in the power of Jesus\u2019 name to save us and receive Jesus into our lives \u2013 we receive something we could never earn by our own merit or performance: we gain \u201cthe right to become children of God\u201d (v12).\u00a0 We go from people who are dead in the dark to alive in the light, children of God.\u00a0 When you believe and receive Jesus, you become a child of God, and this new life you have in Christ is not something that happens naturally (\u201cnot of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband\u2019s will\u201d), but supernaturally (\u201cborn of God\u201d).<\/p>\n

Jesus, You are the Word who was at the beginning, the One through whom all things are made.\u00a0 Thank You that by simply believing in Your name and receiving You into my life, I become what I could never become on my own merit: a child of God, living in the light.\u00a0 Please use Your Word, and in particular this Gospel of John, to show me who You are and who I am because of You.\u00a0\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/a>[1]\u00a0Borchert, Gerald L.\u00a0New American Commentary \u2013 Volume 25a: John 1-11<\/em>. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1996. WORDsearch<\/em>\u00a0CROSS e-book.<\/div>\n
<\/a>[2]\u00a0NIV Quest Study Bible, Revised, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

The Gospel of John is one of the most beloved books ever written.\u00a0 While of course people like to debate everything, the best and most reasonable conclusion based on internal and external evidence is that John, one of Jesus\u2019 closest disciples, wrote the Gospel of John.\u00a0 While it\u2019s unclear when exactly he wrote it, scholars I respect tend to date the Gospel of John between approximately 65 A.D. and 85 A.D.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 1:1-13.\u00a0 These first 13 verses, along with verses 14-18, are known as \u201cThe Prologue\u201d by scholars.\u00a0 It serves as an introduction to, and in some ways, a summary of the entire story that John is going to tell about Jesus in this gospel.\u00a0 According to many scholars, these verses contain \u201csome of the most tightly reasoned patterns of theological reflection in the New Testament\u201d[1].\u00a0 Profound simplicity, as others have called it.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30542"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30545,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30542\/revisions\/30545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}