Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(John 1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
These first few verses of John make up one of the most beautiful passages in the entire Bible, in my opinion. "In the beginning," the same words that begin the Bible in Genesis tell us that Jesus was there in the beginning. He was there before anything was created. He was the Word of God and when He took on flesh and came into the world, He brought the Word of God to the world. Jesus was and is God. It's a difficult concept for our puny human minds to comprehend, but it's that Holy Trinity that makes up God: God the Father in heaven, God's Word called His Son when he came into the world, and God the Holy Spirit. God Himself came into the world to save it!
(2) The same was in the beginning with God.
This seems to be a repetition of what was before said, but it may have been written to confirm that the Word, Jesus, had been there from the very beginning, before God ever spoke creation into existence, before He ever spoke a Word the Word was there.
(3) All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
All things were made by Jesus! Being the Word, He spoke creation into existence. There was nothing ever made that was not made by Him. I can't help but think about the words in Genesis when God said, "Let Us make man in Our image..."
(4) In Him was life and the life was the light of men.
In Jesus was life. Jesus created life and He remains the only source for eternal life. Life is found only in Jesus Christ! That life that was created by Jesus was the light of men. With light we can see things clearly. From the beginning with Adam, man knew right from wrong and he knew God existed and he communed with Him. We are all born with that light. We instinctively know right from wrong and we instinctively know there's a God, although some may grow wise in their own eyes and try to deny it.
(5) And the light shines in darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.
When sin entered the world with Adam and Eve, darkness came. The light of man shines in the darkness, but those so enveloped in darkness cannot comprehend or understand the light. The world had become very dark and had ceased to perceive the light. The original word that was translated as "comprehend" also means "seize, overtake," and was used just as many times in scripture with that meaning. So perhaps the meaning here is that darkness never completely overtakes the light. With any small flickering light, darkness disappears beside it.
(6) There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
The Apostle John now wrote about John the Baptist. He said he was sent by God.
(7) The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
John the Baptist was sent by God to bear witness of the Light, that original Light of man that is only found in the Word, Jesus Christ. John was sent to testify about Christ and through his preaching and teaching, all men might come to believe in Him.
(8) He was not that Light, but to bear witness of that Light.
John the Baptist was not himself the Light, but he came to proclaim the Light and prepare the people to receive the Light.
(9) That was the true Light which lights every man who comes into the world.
The Light John was preaching was the true Light that lights every man who comes into the world. As was discussed in verse 4, every person is born by the Word and with the Light, the knowledge and wisdom that God gives one from birth, but he may extinguish it with his own lusts and desires for the darkness of the world.
(10) He was in the world and the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him.
That Light was now in the world and He had made the world and all that was in it, but the world did not know Him. John the Baptist had come to teach the world about Him.
(11) He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.
Jesus the Light came first to His own chosen people, the Jews, but they did not receive Him as their Messiah.
(12) But as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God, to those who believe on His name.
However, to the people who did receive Him and believed in Him as their Savior, He gave them the right to become the sons of God. He actually gave them power when He sent the Holy Spirit.
(13) Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
These sons of God were not literally born as God's sons, nor could they become sons by their own will or by the will of any man, but only by God or Jesus who gifted that right when they accepted and believed in Christ as their Savior.
(14) And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.
The Word that was in the beginning with God and was God became man and dwelt among His disciples who beheld His glory. The disciples had been close associates of Jesus and were able to see Him for who He really was. The Apostle John, along with Peter and James, had been witness to the full glory of Jesus being displayed at His transfiguration on the mountain (Matthew 17:1-9). That was a glory that could only be of God in heaven and was proof that the Word came from heaven and became flesh in the form of Jesus who was full of grace and truth. He was always gracious and kind, doing good to all, and He was full of the truth as only the Word could be.
(15) John bore witness of Him, and cried, saying, "This was He of whom I spoke, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"
John the Baptist affirmed the truth about Jesus when he saw Him, saying that Jesus was the very one he had been preaching and prophesying about when he had said that the One who came after him was greater than he was and preferred above him because He had been there since the beginning. That word that was translated as "before," "protos," actually has a stronger meaning than merely "before." It means "foremost," the first and/or best, number one. Jesus had been long before John even though He came into the world after him because He had existed in heaven from the beginning, and He was of foremost importance, far superior to John the Baptist, although John was known as a great prophet.
(16) And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
That fullness of grace and truth that the evangelist John spoke of in verse 14 all Jesus's disciples had received. They received grace because of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. To me that seems to be the sense of the original word "anti" that was translated as "for." The meaning of the word was "instead of" or "because of." "Grace instead of grace" doesn't make a lot of sense unless you think of it as the grace of the Gospel of Christ instead of the grace given by the law. Some of the commentators I study took it to mean "grace upon grace," one blessing upon another, immeasurable grace and love. That is certainly true, but that doesn't appear to be the meaning of the word.
(17) For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
The law was given and taught by Moses as he had received it from God. The very truth of God came to us in the form of Jesus Christ. In addition, He brought us grace from the law that none of us was ever able to adhere to faithfully: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Jesus brought us the true spirit of the law and the love and grace to save us from it.
(18) No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
No man has ever physically seen God with his eyes, but I believe the sense here is the secondary definition of the word "horao" which means "to see with the mind, to perceive, know." No one had really seen and fully known God as they did when Jesus from the very bosom of Father God, in oneness with the Father, God Himself, dwelt among men and revealed the true God to them, the God of love and truth and mercy. Jesus truly revealed God to us in the way the law never could. However, we needed that law to demonstrate to us how much we really need God and His guidance and salvation. The law gives us a guidebook on how we are to live our lives and how the fruits of our salvation should look. The law was necessary, but it provided only a vague glimpse of God in the shadows of that law. In Jesus Christ, men are able to know God and have seen Him (John 14:7).
Although this makes for a rather short post, I think it should stand alone in its revelation that Jesus IS God. I think it is probably the most beautiful passage in the entire Bible, telling us how God Himself because He loved us so much, provided a way for Him to come down to us and save us from our sin. He Himself who could not look on sin provided a way to take upon Himself the entire filthy sin of the world in the human form of Jesus Christ. He did that for us! There is no greater love! The word "love" as we know it doesn't begin to describe the love God has for us. Actually, there is a word for it, "agape" which means the unconditional selfless love of God, the highest form of love, in contrast to "eros" that refers to sexual desire and love, and also "phileo" which refers to brotherly love. UNCONDITIONAL - meaning there are no conditions that would prevent Him from loving and saving us. No one has done anything so bad that they cannot be saved! The only thing we have to do is to accept His love and salvation by accepting Jesus into our hearts and allowing His sacrifice to cover our sins. And that should not be looked upon as a condition. It's a gift that we accept to atone for and cover our sins because an all holy God cannot look upon filthy sin. Saying "cannot" seems a contradiction in an omnipotent God, but His very nature is all-good and holy and free from any form of uncleanness and sin:
You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on iniquity... - Habakkuk 1:13
For You are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with You. - Psalm 5:4
I will continue a study of the first chapter of John in the next post as John begins to tell of the historical facts of Jesus in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment