subject: The Word- Continuation of Study in Gospel of John [print this page] The Word- Continuation of Study in Gospel of John
The Word
Billy Graham, Greg Laurie and other great evangelists give out literature to new converts at their crusades. Part of the literature they might receive is perhaps a New Testament or many times a copy of the Gospel of John. Often, in fact usually, the first thing a new Christian is asked to read is this Gospel. That thought makes me laugh sometimes when I think that the first thing a new convert reads is:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2He was with God in the beginning.3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understoodit.
The first thing he or she must think is "OK. I see there is a special way of talking for these people that I don't understand. I wonder if there is a class or something I need to take." Then the first Christian they meet says something like, "Hey brother. Now that you're under the blood you'll need to learn how the Spirit lives in you and keeps you from getting in the flesh."
"Ok," Mr. Newbie Convert thinks, "God is a word and I probably need to learn what that word is and Christians really must like slasher films."
The New Testament was originally written in Greek and the Greek word for word is Logos.There is a study you can do about all this, these first 14 verses of John that revolves around this Greekword, Logos, but this ain't that kind of Bible study. I want to explain this in a way that is easy to understand and the easiest way to do that is to let the Bible tell us what the Bible means. So look at verse 2:
2 He was with God in the beginning
You can probably deduce that "He" is the "the Word" spoken of in the first verse and since you know that this entire Gospel written by John is about Jesus, then you can also reason that "The Word", "He" and "Jesus" are the same person. Establish that fact in your mind and we will move on but first I want to show you two things that I believe are helpful in any Bible study you will ever do.
First is the fact that, as I've stated, the best Bible commentary on the Bible is the Bible. That is important. I have 2 Bible commentaries that I use quite a bit called The Believers Bible Commentary and The (John)MacArthurBible Commentary. However, in the end, I am not overly concerned with what MacArthur says about Jesus but I do care a great deal what Jesus says about Jesus. I'll give an example; suppose I am having trouble believing that Jesus was with God "in the beginning". His being born on earth to a virgin named Mary is confusing this issue for me, so I look to the Bible and find the following verses:
John 17:5- And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
John 8:58-"Very truly I tell you,"Jesus answered,"before Abraham was born, I am!" (Abraham lived some 2000 years before Jesus was born)
So now, though I may not understand how Jesus and God existed together, I can trust that in some way, Jesus has always been with God because that is what Jesus has said.
The second thing that is useful to know in your study of the New Testament is that it was originally written in Greek and Greek is a very descriptive language. Since God chose (and created) this language to reveal Himself to me and you, we should understand something about it. You don't have to be anywhere near a scholar but, well, let me just give you another example:
I love my dog, I love my wife, I love my friends and Jesus loves me. I used the same word, "love" for each of these emotions but in the Greek language each of these would use a different word to describe each of these affections. Those words are in order; Storge, Eros, Philia and Agape. Obviously, God thinks it is very important that you know exactly what he means when He says He loves you.
Okiedokie? I am getting way too involved here and my goal is too keep each chapter as short and simple as possible. However, here in the beginning I have wanted to explain some things that will guide us in the entire study. Future chapters will not be thiswordy.So let's get through the first 14 verses, shall we?
Verses 4 and 5
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understoodit.
Speaking of Jesus as the light, the light of mankind and the darkness that has not understood it. Think of the dark, stormy seas of sin and of sinful living and think of Jesus as the lighthouse at the mouth of a safe harbor. Follow that light to Him. And then think of Satan (through man) trying to put out that light bymurderingJesus on the cross or by convincing people through the ages that Jesus isn't exactly who He says He is. Obviously, that light has not been put out because as your read this, you are sitting directly under that light. Can you dig it? GOOD!!
Verses 6 thru 9:
6There was a man sent from God whose name was John.7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
This is speaking of John the Baptist. He was pointing to the beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus, the light of the world. You have heard it said that when someone finally understandssome truththey say he has "seen the light". John is pointing to the truth, to the light. We will talk more about him later.
Verses 10 thru 13:
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
Jesus created the world but we, for the most part, haven't known Him. Even his own people, the Jews, did not except Him and despite the fact that they had actually been "predicting" His coming for thousands of years. Yet, those few that did and even now, if you accept Him on his terms, you will be HIS child and that is quite a groovy thing indeed.
Verse 14:
14 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.
TheWordof God could also be understood as thePromiseof God. You've said "I give you my word" when you have promisedsomething. Well, God knew before creation that we would sin. And He knew before creation what He would do about it. He would send His son but before Adam sinned and brought the curse of death on mankind, that promise (the Word, Jesus) was still with God. Then when people came along he began speaking to a special group of people called the Jews. He also began telling some of their prophets about this promise that would come to them at some future date. These "prophecies" are recorded in the Old Testament of your Bibles. And thenFINALLYHis promise, His Son, was born on Planet Earth. His Word, His promise, became flesh, a real person named Jesus. Can you imagine John living with Him for 3 years? Can you imagine God snoring next to you? Can you imagine seeing everything He did? Can you then imagine living with Him forever? We don't have to imagine it, it will really happen. Crazy.
