Over the past year or so, we have studied First, Second, and Third John. These are letters written to followers of Christ on living in faith, and trust. Letters of encouragement, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to look to Jesus for our every need. These letters were to convey all that is ours in Christ when we believe. To teach us how to receive and walk in His blessings and power, and love. Of living life in His victory.
Today, we will begin a study of John’s Gospel. The Good News as told by him. John referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. So he was. So are we. He believed that, and acted upon that fact, and lived in the power of it. May that be so for each of us.
Each of the four Gospels start differently. John begins with a declaration of truth, and illumination. He said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” ( John 1:1,2)
John does not go into the genealogy of Jesus, because He always was. He is One with God. His earthly birth was to bring flesh and blood to mankind, and to live a perfect life in the body He would sacrifice for us. He was Son of Man, Son of God. Fully man, fully God. Therefore, John begins with who Jesus is. He is the Word.
One commentator said, “What does John mean by ‘the Word’? In Hebrew Scripture, the Word was an agent of creation, (psalm 33:6), and His standard of holiness, (psalm 119:11), In Greek philosophy, the Word was the principle of reason that governed the world. In Hebrew thought the Word was another expression for God. John’s description shows clearly that he is speaking of Jesus as a human being that he loved, and at the same time the Creator of the universe, the ultimate revelation of God, the living picture of God’s holiness, the One in whom all things hold together. To Jewish readers, ‘the Word was God’ was blasphemous. To Greek readers, ‘the Word became flesh’ (John 1:14 ) was unthinkable. To John, this new understanding of ‘the Word’ was gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
Let us rejoice in the Word, the Good News. As we spend time in the Word each day, we are spending time with Christ Jesus. We are in Fellowship with the creator of all things. The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The power of the universe, The great ‘I AM’ – Love personified. How blessed we are by the Word.
Poppa B.