Session 1 John 1:1-14
JOHN 1:1-14
MEMORY VERSE: JOHN 1:14
(In PSG, p. 10)
John, the beloved disciple, did not begin his Gospel with a birth narrative but by declaring Jesus to be God. In beautiful language, John offered evidence that Jesus was and is God. He did not focus on Jesus’s deity as a mere theological exercise. He wrote from the overwhelming awareness that God condescended to become a human being and that the Eternal King loved him and died for him. v
John’s prologue contains four evidences for Jesus’s deity. First, Jesus is God because He is eternal. While Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us, He existed as God before time began. Human compre-hension limits our ability to understand how God can be one God, yet three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Still, God’s Word declares it to be true. So that’s where John began his Gospel. He didn’t try to explain it. He merely proclaimed it.
Second, Jesus is God because He is the Creator. Genesis began with the pre-existent God creating all things. John started there, as well. As the Word, Jesus was with God at creation, but He also was God the Creator. John declared that everything came into being through Him. v
A third argument for the deity of Christ can be found in His incarnation. The Word (Jesus) assumed human flesh and dwelt among the people for whom He would die. As one of the Twelve, John had seen Him, touched Him, heard Him, and walked with Him (1 John 1:1-4). He knew from firsthand experience that Jesus was the only begotten of the Father, the One who lived among His people, full of grace and truth.
Fourth, God sent a special witness to prepare the way for Jesus and to point others toward Him. John the Baptist refused to accept the favor of people who wondered if he was the Christ. He simply witnessed to the Life that was the Light of the world.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
The opening lines of a book should grab the reader’s attention and set the tone for the rest of the work. Writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John probably was not thinking of this basic writing princi-ple, but he accomplished that goal nonetheless. John never got over Jesus’s love for him. Consequently, his Gospel contains more than a historical account of Christ’s life. In it, John pours out his heart so read-ers can understand the wonder of God becoming flesh and dying for our sins.
Using the term Word (Logos in the Greek), John focused on Jesus’s divine nature. Some scholars ar-gue that logos was a general term for God’s wisdom and word. The Hellenistic world used it to represent idealized rationality. But John employed logos in a specialized sense to reference Christ. In his prologue, logos described the eternal Christ who became a man.
John described three aspects of Jesus’s divinity. First, He was in the beginning. Following the exam-ple of Genesis, John set the scene before time began. The tense of the verb was can indicate an ongoing presence—past, present, and future. Prior to Bethlehem, Christ already was present and always had been.
Second, Jesus did not come into being subsequent to God but was with God in the beginning. John did not suggest Christ was somehow separate from God. Rather, he wanted readers to understand that the Son has been eternally present just as the Father has existed forever in eternity. The term translated with infers “toward.” It emphasized Christ’s total communion with the Father as God Himself.
Third, lest anyone misunderstand him, John declared the Word was God. Some cults misrepresent this statement to further their argument that Jesus was a son of God but not God the Son. They point out that the word God has no definite article in the Greek. Therefore, they say Jesus was “a god,” not “the God.” Such an understanding would be polytheistic, implying Christ was merely one god among many. This convoluted contention can be easily refuted by studying the normal use of language.
A literal translation following the specific word order of the Greek manuscript reads “and God was the Word.” Greek scholars point out that this word order eliminates the possibility of “God” being indef-inite. When we refer to God in normal conversation, we do not say “the God” but merely refer to “God.” John did the same. His opening proclamation about the divinity of Christ left no doubt that Jesus always has been God.
One aspect of Hebrew parallelism employs repetition of an idea for emphasis. John used this device by summarizing his previous statement in verse 2: He was with God in the beginning. The term He can also be rendered “the same.” John wanted readers to make no mistake. This same Word, described in verse 1, was present in the beginning and (as he would explain later) had come to earth in human form.
3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
Christ was not only God because He existed eternally, but also because He was the Creator. All things were created through him. The phrase all things leaves nothing out. Every aspect of existence came into being as a result of Christ’s deliberate action.
John again employed parallelism to emphasize the universality of Christ’s creative action: Apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. Some attempts have been made to reconcile biblical evidence with theories of evolution. However, John indicated that all things were created direct-ly by God and that nothing was made without Christ. Any theory that diminishes God’s creative work and the active role of Christ in creation should be rejected.
The phrase through him does not reduce Christ to a mere instrument used by the Father to create the universe. Instead, John claimed that the Word caused everything to appear. In Genesis, God spoke the heavens and earth into being. The theological term logos does not mean that Christ was the spoken word used by God as an instrument to create. Rather, He was God Himself and took an active role in creating everything.
A third aspect of divinity is self-existence: In him was life. As God, the Son possessed life in Himself (John 5:26), and Christ claimed to be “the life” (John 11:25; 14:6). The word for life can be used to de-scribe the totality of existence—physical as well as spiritual. All living creation has derivative life, but life was inherently in Christ. He needed no external source.
That life, the life found in Christ, not only existed but also served as the light of men. The concept of light can encompass several ideas. It may mean physical light. When God said “Let there be light,” Christ created light even before the making of the sun, moon, or stars. But John primarily meant spiritu-al light. Christ is the only source of true spiritual illumination.
Light can also refer to that which reveals. As such, Jesus reveals truth about God and about our-selves. His light shows the reality of the human condition and the path to reconciliation with God.
The demonstrative adjective that connects light to the previous phrase—the life found in Christ alone. This light shines in the darkness. Darkness symbolizes moral evil that opposes God’s righteous-ness but is never equal to it. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah who said those living in darkness would see a great light in the Messiah (Isa. 9:1-2).
In a spiritual sense, darkness actively opposes the light. However, whenever light appears, darkness vanishes. Spiritual darkness can never overcome the light of Christ. Evil may appear to advance tempo-rarily, but Christ always prevails in the end (1 John 1:7).
(In PSG, p. 14)
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
In addition to His eternality and creative power, Jesus’s deity was attested by a man. This particular man was prophetically prepared to be the forerunner of the Messiah. Note several important aspects of this witness. First, he was a person. God sometimes used angels to herald Christ, but to prepare the way among human beings, God employed another human.
Second, this man was sent from God. God commissioned him in the manner and purpose of Elijah to make Christ known (Mal. 4:5; Matt. 11:14). Third, his name was John. This name was somewhat com-mon, but the man was not. He became known as John the Baptist, and he provided a powerful witness to Christ and His purposes in the world.
7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
John’s preaching and baptizing were not ends in themselves, but they served as a witness. This term comes from the Greek word for “martyr,” which seems appropriate since John died for his fearless tes-timony against wickedness (Matt. 14:3-10). Prior to his death, John preached for two purposes. First, he wanted to testify about the light. This phrase refers to Christ personally and to His spiritual righteous-ness, which, by its existence, condemned wickedness. Second, He preached so all might believe through him. The final pronoun him does not refer to John but to Jesus. John’s goal was the salvation of human beings through faith in Christ.
John repeatedly affirmed that he was not the light. Rather, he came to testify about the light. John’s powerful preaching attracted crowds of all types from throughout Israel. But he emphasized that he was not the Christ and pointed people to Jesus instead (Luke 3:15-17; John 1:24-36).
Like John, believers are messengers sent to tell others about the Light. We may not have the same prophetic calling as the Baptizer, but we do have the same commission. Being a witness for Jesus is not complicated. We merely tell others what we have discovered about Jesus, how He brought life and light into our lives, and how He can do the same for them.
(In PSG, p. 15)
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
Continuing the thought of verse 8, John transitioned from addressing the eternal nature of Christ to con-sidering His entrance into the world. Christ was the true light. The true light contrasts all false religions and philosophies that claim to illuminate humanity. John used this phrase to describe the spiritual and moral light that can only be found in Christ.
This true Light came into the world. In a quick shift, John portrayed the infinite Light taking up resi-dence in a finite world. In doing so, the true Light gives light. Christ dispels the darkness of spiritual wickedness and provides spiritual illumination to everyone.
Scholars debate the meaning of everyone. This inclusive statement does not mean that every person will accept the light and be saved. In fact, the following verses testify that many rejected the Light. But, by entering human community, Christ made His light available to each person.
10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.
The eternal Christ became incarnate Jesus, coming into the world that was created through him. Harken-ing back to verse 3, a tragic irony is noted. The Creator walked among His creation, yet His creation did not recognize him. World translates the word from which we get “cosmos,” but in this verse it refers to the earth and its inhabitants. In His incarnation, Jesus entered the physical world and interacted with its population.
Instead of receiving Him, humanity rejected His light because of the darkness of their minds and hearts (Rom. 1:21). Some scholars lean toward the idea of not “knowing” Him as opposed to “recogniz-ing” Him. Both concepts end at the same point. People failed to identify Him properly. In general, hu-manity saw Jesus merely as a man. Many believed Him to be gifted and good, but He was still only a man to them.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural de-scent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
Unlike previous couplets in John’s prologue, verse 11 does not mirror verse 10. Instead, it offers a more narrow perspective. The phrase his own moves attention from the broad expanse of humanity to a specif-ic focus on the Jews. The Israelites were His own. They were God’s chosen people, created to be a mis-sionary nation for Him. Through His incarnation, Jesus was not only born into the human race, but He also entered the Hebrew family. While embracing Samaritans and Gentiles, Jesus’s ministry primarily happened among the Jews. Sadly, his own .
The term receive connotes more than mere acceptance. It involves a glad welcome. While many peo-ple accepted Jesus as a teacher or healer, they did not welcome Him as Messiah and Lord. Certainly, crowds were attracted to someone who made the lame to walk and the blind to see. However, the Jewish rulers were not the only ones who rejected Him. Thousands followed the miracle worker who fed them with loaves and fish, but they abandoned Him when He turned their attention to faith and called them to repentance (John 6:28-60).
While many people walked the broad way toward destruction, some did receive him. The text does point to a group who chose to believe in his name. To believe in Jesus’s name involves more than intel-lectual assent. Saving faith requires complete acceptance of Jesus for who He was and is—God the Son, who is Savior and Lord.
Jesus promised never to reject anyone who came to Him (John 6:37). Instead, Jesus gave believers the right to be children of God. The word right can mean “power” or “authority.” Such a right is neither inherent nor inherited. It is not a matter of entitlement, and it can only be imparted by the One pos-sessing all power in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18). Christ does not discriminate. All who receive Him—all who believe in Him—are treated the same. They receive eternal life from God as a free gift that is found only in Jesus (John 10:28; Eph. 2:8).
Becoming a child of God means having a relationship with God as Father. The Jews thought they were God’s unique children because of their ethnic and religious heritage. John quickly dispelled that notion by describing a different way of entering God’s family. God’s true children are not born of natu-ral descent, a term that could literally be interpreted “bloods” or “bloodlines.” Jesus denounced those who appealed to ancestors like Abraham or Moses for some level of spiritual merit (Matt. 3:9).
Another insufficient means of becoming a child of God was the will of the flesh, a reference to nor-mal human conception. Likewise, the will of man implies human choice or determination, which is pow-erless to bring anyone into relationship with God. In contrast, God’s children are born of God. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus gave Nicodemus an in-depth lesson on the necessity of being born again through God’s Spirit (John 3:5-8).
$$14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John summarized Christ’s incarnation with three grand statements. First, the Word became flesh. Though Christ was eternal God, He took on the form of humanity in the person of Jesus. Second, He dwelt among us. God was not distant and unknowable. In human form, Jesus lived among the people He came to save. v
Third, we observed his glory. John and other followers of Jesus witnessed His life and ministry firsthand. The term glory refers to the revelation of God’s person, purity, and power. It is the manifesta-tion of God that evokes worship and praise. John and the other apostles could speak to this with authority because they had seen it with their own eyes.
Fourth, His glory could only be attributed to the one and only Son from the Father. Instead of self-aggrandizement, Christ’s glory was full of grace and truth that honored the Father (John 12:28).
Faith in Jesus secures a person’s place in God’s family. It cannot come through human effort or intel-lectual assent. It is only available through the power and gift of Christ. And it requires complete ac-ceptance of Jesus as God the Son, who died for us and rose again (Rom. 10:9).
(In PSG, p. 17)
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. (See Matthew 16:16; Philippians 2:5-22.)
Use multiple Scripture passages to understand a major doctrine.
Review additional passages in John’s Gospel about Christ’s deity. Read John 4:26; 5:18; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; and 17:5-11. Why is it important that we understand Jesus as God the Son and not merely the Son of God? How does John consistently point to the deity of Jesus?
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