I always thought (assumed) the book of John was written by John the Baptist. But it's not. It's written by John the disciple. However, in this book, when "John" is referred to, they are talking about John the Baptist.
The book of John is a favorite among Christians and when researching where we should start when leading a Bible study, I kept coming across the advice to start with John, so here we are!
I have a "life application" Bible so it gives me lots of background facts on each book and the main people. Under "statistics" it says this: purpose of the book of John- to prove conclusively that Jesus is the Son of God and all who believes in Him will have eternal life.
John 1:1-18
-This is explaining that Jesus is part of God. Jesus was there when God began the world and the Word (beause Jesus is a part of God).
-Jesus is fully God BUT fully human during His time here on earth. 1:14- The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
-My Bible explains verses 1:12-13 as this, "all who welcomes Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn spiritually, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Christ, this new birth changes us from the inside out-- rearranging our attitudes, desires, and motives. Being born of God makes you spiritually alive and put's you in God's family. Have you asked Christ to make you a new person?"
-My favorite verse out of this chapter is 1:16- From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
God's grace is so abundant and thankfully, never-ending. "...One blessing after another..." How very true. I firmly believe that even trials can be blessings in disguise. The truly evil happenings in this world, are no, not blessings, but I also firmly believe that God uses all for the good. He'll turn any tragedy into something positive; we just may not see how it'll all play out in our life-time or in our little corner of the world.
1:19-34
-The Pharisees question John the Baptist "who are you?!" John proclaims freely that he is the one who is to come before the Messiah (Christ) and "...whose sandals I am unworthy to untie." (1:27)
-Jesus then comes to where John was baptizing and John recognizes Him immediately as Christ. When John baptized Jesus the Heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove and stayed there.
1:35-51
-The first disciples begin to follow Jesus
-Jesus renames Simon Peter as Peter which means "the rock" ---this is extremely significant and of course not by "coincendence" as after Jesus dies, is risen and ascends into Heaven, the beginning of the Church began with Peter-- he was the foundation, "the rock" in which the Church stood on.
Can you imagine?! Can you imagine being so blessed to have been one of the twelve disciples?! (Besides of course Judas; no one would want to be him, the betrayer.) It honestly makes me teary-eyed thinking of how amazing it'd be to be in Jesus' presence. To be able to give thanks and worship in person... To embrace Him, to bow before Him, to ask Him any questions I've ever wanted to... I just can't imagine... Good thing we'll have all eternity with Him to do those things!
-1:50 "...You will see greater things than that." Surely they did. They saw miracles upon miracles- beautiful, wonderful, breath-taking miracles.
-1:41-42 "The firt thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon Peter and to tell him, 'we have found the Messiah,' (that is Christ). And he brought him to Jesus..."
How often do we put our witnessing up to the forefront of our intentions & interactions with others? How often have we been so excited to share and help lead someone to Jesus? Or do we keep the Light to ourselves? Are we afraid to be seen as weird or a bother? Or do we not see it as our job?
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
"And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." (Mark 16:15)
"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)
"Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples." (Psalm 96:3)
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..." (Romans 1:16)
I think it IS our responsibility as Christians to share Jesus with others. Not by only allowing people to be a part of church if they've met certain requirements, not by going door to door with pamphlets, not by standing on a street corner with a sign. But by letting God's Grace and love radiate through us on a daily basis. Colton Dixon has a song, "let them see you in me, let them hear you when I speak, let them feel you when I sing...." Our church holds community wide events and I invite friends to come all the time and check it out. I pay for the person behind me at the drive thru, I teach Sunday school to 3 and 4 year olds who know more about God's love for them than I ever did growing up, we sponsor a child in Guatemala who can now go to the learning center that our church helped to build and get food for his family. These are only examples. There are so many ways to show the love He has for us and the Grace he has given us. Pray for someone, be a good friend, listen to each other, spend time with each other. That's what church is, community.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree Jill!! I want to be a reflector of God's light and have others look at maybe my joy or peace or lifestyle and wonder why it is the way it is, so that I can point to Jesus. We are to be LIVING examples and the second greatest commandment is to love one another!
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