Study Notes on John 1...

I’m always overwhelmed by the Book of John and it’s deep, rich theology. Of all the books of the Bible, no other book outlines and attests more beautifully to Jesus and His identity as does John’s gospel. John chronicles Jesus ministry, but shows and demonstrated Jesus Christ in His humanity, and Jesus Christ as He is God. It’s not difficult to see in John’s gospel that that Jesus wasn’t just a mere man…He wasn’t just simply an exceptionally intelligent or intriguing individual…no, His personality was one that reaches far beyond the grasp of our mere human intuition or perception…the Man Jesus was not simply a man of good moral conduct, or of a noble or high regard. And though he is certainly worthy of such titles, to address Him as these alone without the acknowledgement or inquiry of anything further would be to betray Him all over again with a kiss. John writes his testimony of Jesus with the simplicity of a child, but with the eloquence of a scholar…in the words of his gospel a story is told of a Man who is far above the height of human comprehension…Jesus, the Man, God incarnate, revealed Himself to us in such a way that there is not a soul living who could deny His existence, His goodness, His personality, and His love for mankind…God came to this world, leaving the throne-room of heaven, for the benefit of sinners…but I think more than this, at least I find this to be one the most intriguing aspects of His nature, is that He entered this world humbly as an infant….completely dependant upon the breasts of His mother…What humility and condescension from heaven…It is of this Man whom John testifies that he has seen and heard from, and learned from…He came from the realm of eternity, outside the scope of time, and entered into our world for the purpose of searching out and rescuing those who had been lost…the world was what He so loved, the world and the sinners who occupied it…so much so that it was to become the altar of His death, ransomed through His blood; or rather, He ordained it to be so. What remains to be seen is that man has done absolutely nothing to merit such a gift from God…but then, being hopelessly lost in a diabolical mess of our own making, what exactly could man offer Him that would be considered acceptable in His sight? And so we had no other alternative but to rely upon the goodness and mercy of an incomprehensible and infallible God; and it is because of His goodness and mercy that he came and visited us…not that He was by any means under any obligation to do what He did -- far from it -- He would have been just as Holy and just as Just in leaving us to our own devices in my opinion, again, we’re the reprobates who rebelled. But he came unto His own in the likeness of His own. We could not go up to Him, He had to come down to us…and because we at the beginning had lost fellowship with our Creator, we became His enemies…John writes that He came unto His own and His own did not receive Him…Surely God was well aware of the atrocities of man -- from the dawn of creation in Genesis to the consummation of history Revelation -- Jesus knew from the very beginning who they were who would believe in Him. But from the beginning, God made man to be His own, and no one else’s…He desired to create us and to be a part of our lives, and for us to be a part of His. It was out of His infinite love that He created us to begin with, knowing what lay ahead for us, as well as for Himself…but for love between two parties to be genuine and true, it requires that they both choose to love one another, even at the risk of rejection from either side…Jesus “came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him…”…how much God loves man that He would come humbly as a man, destined to die for the sake of those who are wrongfully His enemies…before I go any further, I must point out that Jesus Christ had done no wrong…He was pure in every way, and He withheld no good thing from us. It we He who gave us breath, and our bodies sustenance, air for our lungs, and water to quench our pangs of thirst…He provided for us even the most basic of amenities to support and nourish our bodies, for the simple reason that He cares. He gave them to us freely, and He did not charge. In the garden when God created the animals, He gave them all to Adam, for play and for pleasure. By the goodness of the Lord, we have what we have…and now He comes, not for the nourishment of our bodies, but for the preservation of our souls…because of the diagnosis of our spiritual condition, He came to provide us with the food that would sustain our souls for eternity. It’s in this context that Jesus said in his exchange with the Jews that He is the bread which came down from heaven, that a man might eat thereof, and not die. It takes temporary food to sustain temporarily…logically, it would then take eternal food to sustain eternally…not only did we need nourishment for our bodies, but because of the rebellion in the garden, God had to provide for the benefit of our souls as well. When I say that He had to, I do not mean, nor am I implying that we were by some stretch deserving of this, but that if we were to have any hope of escaping the snares of death and God’s divine judgment, He had to come and make it possible for us since we were already cut off from Him. Moreover, He also gave man light…He came as a light to the world…light by definition, reveals that which is hidden; when light is present, darkness flees in terror. It provides light for those who cannot see because of the darkness…light brings clarity, and revelation. I’ve found that usually two things will happen when a man is faced with the light and revelation Jesus brings; he will either 1) submit to the light, and walk in it, or 2) be repelled by it’s very presence and remain in darkness. Secrecy gives the illusion of being a safe-haven for those who practice wickedness…darkness is their domain, and Jesus has no part in it. But whether or not a man believes in Him, His very existence and presence in the universe convicts a man of wrongdoing, no matter how far he may run or try to escape from it. His law is on the heart of every man that comes into the world…Jesus brought light into this dark world, that we might no longer walk in darkness, but in His light, and become one of His own. But alas, just as at the beginning, the Lord gave us a mind and will of our own to use and exercise, and for whatever reason, does not impose on it. He allows man to live and to conduct himself, to make choices and decisions of his own accord without prevention…as I stated before, love between two parties is only true if both acquiesce…He desires us to come to Him, and to love Him, without being forced. This was His plan at the very beginning.