v. Verses 6-9 “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” John the Baptist got an early start and “lept in his mother’s womb” when his mother heard Mary’s greeting while she was still pregnant with Jesus (see Luke 1:41). This guy was on fire for God even before he was born. His role is simply to be a witness. The follow on verses in John the Baptist talk about how he denies that he is the Christ or even a great prophet. The author also does not in any way diminish John the Baptist’s role, but actually shows how important he actually was.
The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John by William Barclay says that the author put in these verses at least partly because of a small number of people at that time that only recognized the baptism of John the Baptist (see Acts 19:1-7). I think that it is very interesting how the author addressed so many different groups and major concepts in such a short few paragraphs. First, specific things related to introducing the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles and now language specific to the groups who only recognized John the Baptist. Although it has these specific groups and issues of that time in mind, it is still very meaningful and applicable today.
I thought about this group that thought more of John the Baptist than he claimed to be himself and how that applies to us today. I am sure you have heard of people or churches where some personality in the church (or outside the church) become the focal point and took people’s eyes off of Christ. People tend to gravitate toward things that they can actually see, so we have to be careful and remember that faith in what we cannot see is what is important.
Verse 9 shows how the light is available to everyone. It is also referred to a little differently as the “true light”. The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John by William Barclay says that the Greek for this word is alethinos, which means real or genuine. I think this is very important because we must recognize that there can be truth in things, even those that are hostile to God. The “true” light is Christ, even if there is light in other things. For example, there are many beautiful ideas in Buddhism, things that are full of truth, but ultimately Buddhism falls short of the glory of God. To walk in the “true” light, you must walk with Jesus Christ.
The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John by William Barclay also mentions four concepts that are demonstrated by this verse - His coming dissipated the shadows of doubt, despair, darkness of death, and was available to every man. Jesus was able to demonstrate in front of their eyes the character of God. He took away despair by not only showing them the way, but giving them the power necessary to walk in the light. He brought an end to the fear of death. Lastly, this light was brought to all men, Jews and Gentile alike.
QUESTION: When in your life have you placed more importance on a blessing than on God? How can you get your focus back on God?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Study of John - Week 4
Verse 5: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” To me, this verse beautifully illustrates how God works and reveals Himself to us with simple things.
Proverbs 2:12-14 talks about the darkness that is mentioned here by the author. We can see in nature how light cannot be extinguished by darkness. When I was a teenager, I was able to tour a cave in Carlsbad that was not on the normal route and was only open to guided tours. At the halfway point, the Park Ranger had us all turn off our flashlights and let our eyes adjust for a few seconds. It was complete darkness and the darkest place I have ever been in my life. In fact, you could not see your hand in front of your eyes (literally). He then turned around and lit a single candle (he had to turn around to protect our eyes). The single flame from the candle lit the enormous chamber that we were in. The chamber was roughly 100-yds by 70-yards and the ceiling was about 30-40 feet high. In this deep darkness, a single flame was enough to light it completely. In other words, all of the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the smallest flame. Jesus is the light of the world and no matter how much darkness is in the world, it cannot defeat the light.
The darkness cannot understand the light. This is a very important concept. The understanding of the things of God is given to us, not something that we have in ourselves apart from God. God grants understanding to those he chooses (those that are His children). 1 John 5:20 says “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.” The world (or anyone who rejects God and Jesus) does not understand the light and is therefore hostile to it. It is a condition of the heart and God knows our hearts. Proverbs 2:1-6 says “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” The reward is shown here, but those that reject the understanding and wisdom that God can give do not receive it and therefore cannot understand the ways and truth of God. Proverbs 2:9 “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path.” Jesus Himself says in Matthew 11:25 “I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, but revealed them to little children.”
QUESTION: Where have you heard or seen something that was presented as if was good and everyone should do it, but you knew that it was full of darkness. How did you deal with it?
Proverbs 2:12-14 talks about the darkness that is mentioned here by the author. We can see in nature how light cannot be extinguished by darkness. When I was a teenager, I was able to tour a cave in Carlsbad that was not on the normal route and was only open to guided tours. At the halfway point, the Park Ranger had us all turn off our flashlights and let our eyes adjust for a few seconds. It was complete darkness and the darkest place I have ever been in my life. In fact, you could not see your hand in front of your eyes (literally). He then turned around and lit a single candle (he had to turn around to protect our eyes). The single flame from the candle lit the enormous chamber that we were in. The chamber was roughly 100-yds by 70-yards and the ceiling was about 30-40 feet high. In this deep darkness, a single flame was enough to light it completely. In other words, all of the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the smallest flame. Jesus is the light of the world and no matter how much darkness is in the world, it cannot defeat the light.
The darkness cannot understand the light. This is a very important concept. The understanding of the things of God is given to us, not something that we have in ourselves apart from God. God grants understanding to those he chooses (those that are His children). 1 John 5:20 says “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.” The world (or anyone who rejects God and Jesus) does not understand the light and is therefore hostile to it. It is a condition of the heart and God knows our hearts. Proverbs 2:1-6 says “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” The reward is shown here, but those that reject the understanding and wisdom that God can give do not receive it and therefore cannot understand the ways and truth of God. Proverbs 2:9 “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path.” Jesus Himself says in Matthew 11:25 “I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, but revealed them to little children.”
QUESTION: Where have you heard or seen something that was presented as if was good and everyone should do it, but you knew that it was full of darkness. How did you deal with it?
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Study of John - Week 3
iii. Verse 4: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” First of all, we are part of His creation. He is the source of life. This life that has always existed in Him, He has placed in us. The life that sustains Him, also sustains us. The life that sustains Him is the light of our life.
The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John, by William Barclay mentions that the author uses light and life repeatedly throughout the Gospel of John. This light is that which is within us through faith in Jesus. As the song goes “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”. This little light is part of and connected to almighty God, the power of all creation, the source of truth, the strength that can start and stop hurricanes and tornadoes, the creator of the vastness of the universe and the delicate petals of a flower and any other awe inspiring thing that you can think of. The cool thing about that is this light is in us and it is not diluted in us. This little light in us has the potency of God, because it is our connection to Him and His strength, power, greatness, love, peace, wisdom, etc…. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 that nothing would be impossible for us, if we only have faith (mustard seed and moving mountains). He is in us and we can tap into that awesomeness and the only requirement is faith. The beauty of this is that the more we seek Him and we decrease, the more His power increases in our lives. Read Mark 11:22-26.
The author also mentions life. This is life as designed by the creator. The abundant, everlasting life that is only possible when you get in touch with the source – Jesus. Living is something other than merely existing. Life as intended is about abundance. Abundance isn’t about constant struggle or striving, there is always plenty. We aren’t talking about a creator who has just enough to get by and His creation reflects that. Abundance is all around us in nature. Look at all of excess in the natural world that we consider normal.
We can exist in this world and can even learn how to thrive here in certain aspects of our lives without achieving this abundant life. A man can learn how to take advantage of the Law of Prosperity and accumulate a massive fortune. God created the truths that anyone (even atheists) can put to work for himself, if we recognize these truths and apply them effectively. These laws are good and when applied will result in God’s intent, such as abundant wealth or health or any other blessing. In other words, God is happy for us to achieve great wealth, health, etc…, but that isn’t all there is to life and we all know it in our hearts. If a man has achieved great wealth, but does not know Jesus, he isn’t even really alive in eternal terms. When you think about eternity in mathematical terms our lifespan here on earth is zero when compared to infinity. A man can exist apart from Jesus, but he cannot even know or understand what true life is. He is not truly blessed and he doesn’t have true abundance, since these are only achieved through Christ Jesus.
If we put our lives on a scale of 0 to infinity, with 0 being completely undesirable and infinity being eternal bliss, there is a point somewhere along the line that we would not choose to have ever lived at all and some point along the line where we would feel our wildest dreams have come true. It sounds pretty drastic, but that is the choice we have in life – zero or infinity and nowhere in between is really an option. The narrow way or the wide easy way, it really is that simple (Matt 7:13-14). I love this: The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John, by William Barclay mentions the word aionios, which is repeatedly used in the Bible to describe God and it means eternal. In the true meaning of the word, only God is eternal. It would follow that an eternal life is God’s life. That is what Jesus offers us – the life that God lives. You can bet that is a pretty swell life.
QUESTION: Has there ever been an event in your life which enabled you to better understand God and His plans for you? Have you ever prayed for something or did something in faith and received an answer or miracle and you knew that it was God? How would a miracle change the way you lived your life?
The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John, by William Barclay mentions that the author uses light and life repeatedly throughout the Gospel of John. This light is that which is within us through faith in Jesus. As the song goes “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”. This little light is part of and connected to almighty God, the power of all creation, the source of truth, the strength that can start and stop hurricanes and tornadoes, the creator of the vastness of the universe and the delicate petals of a flower and any other awe inspiring thing that you can think of. The cool thing about that is this light is in us and it is not diluted in us. This little light in us has the potency of God, because it is our connection to Him and His strength, power, greatness, love, peace, wisdom, etc…. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 that nothing would be impossible for us, if we only have faith (mustard seed and moving mountains). He is in us and we can tap into that awesomeness and the only requirement is faith. The beauty of this is that the more we seek Him and we decrease, the more His power increases in our lives. Read Mark 11:22-26.
The author also mentions life. This is life as designed by the creator. The abundant, everlasting life that is only possible when you get in touch with the source – Jesus. Living is something other than merely existing. Life as intended is about abundance. Abundance isn’t about constant struggle or striving, there is always plenty. We aren’t talking about a creator who has just enough to get by and His creation reflects that. Abundance is all around us in nature. Look at all of excess in the natural world that we consider normal.
We can exist in this world and can even learn how to thrive here in certain aspects of our lives without achieving this abundant life. A man can learn how to take advantage of the Law of Prosperity and accumulate a massive fortune. God created the truths that anyone (even atheists) can put to work for himself, if we recognize these truths and apply them effectively. These laws are good and when applied will result in God’s intent, such as abundant wealth or health or any other blessing. In other words, God is happy for us to achieve great wealth, health, etc…, but that isn’t all there is to life and we all know it in our hearts. If a man has achieved great wealth, but does not know Jesus, he isn’t even really alive in eternal terms. When you think about eternity in mathematical terms our lifespan here on earth is zero when compared to infinity. A man can exist apart from Jesus, but he cannot even know or understand what true life is. He is not truly blessed and he doesn’t have true abundance, since these are only achieved through Christ Jesus.
If we put our lives on a scale of 0 to infinity, with 0 being completely undesirable and infinity being eternal bliss, there is a point somewhere along the line that we would not choose to have ever lived at all and some point along the line where we would feel our wildest dreams have come true. It sounds pretty drastic, but that is the choice we have in life – zero or infinity and nowhere in between is really an option. The narrow way or the wide easy way, it really is that simple (Matt 7:13-14). I love this: The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John, by William Barclay mentions the word aionios, which is repeatedly used in the Bible to describe God and it means eternal. In the true meaning of the word, only God is eternal. It would follow that an eternal life is God’s life. That is what Jesus offers us – the life that God lives. You can bet that is a pretty swell life.
QUESTION: Has there ever been an event in your life which enabled you to better understand God and His plans for you? Have you ever prayed for something or did something in faith and received an answer or miracle and you knew that it was God? How would a miracle change the way you lived your life?
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