Letters to the Prison - Week 26

Hello, everyone!  We miss our face-to-face fellowship with you.  It is a joy to stand and worship God with you.  Hopefully, we will be able to return soon.  Meanwhile, we pray that God is encouraging you and that you are encouraging one another.

We’ve begun to study the Gospel of John and last week we discussed the Main question of everyone’s life which is:  Is Jesus Christ who he says he is?  John’s Gospel answers that question very clearly, so our goal is to explore how so that those who still need to answer that question for themselves can do so with a clear understanding of who Jesus says he is.  Of course, along the way, we’ll see what other people say about Jesus also, but what is ultimately important for us to see is what Jesus says about himself so that those who haven’t decided yet can chose whether to believe him or not.  We’ve chosen to believe that Jesus is exactly who he claims to be.  We’re hoping you will do the same if you haven’t decided yet.  Let’s begin!

Right away, in chapter 1, the first four verses make a very clear statement:
•In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.-John 1:1-4

Without going into a huge, long explanation of why it’s OK to do so, you could replace “the Word” with “Jesus” in these verses without changing John’s meaning.  In case you’re not sure, Verse 14 confirms it for us:
•And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14

Jesus is “the Word” who “became flesh and dwelt among us.”  So, in the first four verses, we see immediately who Jesus is, according to John.  When John writes “in the beginning,” he means the very beginning… of everything…  So, John is saying very plainly that Jesus is God.  Jesus the Son of God was there at the beginning with God, is equal to God in every way, and participated with God in the creation of all things… including the universe, the earth, and us.  And Jesus is, according to John, “the light of men… full of grace and truth.”

John doesn’t waste any time talking about the decision people have to make about Jesus, either.  Look at verses 11-13:
•11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

There are two different types of people listed here.  Those who “did not receive” Jesus (vs. 11) and “all who did receive” Jesus (vs. 12).  In other words, those who answered “no” and those who answered “yes” to the Main question:  Is Jesus who he says he is?

We see in verse 12 that those who “believe in his (Jesus’) name” --those who believe that Jesus is who he says he is… that he is God-- become “children of God…”

Now, look at verse 13.  Verse 13 is so very important.  It says that those who become children of God are born of God…  not of the will of man, not of the flesh, but of God.  This, friends, is what it means to be “born again.”  This is a majorly important thing that will come up again in John’s Gospel many times, so it’s important to understand:  
What John is saying here is that yes, we need to make a decision about Jesus… whether to believe in him or not… “yes” or “no.”  But we cannot do that without help.  God is the one who causes us to be born again so that we can say “yes.  Jesus is who he says he is.”  In Mark 9:24, a man says to Jesus, “I believe.  Help my unbelief!”  He is asking Jesus to help him believe.  This is also what happens to us.  We may want to believe, but we need help.  So, we ask God to help our unbelief and when God provides that help, he gives us new life in Jesus by causing us to be born again.  This is difficult to comprehend… that we need God’s help to believe, but that our decision whether or not to believe matters to us eternally.  Yet this is what is true.

Friends, if you are struggling to believe in Jesus.  If you want to answer “Yes” to Jesus, ask God to help you.  He is right there with you.  He hears you.  There are no magic words to say… there is no formula or special prayer you need to recite.  Just talk to God.  He is listening and wants nothing more than to spend eternity in loving fellowship with you.  Ask him to help your unbelief.  He will not disappoint you.

Well, we could stop right there.  That’s a lot to consider!  But there is so much more to see in this first chapter of John!  So, let’s keep looking a little further.

Verse 6 introduces “a man sent from God” named John.  This is not the same John who wrote the Gospel of John.  So, there are two “Johns:” John the Apostle (son of Zebedee.  See Matthew 4:21) who wrote the Gospel of John, which we are studying now, and John the Baptist (see Luke 1 for his story).  John the Baptist came to “bear witness about the light” (Jesus) even though John the Baptist was “not the light” himself (John 1:6-8).  What does John the Baptist say about Jesus?  We see this most clearly in verses 29, 30 and 34:
•29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’
•34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
-John 1:19-30, 34

That is a profound testimony indeed.  We will discuss what John the Baptist means next week.  Meanwhile, keep reading John chapters 1 and 2.  And consider your answer to the question:  Is Jesus who he says he is?  If you need help answering, ask God!  
We hope you will answer “Yes” to Jesus.  We love you!  
We want you with us forever in fellowship with God.

Dean A.

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