Verse of the Day 5/6

Through the Bible - 1 Kings 15-16, John 1

 

Good morning,

If you are around church or Bible studies long enough, you're bound to hear someone make a comment like, "I've read that passage, I'm familiar with it, I'm looking for something deeper".

For today's verse we'll go to the introduction of the book of John where we find some of the weightiest doctines in the Bible in the simplest terms.  The words are simple enough for anyone to understand but have a depth that even the greatest scholars cannot fully get their minds around.  The Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus Christ, was and is, God.

 

John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.   NLT

or from the NKJV

John 1:1 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.   NKJV

As he begins this wonderful gospel, John, right from the start, wants to tell us right up front, several key, important things about Jesus.  We see the time of His existence, the essence of His identity, His relationship to God, and His relationship to the world
Consider the following comment by John Piper:  "John means for us to read every word of this Gospel with the clear, solid, amazed knowledge that Jesus Christ was with God and was God and that the one who laid down his life for us (John 15:13) created the universe. John wants you to know and believe in a magnificent Savior. Whatever else you may enjoy about Jesus, John wants you to know and treasure Jesus in his infinite majesty

But still we should ask, Why did he choose to call Jesus "the Word"? "In the beginning was the Word." My answer to that question is this: John calls Jesus the Word because he had come to see the words of Jesus as the truth of God and the person of Jesus as the truth of God in such a unified way that Jesus himself—in his coming, and working, and teaching, and dying and rising—was the final and decisive Message of God. Or to put it more simply: What God had to say to us was not only or mainly what Jesus said, but who Jesus was and what he did. His words clarified himself and his work. But his self and his work were the main truth God was revealing. "I am the truth," Jesus said (John 14:6)."

I'll leave you with one more thing to think about.  Jesus is referred to here as the "Word of God" as we here the gospel story of how He came to earth.  He will also be known as the "Word of God" when He returns, when He comes again.

Rev 19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.   NKJV

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
More tools available at: http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

John 1:1-15

 

The Eternal Word
(Gen 1:1-2:3)

 

1 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 nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

 

John's Witness: The True Light

 

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

 

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

The Word Becomes Flesh

 

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

NKJV