John 1-3

John

1:1-34 -  Jesus Christ is the Word of God.  He is the Beginning.  He is also the End (1-3; Revelation 21:6).  He is ‘the Word… made flesh’.  ‘We have seen His glory’ (14).  This is only the beginning.  When He returns, we shall see His glory – ‘we shall see Him as He is’ (1 John 3:2).  From Him, there is creation (1-3).  From Him, there is salvation (12-13).  In Him, we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (29,32-34).  He is the Word of God, the Lamb of God and the Son of God (1,29,34).  When we look at Jesus Christ, we see God – ‘the ‘Word was God’ (1), ‘No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known’ (18).  Do you want to know what God is like? – Look at Jesus (14:9).  What do we see when we look at Him? – ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ (29).

1:35-2:25 -  Andrew brought his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus (40-42).  ‘You are… You shall be…’ (42).  Jesus looks beyond what we are now.  He sees what we will become through the transforming power of His grace.  The ‘water’ became ‘wine’ (9).  This was the Lord’s doing.  In Christ, we have been ‘made alive’.  This is the work of God.  He is ‘rich in mercy’.  He loves us with a ‘great love’ (Ephesians 2:4-5).  At a wedding, Jesus rejoices with those who rejoice (1-11).  In the temple, He rebukes those who are proud (13-17).  There was ‘death’ in the temple.  Those who were spiritually ‘dead’ acted in complete disregard for the true purpose of God’s House – ‘My House shall be called a house of prayer’ (Matthew 21:13).  ‘Raised from the dead’, we receive ‘new life’ (22; Romans 6:4).  Be real with Jesus.  He will bless you (23-25).

3:1-36 -  We say, ‘I’ll turn over a new leaf’.  Christ says, ‘You must be born again’ (3,7).  Our way of thinking begins with ‘I’.  Christ’s way of salvation begins with ‘God’: ‘God so loved the world…’ (16).  Begin with ‘I’ and you have sin, guilt and condemnation (Romans 3:10-11).  Begin with God and you have Good News for sinners: ‘God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8).  Through faith in Christ, we are ‘born of the Spirit’ (6-8; 1:12).  The Spirit of God is the Spirit of holiness, love and truth.  Those who are ‘born of the Spirit’ are to live a life of holiness, love and truth (1 John 4:2-3,6-7,12-13; 5:2-3).  ‘Come to the light’.  ‘Do what is true’.  ‘Obey the Son’.  Let Christ increase.  This is the work of the Spirit in us (20-21,36,29,34).