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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.
Not “a god”
Yesterday we looked at how The Word is God and Jesus is the Word so Jesus is God. In John’s time, it was a real battle to help people (Jews and Greeks) understand that Jesus is God. In modern times, almost every major cult from the West does not believe Jesus is God. One cult in particular, Jehovah’s Witnesses, goes so far as to mis-translate verse 1 to say, “the word was a god.” Be aware. Any group or church that denies the deity of Christ and/or has their “own” translation of the Bible is a cult. They won’t emphasize this in their teaching lest they scare people away.
Keys of John
What is a key purpose for the Gospel of John? In speaking of the signs Jesus also performed, John 20:31 says, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
How about the key word? “The key word in the book is the verb believe (Gr. pisteuō), which appears 98 times. The noun form of the word (Gr. pistis, faith) does not occur at all. This phenomenon shows that John wanted to emphasize the importance of active, vital trust in Jesus.” (planobiblechapel.org) May our faith be active and vital.
The message of John is in 1:18: “No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.” Jesus came to reveal and explain who God is.
Unique gospel
John’s gospel was unique in many ways. He excludes part of Jesus’ life the others include – like His baptism, birth and temptation – and includes things the others don’t. “John selected seven signs or miracles that demonstrate that Jesus was the divine Messiah who was promised in the Old Testament (chs. 2—12).[20] He also recorded the discourses that Jesus gave following these signs that explained their significance. In addition, he featured Jesus’ claims that occur in the seven unique “I am” statements (6:35; 8:12; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5).[21]. (planobiblechapel.org)
