Backstory: John was an apostle that “Jesus loved.” He was the son of Zebedee and the brother of James. Together they were known as the Sons of Thunder. This was written prior to John being exiled to the Patmos Island where he wrote the book of Revelation.

Chapter 1 Questions, thoughts, and takeaways

The book of John starts “In the beginning”, which is the same way the book of Genesis starts out. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God and the Word was God.” So from the very beginning Jesus was with God and is the Word of God. In Greek, “word” means Logos. It means the outward expression of all that God is. The word “with” means another separate supreme being that has no less power, position or personality. The two- God and Jesus- are equal.

Verse 3 says that God created everything through Him. Jesus gave everything life. We are uniquely created in His image. Jesus came to earth fully human. He understands what we are feeling and going through. Jesus is also fully God. He is the sustainer/creator of all things. Jesus is the only way to eternal life (Colossians 2:9). He gave us a purpose. Without Jesus, we have nothing and we will not fulfill our purpose here on earth.

And because Jesus became human, He is the perfect example of how we should behave, think, and more. He’s the perfect teacher. Reading about how Jesus loved others, how He treated others, how He served others, how He healed and helped others, and how He thought are all takeaways that we need to be imitating. The more we get to know Jesus, the more we know about God as well. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” How are you doing with being humble versus being prideful? Most of us have pride and it can be our downfall if we don’t get it under control. Jesus washed His disciples feet. Peter at first protested it. And to be honest, I would have too. I go barefoot quite often. And although I wash my feet daily, I’m pretty sure they are forever stained because no amount of soap and scrubbing can get them clean! So when I think of someone touching my feet, I protest. And to think about cleaning someone else’s feet is a gross thought for me. How many of you have seen the movie, “The Jesus Revolution”? Great movie. When the pastor starts cleaning the “hippies” feet it took me back. Would I be willing to clean another person’s feet? Am I willing to humble myself to serve others in whatever capacity God is calling me to do? Our pride can make us miss opportunities to show the world the love of Jesus. So stay humble my friends and serve like Jesus did.

In 1 Peter 2:21-23 it says, “For God called you to do good even if it means suffering just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in His steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly.” Can you say you have not gone after revenge when you’ve been hurt or when someone you love has been hurt? In this day and age it is very easy to get offended over a multitude of subjects. And being a Christian in today’s world is a guarantee that you will be persecuted. But our example to live by is to let God deal with it. We need to stop being offended. Shake the dust from our feet. Pray for those who persecute us.

Jesus is the absolute perfect example for us to imitate. No we will not be perfect, but we have a brother who knows exactly what we are going through. He understands our pain and frustration. He understands our hurts. And He gathers all of our tears. Remember, He was once human. He was loved by some but hated by many. He was praised by some, but mocked by many. He was abused and beaten all the way to the cross. And He begged His Father to take away the pain He was going to suffer. He was so stressed that His sweat turned to blood. And the Devil tempted Him. You are not alone. He loves you enough to endure being human on earth and dying a criminal’s death. Even if you were the only person on earth, He would still have died for you.

Verse 5 says Jesus’ light shines through everyone. It literally exposes all of our sin. When you feel the light exposing sin in your life, do you immediately repent or do you hide? As a Christian, we sometimes want to go hide in shame for the sins we’ve done. That’s what Adam and Eve did. But that’s not at all what God wants us to do. He wants us to come to Him, confess our sins, and then try again to do better. He knows we are not perfect. But He can’t forgive us or help us, if we are not going to confess our sins to Him. Don’t let the devil keep you from repenting and keep you hiding in shame.

That same light that Jesus shines down on people is the same light that we as Christians carry around in us. When you are around others, do you sense they are uncomfortable around you? Do you find that some of your friends and family come up with excuses to not be around you? I have found that to be the case often. And I’m not judging anyone or even saying anything about their lifestyle. But they know I try to live a godly life. And that immediately makes them feel uncomfortable. The light of Jesus is exposing their sin. I’m not doing it, but Jesus is doing it through my presence. So they would rather not be around me. It can be so bad that you literally lose friends and family relationships because of your walk with God. I’ve seen it happen and have had it happen in my life. Jesus’ light flowing through us is a witness to people that we belong to Christ. And that witness makes a lot of people uncomfortable. It can even make other Christians uncomfortable, especially the ones that are not fully on fire for God. Are you ready to possibly lose friends and family because of your relationship with Jesus?

As mentioned above, the more we know Jesus the more we know God. Moses emphasized the law and justice of God (see verse 17). But Jesus emphasized God’s unfailing love, His mercy, forgiveness, and His faithfulness. So what is it that we are to focus on? Which is more important? Jesus didn’t take away the law when He came. We are still to obey the 10 commandments. In Matthew 19:17, Jesus says that to receive eternal life we must keep the commandments. But those commandments can be summed up with love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor (see Matthew 22:37-40). You see if you love God, you won’t want to do anything that breaks His heart. So you wont have other idols that you worship. You won’t serve other gods. You won’t misuse His name. You will observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. And if you love your neighbor, you won’t want to do any harm to them. You’ll respect your parents. You won’t murder or steal. You won’t commit adultery or lie. The 10 commandments can be found in Exodus 20:1-17.

Has anyone seen God? Verse 18 says that no one has ever seen God, except of course Jesus and the Holy Spirit (the three are one). But in the Old Testament there are a few times that the people, like Abraham and Moses, talked to “My Lord.” So who were they talking to? Who was it that they saw? Remember we just discovered in the first few verses that Jesus was always with God even from the beginning. Verse 14 says that the Word (Jesus) became human and made His home among us. And verse 18 goes on to say that Jesus revealed God to us. Hold your page at John 1. Go to Colossians 1:15-20. The verses say, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see- such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else and He holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself.” So no one has seen God. All those times in the Old Testament when they said, “My Lord” or “The Lord” they saw Jesus! Adam and Eve walked with Jesus in the garden. How cool is that?

As I wrap up this first chapter of John, there’s a couple more things I want to mention. The closer we get to Jesus and learn about Him, the more we will appreciate who He is. Our desire to please Him will continue to grow. We will discover that words can come easy but our actual walk is hard. Having faith is more than just reciting scripture. It’s an experience in our walk with Jesus. And in that walk, we will grow spiritually.

So what is it that you want with Jesus? What are your intentions? Are you wanting Him to have all the glory or are you wanting the glory for yourself? Jesus doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way we want them to be answered. And His timing can be way off, in our opinion. A walk with Jesus will be difficult and we may lose friends and family along the journey. We very well maybe persecuted for our faith. Are you willing to give it all up for Him? He’s the perfect teacher to have. Are you willing to learn how to be more like Him and less of yourself? Are you willing to share the wonderful news of Jesus to those around you? Will you live fearlessly for Him?

Never Give Up Hope,

DeLila

(scriptures from the NLT)