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Archive for the ‘Books of the Bible’ Category

Gospel of John (John 1:5 – more on the light)

Posted in Bible, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Gospels, John, Light, New Testament, tagged , , , , on April 4, 2011|

John 1:5  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John uses the contrast of light and darkness is several places in his gospel.  In John 3:16. he writes, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

The condemnation is already upon those who love darkness.  The reality is that those who love and practice evil don’t want light to expose them or their deeds.  They prefer to hide in darkness.  But from whom do they hide?  From the God who created them.  It has been so from the beginning.  If we go back to Genesis 3:8, we read:  “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 ¶ Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”  10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”    You know the rest of the story, but the point here is that those who violate God’s rules, seek to hide from God.  It is this desire to hide from God that makes darkness their friend.  They hate the light.  It reminds them of the God they have rejected.

The good news is that just like Adam and Eve, God seeks after those who live in darkness.  He would that none would perish.  It is from darkness that many of us were plucked.  As children of God, we bring His light into dark places.  The light in us will dispel the darkness around us.  That is why Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:16

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Gospel of John (John 1:5)

Posted in Bible, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, John, Light, New Testament, tagged , , , , on April 2, 2011|

John 1:5  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Amplified version gives some additional insight:  And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it.]

The darkness has never overpowered or put out the Light although the Light does shine into the darkness, and the darkness does not receive the Light.  The picture of what happens when light encounters darkness is so much a part of our daily life, that we probably don’t consider it very often.  A room is dark, and then a switch is flipped and light floods the room chasing out the darkness.  Where does the darkness go?  Away from the light.  Darkness and light cannot co-exist.  It is a physical principle as well as a spiritual one.

In the Spiritual realm, much like the physical, when Light enters a person’s life by the power of the Holy Spirit, darkness can no longer dwell in that life.

The Light will always over power the darkness.  Hallelujah!

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Gospel of John (John 1:4 . . . application)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, Bible Study, God, John, Light, New Testament, tagged , , , , on March 26, 2011|

In our last post, we considered John 1:4 which says:  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Later in the John’s gospel, in Chapter 12, he records Jesus saying, ” I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”   For the believer, Jesus is promising an end to living (abiding) in darkness.

Ephesians 5:8 and 11 says:  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. . . 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

What changes about light and darkness for the follower of Christ?

The believer doesn’t become a light, but rather the light in the believer’s life comes from God, from Jesus dwelling within Him.  We are vessels for the light.   Galatians tell us, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20).

By the Spirit of God dwelling in the believer, he or she becomes a light.  Jesus also said we should let our light shine, let others see the light that is in us.  It is not meant to be hidden.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna’ let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna’ let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna’ let it shine.
Let it shine!  Let it shine!  Let it shine!


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Gospel of John (1:4)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, John, Light, New Testament, tagged , , , , , on March 25, 2011|

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

This verse is speaking of Jesus, but light and life are possessed by all three persons of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and light and life are also possessed by those who respond to the gospel message.

Life (2 aspects)

  • Physical Life – Jesus was present at creation, with the Father.  The name of God in Genesis 1:1 is “Elohim”.  It is plural early proof of a triune God.
  • Spiritual and Eternal life – Jesus promises these to those who believe on Him in faith.  John 3:16 is one of the most well-known reminders of this promise.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

Light

Here are just a few of the references to Jesus and light:

  • Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”  John 8:12
  • Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  John 12:35
  • I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  John 12:46 (Jesus speaking)
  • This is the message which we have heard from [Jesus] and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.  1 John 1:5

The Bible, of course, has many references to God or the Word of God as a light for the believer:

  • [God’s]  word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.  Psalm 119:105
  • The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?  Psalm 27:1
  • For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.  Psalm 18:28
  • The sun shall no longer be your light by day, Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory.  Isaiah 60:19
  • For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. . . 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  Ephesians 5:8
  • There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.  Revelation 22:5

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Gospel of John (John 1:2)

Posted in Bible, Gospels, Jesus, John, New Testament, tagged , , , , , on March 12, 2011|

He was in the beginning with God.

  • Why does God repeat Himself here? – For emphasis, to make sure we get it.  As a mother, I am prone to repeat the things that I fear may result in injury or trouble for my child if she forgets them.  So it is with God.  He knows that we have this propensity to want to deny Him, His role in creation, Him as the point of origin for our lives, our very breath.  To help us get it, He repeats Himself.
  • What does this verse tell us about the relationship between Jesus and God? – It tells us that they are co-equals.  Jesus was not created.  He pre-existed creation as God, the Father, did.
  • What did Jesus say about this? – “O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”  (John 17:5)
  • Why is this important? – Most cults include as part of their teaching that Jesus was not a co-equal with God, that He is something less than God.  This is a heresy.  Knowing what God has said in His word will allow us to answer those who lie about the deity of Christ.

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Gospel of John (John 1:1)

Posted in Bible, God, Gospels, Jesus, John, Names of God, New Testament, the Word, tagged , , , , on March 11, 2011|

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

  • When is the “beginning?” –  Was it creation?  Was it the “bang?”  Was it you in the goo?  It doesn’t matter where you place the time marker, God was there.  He was in the beginning.
  • Who is the Word? – JESUS!  We know this because of Rev. 19:11-13.  It would be entirely within the meaning of this verse to read it as follows:  “In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God.”   Jesus = God.    The ‘Word” or “logos” is a name given to God, to Jesus the 3rd person of the Godhead.
  • Why is this important? – As we discussed in the last post, one of the main purposes that John has in his gospel is to establish the deity of Christ.  If Jesus Christ was not God, then He has no power to save or redeem.  If, however, He was God, as He claimed with words and proclaimed through His actions, then every man and woman must choose whom they will serve, the gods/idols of this age or the one true and living God who came, suffered bearing the sin of the whole world, died, was buried in a tomb and on the third day, rose again (the tomb is still empty today).

I have set before you life and death,  blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.

—- Moses (Deut. 30:19-20)

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Gospel of John (Further Introduction)

Posted in Bible, God, Gospels, Jesus, John, Knowing God, Luke, Mark, Matthew, New Testament, tagged , , , , , , , on March 10, 2011|

The gospel of John represents one piece in a four-part testimony of the life of Jesus.  This is important because the Bible requires that there be two witnesses to establish a fact.  The use of four gospels each based on testimony of eye witnesses makes the totality of the gospels very credible.  The fact that each of the gospels is not identical to the others adds to the overall credibility.

If one were to interview four eye-witnesses to any event in history, each of them would emphasize different facts and provide a different presentation of the information depending on their audience.  That is exactly what we find in the gospels – four unique but internally consistent testimonies of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, a real man who lived a real life in Israel.

Looking at all four gospels, we see that each is addressed to a different audience, for example, the Gospel of Mark is written with a gentile (primarily Roman) audience in mind.  Little detail of Jewish history or culture is included.

The Gospel of Matthew is written to the Jewish reader.  Matthew starts off with a very detailed genealogy of Jesus and emphasizes  Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

The Gospel of Luke was written to a gentile audience.  In as much as Luke was a physician and educated in Greek, he writes a more detailed, carefully researched gospel focused on Jesus as the Son of Man a Savior sent to save the lost sinner.

The Gospel of John was written with a strong emphasis on the deity of Jesus Christ.  John wrote to encouraged believers and to call unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ

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Gospel of John (Introduction)

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Gospels, John, New Testament, tagged , on March 9, 2011|

As we begin our study in the gospel of John, it is important to consider the context of this gospel and how it fits with the other eye-witness accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus.

First, let us consider where we find the Book of John in the Bible.

The Bible is divided into to sections:  the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Each Testament is divided into further sections.  The Old Testament has five sections:  the books of the law, the books of history, the books of poetry and wisdom, the major prophets and the minor prophets.

Similarly, the New Testament can be divided into five sections:  gospels, history, Pauline epistles, general epistles and the book of Prophecy.

The book of John is found in the first of the five sections of the New Testament.  It is one of four gospels, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The author of the book is, not surprisingly, John.  What may be surprising or confusing, as I have found from teaching the ladies in the jail, is who this “John” is.  He is NOT John the Baptist.  John the Baptist was  not a major play in the ministry of Jesus.  His own words describe what happened to his ministry when Jesus showed up on the scene, “He must increase and I must decrease.”  That is exactly what happened.

John, the author of the Gospel of John, was an apostle and a disciple of Jesus.  He was very young at the time Jesus was alive, and he lived to a very old age.  He is also the author of four other books found in the New Testament:  1 John, 2 John, 3 John and the book of Revelation.

In our next post, we’ll consider how the gospel of John fits into the four-gospel picture of the life of Christ.

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Knowing God (His Love is Amazing – Hosea and Gomer)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, Love, Old Testament, Prophets, the Father, tagged , , , , , , on February 17, 2011|

Hosea, a prophet of the Lord, was told by God to marry a prostitute.  The exact words are (in the New King James version), “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry.”  It is the weirdest thing.  Here is a man who is in God’s service, held to follow God’s law and speaking with God’s voice, but God wants him to marry a woman who would have been seen as “unclean” and certainly not what his mother and father were hoping for.  It must have caused quite a stir, a nice Jewish boy raised in the temple, marrying a whore.

Nevertheless, desiring to please God more than men, Hosea marries a harlot and his wife has children that the Bible says are not Hosea’s.  She even leaves him at one point and returns to prostitution.  It seemingly turns from bad to worse when God sends Hosea after his unfaithful wife, after she betrays him and returns to a life of prostitution.  Hosea, at God’s command, goes to find his wife who is “loved by a lover and is committing adultery”.  Hosea buys her back for fifteen shekels of silver.  He purchases the woman who betrayed him at a slave auction.

What is God saying in this story?   God said that He so loved the world that He gave His son that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.  Hosea tells the story of what God means by “whoever”.  “Whoever” is not limited to those who read their Bible or who make it to church on Sunday.  “Whoever” is not limited to those who have managed to stay out of trouble or  . . . insert what you like.  “Whoever” is Gomer, Hosea’s wife, the harlot who marries a Godly man, leaves him and commits adultery and ends up a slave, sold on the block for fifteen shekels.  This is a picture of God’s heart:  He comes after us to where we are lost in sin and bondage, even sin and bondage of our own choosing.  He seeks us out as we are being sold on the block as slaves.  He will pay the price for us and take us home with Him and make us His children, His heirs.

In fact, He has paid the price.  That is His amazing love!

No matter where you are, no matter what you have done, no matter how low you feel, Your heavenly Father is nearby.  He is looking for you.  His arms are open.

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Knowing God (His love is amazing Part 3)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, Bible Study, Deliverer, Genesis, God, Love, Relationship with God, Walking with God, worship, tagged , , , , , on November 26, 2010|

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on knowing God through looking at the attribute of His great love for us, we discussed how the scriptures of the Old and New Testament describe the love of God.  In this post and those following, we will consider some of the pictures that God has used to illustrate His love.

Abraham and Isaac

One of the pictures of God’s love, actually a foreshadowing of the coming of Messiah, was the story of Abraham and Isaac.  You may recall the story recounted in Genesis 22 where God tests Abraham asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah.  Abraham takes his son, goes up with him to the mountain, binds his son to the altar that he built and proceeds to prepare to sacrifice his only son as God asked.  As he is lowering the knife to slay his son, God stops him.  God provides a substitute sacrifice (a ram caught in the thicket) instead of Isaac.  This picture of God’s love is the picture of the substitutionary sacrifice.  God had every right to require the first born child of his marriage to Sarah from Abraham.  Nevertheless, because of His great mercy and His promises to Abraham, God provided a sacrifice to satisfy the blood requirement.  This substitutionary sacrifice is seen again on Calvary, years later when Jesus died, once for all.  He who knew no sin, died for those who were under sin’s curse.

Deliverance of Isarael

Another great picture of the love of God and His heart for Israel (and us for whom the wall of separation was removed by the blood of Jesus) is the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  You may recall this story from Exodus.  The people of God are in captivity in Egypt.  They have been reduced to slavery.  Their oppressors fear them and make their life difficult.  They are even forced to kill their children.  God hears their cries from their bondage, and from within the their own ranks, God raises up a deliverer, Moses.  By the hand of God on Moses, the people of God are delivered from their oppressors and allowed to follow their God and worship Him.  This picture of God the deliverer is emphasized again and again by God in the Old Testament.

By these pictures, we begin to see God’s love.  You may want to go back and read the stories in their entirety and ask God to speak to you of His great love.

In our next post, we will look at some more pictures that God provides to illustrate His gr eat and amazing love.

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