Bible Study Series - The Gospel According to John Chapter 1 - Part 1

Introduction

There is something really special about this Gospel; this is my favourite Gospel out of the four. I believe that this Gospel really tells us more about our Lord Jesus Christ and his deity.

This gospel is written by John, the name of John translated is “Jehovah is merciful” or “the grace of Jehovah”.

This John was the brother of James; they were the sons of Zebedee, the sons of thunder. John was one of the first apostles chosen by Jesus.

It is also the only Gospel that contains these very words, “but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” – John 20:31

Chapter 1 – The Word

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

V1. The Word, who is the Word? The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word. The phrase in verse 1 is used in the same style as Genesis 1:1, which gives us much more meaning about our Lord.

In the beginning was the Lord Jesus Christ, this is talking about his eternal pre-existence long before the creation event took place.

And the Lord Jesus Christ was with God, meaning he was with the Father.

And the Lord Jesus Christ was God; He is the eternal God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.

Jesus has existed from eternity to eternity; his deity has no genealogy, only in his human manifestation did he have genealogy. This would be part of the reason why John did not include a narrative of the Lords earthly bloodline like Matthew and Luke did, John is focusing more on the deity of Christ.

·         Psalm 33:6 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”

·         Psalm 107:20 “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

·         Proverbs 8:27 “When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:”

The translation of the word “Word” in his opening scripture has a very powerful meaning in both the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic tongue; as these cultures relate this to the creation event (Genesis) where God, by using his words, spoke everything into existence.

 John 1:2 “The same was in the beginning with God.”

V2. The same, Lord Jesus was in the beginning with God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word; you should be able to see clearly as to why and how Satan has been trying to corrupt the very Word of God.

The Devil has been perverting the written and spoken Word of God since the beginning; his efforts include fraudulent bibles from corrupt manuscripts, liberal focused translations, and attacking the very Word.

The Churches out there who claim to be the true church is doing very little if at any, to teach from the Word; except they turn to their own manuals and media to teach what they believe will tickle the ears of their members, usually trying to appeal to their member’s carnal nature. 

They are only offering up lip service to the Lord, serving from their own carnal selves; instead of worshiping God in the Spirit. There aren't many bible teaching churches out there anymore as they strive to be politically correct instead of teaching the inspired words of God.

My Brethren, to be honest with you; ANY Church or religious institution that makes claims that they are the ONLY true church on this Earth should immediately raise red flags to you.

The same trick Satan used on Eve in the Garden, making appeals to her natural carnal senses to deceive her from the truth.

My Brethren, we must be on our guard in this day and age, where the market is flooded with perverted bibles, so called “easier to read”, for children, new age where gender has been removed to downright attacking the virgin birth of our messiah and his deity; attacking the Doctrine of Christ.

In English, the best preserved words of God is found in our King James Version Translation, beware of the New KJV, this version is the most deceptive one as it does not use the Textus Receptus, but uses the Codex Sinaiticus, the Codex Vaticanus and leans on the Hort & Westcott manuscripts where these do not even agree with each other in many places of the new testament.

Beware my brethren, Discernment is not distinguishing what is right and wrong, that is easy if you stay true to the Holy Word of God. My Brethren, true discernment; is to know the difference between what is right, and to what is almost right; this is the tactic employed by Satan since the beginning in the Garden of Eden.

John 1:3 “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.”

V3. ALL THINGS created by him, by whom? The subject is still Jesus, yep that’s right, Jesus created all things; there is nothing that exists that he did not create.

Colossians 1:16 “for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

In the above verse it also states that all things are created by Jesus, everything! Whether it is in Heaven, in Earth, the visible and invisible; so the things we can experience from our 5 senses to the invisible things that we cannot perceive with our own senses. 

Now the invisible things, the things we cannot see with our carnal members from Spirits, sub-atomic particles, radio frequencies, microwaves; you name it, everything.

And it says at the end, all things were created by him, and for him.

Interesting enough, I am asked good questions such as, ‘Why was mankind created, and what are we here for’?

However we could speculate all we want to, I've seen people argue over this question, but I believe myself that it is answered clearly in the final sentence written in Colossians 1:16.

I used to ask the same question until I read what was written and I said to myself, “Who am I to say or explain why we were created”?

My answer to this question is this: All Things were made by Jesus, and all things were made for HIM.

I accept the fact that I was made for him, and so I accept that I belong to the Lord for whatever the reason that he made me for, I do not care; 

I was made for him and now I have found him or rather he has found me and the father knows me now, that my brethren, is all that matters to me.

John 1:4-5 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

V4. In him was life, Jesus is the way, the truth and the light: he is Salvation, everlasting life. In Genesis 2:7 we read how God created man from dust, we were nought but a lifeless doll made of clay. 

Then God breathed his breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living soul: the breath of life, life meaning to simply exist. The Word made man alive.

The life is the light of men, Jesus is that light those who receive that light have the power to receive everlasting life.

V5. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. If we go back to the creation event, we see that the night always precedes the light.

In the daily biblical cycle, a day ends from evening to evening starting with night first. Old testament Prophet Nehemiah writes the following, which you can read in Nehemiah 13:19-22.

In that passage we read that the Sabbath Day is approaching and that the Gates in Jerusalem have to be closed as the night approaches.

In general, darkness is an absence of light. This passage about darkness however refers to the meaning of wickedness, evil, spiritual death and or blinded, in essence; Spiritual wickedness and also symbolically Satan.

The light is Jesus, who is life; he is the candle that lights the room and fills it with life: the light overcoming the darkness of the room. We must receive the light (Jesus) in our hearts to overcome the darkness (Satan) within us: so that we may obtain everlasting life because of this light.

Jesus did all this through his work on the cross.

The Prophet, John the Baptist

John 1:6-7 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.”

V6 & 7. John the Baptist was sent from God, he is the cousin of Jesus whose parents are Elizabeth, who is the cousin of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Elizabeth is a descendant of Aaron, in which the priesthood is established from the bloodline of Aaron’s great grandfather Levi.

John the Baptist’s father is Zechariah; he too is a Levite priest of the sons of Aaron.

Right from birth, John had a mission, his mission in being to witness the Anointed one, the Messiah to point (meaning to believe on the coming of the Messiah) people to him so they know who the Messiah is.

Jesus himself said that there was no greater a man than John the Baptist in Matthew 11:11.

What else do we know about John the Baptist?

1.       His birth was a miracle also, his parents being well past child bearing age.

2.       The Holy Spirit entered him when he was still inside his mother’s womb. Luke 1:15

3.       John is the forerunner spoken of who is Elijah in spirit and power – Malachi 3:1 (not to be confused with the real Elijah who will return at the Lords 2^nd Coming - Malachi 4:5).

4.       To prepare the people to receive the coming of the Messiah. Mark 1:2-3

5.       Preaching Repentance for the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 3:1-3, Luke 3:3-4

6.       Baptism of Water. Luke 3:16, Acts 1:5, Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8

I’m sure there are other things which in no doubt I will update later if necessary, but you get the gist of it, as I could write a whole sermon/study on the topic on the diverse controversies and false teachings surrounding John the Baptist and his ministry.

John came, because he was sent to bear witness, to validate or confirm to the people who the Messiah is; the light of the world that all might believe on him, to kindle their faith on the Messiah.

John 1:8-10 “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ⁹ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”

V8-10. John was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light who is Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is that true light, the light from the very beginning, the very same light that spoke the world into existence. 

If you have the light with you, you have life, if you do not have the light; you are dead without the light. You see, Jesus created everything, he came into the world, the world that he made; but the world had no idea who he was.

John 1:11 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

V11. His own, this would mean the Israelites, they were the chosen people they were given the written law, they were the oracles of God and had the scriptures and yet, they still rejected the Lord Jesus Christ: Through unbelief and spiritual blindness.

John 1:12-13 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ¹³ which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

V12-13. But to the multitudes who received him, believed on him, they who placed their faith in the Messiah, he gave them the power to become the sons of God, even to the people that believed on his name. There is a doctrine going around the religious institutions that teach all mankind are sons or children of God, this is a false teaching as we move further into this Gospel study, we will soon understand.

In a general sense we are children of God, in that he created us, but it is only by faith in him that we inherit the promise given to Abraham: the promise of the inheritance and to be heirs to all who would believe.

Even to those who would believe on his name, Jesus name means ‘God is Salvation’ or ‘Jehovah is Salvation’, those who confess with their mouths the Lord Jesus Christ and shall believe in their hearts that God has raised him from the dead, shall be saved. – Romans 10:9

Those confessing Jesus are born again (John Chapter 3), not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor with the will of man: salvation is not brought on by man, nor by anything that we do; no amount of work or effort we do merits salvation. Salvation is a gift from God, not a prize or reward that we try to earn of ourselves but by his mercy he saved us.

Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

The new believer is born again, not of the flesh but of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells in us; this is how we are born of God.

John 1:14 “And the Word was made 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.”

V14. The word was made flesh, Jesus; God our saviour became flesh and lived among us, here on Earth, and we beheld his glory, Jesus the only begotten, being the express image of the father.

- Hebrews 1:3

Full of Grace and Truth, many of the Jews view the messiah as someone who would come with power, a political warrior who would deliver them from their current oppression, to deliver them from their foreign occupiers and restore their nation and kingdom; this is the opposite of the grace and truth, Jesus came to save, his second coming however will be quite different to his first coming.

John 1:15-17 “John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, this was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. ¹⁶ And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

V.15 – John bearing witness of the Lord Jesus, and is talking about Jesus eternal existence when John says “He that cometh after me…for he was before me”. Jesus is 6 months younger than John the Baptist in the flesh, but John is well aware that Jesus created him.

V.16 – Since the beginning of creation, Jesus has been filling us with his word even during the Old Testament right up to present day, the meaning of Grace for Grace; God has given us his Grace which was the same yesterday, as it is today. Grace is unmerited, undeserving favour upon one thing that we must do, of our own free will. This is what we are going to learn from the fantastic Gospel according to John.

V.17 – The Law was given to Moses by God, but grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ. The law was given to show us that we were in need of a saviour, to prepare us by showing us that we have transgressed God’s Holy Law, his Holy Character. The Law did not reveal the truth entirely, the truth, was revealed entirely when the messiah came.

The Law acted as a preparatory, a school master to prepare and point us, to the messiah. – Galatians 3:24-25

John 1:18 “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”

V.18 – No man has seen God at ANY time, this statement is true. There are false religions out there whose preachers make the very claim that God appeared to them.  My dear friends, these claims are flat-out lies.

The closest anyone got to seeing God was Moses, not through a vision, but whilst he was conscious! In fact Moses was only allowed to see God’s back parts, lest he see God’s face Moses would have died. Now after this event, the Israelites had to cover Moses face with a veil for a few days because his face was glowing!

Anyway, on topic again…The only begotten son, Jesus who was born of a human virgin woman through the Spirit of God who is in the heart of the father, he has declared him. The entire time Jesus was interpreting and teaching the people, he was teaching them about the Father, everything that Jesus did, is the express reflection of who the father is!

Jesus is the only person that has seen the Father, because he came from him! Jesus is the second person of the Godhead!!

1 John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

That is the clearest scripture in the bible speaking of the Holy Trinity. Amen!

All of the modern bibles pervert this scripture!

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

John 1:19 “And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou?”

V.19 – We begin reading about John the Baptist’s record. The Priests and Levites from Jerusalem ask John on who he is.

John 1:20 “And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.”

V.20 – John confesses that he is not the Messiah, he was careful to tell the people that he was not the Christ. He never failed to respond to any of these questions, he made sure that the people were aware that he was not that man.

John 21-22 “And they asked him, what then? Art thou Elias? And he saith; I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. ²² Then said they unto him, who art thou? That we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?”

V.21-22 They question John if he is Elijah, John replies that he is not. John is not Elijah incarnate, but Elijah in power and spirit – Malachi 3:1

After John denies to them that he is not that Prophet, they ask him, who are you? That we may give an answer to them that sent us. The Jewish sects send their followers to John to find out who he is and why he is stirring up such a fuss around the country side.

John 1:23 “He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.”

John answers them with the prophetic writings of Isaiah 40:3, identifying himself as the voice spoken of in the wilderness. John was more than just a messenger; he came to prepare the people, to soften the hearts of the people to receive the Messiah.

John 1:24-25 “And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. ²⁵ And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?”

V24 - The men questioning John were of the Jewish sect known as the Pharisee.

The Pharisees knew the scriptures well, and are ardent followers of the Law of Moses, and the traditions of the elders.

V.25 – They asked John on why he baptized, on what authority he was doing this if he wasn’t the anointed one or Elijah nor that prophet. The Jews have many ritual washings and baptism is one of them. It used to convert (proselyte) Gentiles to Judaism.

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, now if we remember what the biblical definition of repentance is; it is a turning “from something” to turning “to something” or a change in mind/heart.

The false assumption of repentance is automagically adding the 3 words, “of your sins”: this is a false teaching as throughout the bible; it teaches that God repents far greater than anyone else, and God is without sins, he is the utmost Holy of all.

So what is this baptism of repentance, it is to show the Jews that they need to turn from the Law to the coming Grace and Faith of Christ!

In the Old Testament only Prophets, Priests had the authority to perform such ordinances.

John 1:26-27 “John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; ²⁷ he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”

V.26 – John baptizes with water, he then tells the gathering crowd that there is one among them, whom they have no idea who he is; the Christ is standing among them already.  John does not point him out straightway.

V.27 - But he continues to reverence the Christ above himself even to go on to say that he is unworthy to remove the straps off his master’s shoes.

Never once, do you read that John puts himself above the messiah, John is always giving reverence and glory to the messiah; filled with such great humility.

John 1:28 “These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.”

V.28 – Bethabara means “House of the Desert”, so it is a desert place near Jordan where John was baptizing.

End of Part 1