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The Word of Life
John 1:1-14
Good News Translation (GNT)
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1 In the beginning the Word already existed;
the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
2 From the very beginning the Word was with
God.
3 Through him God made all things; not one
thing in all creation was made without him.
4 The Word was the source of life, (a) and this
life brought light to people.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has never put it out.
6 God sent his messenger, a man named John,
7 who came to tell people about the light,
so that all should hear the message and
believe.
8 He himself was not the light; he came to tell
about the light.
9 This was the real light - the light that comes
into the world and shines on all people.
10 The Word was in the world, and though God
made the world through him, yet the world did
not recognize him.
11 He came to his own country,but his own
people did not receive him.
12 Some, however, did receive him and believed
in him; so he gave them the right to become
God's children.
13 They did not become God's children by
natural means, that is, by being born as the
children of a human father; God himself was
their Father.
14 The Word became a human being and, full of
grace and truth, lived among us.
We saw his glory, the glory which he received
as the Father's only Son.
15 John spoke about him. He cried out, "This is
the one I was talking about when I said,
'He comes after me, but he is greater than
I am, because he existed before I was born.'"
16 Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed
us all, giving us one blessing after another.
17 God gave the Law through Moses, but grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son,
who is the same as God and is at the Father's
side, he has made him known.
Footnotes
John 1:4 The Word was the source of life;
or
What was made had life in union with the
Word.
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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)
The Word Became Flesh
JOHN 1
The Word is Jesus.
He was the "Word" of God, who had been with God
from before the creation of the world.
God has no beginning; He has always existed.
And God has always had His Word with Him.
Jesus was not only with God; He was God.
Through him all things were made.
He created not only physical life,
but also spiritual, eternal fife.
With life there is always light.
In fact, life is dependent on light.
When we receive life through Jesus,
we also receive the light of conscience and reason
that is in every human being. It is also spiritual light.
In the darkness, we can see nothing.
Through the light of the Christ, we can see and understand God.
Just as a tiny candle overcomes the darkness of a room,
so the Christ's light overcomes the darkness of the world.
Darkness can never overcome light.
Men whose minds are darkened and blinded by sin
and unbelief cannot see God's light.
They refuse to see it, because they prefer to live
in darkness.
The Testimony of John the Baptist (1:6-18)
John the Baptist was sent from God.
His birth was miraculous. (see Luke 1:5-25,57-66).
John came to prepare men's hearts to receive the light.
He witnessed to Jesus so that through him (John)
all men might believe (in Jesus).
"All men" means both Jews and Gentiles.
The true light, Jesus, gives light to every man.
We must understand John's meaning here.
God causes his sun to rise on the evil
and the good, and sends rain on
the righteous and the unrighteous.
Those who do not believe remain in spiritual darkness.
Whoever rejects Jesus will not see life.
The Apostle John wrote this Gospel,
that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
and that by believing you may have life in His name.
Whether we believe or not is up to us.
The men of the world did not recognise Him,
did not believe Jesus was the Messiah.
Instead,
they considered Him to be a criminal, a blasphemer,
and they killed Him.
Jesus came to the world that He Himself had created.
He was a Jew coming to Jews.
The people of His own village tried to throw Him off a cliff.
Finally, the Jewish leaders caused Him to be put to death.
Yet a few did put their faith in Jesus and to these believers,
he gave the right to become children of God.
When we receive Jesus into our hearts through faith,
God receives us, and we become members of God's family.
The children of God are born spiritually.
In order to receive an inheritance, we first must be born.
We become children by spiritual birth.
One of the men with whom Jesus lived was the Apostle John,
who was very close to Jesus and knew Him well.
John writes here: We have seen his glory.
John isn't writing someone else's opinion.
He is writing about what he himself has seen.
Jesus was full of grace and truth.
Grace is God's great mercy and love toward men.
In Jesus He has also revealed His truth.
God's judgments are true. He separates good from evil,
righteousness from unrighteousness.
Jesus said, "I am the... truth"
Therefore, when we see the Christ, full of grace and truth,
we see God.
God was perfectly revealed in Christ.
However,
those who do not believe in Christ cannot fully know God.
They remain in spiritual darkness.
John the Baptist testifies concerning Christ.
Even today, John's testimony continues through the words of the New Testament:
"I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God".
John the Baptist had said, "After me will come one more powerful than I" (Mark 1:7).
John came a few months before Jesus, and his work began before Jesus' work.
But John the Baptist knew he was only sent to prepare the way for someone greater (see John 3:30).
In this verse John the Baptist says,
"Christ has surpassed me because he was before me."
Christ was greater than John because Christ was with God before the world was made.
John was an ordinary man.
Christ is the eternal Son of God.
Christ was full of grace; and from the fullness of his grace all believers have received one blessing after another.
Christ is the source of all our blessings.
Christ's fullness is without limit, because God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him
(Colossians 1:19).
In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form
(Colossians 2:9).
God gave Israel some blessings in the Old Testament.
God gave the Jews His law.
He first gave the law to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai, and then Moses gave it to the people
(Exodus 24:15-18; 31:18).
But the law could not save men; rather, it condemned them, because they could not obey it perfectly
(see Galatians 2:15-16.)
The law was righteous and true, but it did not give men eternal life.
But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
In Christ not only God's truth but also His grace is given to man.
Through Christ, man is free from the condemnation of the law
(see Romans 8:1-4).
God by His grace has sent Christ to save us from punishment and to give us eternal life
(John 3:16).
Notice in this verse that the Apostle John uses Jesus' full name: Jesus Christ.
Jesus was His human name.
Christ was His divine name.
No one has ever seen God.
Moses himself never fully saw God.
"You cannot see my face,' God said to Moses, "for no one may see me and live"
(Exodus 33:19-20).
All over the world men seek after God, and through the teachings of various religions they receive a partial understanding of Him.
But their knowledge of God is never adequate.
Only Christ, who came from God and is God, fully knows the Father and has seen Him.
And only Christ, therefore, can make God fully known to men.
Christ is here called God the only son.
Christ is not only God's Son; He is also God Himself.
All true knowledge of God comes from Christ.
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