JOHN LESSON 1
We are about to begin study in the most spiritual book in all of
the Bible, the Book of John. This is my own personal favorite of all
the sixty-six books of the Bible. The Book of John is not like the
Book of Matthew, Mark, or Luke which cover the same period of time.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of the birth, life, crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus, but they stress more what Jesus did than who He
is. In St. John, the entire book is showing that Jesus was, is, and
always will be diety. It shows that God took on the form of flesh and
dwelt among us. This book was written by the apostle John (the
beloved of Jesus). He was very close to Jesus. He knew more about
Him than anyone else.
When three were chosen to be with Jesus at specific times, such
as at the transfiguration, John was always one of the three. John is
the only apostle specifically mentioned at the crucifixion of Jesus.
Jesus loved and trusted John so much that He entrusted His own mother
to him. There is such a love oozing from every word in this book. We
see a young man so devoted that he lay his head on Jesus' breast.
John was the very first of the men to realize that Jesus had truly
risen from the grave.
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. This same John wrote First, Second, and Third John
and the Book of Revelation. John remained loyal to Jesus and
preached so boldly in Jesus' name that he was banished to the Isle of
Patmos to get him quieted. That didn't work either, because this
just gave John more time to pray and be with Jesus. He received the
information for the Book of Revelation while he was banished to this
island. He loved Jesus so much that even though he was alone, he was
in the spirit on the Lord's day. I could write this whole series
about this penman, but we are not looking at John, but at his work.
The Book of John shows a beautiful relationship between Jesus and
the Father. In the Book of John, Christ speaks of God as the Father
over 100 times. In the Book of John, we find that Jesus' ministry
altogether was approximately 3 1/2 years. In the Book of John, that
we do not see in the other gospels, is the conversation of Jesus with
Nicodemus, the conversation with the woman of Samaria, and many more.
There are eight miracles of Christ recorded, and all of them show
Jesus' godhood. Six of these are mentioned only in the Book of John.
John's information is all first-hand knowledge. He was there when it
happened. This is a book, also, that shows the opposites of Jesus our
Lord to Satan. We see light and darkness, good and evil, truth and
lies. We see Jesus as the Light of the world, the Truth, the Way, the
Life. John is the only penman who calls Jesus the Lamb of God. We
will see Jesus as God in man's flesh in John. The divineness of Jesus
was more apparent in John's writings. I believe this partially was
because of John's close association with Jesus and, also, because of
both occasions when he heard the voice of the Father saying, "This is
my beloved Son". John had also seen Jesus with His divine nature at
the mount of transfiguration. The one message that I see clearly
throughout the Book of John which all the Scriptures focus upon is
"this Word became flesh". In the four headed beast (living beings)
symbolic of the four gospels, John portrays the face of the eagle
which symbolizes God. The divine fulness of the godhead is shown with
no shadow of doubt in the Book of St. John.
Now let us begin in John 1:1.
V-1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God."
There are two kinds of Word. One is the written Word which is
the Bible. This written Word is God breathed. John was not the
author of St. John, God was; John was the penman, moved upon by the
Holy Spirit of God. The entire Bible was authored by God. Each book
had a penman moved upon by the Holy Spirit of God. I believe the
written Word (the Bible) is the face of Jesus that we are looking in.
Jesus is the Word. In St. John 1:14 we learn that this Word was
Jesus, "And the Word was mad e 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." In the first Book of the Bible, Genesis
1:3, we see the spoken Word, "And God said...". God said is the
spoken Word. This spoken Word creates, as we see in Genesis and in
St. John 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not
any thing made that was made." You see, the Word spoken or written is
powerful. It contains the power of life and death . The Word of God
gave everything the power to exist. This Word is the one we know as
Jesus. What was before the beginning? Nothing. This Word who became
Jesus was there at the foundation of the world. Word "In the
beginning was the Word... " is Logos. It means divine expression.
It even includes divine thought. It can also mean divine work. He
(the Word) was divine intelligence. "...the Word was with God..."
God here is taken from a word which means supreme Divinity or supreme
God. This Logos (Word) was not only with God but was God, as well.
Proverbs chapter 8 verse 23 speaks of this Divine Intelligence as
Wisdom. This Eternal Existence is difficult for man to comprehend,
but it is true. God is the place that every thing else starts from.
V-2, "The same was in the beginning with God."
We could say then, that from the Word (Jesus) all things start.
You can see very well from this why Satan's latest trick is to get
God's people disinterested in the spoken and written Word. The church
is doing everything except studying the uncompromised Word. There is
a great effort on the part of the enemy of God to bring new Bibles on
the market which distort the Word of God. One of the most common ways
to distort is to make Jesus (the Word) something less than God.
V-3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any
thing made that was made."
We see here that the Word (Jesus) was Creator God. He made it
all. Let us look back in Genesis again. At the beginning of each
thing created there was the expression "God said, Let there be.." then
it goes on to mention everything: the skies, the world, the sun, the
moon, etc. You see from this, the Word (who we call Jesus) was at the
beginning Creator God.
V-4, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
In verse 4 above, life means the power to exist. In Genesis 2:7
we read how God gave life to man, "And the Lord God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul." Man was but a clay doll until the
breath of life was breathed. Then he became alive. The Word (Jesus)
made him alive. The word translated life here means make manifest or
illuminate. This light gives everything the power to be. If a person
receive s this Light, it gives them the power to receive eternal life.
V-5, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not."
The word shineth means to continually shine. The first thing God
applied to the earth was Light which gave all other things the power
to be. Nothing can live without light. Plants won't grow and people
will die without light. Darkness symbolizes Satan or evil. When the
Light (Jesus) shines, it does away with darkness (Satan). The
darkness mentioned in verse 5 is speaking of spiritual darkness.
Darkness has to receive the Light to do away with the darkness. In
Genesis, just before God applied the Light, there was darkness upon
the face of the deep. Let God light His Light in your heart and do
away with darkness and give you eternal life.
Notes
JOHN 1 QUESTIONS
1. Which is the most spiritual book in the Bible?
2. How does the Book of John differ from Matthew, Mark, and Luke?
3. What is the whole Book of John stressing?
4. Who penned the Book of John?
5. Who was the only apostle specifically mentioned at the
crucifixion?
6. What does the name John translate to?
7. Who was his brother?
8. Name two other names he was known by?
9. What other books of the Bible did he pen?
10. In the Book of Revelation, what do they tell us happened to him
because of his loyalty to Jesus?
11. What was John doing on the Lord's day?
12. How many times is the Father mentioned in John?
13. How long was Jesus' earthly ministry?
14. Name two people Jesus had conversations with that are recorded in
John and not the other three gospels?
15. How many miracles are recorded in the other books?
16. How many of these are not recorded in the other books?
17. What are some of the opposites of Jesus and Satan mentioned in
this book?
18. Name five things John shows us Jesus as besides God and the Word?
19. Who is the only penman in the Bible which calls Jesus the Lamb of
God?
20. Why do you think John showed more of the divinity of Jesus than
any other writer?
21. What is the main message that comes forth throughout John?
22. What is symbolized by the four headed beast?
23. Which of the heads does John symbolize?
24. Quote St. John 1:1.
25. What are the two kinds of Word?
26. Who was the author of St. John?
27. What moved upon the penman to write it?
28. What is the written Word?
29. What is the spoken Word?
30. Who is the Word?
31. The Word is powerful, it contains the power of _____________
or __________________________.
32. What is the Word in verse 1?
33. What does Logos mean?
34. Who is the place from where all things begin?
35. What is Satan's latest trick in the church?
36. Who was Creator God?
37. "In him was __________________________; and the __________
was the ________________________ of men".
38. What does life mean?
39. What does shineth mean?
40. Who is the Light?
41. Verse 5 is speaking of what kind of darkness?
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