The Creator, Maker, Former of all things
John 1:1-4
"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
John 1:10,14-18
"10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."
"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.
15 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.
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."
Col 1:16,17
"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:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
From John 1:1, I see that the Word was already there in the beginning and before the beginning was eternity so, in turn, that tells me that the Word has always been. There was never a time when he was not. Since there was no time before the beginning. In other words, the Word has always been and the only eternal One was and is God.
I also see from reading John 1:10, that this Word was in the world, he dwelt among us. You get to verses 14-18, we see that this Word was made flesh and his name is Jesus Chirst.
Going back to John 1:1 tells us, this Word was God. Verse 3 is very interesting in John 1 and it lets us know that all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
Col. 1:16, 17 is in total agreement with this. Verse 17 says that all things all held together by him and one of the smallest things that we know of is the atom and the atom has positive protons and negative electons traveling in a circle within the nucleus of the atom. Scientists can't understand how the atom stays together and the bible says that by Jesus, all things consist- adhere together.
Isaiah 44:24
"Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Here we see that Jehovah God did the creating, forming all by himself. So I ask, "Who is Jesus? None other than Jehovah God, come in the flesh."
John 1 cont...
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 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.
8 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.
God is light...
Psa 27:1
1 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?
I John 1:5
"5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
Cf. John 8:12
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Also Matt. 5:16, and finally John14:12-14...
V.10 was discussed at the beginning of this teaching...
John 1 cont...
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 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.
Here we see that the born again experience is not based on what we can do but entirely on what the Lord Jesus Christ has done... so baptism cannot play a part in it...
Vs. 14-18 were discussed earlier towards the beginning...
John 1 cont...
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 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?
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.
Check Isa. 40:3,4
"3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
"4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:"
Cf. Matt:3:1-3
"1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
"2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
"3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Question: Who is this voice that is crying in the wilderness preparing the way for?
Answer: Jehovah God Almighty
Remember Jehovah God said that he wouldn't give his glory to another so if Jesus is not Jehovah God Almighty then God messed up...
Check Isa. 42:8
"8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."
I talked with some Jehovah's Witnesses once and I took them through a lot of the Old Testament and much of the New showing Jesus all though the bible then I asked them who is the bible about? They didn't really give me much of an answer. It is all about Jesus Christ and Jehovah will not give his glory to another...
John 1 cont....
24 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?
26 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.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
A Thought: John the Baptist, the GREATEST prophet who ever lived and he is not even worthy to unloose the latchet from Jesus' feet...
Ck. Luke 7:28
"28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
John 1 cont....
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
This person is going to take the sins of the world upon himself... Think about Abraham offering his son Issac on the altar as a sin offering to God... who was a type of Jesus Christ... (his only begotten son as God the Father did.) Then we have the true Lamb bearing the sins of the world upon his own body... Remember lambs were sin offerings in the Old Testament... as were bullocks and turtle doves...etc.
Jesus said that no man takes his life from him, he lays it down willingly...
(Check John 10:17,18)
"17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
John 1 cont...
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
John said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost, he didn't say anything about water... Paul was at the same place in
I Cor. 1:17,
"17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
All types are finished in Jesus Christ...
Check on circumcision in Rom. 2:28,29,
"28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
Back to John 1
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
John must decrease and Jesus must increase... CK. The greatest prophet to ever live wasn't mentioned much but Jesus is all through the word, showing who he is...
Check John 3:28-30
"28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease."
John 1 cont...
38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
When we MEET Jesus Christ, we WILL tell others, he has that powerful of an impact in our lives... And we are all lively stones just as Peter was...
I Peter 2:5,6
"5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded."
John 1 cont...
43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
We are still asking that question today in other ways though... Who are you, where are you from, what are you??? and many more...
John 1 cont...
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
And when we ever so slightly meet him, we wonder how he knows us so well but as we go in his grace and truth, we understand why he does.
John 1 cont...
49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
The Lord Jesus Christ has so many things to show us and teach us but we must sit at his feet and be willing to go wherever and do whatever he tells us to do to hear him....
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John Chapter 2