JOHN WASTES NO TIME BEFORE INTRODUCING US TO THE ONE HIS BOOK IS ABOUT. JESUS IS IN THE FIRST VERSE OF THIS GOSPEL, AND THE LAST VERSE, AND IN MOST VERSES IN BETWEEN! IS CHRIST CENTRAL IN YOUR LIFE LIKE THAT? DOES EVERYTHING REVOLVE AROUND HIM?
WHO CHRIST IS: WE BEGIN WITH CHRIST WAY BACK IN ETERNITY, TRULY GOD, LIVING IN GLORY WITH HIS FATHER. FROM THERE WE SEE HIM BRINGING THIS UNIVERSE INTO BEING, GIVING MEN THEIR LIFE AND EVERY "LIGHT" THEY LIVE BY. JOHN WANTS US TO KNOW HE IS NOT WRITING ABOUT "JUST A MAN," BUT ABOUT "GOD COME IN THE FLESH"!
HOW CHRIST CAME: NOT IN A BLAZE OF GLORY! NO ROYAL HERALD ANNOUNCED HIS ARRIVAL - JUST "A MAN NAMED JOHN"! CHRIST CAME, UNRECOGNIZED AND UNWANTED, EVEN BY HIS OWN CHOSEN PEOPLE. A FAILURE, THAN? "NO," SAYS JOHN, "READ ON!"
WHAT CHRIST DOES: THESE VERSES SUM UP WHAT THIS GOSPEL IS ALL ABOUT: NEW LIFE FOR ALL WHO BECOME COMMITTED TO JESUS CHRIST! PERHAPS YOU HAVE HEARD SOMEONE SAY AFTER A SUCCESSFUL OPERATION: "I FEEL LIKE A NEW PERSON!" AFTER CHRIST'S "HEART OPERATION," YOU CAN SAY THE SAME - ONLY MORE SO! |
