Thoughts from 1st chapter of John

The revelation of God's glory is an important theme in the gospel. Jesus revealed God's glory in his person, his works, and his words. John recorded seven wonderful signs (miracles) that openly declared the glory of God (2:11)

• The glory of the old covenant of law was a fading glory, but the glory of the new covenant in Christ is an increasing glory (2 Cor 3)
• The law could reveal sin, but it could never remove sin,.
• Jesus Christ came with the fullness of grace and truth, and this fullness is available to all who will trust him (John 1:16)

The word 'Son' is used for the first time in John's gospel as a title for Jesus Christ. He is the 'one and only' - Jesus is unique, the only of of his kind. Some translations have 'only begotten' which as caused some confusion. It does not suggest that there was a time when the Son was not, before the Father brought him into being., Jesus Christ is eternal God, he has always existed.



Jesus Christ has fullness of grace and truth.
Grace is god's favor and kindness bestowed on those who do not deserve it and cannot earn it.
If God dealt with us only according to truth, none of us would survive, but he deals with us on the basis of grace and truth.
Jesus Christ, in his life, and death, and resurrection, met all the demands of the law; now God is free to share fullness of grace with those who trust Jesus Christ. Grace without truth would be deceitful, and truth without grace would be condemning.

Thoughts from John Gospel first chapter

John Chapter 1: verse 5 "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."

Light and darkness are recurring themes in John's gospel.

• God is light (1 John 1:5) where as
• Satan is the 'power of darkness' (Luke 22:53)

People love either the light or the darkness, and this love controls their actions as given in I John 3:16-19.
Those who believe on Christ Jesus are the 'Children of the light (John 12:35-36). Just as the first creation began with 'Let there be light' so the new creation began with the entrance of light into the heart of the believer (2 Cor 4:3-6).
The coming of Jesus Christ into the world was dawning of a new day for sinful man (Luke 1:78-79)

John Chapter 1: Verse 10 "He came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him."

• Why did the world reject Jesus Christ? 
• Because they 'didn't recognize him'.

They were spiritually ignorant. Jesus is the 'true light (v 9)
the original of which every other light is a copy - but the Jews were content with the copies.
They had Moses and the law, the Temple and the sacrifices, but they did not comprehend that these lights pointed to the true light who was the fulfillment, the completion of the Old Testament religion.

John Chapter 1: Verse 12 and 13 
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 
They are reborn - not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but with a birth that comes from God. 

Whenever Jesus taught a spiritual truth, his listeners interpreted it in a material or physical way. The light was unable to penetrate the darkness in their minds. This was true when he spoke about

• the temple of his body (2:19-21) 
• the new birth (3:4)
• the living water (4:11)
• eating his flesh (6:51)
• spiritual freedom (8:31-36)
• death as sleep (11:11-13)
• and many other spiritual truths. 

Satan strives to keep people in darkness, because darkness means death and hell, while light means life and heaven!!!