THE "I AM" REVEALED
The Gospel of John
Thoughts come from a wide variety of sources. Some come from messages I have heard from individuals in their teaching ministry, some come from assembly Bible studies, some come from experiences in home and personal life and some from books I have read. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher who makes them real to me.
- "Studies in the Four Gospels," by G. Campbell Morgan
- "The Believer's Bible Commentary," New Testament, by William MacDonald
- "The Life Application Bible," Tyndale House and Zondervan
The Gospel of John1
While sitting on the throne of His glory, the plans of God have been unfolding throughout eternity and will continue forever. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him." God spoke and things were made by the word of His power. With a word the earth, galaxies by the hundreds with planets whirling and spinning were put in orbits and moving in intended places in the universe. Each one of them is unique even though there are billions of individual stars which He named. Then for His own sovereign reasons, God focused His attention on one small speck we call earth and began a wonderful week of transforming a place the "was without form and void," into a beautiful fruitful planet.
In the design of the great "I AM," He chose this place to put human beings on. He created them with a mind, so they could choose to know Him; a will, so they could choose to obey and serve Him; and emotions so they could choose to love Him and receive His love. In this way there could be enjoyable fellowship that the Supreme Being of the universe could intimately share with intelligent beings. Because mankind was made in the image of God, this was made possible. So, humans, with a body making them conscious of where they were; a soul making them conscious of who they are; and a spirit making them conscious of who God is - were placed on this wonderful earth to "love God and enjoy Him forever." But man failed and his mind became dark, he was separated from God in his soul by sin, and spiritual death separated him from the One who loved him supremely.
God, who is Love, did not abandon His plans in frustration because in His omniscience He knew what was going to happen. So even before making all of creation, He had a way prepared for His purposes to be justly done, and finally have what His great heart of love desired. There would be a way back to God opened for the lost souls who were justly condemned by their own sin. This way could not be obscured or partial. To be righteous and fair it had to be opened to "whosoever" and be done on the easiest possible terms. Even though God is eternal in His existence, infinite in His wisdom, understanding, love, grace, mercy and all other character traits. He is unlimited in His power and authority - yet He chose to "be found in fashion as a man."
This was in the divine plan. In this way He could come to us and reveal to us in this unique way, who God is. He came into this world in flesh to completely identify Himself with us. He never compromised anything of His divine nature, nor limited His authority and power. But He chose to veil His glory, submit to His own laws, and reveal Himself as "God manifest in the flesh." He always was God; is God today; and always will be God. "From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God." He came into this world not to give information only, nor to demonstrate divine power over all things He created and over death itself, but He came "to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." In order to do this, He had to "suffer for sin, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." By this He demonstrated "His love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
The Gospel of John was written by a man who was with the Lord Jesus Christ for the years of His public ministry when He was here as Emmanuel. The first eighteen verses of this book open our understanding to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ: who He is - God from heaven come to earth. Two hundred forty-seven times the apostle John calls Him "Jesus." The book of John describes the deity of Christ by incidents in His life and the eight miracles He performed. But also, John links the humanity of Jesus with His eternal Sonship as the only begotten Son of God. This marvelous book puts into divine light the glories of the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ so that we "might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name."
What Jesus taught and what He did are tied inseparably to who He is. John shows Jesus as fully human and fully God. Although Jesus took upon Himself full humanity and lived as a man, He never ceased to be the eternal God who has always existed, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the Source of eternal life. This is the truth about Jesus and the foundation of all truth. If we cannot or do not believe this basic truth, we will not have enough faith to trust our eternal destiny to Him. John wrote this to build faith and confidence in Jesus Christ so we may believe He is truly God.