John Bible Study Lesson 1

John Bible Study Lesson 1

1.       Read John 1:1-3. How do these verses relate to Genesis 1:1-2. How do both of these references relate to the doctrine of the Trinity ?

John 1:1-3:The Word Made Flesh. The Witness of John. John's Disciples Pointed to Christ. The Lord Calls His First Disciples. An Israelite Indeed.

In the beginning was the Word, etc. The first fourteen verses are introductory. In order to set at rest all controversy the Divine nature of Jesus, John glances, in the first three verses, back to the beginning, recorded in Genesis, and affirms: (1) That he who was afterwards manifest as the Christ existed before creation began; (2) that he was present with God; (3) that he was divine; (4) that he was the Word; (5) that by or through him were all things made that were made (Joh 1:3). The first chapter of Genesis helps us to understand its meaning. God said, Let there be light (Ge 1:3), Let there be a firmament (Ge 1:6), Let the earth bring forth (Ge 1:11), etc. and it was done. God exhibits his creative power through the Word, and manifests his will through the Word. There are mysteries belonging to the divine nature and to the relation between the Son and the Father that we have to wait for eternity to solve. They are too deep for human solution, but this is clear: that God creates and speaks to man through the Word. As we clothe our thoughts in words, so God reveals his will by the Word, and when the Word is clothed in flesh, as the Teacher of men, we recognize it as Jesus Christ

Genesis 1:1,2 The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands this better than the fancy of the most learned men. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. And let our make and place as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, always to keep heaven in our eye, and the earth under our feet. The Son of God, one with the Father, was with him when he made the world; nay, we are often told that the world was made by him, and nothing was made without him. Oh, what high thoughts should there be in our minds, of that great God whom we worship, and of that great Mediator in whose name we pray! And here, at the beginning of the sacred volume, we read of that Divine Spirit, whose work upon the heart of man is so often mentioned in other parts of the Bible. Observe, that at first there was nothing desirable to be seen, for the world was without form, and void; it was confusion, and emptiness. In like manner the work of grace in the soul is a new creation: and in a graceless soul, one that is not born again, there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself: this is our condition by nature, till Almighty grace works a change in us.

In the beginning of the

Bible, it is solemnly announced that God created heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1). The Hebrew word for God here is Elohim, which is in plural form (three persons of the Trinity), however, the verb and the adjective used in the same sentence are of singular form (one God). The plural forms of other Biblical verses are listed below (note the "us" and "our" in the following verses referring to the three persons of the Trinity Godhead):

Son the Creator-
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made- John 1:1-3

Holy Spirit the Creator-
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was F1 on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters- Genesis 1:2
You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth- Psalms 104:30. The Names of the Holy Spirit Tells that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are Equal-
From the name of the Holy Spirit, we can also draw the conclusion on the equality of God the Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit, for their names are interchangeable.
God's Spirit (Matthew 3:16; 12:28; Romans 8:9, 14; 1 Corinthians 2:11, 14, 7:40, 12:3; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Peter 4:14, and 1 John 4:2).
The Father's Spirit (Matthew 10:20)
The Lord's Spirit (Isaiah 4:17; Acts 5:9, 8:39; 2 Corinthians 3:17)
Christ's Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1 Peter 1:11 and Galatians 4:6) .The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit All have Attributes of God

2. Read John 1:14. Explain this verse. - be brief
John's gospel introduces Christ, not from His birth, but from "the beginning" as "the Word" (Logos) who, as Deity, is involved in every aspect of creation (1:1-3) and who later becomes flesh (1:14) in order that He might take away our sins as the spotless, sacrificial Lamb .John 1:1 says “the Word was God.” John 1:14 says “the Word became flesh.” This clearly indicates that Jesus is God in the flesh.
3. Read John 1:4-9. Explain these verses. - be brief John 1:4-9. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”

We find the proof of God’s unilateral and unconditional love in His sending His Son into this world to die for our sin.

In this

This phrase refers to what follows.  John shows how the nature of God’s love exhibits itself in concrete fashion. 

the love of God was manifested [aorist--at a point in the past] toward us,

God’s love for His Son existed for all eternity but He manifested His love for us by sending His Son to earth to die for our sins.  God now shows how He demonstrates His love.  His best demonstration is in sending His Son to die for our sins.  God’s love is not motivated by any worthiness in us (Ro 5:5-9) but by His own character. 

that God has sent

God “sent” His Son into the world.  The word “sent” carries the idea of sent on a mission.  God sent His Son on the special mission to pay for our sins (Jn 3:17,34; 5:36?37; 7:29; 8:42; 10:36; 17:3,18; 20:21).  The act of sending God’s Son into the world was no passing act of sentimentality. 

This phrase does not imply that Jesus was reluctant to come into the world to die for our sins.  He was willing to come (Ro 5:8). 

PRINCIPLE:  The standard of God’s love is ultimate sacrifice. 

We measure the standard of God’s love by the extent to which He loved us.  He loved us to the point of sacrificing His Son on the cross for our sins.  This is far more than a warm feeling toward us; it is a sacrificial action. 

You can love people you dislike.  You can love people with whom you disagree.  The Bible does not say that you have to agree with all Christians but God does say that you do have to love them.  God sets the pace of sacrificial love. God’s love could not be demonstrated without sacrifice on His part.  We show love especially when we sacrifice for one another.  When we sacrifice our pride or time for someone else, we demonstrate that God’s love resides in us.

God’s love for us enables us to love others.  Most of us are selfish.  We love ourselves; we do not give ourselves for others.  We do not have time for others.  We do not want to bother with other people’s problems, “I have enough problems of my own.” If we claim that sin is not sin, we dismiss the reality of an absolute God and set ourselves up as the standard for what is right and wrong. A person who claims to be free from sin is a super snob. The sinless perfectionist or the person who denies committing actual acts of sin is a super snob. 

We live in a day when our society denies the distinction between light and darkness. Tolerance is the only norm of consensus for North America. God says that this is dangerous. It is even more dangerous when Christians do not use biblical discernment to indicate what is right and wrong. We make God a liar in this. 

We are people of rationalization: “Other people are conceited but I am a person of self-respect. If someone else takes initiative, he is presumptuous; if I take initiative, I am creative. When others lose their tempter, they are angry; when I show indignation over something, it is righteous anger. Others are prejudice; I have convictions.” Nice labels do not change the poison inside the bottle. The problem is not circumstance but sin. We need to admit and confess this to God. 

The more sensitive we are to the Word of God, the quicker we will detect our sin and confess it. It can take some time for the Spirit to convict us of sins of omission and ignorance. We cannot confess sin until the Holy Spirit brings us to conviction of a sin. In the mean time the first two verses of chapter two take care of our situation during our time of no confession. 

Ro 14: 23 “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

Ja 4: 17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

If we want to walk in unbroken fellowship with the Lord, we must confess our sin. The believer cannot have anything between the soul and the Savior for God to fellowship with him. We acknowledge any guile, bitterness or hard feelings that we might have toward others. 

4. Read John 1:10-11. Explain these verses. - be brief

1:10 He was in the world - Even from the creation.

1:11 He came - In the fulness of time, to his own - Country, city, temple: And his own - People, received him not.

To receive Christ is to acknowledge him as the promised Messiah; to believe in him as the victim that bears away the sin of the world; to obey his Gospel, and to become a partaker of his holiness, without which no man, on the Gospel plan, can ever see God.

5. Read John 1:12-14. Explain these verses. - be brief

John1:6-14 John the Baptist came to bear witness concerning Jesus. Nothing more fully shows the darkness of men's minds, than that when the Light had appeared, there needed a witness to call attention to it. Christ was the true Light; that great Light which deserves to be called so. By his Spirit and grace he enlightens all that are enlightened to salvation; and those that are not enlightened by him, perish in darkness. Christ was in the world when he took our nature upon him, and dwelt among us. The Son of the Highest was here in this lower world. He was in the world, but not of it. He came to save a lost world, because it was a world of his own making. Yet the world knew him not. When he comes as a Judge, the world shall know him. Many say that they are Christ's own, yet do not receive him, because they will not part with their sins, nor have him to reign over them. All the children of God are born again. This new birth is through the word of God as the means, 1Pe 1:23, and by the Spirit of God as the Author. By his Divine presence Christ always was in the world. But now that the fulness of time was come, he was, after another manner, God manifested in the flesh. But observe the beams of his Divine glory, which darted through this veil of flesh. Men discover their weaknesses to those most familiar with them, but it was not so with Christ; those most intimate with him saw most of his glory. Although he was in the form of a servant, as to outward circumstances, yet, in respect of graces, his form was like the Son of God His Divine glory appeared in the holiness of his doctrine, and in his miracles. He was full of grace, fully acceptable to his Father, therefore qualified to plead for us; and full of truth, fully aware of the things he was to reveal.

6. Read John 1:15. Explain this verse. - be brief John bare witness of him - The evangelist now returns to the testimony of John the Baptist. He had stated that the Word became incarnate, and he now appeals to the testimony of John to show that, thus incarnate, he was the Messiah.

He that cometh after me - He of whom I am the forerunner, or whose way I am come to prepare. Is preferred before me - Is superior to me. Most critics have supposed that the words translated "is preferred" relate to "time," and not to "dignity;" meaning that though he came after him publicly, being six months younger than John, as well as entering on his work after John, yet that he had existed long before him. Most, however, have understood it more correctly, as our translators seem to have done, as meaning, He was worthy of more honor than Iam.

He was before me - This can refer to nothing but his pre-existence, and can be explained only on the supposition that he existed before John, or, as the evangelist had before shown, from the beginning. He came "after" John in his public ministry and in his human nature, but in his divine nature he had existed long before John had a being - from eternity. We may learn here that it is one mark of the true spirit of a minister of Christ to desire and feel that Christ is always to be preferred to ourselves. We should keep ourselves out of view. The great object is to hold up the Saviour; and however much ministers may be honored or blessed, yet they should lay all at the feet of Jesus, and direct all men to him as the undivided object of affection and honor. It is the business of every Christian, as well as of every Christian minister, to be a witness for Christ, and to endeavor to convince the world that he is worthy of confidence and love.

7. Read John 1:17 and Hebrews 1:1-3. What relationship do you see between these two references?

John 1:17 :The law - Working wrath and containing shadows: was given - No philosopher, poet, or orator, ever chose his words so accurately as St. John. The law, saith he, was given by Moses: grace was by Jesus Christ. Observe the reason for placing each word thus: The law of Moses was not his own. The grace of Christ was. His grace was opposite to the wrath, his truth to the shadowy ceremonies of the law. Jesus - St. John having once mentioned the incarnation {Joh 1:14,) no more uses that name, the Word, in all his book.

Hebrews 1:1-3. God spake to his ancient people at sundry times, through successive generations, and in divers manners, as he thought proper; sometimes by personal directions, sometimes by dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by Divine influences on the minds of the prophets. The gospel revelation is excellent above the former; in that it is a revelation which God has made by his Son. In beholding the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we behold the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Father, Joh 14:7; the fulness of the Godhead dwells, not typically, or in a figure, but really, in him. When, on the fall of man, the world was breaking to pieces under the wrath and curse of God, the Son of God, undertaking the work of redemption, sustained it by his almighty power and goodness. From the glory of the person and office of Christ, we proceed to the glory of his grace. The glory of His person and nature, gave to his sufferings such merit as was a full satisfaction to the honour of God, who suffered an infinite injury and affront by the sins of men. We never can be thankful enough that God has in so many ways, and with such increasing clearness, spoken to us fallen sinners concerning salvation. That he should by himself cleanse us from our sins is a wonder of love beyond our utmost powers of admiration, gratitude, and praise.

8. Was the law given by Moses or was the law given through Moses by God? Is not the law both grace and truth? Hebrews 8:1-8 speak of many things of the Old Testament as shadows of the real. Is not Christ a perfect revelation of God? Is not the law a revelation of God's character?

Moses' law was the temporary, ceremonial law of the Old Testament. It regulated the priesthood, sacrifices, rituals, meat and drink offerings, etc., all of which foreshadowed the cross. This law was added "till the seed should come," and that seed was Christ (Galatians 3:16, 19). The ritual and ceremony of Moses' law pointed forward to Christ's sacrifice. When He died, this law came to an end, but the Ten Commandments (God's law) "stand fast for ever and ever." Psalm 111:7,8.

There are two laws that are made crystal clear in the following verses below. Daniel 9:10 is talking about God's law and verse 11 is talking about Moses' law: Jesus was greater than all who came before him in earth’s time. The writer of Hebrews, first of all, tells us that Jesus is superior to the prophets. The prophets were the greatest men of the Old Testament era. They had visions of God and served him with great works of power, but none of them could compare with Jesus Christ. God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind, He spoke to Joseph in dreams. He spoke to Moses out of a burning bush. He spoke to Joshua through an angel. He spoke to Samuel through a voice in the darkness. He spoke to Elijah through a whisper. He spoke to Daniel through a vision. But now, says the writer, God has spoken to us not in a dream or a vision, but in person — through his Son. God spoke to our spiritual fathers through the prophets, but now God speaks to us through his Son. He spoke in the past at many times and in many ways, but in these last days, he speaks to us through Jesus. God spoke to the people indirectly through the old prophets, but Jesus speaks to us directly as God. The prophets, great as they were, could not compare with him. They may have spoken the word of God, but Jesus was the Word of God. Jesus Christ was the express image, an exact copy, because he was the exact essence of his Father. Paul puts it like this: “He is the image of the invisible God. . . . For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 1:15, 2:9).

Moses and the prophets were great spiritual leaders, but Jesus Christ is God. He is the “radiance of God’s glory.

9. What does Jesus say about His relationship to the law in Matthew 5? Do you think that John 1:17 is a contrast between law and grace, or is it a progression of thought (additional revelation). He begins by correcting a false impression some may have had about

   His relationship with the Law of Moses and the Prophets...He says "I DID NOT COME TO DESTROY BUT TO FULFILL" ON THE CONTRARY, HIS PURPOSE WAS TO "FULFILL" THE LAW AND THE   PROPHETS. Jesus did not come to this earth for the purpose of acting as an opponent of the law. His goal was not to prevent its fulfillment. Rather, He revered it, loved it, obeyed it, and brought it to fruition. He fulfilled the law’s prophetic utterances regarding Himself (Luke 24:44). Christ fulfilled the demands of the Mosaic law, which called for perfect obedience under threat of a “curse” ( Galatians 3:10, 13). In this sense, the law’s divine design will ever have an abiding effect. It will always accomplish the purpose for which it was given.

If, however, the law of Moses bears the same relationship to men today, in terms of its binding status, then it was not fulfilled, and Jesus failed at what He came to do. On the other hand, if the Lord did accomplish His goal, then the law was fulfilled, and it is not a binding legal institution today. Further, if the law of Moses was not fulfilled by Christ—and thus remains as a binding legal system for today—then it is not just partially binding. Rather, it is a totally compelling system. Jesus plainly said that not one “jot or tittle” (representative of the smallest markings of the Hebrew script) would pass away until all was fulfilled. Consequently, nothing of the law was to fail until it had completely accomplished its purpose. Jesus fulfilled the law. Jesus fulfilled all of the law. We cannot say that Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system, but did not fulfill the other aspects of the law. Jesus either fulfilled all of the law, or none of it. What Jesus' death means for the sacrificial system, it also means for the other aspects of the law.

John 1:17 :The law - Working wrath and containing shadows: was given - No philosopher, poet, or orator, ever chose his words so accurately as St. John. The law, saith he, was given by Moses: grace was by Jesus Christ. Observe the reason for placing each word thus: The law of Moses was not his own. The grace of Christ was. His grace was opposite to the wrath, his truth to the shadowy ceremonies of the law. Jesus - St. John having once mentioned the incarnation {Joh 1:14,) no more uses that name, the Word, in all his book.

10. Read 2 Tim 3:15-17. What is the purpose of the Scriptures? How does Gal 3:24 & John 20:31 relate to this discussion?

2 Tim 3:14-17 Those who would learn the things of God, and be assured of them, must know the Holy Scriptures, for they are the Divine revelation. The age of children is the age to learn; and those who would get true learning, must get it out of the Scriptures. They must not lie by us neglected, seldom or never looked into. The Bible is a sure guide to eternal life. The prophets and apostles did not speak from themselves, but delivered what they received of God, 2Pe 1:21. It is profitable for all purposes of the Christian life. It is of use to all, for all need to be taught, corrected, and reproved. There is something in the Scriptures suitable for every case. Oh that we may love our Bibles more, and keep closer to them! then shall we find benefit, and at last gain the happiness therein promised by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the main subject of both Testaments. We best oppose error by promoting a solid knowledge of the word of truth; and the greatest kindness we can do to children, is to make them early to know the Bible.