Tag: John 1:1-5
The Light of Men!
Scripture reading for October 16th: John 1, Psalm 56, Proverbs 20
John 1: 1-5 “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 was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John, the beloved Apostle of Jesus Christ, begins his Gospel account focusing on Jesus Christ as the “Word.” The Genesis account of creation is the record of God’s creation through speaking His Word. Out of nothing, at His Word, the various elements of creation were formed. “All things were made through Him” is John’s proclamation! This includes life itself, the living creatures great and small as well as man made in God’s image and likeness. But death came on the scene through man’s disobedience and men were plunged into darkness. But God sent His Son to reveal God’s light and life in each human life: “His life was the Light of men.” Jesus Christ, born of a woman, but the Son of God, reveals grace and truth through the light of His perfectly obedient life. He gave His life to reveal the Father to all in darkness!
Psalm 56:12-13 “I must perform my vows to You, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. For You have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Jesus Christ, the Word of Life. In the light of His life, my inner darkness has been revealed and chased away by His glorious Light. You have delivered me from darkness, kept my feet from falling, and enabled me to walk before You in the Light of Life! Use me this day to testify to those still in darkness of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the Light of Life to all mankind!
Proverbs 20:24, 27 “A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?” . . .”The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.”
Christ shines in the darkness!
Scripture reading for October 24th: Ezekiel 1-3, John 1
John 1:1-5 “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 was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
The apostle John was in his eighties when he wrote this Gospel of Jesus Christ. John was a young man when he was called by Jesus to follow Him. He was now old and an overseer of churches in Asia. He wrote to counter false teachers in the church who were denying the deity of Jesus Christ. As an eye-witness of Christ’s glory, John wrote to clarify that Jesus was the Son of God and Creator of all things. Jesus was and is the source of all life and light and came from heaven to earth as the Son of Man to bring a revelation of God the Father and His love to a dark world of lost people. John uses the word “believe” ninety-eight times. Faith by ‘believing’ brings adoption into God’s forever family.
John 1:9-13 “The true Light, which gives Light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, but the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Old Testament descriptions of the likeness of Your throne and the human form on it. But thank You for the clear and final revelation of the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ, Son of God! He is the true Light of the world bringing light and eternal life to all who will repent of sins and self-centeredness and believe on Him.
Ezekiel 1:26-28 “And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness of a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of His waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around Him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.”
The Word made Flesh!
Scripture reading for October 22nd: John 1
Key Scriptures: John 1:1-5 “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 was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John, the beloved, was one of the youngest of the apostles. He was the only one not to die a martyr’s death. He was one of Jesus’ inner circle and one of the ‘sons of thunder’ who wanted to call down fire from heaven. In one of the depictions of the apostles at the Last Supper, John is pictured with his head on Jesus’ chest and the one to whom Jesus assigned care for His own mother from the cross. As a result of John’s love for Jesus and his faithfulness, he was given the assignment of writing this Gospel account. John exalts Jesus as existing from eternity with God. He equates Jesus with the “Word” of God and states that through His Word, all things were made. Jesus alone is the source of eternal life–the very life of God Himself, and the light of mankind in the truth taught and displayed. His life, truth, death, and resurrection shine brightly in the darkness of human sin and ignorance to reveal the Father and His plan of salvation!
John 1:11-13 “He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Faith confession and prayer: Father God, thank You for Jesus Christ, the Word of God, Creator, Life-giver, the Light of the World and my Lord and Savior! By faith I have received You and have been born again from above by You. I thank You that I am Your child and desire to reflect Your love and life and light to this world, bearing fruit for Your kingdom and glory!
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” vs 18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, Who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.”