Ten Deep Things John 1
—PART 2
The first 17 verses of John’s account of Jesus, point to ten deep things. Five are listed below with a brief comment on each. The previous five are in PART 1. Think on these things.
6 FAITH
John 1:6-7 "...that all through him might believe..."
Grace is the gift of God, and faith (or belief) is the response of man. "The righteous shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38).
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV).
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). One cannot have full faith in Christ except through hearing the word of the apostles and preachers that God has sent. In this sense, faith is a gift of God. But many reject that gift and refuse to believe.
Some have "trusted in themselves that they are righteous" (Luke 18:9). They think they have no need of any gift or word from our Lord.
The Bible is very plain about that: "Without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6).
For those who seek God, the word of God produces faith and trust in Christ, not in self. That faith, in turn, leads to "obedience to the faith" (Romans 1:5).
7 BIRTH
John 1:12-13 "...to become children of God..."
We are born into this world without any say in it. Yet we must say to God, "You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13 NASB).
Regardless of the circumstances of our conception and birth, and by whose will it occurred, God formed us how we are. "Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?" (Exodus 4:11).
There is, however, another kind of birth, a spiritual rebirth which Jesus calls being "born again... born of the Spirit" (John 3:1-12). This is the birth John is referring to in Chapter 1.
Note: Paul says of God that "...according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration [or rebirth] and renewing of the Holy Spirit," (Titus 3:5 NKJV).
The washing of regeneration (forgiveness of sins), and the gift of the Holy Spirit, are promised to those who will "repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Chtist" (Acts 2:38-39).
According to John, when people believe in the Word, who is Jesus, they are given "the right to become children of God" which means the right to become born again into everlasting life (John 1:12-13).
8 GLORY
John 1:14 "...and we beheld his glory..."
We now think about the glory of Christ and we add a little more concerning the light we talked about in Part 1.
One aspect of the glory of Christ the King, is that he "dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see" (1Timothy 6:16).
That sounds like a contradiction when John says, "We have seen his glory" (John 1:14). John, however, was referring to the transfiguration of Christ to which John was a witness. The light that shone was as bright as the sun —as bright as they were able to behold on earth. But it was still the Lord’s glory.
"Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:1-2 NKJV).
The transfiguration included Moses and Elijah who appeared and talked with Jesus (Matthew 17:3).
A long time before, at Sinai, Moses himself had been transfigured so that "the children of Israel could not look steadfastly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance" (2Corinthians 3:7 NKJV). "The skin of his face shone" (Exodus 34:29-35).
Notice how Paul links the word of truth to this light, calling it "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ... the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2Corinthians 4:4,6 NKJV).
That is how John sees it too. "We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14 NKJV). Grace and truth are the last two deep things we shall consider.
9 GRACE
John 1:16-17 "...and grace for grace..."
We are not given an opportunity to behold the glory of Christ as John did, but John says, "Of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16 NKJV).
When "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" that was grace in preparation for an even greater grace, namely Christ’s sacrifice as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:14,29).
The ten deep things of this and the previous lesson are all the result of grace. That includes our next and last deep’thing...
10 TRUTH
John 1:17 "...full of grace and truth..."
When John says that the Word is "full of grace and truth", that clearly means that the whole truth is in him. That does not argue with the fullness of his grace. Jesus is not half truth and half grace. He is the fullness of grace and truth (John 1:16-17).
Truth isn't set aside by grace, rather it is through grace that we have access to all the truth that God has chosen to reveal. Jesus said to his apostles, "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13 NKJV). We gain access to that truth from their writings.
Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32 NKJV) This truth never changes; we can live by it in every new year and beyond.
➤ GO TO PART 1.