Brown's Daily Word 1-12-11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the world we live in. Praise the Lord for His Word which is Eternal and trustworthy. The Lord blessed us with wonderful Wednesday gathering for fellowship and Bible Study. The fellowship was sweet and the study was a great blessing. We are studying the Gospel according St John. We looked at chapter 1 yesterday. The following are some of the notes I used for the study.
Christianity is not a philosophy, it is about a Person, and that Person is fundamental to our faith. John began his Gospel in an unusual manner. Unlike the Synoptic writers who began their accounts of Jesus in historical context, John opened his Gospel in eternity. Under divine inspiration, John was not content to begin his story as Mark did with the story of John the Baptist. Nor was it enough as Luke did to go back to the birth narratives of John and Jesus. John did not even go back with Matthew to the genealogy of Abraham and the roots of Israel, or with Luke to the beginning of the human race in Adam.
Instead of grounding his Gospel in the roots of humanity, John moved beyond human history. He started “in the beginning.” These words take us back to Genesis 1.1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” John starts with God, before the inception of time and life as we know them. In the Bible, it is impossible to go any further back than God, and so that is where John began his narrative, in eternity past with God’s eternal purpose.
In the beginning was the Word. Recognize the significance of what John says here: In the beginning, from all eternity, the word has existed. In other words, the Word, Jesus, has eternally existed. John stated, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” In those few words, John informed us that the Word has existed throughout all eternity. At the beginning of time, the Word was there with God. The Word has existed eternally. He already “was” when time began. At creation, the Word was already present. Also, catch John's words as he stated that the Word was with God.
In verse 3, John turned from the Word’s relationship to the Father to His relationship with the creation. The apostle informed us that not only was the Word present at creation, He was also the agent of creation. “All things were made thru Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made.” Everything that exists owes its existence to the Word. He is the Creator. Apart from him, there is no existence. It is no accident John moves from the Word as God to the Word as Creator. As New Testament theologian Oscar Cullmann points out, “The self-communication of God occurs first of all in creation. That is why salvation and creation are very closely connected in the NT. Both of them have to do with God’s self-communication.” The two primary ways God has revealed Himself are through Creation (natural revelation) & through His Word (special revelation—Scriptures and Savior).
God’s revelation is tied to creation, and John informs us that all of creation owes its existence to the Son of God. Therefore, nothing is outside of his range of activity. He is in control of everything . He is Lord over everything. He is the Creator of the world. He holds the deed, the copyright. Colossians 1:15-17: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones of dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
John moved on from creation in general to the most significant element of creation, life itself. Life is one of the Gospel of John’s distinctive characteristics. John used the word life 36 times. Life is an important concept in the Gospel of John, and in the opening verses, the apostle reminded us that only in Christ is life obtained. He is the originator of life.
Jesus is also the originator of spiritual light. Light is also an important concept in John’s Gospel, especially as it is contrasted spiritually with darkness. Jesus identified Himself as the Light of the world (8.12). Light represents God’s deliverance for the sinful, darkened souls of humanity. In John 1:5 we read of the stark contrast between the light of God with the darkness of sinful humanity. The spiritual light cannot be extinguished by the darkness of this world. . . the darkness could not overcome/extinguish the light. We need to keep in mind the fact that John wrote this gospel after the resurrection. Because of this John knew well that Jesus Christ could not be overcome by the darkness of this world. He is the victor. The light shines (continual) in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
Blessed be His Name.
Brown

http://youtu.be/g5e3FynMX_4
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Praise and Worship Service
First United Methodist Church, Endicott .
Sponsored by Union Center UMC
6 PM Gathering - Coffee - Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship
Music: Jane Hettinger,
Speaker: Dave Hettinger