John 1-6
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8:16 AM |
15 Comments |
This week we'll be reading John 1-6. I'm really interested in seeing what God is revealing to you from this portion of Scripture. You can post your thoughts by commenting on this post. I'll also be sharing some of my thoughts throughout the week.
15 comments:
John 1 makes me think of part of a carol I sang not long ago:
"Glorious now, behold Him arise,
King and God and sacrifice!"
It amazes me that God would do this for us.
1:12 is one of my favorite verses, one I have hung onto when needing assurance of salvation. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God".
I love Nathaniel's declaration: 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
--Loren
1:12 is one of my favorite verses for assurance of salvation: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God."
I love Nathaniel's declaration: 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Susan,
I, too, am amazed at God's love. Knowing that most of the very people He created would reject Him, Jesus still left the glory of heaven, put on a body of flesh and dwelled with sinful man and then gave His life for them.
Chapter 2 shows Jesus' strength and control. He decides when to do a miracle. He drives the shifty commercial interests out of the temple. He responds to the demand for a sign his way.
We see him participating in normal life and contributing to the fun, not rather than condemning people for drinking, we see him helping prevent embarrassment to the wedding party by providing more wine when they ran out.
Loren, your comment about Jesus contributing to fun and not condemning people really fits with the message on the Parable of the Weeds this week. I think we can certainly learn from Jesus there.
The theme of belief is central to John 2. But it is obvious that there were different levels of belief. Some only believed in Jesus because of what they could get from him. But others, like Mary, just trusted that Jesus would do that which would give Him glory.
Jesus brings unanticipated joy out of cleansing to those who trust & obey Him. But people who want to call the shots instead of following Him will miss God's generosity, because they don't even know they need it. Many of them will still miss it, even if He turns their world upside-down.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36) Interesting that the opposite of believe is not obey. Obedience is the true mark of belief.
When we believe in Jesus, it's not just head-knowledge. We know His character, will vouch for His trustworthiness. If someone defames Him, we may not be able to point out their logic errors or illuminate to them the passage of Scripture they twisted, but our heart says, "Something's wrong here. I know God is good. I will not throw out my sure confidence in Him for this flimsy human argument." It's because He made us His kids--and loving family members know each other's character & will defend ea. other.
Loved reading John 5 this morning. You can't possibly read that chapter and say that Jesus never claimed to be God. From verse 17 on this chapter is a great picture of how the Father and Son are one.
Jn 4 - Jesus didn't let the wall between Jews & Samaritans stop Him from befriending this woman. Some people are hard for me to reach out to, because they start out offended at me just because of who they think I am, before I say one word. I'm challenged by Christ to reach out anyway and trust God to bridge the gap. Please, Lord...
Susan,
John 4 is one of my favorite passages, but also one that challenges me greatly. I see all the barriers that Jesus crossed in order to make His salvation possible for 1 woman and I'm reminded of what little things I let get in the way of sharing Jesus with others. I really need God's help here, too.
John 6 is an amazing chapter. We tend to focus on the miracle and remember it, but the interactions that follow reveal much about Jesus and about people. Many dabble in looking into him, but not so many persist in following when they hear some of the harder to understand and obey teachings. We want Jesus our way. We have to accept him his way.
Well put Loren.
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