NIV Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 19
page 1795
1:12
qGal 3:26
1:13
rJn 3:6; Jas 1:18
1:14
sGal
tJn
4:4
14:6
1:15
uver
vver
7
30; Mt 3:11
1:16
wEph 1:23; Col 1:19
1:17
7:19
14
xJn
yver
1:18
zEx 33:20; Jn 6:46;
Col 1:15; 1Ti 6:16
aJn 3:16,18; 1Jn 4:9
1:19
bJn 2:18; 5:10,16;
6:41,52
1:20
cJn 3:28; Lk 3:15,16
1:21
11:14
18:15
dMt
eDt
•
J ohn
1:21
children of God q — 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a
husband’s will, but born of God. r
14 The Word became flesh s and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the
glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. t
15 (John testified u concerning him. He c
ried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about
when I said, ‘He who c omes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) v
16 Out of his fullness w we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For
the law was given through Moses; x grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. y 18No one
has ever seen God, z but the one and only Son, who is himself God and a a is in closest
relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John the Baptist Declares His Mission (19 )
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders b b in Jerusalem sent priests
and Levites to ask him who he was. 20He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I
am not the Messiah.” c
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” d
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?” e
He answered, “No.”
a
18 Some manuscripts but the only Son, who b 19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi
Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed J
esus; also in 5:10, 15,
16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
119:11). In Greek philosophy, the Word was the principle of reason that
governed the world; in Hebrew thought, the Word was another expression
for God. John’s description shows clearly that he is speaking of Jesus
(see especially John 1:14)—a human being he knew and loved, but at the
same time the creator of the universe, the ultimate revelation of God, the
living picture of God’s holiness, the one in whom “all things hold together”
(Colossians 1:17). To Jewish readers, to say this man Jesus was God was
blasphemous. To Greek readers, the idea that “the Word became flesh”
(John 1:14) was unthinkable. To John, this new understanding of the Word
expressed the Good News of Jesus Christ.
1:1 John wrote to believers everywhere, both Jews and non-Jews
(Gentiles). As one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, John wrote with credibility and
the details of an eyewitness. His book is not a biography (like the book of
Luke); it is a thematic presentation of Jesus’ life. Many in John’s original
audience had a Greek background. Greek culture encouraged the worship
of many mythological gods, whose supernatural characteristics were as
important to Greeks as genealogies were to Jews. John shows that Jesus
is not only different from but also superior to these gods of mythology.
1:3-5 Do you ever feel as though your life is too complex and your
problems too profound for God to understand? Remember, God created
the entire universe, and nothing is too difficult for him. God created you,
he is alive today, and his love is bigger than any problem you may face.
1:3 When God created, he made something from nothing. Because God
created you from nothing, you have no basis for pride. Remember that
you exist only because God made you, and you have special gifts only
because God gave them to you. With God you are something valuable
and unique; apart from God you are nothing. If you try to live without
him, you will be abandoning the purpose for which you were made.
1:4 Why does Jesus’ life bring light to everyone? Because physical death
brings eternal darkness and only Jesus’ eternal life (his light) planted in
us will keep us alive in his new kingdom for eternity. Jesus is eternally
alive because he is God. He came to earth to offer humankind the hope
and light of his eternal life. It can’t be purchased, only received as a gift.
But Jesus gives it only to those who want it—those who want to live the
way God’s citizens will live in his future eternal kingdom.
1:5 “The darkness has not overcome it” means that the darkness of evil
never has and never will overcome or extinguish God’s light. Jesus Christ
is the creator of life, and his life brings light to humankind (1:9). In his
light, we see ourselves as we really are—sinners in need of a Savior. When
we follow Jesus, the true Light, we can avoid walking blindly through
the spiritual darkness that sin brings. Jesus lights the path ahead of us,
illuminating the truth and clarifying our thoughts so we can see how to
live. He removes the darkness of sin from our lives. In what ways have
you allowed the light of Jesus Christ to shine into your life? Let him guide
you, and you’ll never need to stumble in darkness.
1:6-8 For more information on John the Baptist, see his profile on
page 1797.
1:8 We, like John the Baptist, are not sources of God’s light; we merely
reflect that light. Jesus Christ is the true Light; he helps us see our way
to God and shows us how to walk along that way. But Jesus has chosen
to reflect his light through his followers to an unbelieving world, perhaps
because unbelievers are not able to bear the full blazing glory of his light
firsthand. The word witness indicates our role as reflectors of Christ’s light.
We are never to present our own ideas as the light to others, but we are
always to point them to the true Light, Jesus.
1:10-11 Although Jesus created the world, the people he created didn’t
recognize him (1:10). Even the people chosen by God to prepare the rest
of the world for the Messiah rejected him (1:11), although the entire Old
Testament pointed to his coming.
1:12-13 All who welcome Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn
spiritually, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Jesus, this new
birth changes us from the inside o ut—rearranging our attitudes, desires,
and motives. Being born makes you physically alive and places you in
your parents’ family (1:13). Being born of God makes you spiritually alive
and puts you in God’s family (1:12). Have you asked Jesus to make you a
new person? This fresh start in life is available to all who believe in him.
1:14 “The Word became flesh” means becoming human. By doing this,
Jesus became (1) the perfect teacher—in his life we see how God thinks
and therefore how we should think (Philippians 2:5-11); (2) the perfect
example—as a model of what we are to become, he shows us how to
live and gives us the power to live that way (1 Peter 2:21); (3) the perfect
sacrifice—Jesus came as a sacrifice for all sins, and his death satisfied
God’s requirements for the removal of sin (Colossians 1:15-23).
1:14 Jesus became a human when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit
in Mary’s womb. He was not part human and part God; he was completely
human and completely divine (Colossians 2:9). Before Jesus came, people
could know God only partially. After Jesus came, people could know God
more fully because he became visible and tangible in Jesus. The two
most common errors people make about Jesus are (1) to minimize his
humanity by disregarding how he identifies with us in our human bodies
and (2) to minimize his deity by rejecting what he has single-handedly
done for us in his death and resurrection. But Jesus is both God and man.
1:14 In the statement “we have seen his glory,” John would have had
in mind the whole Old Testament witness to God’s glory, which added