What is the main point of this passage? The main point of this passage is so huge it is difficult to comprehend. The creator God of the universe...the living Word...the Word that spoke creation into existence...saw the darkness that had descended onto His creation through sin, and instead of destroying it all and starting over, decided to step into the situation Himself. He left behind that glory of heaven and the fullness of His person and crammed Himself into the flesh of a man. Jesus Christ was there from the beginning...Jesus Christ is one of the three persons of the uncreated God...and Jesus Christ is the God/man who came to shine light into the darkness and chaos that humanity had poured out on itself. The Word became flesh so that we might be able to see the glory of God in a way that our small minds could comprehend. The Word became flesh so that we might be able to see the glorious loving mercy of our Creator God. And this passage promises us that if we believe that Jesus is God in the flesh who came to shine His light and pay the price for our sins, we will become the Children of God! Heirs to His kingdom and participants in eternal community with God.
What part of this passage spoke most deeply to you? The whole part about becoming "the children of God" is what spoke most deeply to me. Think about the depth of that statement. I have an adopted daughter named Emerson...she is amazing and she fits perfectly into our family. We have taken her into our home and made her one of our children...that will never change...she is our daughter forever. But the thing is...she was this beautiful, innocent, precious little Chinese girl. There have been difficulties, but it was really easy to love her because she is so amazing. It was an easy decision to love her and to accept her. How easy would it be to choose to adopt someone who was your enemy...someone who had hurt those you loved...someone who had blatantly disregarded and disrespected you? That's a much different prospect...it might even be impossible for us to imagine something like that. Yet, that is exactly what God did for us. Romans 5:8 tells us, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God did not adopt cute little beautiful children - he adopted arrogant, sinful, rebellious people like you and me. He came to earth to die for His enemies - people that had destroyed the perfect world He created...and He did that so that we could truly become His children...so that He could bring us back into right relationship with Him. Let that sink in. That is how much you are loved. Do you let that truth shape who you are and the way you live your life?
What kind of questions does this passage bring to mind? In the final verse, 18, my ESV translation of the Bible says, "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known." When I look at this verse, I want to know what John is trying to communicate here. Weren't there passages in the OT where God revealed Himself to people? What does John mean when He says the only God who was at the Father's side? Are God and the Father different? Well, the first part is pretty easy to answer. Yes, there were portions of the OT in which God at least partially revealed Himself to human beings, like when He allows Moses to see the hem of His robe from behind. But John is trying to get us to understand that nobody has ever seen the fullness of God...nobody has ever seen God in all His glory. I just don't think that a human being could handle something like that. In the Moses story, he sees a teeny-tiny piece of God and his face is glowing for weeks. What do you think happens if he gets to see everything? He probably would have instantly imploded or something. What about the second part of the question? Well, I think that is answered by what is a little better translation of the original language in verse 18...another option for the translation of "who is at the Father's side" is, "who is in the bosom of the Father." I like this translation because it seems to echo the rest of the passage which clearly points to the fact that God and Jesus are one and the same. So then, John is telling us that Jesus is God...the one and only God...connected as one with the Father, and He came to earth to make known the glory of God. In Jesus, we are given a glimpse of the person of God that our human senses can actually withstand.
What does this passage challenge you to do? These verses really inspire me to work even harder to share the love of God with the people I come in contact with on a daily basis. Did you see that picture of God's love from John 1? He died for us while we were still His enemies! He adopted us as His children even though we were living in open opposition to His love! That is amazing, and that is something that people in this messed up world need to hear. I see so many broken, confused, lost, lonely people...I see so many people who are desperately trying to fill the emptiness inside of them with the things of this world, and they need to know about the love of their God. They need to know about the infinite worth they carry as the people created in the image of the Most High God. They need to allow the love of God to speak truth into their lives, and the only way that is going to happen is if Christians like you and me step up and invite them into that truth.
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