Life Project Blog

John 1:5-9

Verse 5 begins the next little section of John’s text, a section that continues through verse 13. The theme is that of the manifestation of the Word in this dark world, and in this it is interesting to note the transition from the Word, to God and then of Word-God into “light’. We can easily see through this device that the three terms, Word, God and light are being used interchangeably to describe attributes of God thus, they are One in their reference to Christ, who is as yet unnamed in the text.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

John 1:5

Once again, John has put into one simple statement a fact that theologians have struggled with for centuries; the world around us just doesn’t “get it”. OK, those poor souls who live in the darkness of this world don’t understand the light; why does this surprise us? At the same time as we are surprised that this world struggles with the message of Christ, some of us are surprised that we should be called to reach out to the world around us to deliver the message of light to them and help them to see it for what it is; grace and truth. Why should we be surprised to be called to help others understand it? Why should we resist this calling?

There was a guy who did not resist the calling, and his name was John. This John is not the same guy who wrote the gospel, yet both of them were only too happy to share the light with a dark world. Verses 5-9 set up what follows by pointing out that this John (the Baptist) was sent to prepare the way for the Messiah who was about to burst upon the scene in the person of Jesus. John was not the light, just as you and I are not the light, yet he was sent to prepare the people to hear the message that would come in Christ.

In our time, the light has already come, and we have received it and received grace as a result. We are sent to share that light, and to help those around us to comprehend it that some should receive it also and share in its blessing. When you think about it, this is an awesome calling.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

John 1:1-4

John begins his account with the words, “in the beginning” with a very different beginning in mind than we find in Genesis 1:1, for while Genesis begins with the creation, John begins with God alone.  The “God” that John refers to here is first called the Word (logos) God, the uncreated Creator, before the creation of anything… The Word. That “Word” was there first of all… with God; in fact, the Word was and is God.

We throw those terms around in our day, don’t we? “The Word” referring to the Scriptures, and we seem to like to use it to prove our various points in arguments with each other as though the “Word” is our own very precious tool for debating. Yet John, the Apostle of Jesus Christ uses it as a name for Almighty God.

Notice how the Word becomes God, and then in the next verse God becomes “he.” He was with God in the beginning. The Word was with God in the beginning: “The Word” “God” and “He” were all together in the beginning, before anything had been created.

They are One.

Jesus is God’s messenger to mankind, as well as being the embodiment of God’s message (Heb. 1:1-4). It was by His Word that the universe came into being, and it is by His blood that we may enter into relationship with Him, as told in His Word.  Thus, we may say that the Word is not only God’s person, essence and power, but that it is one and inseparable from the person of Jesus Christ, who is entirely one with God. Verse 2 is set up as transition in the sense that it begins the move from “what” to “whom”; from “the Word” to “he”: Jesus was there.

Now it becomes clear and unambiguous that this “he” is the one through whom all things have been made.  This is stated positively “all things” and negatively “without him nothing…”  Within him was life which reminds us of God breathing life into Adam (Gen. 2:7). “He” contained life, was its very source, and this essence will be the light of the world.  Life and light are two themes that carry throughout the entire gospel of John, and will become more and more clear as we go on.  For now, suffice it to say that His very essence is “Truth” and that will illuminate a dark world that carries on without either Truth or God’s presence, since fellowship with God had ceased after the entry of rebellion into the world.

I hope that you have noticed how much theological truth that John has expressed in four simple, clear and easy to understand little verses; scholars write volumes and can’t say so much. This is precisely why I always tell my students that John’s gospel is very much a “Big Boy” book.

John 3:1-21

Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the ruling council came to Jesus in the night with a question, and although he never actually got around to asking it, Jesus gave him considerably more of an answer than Nicodemus had bargained for.  In fact, Jesus in His answer gave what many commentators believe is an example of His early preaching; a wide-ranging explanation of how a person can be saved through the New Covenant He would make with Man.  He will speak of many things in this conversation, and by the time it concludes He will have set out God’s plan for Mankind.

Nicodemus opens the conversation with a statement; saying that “we” know that Jesus is from God for His miracles have confirmed the fact.  The use of “we” is interesting, for it implies that as of this early date many or all of the Pharisees had come to the realization that Jesus was the real deal.  In His reply, Jesus goes ahead to answer the question Nicodemus is working up to when He tells him that he must be born again.

Nicodemus, as most people would do, has taken Jesus’ statement literally; it seems at first to be ridiculous.  Jesus, on the other hand is speaking of an entirely different kind of life, a life that is entirely apart from this physical realm.  This birth is of “water and the Spirit” rather than from flesh and blood.  Keep in mind that from the OT Jewish point of view, a person is born into God’s Kingdom (earthly Israel) through physical birth.  This is a shadow of things to come, for what will become reality through Christ is “rebirth” into the Kingdom of Heaven.  This will be accomplished through water at baptism and the Spirit through the Gospel message (cf. 1Cor. 4:15 and 1Peter 1:23).  This kingdom is not a small and weak little nation that is living under foreign occupation, but a majestic and ultimately powerful kingdom headed by God Himself that will cover the entire globe forever.

Verse 8 illustrates Jesus’ remark in verse 6: When something is born of flesh, you know where it came from, but something born of the Spirit is like something borne by the wind, you don’t know where it came from or where it is going, because your physical senses can’t quite perceive these things.  Someone or something born of the Spirit can only be perceived by someone else who is born of the Spirit.

Poor Nicodemus is having trouble following this, and so would we in his place… ad so does anyone who is not “of the Spirit” today.  Jesus’ main point here is that He has been teaching the people about earthly things, and they haven’t believed… even though He has been telling them about things that He has witnessed.  Thus, He has been giving testimony.  In the same way, nobody can testify about heaven unless he has been there; Jesus has come from there and is giving testimony of what He has seen, heard and knows for a fact.  It’s as though Jesus were telling Nicodemus: “Come on buddy, you’re a teacher of Israel, you’re supposed to understand this stuff.  If you didn’t know about it before, you’re supposed to be educated enough to recognize reliable testimony and believe it: stay with me here!”

Jesus continues to attempt to communicate with Nicodemus by using an illustration from Israel’s past that he would be familiar with.  This illustration comes from Numbers 21:4-9 when God sent a plague of snakes upon His grumbling and rebellious people.  When the serpent was lifted up before them and they gazed upon it in faith, they would live.  If not… they would die.  In the same way, Jesus will be lifted up before the people (on the cross).  Those who look to Him on the cross in faith will live.

Verses 16-18 are probably the most familiar part of this text of all to Christians; it is the very heart of the Gospel setting out just exactly the whole core of Christian Theology.  God has sent His Son into the world to save Mankind from the consequences of rebellion against God.  Those who believe Him will have eternal life; those who refuse will perish for they have condemned themselves by their refusal.  God loves all Mankind and genuinely wants them to be saved, but He allows them to exercise their free will on the matter: How will you decide?

The final verses of this passage use the illustration of “light”.  Jesus is the light, the truth that shines in a dark world.  The world has done evil, it has rejected the light; it has rejected the truth.  Yet, if we do what is good, if we believe the One who was sent by God as the light of the world, we will move into the light and our testimony will light the darkness and the world will see that we are doing God’s work.  Again, this is a thumbnail of the Gospel message at work in our lives.  In the remainder of this chapter, John has set forth the testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus.  It is interesting to note that John (the author) has put these passages together in this way.  First, you have the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in which Jesus sets out the whole Gospel plan to a Pharisee, who presumably will report on it, and second you have the Baptist’s testimony that Jesus is the Christ and about the Gospel as a third-party validation.  Jesus’ teaching, followed by a third-party validation: John is pulling out all of the persuasive stops in this section!

Of all of the Gospels, John’s is without a doubt my favorite, just as John is my favorite New Testament author. John just has a certain way with words. His language isn’t the best grammar, and sometimes he has a way of writing in circles, yet as he does so, he leads to major revelations in which he takes the complex and makes it so very simple that it’s not easy to miss the point. Of course, much of the theology written in the centuries that have passed has succeeded in doing so, but it usually takes an awful lot of education and training to miss John’s points!

His Gospel is unique in that it is not synoptic, which is to say that it is the only one of the four that is not always in chronological order. It is a biography of sorts, but it is not merely the story of the life of Jesus, it is a revelation of deeper significance than one would gain from a recitation of narratives as Mark’s contains, for instance. John relates Jesus’ life from a heavenly point of view, while Matthew relates it from a Jewish point of view, Luke from a Greek point of view, and Mark from a Roman viewpoint. As a consequence, John is the only Gospel author who wrote to a universal audience. Why did he write the book? Here is John’s answer to that question:

“These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John 20:31

Simple enough.

He wrote the book sometime between 85 and 95 AD, with a clear New Covenant orientation, and begins in a way that only John writes about; a deeper view of the birth of Christ. He introduces Jesus Christ to us in a way that is similar to Hebrews 1:1-4 and 1John 1:1-4 which provides us with a Heavenly overview of His nature, position, identity and purpose, beginning with the words, “In the beginning….”  The “Christmas story” is usually told from Luke chapter 2, but in John chapter one you see the theology of that story.  Thus we can easily say that Luke, the historian gave us the facts, but John the Apostle of love gave us the behind the scenes background that gives Luke’s account a significance that is the reason this birth is celebrated 2,000 years later.

So here we go, back to the very beginning…

Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith—  to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Romans 16:25-27

As Paul moves on from 15:19b-16:24, he makes personal comments about his upcoming plans very similar to what he said in chapter 1, and then gives a series of personal greetings to individuals, finally coming to these verses with which he closes the letter. These verses, considered by most scholars to be a doxology express Paul’s praise to God for his ministry and for the message of the Gospel that he has brought to the Gentiles. I’ve been wondering for a couple of weeks now how best to treat this last section in Romans; how to conclude this study, and until yesterday morning I had no clue what I would do at this point.

Yesterday morning, I was teaching a class from Hebrews 8, and near the end, a woman asked me a question. It was a really hard question, not so much because of its complexity, but because she phrased it in a way that I wasn’t sure what she was asking. It struck me at the time that she was thinking out loud; that perhaps she wasn’t completely sure what she was asking, or of how to put it into words. There was something in it about a rather difficult neighbor and weeding flower beds near his property…

That’s when I had the answer to the question that I wasn’t sure she had actually asked, and that answer really sums up Paul’s message about Jesus Christ here in Romans…

Grace has a twofold effect: It is available to anyone who will accept it and follow Jesus, and when we accept it, our sins are forgiven and taken away entirely, which is the first effect of having received grace. The second effect is that it begs a response, but that response is not simply a legal requirement of some sort, it is a response of love. Our loving response to grace is that we let the ways of this world go and follow Jesus Christ in selfless service to Him and through Him to those around us. This means that we let Him be first in us.

That difficult neighbor was the key in my mind yesterday, so I told the woman that since Jesus is within us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and we are His Ambassadors, the closest thing to meeting Jesus face to face that the neighbor is ever likely to experience in this life is meeting you: When he meets you, in effect, he is meeting Jesus. If this is our attitude, we need not worry about an encounter with a difficult neighbor, or anyone else for that matter, for it will be Him in us who does the talking, we will know exactly what to do; get out of His way.

I think that more than anything else, this is Paul’s message in Romans, for this is love in action, and it is that mystery that was hidden in ages past, but that has now become known; to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Now, dear reader, all we need to do is to let Him reign in our lives.

Romans 15:14-22

At this point, Paul shifts entirely the focus of his message; what has been persuasive in nature now becomes more of a personal reflection. I hope you have read these verses, because we can glean a great insight about Paul’s attitude and frame of mind in general and then compare his attitude to our own.

Verses 14-16 begin this reflection in an interesting way: Paul acknowledges that his recipients are fully able to not only understand, but to instruct one another in matters concerning faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, he tells them that he has boldly repeated certain things to them in this letter, so that they might appreciate them fully, so that they might remember the amazing grace of our Lord.  He has done this by the grace God has given him as the Apostle to the Gentiles, and why was he sent as Apostle to the Gentiles? He did it so that they might be an acceptable offering to God. Notice that in all of this discussion, Paul is motivated to endless work for the sake of God’s purpose, and the well being of others; not for himself.

Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.

Romans 15:17-19a

What does Paul do when he is serving God; where does his strength come from? He glories in Christ in his service; he is not taking glory from his own “greatness”. What is Paul willing to speak of? He is willing to speak only of what God has done through him, not what great things he himself has done. Whatever Paul may have accomplished for Christ has been done through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I should imagine that each one of us, and that certainly includes me, could benefit greatly by having a similar attitude.

Once again, he mentions that he has always wanted to work where no one else has already preached the Word, among Gentiles who have not yet heard about Jesus. Interesting isn’t it? God’s purpose is that the Gospel should be proclaimed to all people, and here is the great Apostle to the Gentiles, not only teaching this as a fact, but also putting it into action and going into mission fields where he had to start completely from scratch so that God might be glorified among the Gentiles. Here, dear reader is an example to follow: We should seek out ways to serve God’s purpose in a manner that would bring Him maximum glory, even though this may require greater effort from us; such is the lot of a servant of God, and a glorious lot it is!

The third and final supporting point in this section is found in 15:1-13 and shows us that we are intended to live in unity and hope. Paul has broken this passage into three sections:

First, he shows us that selfless service brings about a unified testimony:

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:1-6

In these verses, Paul seems to be raising the bar to the highest level, the level of Christ Himself. How are we to get through this life of serving others? By having a whole new attitude, that of Jesus, who, in everything that He said and did, put others first so that God’s purpose might be accomplished. Is this too much to ask of us?

No, not at all, for remember what we’ve learned about grace− it provides not only forgiveness of sins, but everything we need to live our lives as followers of Jesus, through the working of the Holy Spirit.

Second, through Christ’s selfless service, Jew and Gentile glorify God together:

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”

Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”

And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.

Romans 15:7-12

Through Jesus, God has been glorified through both Jew and Gentile. Through Jesus Christ, God can be glorified through both you and me. When we set aside our disagreements, our differences, our selves, we can be one in Christ, just as we were intended to be. This is a very simple idea; it is easy to say and easy to write, but it is not always easy to practice.

Yet it isn’t as hard as we might think. We have the Holy Spirit within us, to lead, comfort, instruct and strengthen us, just as soon as we are willing to hear what He has to say to us. Do you believe this? Abraham did, and it was credited to him as righteousness. To follow Jesus Christ, we must believe the promises of God, and to live as though they had all already been accomplished; this is faith in action, and faith in action must of necessity be exercised by putting love into action. This is Paul’s teaching in Romans, and it is the challenge before us today.

Finally, Paul offers a prayer that we might all live in hope:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Amen.

After his discussion of judging others in verses 1-12, Paul moves onto Christian Liberty and the responsibilities that come with it. He divides this discussion into four points:

First, we should be willing to sacrifice some of our liberty for the sake of others:

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.

Romans 14:13-15

It’s interesting to notice that this begins with Paul saying we should stop judging others, isn’t it? Once again, he uses the example of dietary practices, but this applies to many other things. If a brother or sister thinks rock and roll is the Devil’s music, then for his sake, I’ll play something else when he’s around. (My Grandmother used to think jazz was the Devil’s music!) The point is that we should have respect for the conscience of others, even though we may (rightly) believe them to be mistaken, for to get in their face may well cause them a crisis of faith and being “right” isn’t the point of love.

Second, don’t allow what your conscience knows to be good to be spoken of as evil:

Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

Romans 14:16-18

There can be some natural tension between this point and the last point, but if we are careful in our discernment, we will notice the difference. In the first point, we are speaking entirely of opinions; what we eat or drink. The second point goes to matters of truth. Thus, there are two sides to Christian liberty: on the one hand, we may need to sacrifice minor matters of opinion for the sake of someone else. On the other hand, we must defend the truth of God and His Word. Here’s a different example: Suppose a brother announces that smoking cigarettes is a sin. He is exercising his right to his opinion, but in the process, he is falsely teaching the Word, for smoking is never mentioned in Scripture, and there is no principle to apply to it that does not involve taking something out of its context. As a teacher of the Word, I will feel obligated to correct the Scriptural error (in love) while acknowledging that he has every right not to like smoking, and I would sacrifice my liberty by not smoking around him. For the record, I am not now, nor have I ever been a smoker; I think it’s really stupid… but not a sin: See the difference?

Third, we should only do things that build others up in Christ:

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.  It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

Romans 14:19-21

Being “right” isn’t the standard we are called to; the standard we are called to is love; putting the interests of others ahead of our own. Thus, in all that we do, we should do it for the benefit of others, and if that means that we skip something we like, so what?

Fourth, we should be true to our own convictions:

So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Romans 14:22-23

These two verses tie the first three points together, but in an awkward way, at least for the modern reader. Paul carried through his example of dietary practices, which are not nearly the big deal now that they were in his time. Yet the principle is clear enough; we should, in all things, act and live according to our faith. What does the Christian faith hold as a priority above everything else? Simply stated, it’s love God, love your neighbor. Thus, in all that we do, we must put God first and foremost, and then put our neighbor ahead of ourselves. I’m quite certain that if we remember to live that way, we’ll have nothing at all to worry about.

Romans 14:1-12

Paul’s discussion of our response to grace now takes a different path, for Paul is discussing different opinions among believers. He begins in 14:1-3. Verse 1 sets the tone for this discussion: Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. It could be that for many Christians, the concept of “disputable matters” is a little bit of a shock; yes, there are matters over which we can each have our own opinions!

Paul uses eating habits as an example; specifically over whether or not a person should eat meat, something that many discuss in our times. Who cares if someone else has a different opinion on eating meat? If you eat meat, good for you; if you don’t, good for you; there is nothing to fight about. Neither party is superior to the other, no matter what anybody says.

In verses 4-9, he raises the discussion up a notch: Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand (14:4). There is neither a brother nor sister in Christ anywhere on earth who is my servant; they are all servants of Jesus Christ just like I am, so how can I expect to be their judge? Our Lord will do the judging, and I must accept all of His servants, for if He has accepted them, I also must accept them in love.

Verses 10-12 bring this point all the way home:

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I think that I have enough to worry about without compounding matters by trying to place myself above anyone else.