The Gospel of John

God
When you look at your watch, you know that an intelligent person designed it. It didn't just come into existence by itself. What about your wrist - isn't it more complicated than your watch? Didn't an intelligent person design your wrist too? We call the One who designed these things God, our Creator, the One who spoke the word and created the universe.

God has spoken to us in terms we can understand. The Bible is the record of his revelation - what he wants us to know about himself. God also became flesh and blood in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is 100 percent human and 100 percent God. Want to know what God is like? Study the life of Jesus Christ in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Jesus
Jesus was born approximately 5 B.C. in the town of Bethlehem, Israel, to a virgin named Mary, who was descended from King David. Raised in Nazareth by Mary and her husband, Joseph, Jesus lived the ordinary life of a carpenter's son. Those who knew him didn't yet know that he was also God's Son. At age 30, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and tempted by the devil into the desert. He then began healing, teaching and performing miracles throughout Judea. He called people to believe in him as the only way to God.

Christ
Christ, meaning "anointed one," is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. The Jews were waiting anxiously for the Messiah, the person guaranteed by God to be their leader and ruler. Every Jewish person living at the time of Jesus knew exactly what he or she was waiting for. "Is he the one?" was the question everyone was debating about Jesus. Some said yes; some said no; and some said Jesus was a liar.

Father
God the Father perfectly cares fur us, giving us all we need -- though we may not agree with him regarding what those needs are. He promises us that we don't have to worry about having enough food or clothes because he knows what we need before we ask. God has also given us every spiritual blessing - something of much more value to our lives than any kind of physical possession.

As children of God, we can expect to be disciplined if we err. And we shouldn't be discouraged when this happens because discipline shows that God loves us. Just as good parents teach their children not to do things that will hurt them, so our Father in heaven teaches us what is best for us.

Peter
When Jesus gave a fisherman named Simon Peter the opportunity to become a "fisher of men," this man left everything to follow Jesus. It was the beginning of a lifelong mission.

Simon Peter was an amazing man of God. One minute we admire him, and the next minute we cringe because he's stuck his foot in his mouth again. One minute our hearts cry out to be like him, and the next minute we're relieved that we're not like him. Peter seemed to operate in extremes, yet God wa preparing him for something very special.

Simon
Five significant men in Jesus' life shared the name Simon, but they were as different from each other as they could be. (1) Simon the fisherman was a disciple of Jesus. God change his name to Peter (see Peter) because of the part he would playing the the church. (2) Jesus' other disciple named Simon was called Simon the Zealot. He was a man of intense political and religious convictions. (3) One of Jesus' half brothers, a son of Mary and Joseph, was also named Simon. (4) A leper named Simon opened his home to Jesus, perhaps after being cured by him. He was shocked at the woman who came to anoint Jesus with her tears, and he received a lesson on the connection between forgiveness and love. (5) Another Simon, originally from Cyrene, was in Jerusalem one day. Soldiers ordered him to carry the cross for the exhausted and bleeding Jesus. All these men knew Jesus - each in a profound way. Their names may not have all been changed, but after meeting Jesus, their hearts were never the same again.

Resurrection

The resurrection was no hoax. When God raise Jesus from the dead, he gave new life to a dead and mangled body (see Crucify). That Jesus' resurrection was miraculous is evident from the amazement of every person who saw him. After his resurrection, Jesus could eat, speak and work, and his disciples could touch and see him, but his new body was perfectly immortal.

Brothers
Big brothers, babe brothers, blood brothers - all imply a relationship characterized by warmth and similarity of character. Brother can refer to to both natural brothers and "brothers in Christ" (fellow believers). Jesus Christ said that everyone who does the will of God is his brother. Though Jesus is our God, we enter a fraternal relationship with him when we become children of God. Although that does not make us equal with him, Christ is not ashamed to call us his brother or sister.

Death
Death has many faces in our culture, most of them ugly. There's a reason for that: Death was not part of God's plan. When God created us, he intended for us to live forever in perfect harmony with him. But when Adam and Eve sinned, death became a fact of life because the consequence of sin is death. Sin and death separate us from God because God's holiness cannot permit even the smallest imperfection to enter his presence. Those who don't know God are alienated from his love, guidance and spiritual protection all their lives. Physical death seals the sentence of permanent separation from him.

But Christians never have to experience death as the world does. Christ came to take upon himself the penalty for our sins and to remove the barrier between God and us by dying in our place. If we believe and trust our lives to him, we can experience a relationship with God here on earth. The Bible says that when Christ comes into our lives, our sinful self dies., and we immediately receive a new life. We receive a new identity as a child of God. And because Christ overcame death by coming back to life, we too can live with him after death. For followers of Christ, death is no longer a defeating end, but the victorious beginning of life in the physical presence of God.

Son
"If you really want to understand someone," said President George W. Bush, " you look at his family and where he was raised." Using this reasoning, what can we learn about Jesus Christ, the Son of God? The Bible says that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). This means that the Son is fully God; all of God the Father's qualities are manifested in him: love, justice, righteousness, holiness. God the Son was also fully human; while he was on the earth, he shared our experiences: temptation, hunger, fatigues, pain and death.

Time
Time governs our lives. Our day planners help us manage it. We eat by it. We sleep by it. We're upset if people don't respect it. God, however is not constrained by time. He created time, and - though it's hard for us to grasp - he exists outside of time. Because he contains time, he knows the future and is able to reveal it in prophecy.

God has a clear understanding of time. In the Bible, he warned that all people should live for him because the time is coming when he will return to the earth. While some believe they can delay serving God, we are commanded to serve God now. We are to take advantage of the moments God gives us to share the gospel.

World
World does not refer to the landmass represented by the globe of earth; it refers to people, perspectives and practices. When we say that God loves the whole world, we mean that God loves all people. However, God hates the perspectives and practices that belong to the "prince of this world" (John 12:31), who is Satan. That's why Christians are told not to love this world. The important thing to remember is that the people God loves and the perspectives and practices he hates are under his control.

Truth
What is truth? God is truth. Everything he says we can believe. There is no deception, no hypocrisy, no half-truth in God, Our finite minds can't fully comprehend God or understand all his mysteries, but he is everything he says he is: the all-powerful, just, loving Creator of everything that exists. How do we know right from wrong? God alone, because he is truth, provides an accurate standard for ethics and morality. Whatever he does and commands us to do is right. Anything God hates and forbids us to do is wrong.

Disciples
Does disciple sound uncomfortably like "discipline"? It is. A disciple is a person who adheres to the teaching of another - not just believing a certain philosophy, but also applying it to his or her life.

Finish
There is nothing quite like the exhilaration of finishing a task. Whether the job is small or large, changing a light bulb or painting a watercolor, we enjoy the sense of completion. For example, most marathon runners keep the finish line in mind throughout the grueling endeavor.

Remain
We've all seen the small child wiggling to get down from his or her mother's lap or pull away from her protective hand. Just as a mother knows her child needs to remain with her for safety, God knows we are lost unless we stay close beside him.

Water
In the Middle East a gallon of gasoline is cheaper than a gallon of water. Imagine a Middle Easterner's surprise when he or she goes abroad and finds water in such abundance. Water was valued in the Middle East during ancient times too. God did a lot of amazing things with water: He flooded the earth, turned water into blood, made water pour out of a rock and stacked water up on either side of a dry path through the sea.

Write
Books, stories, literature and letters all allow us the joy of communication, even when the writer is far removed from us in time or space. Humanity and civilization are captured in written language. Both written and spoken languages are intimate aspects of an individual person and people group. Writing is a permanent way to preserve history and provide the means for people to share, relate and understand one another.

The Bible's is God's love letter to us. He wrote it for everyone. God himself wrote the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets. More importantly, God's plan and desire was to write his law with permanent marker in the minds and hearts of his people. And that is what he does when he gives the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Jesus.

John
John the Baptist and the apostle John, the disciple who called himself, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23), both played critical roles in the life of Jesus Christ on earth.

John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. His name came from his ministry of baptizing people who were returning to the ways of God. His life was prophesied about hundreds of years before his birth. He had a specific task: to preach repentance and to baptize people in preparation for the coming of the Son of God. While in prison, John the Baptist questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus reassured John that he was indeed the Savior of the world. Herod beheaded John the Baptist.

Glory
Millionaires, Olympic athletes and superstars excel in shrewdness, strength, talent, beauty, discipline and sometimes just plain good luck. Thus they enjoy the kind of adoration many people crave. But the Bible reminds us that even the greatest human honor and splendor will fade away. Alexander the Great's conquests are legendary, but only crumbling artifacts remain of his empire. God alone is perfectly and eternally glorious by his very nature. Scripture calls him the "King of glory" (Psalm 24:7-10). He is, and always has been, magnificent, powerful and holy. Everything he does demonstrates his glory, and nothing can detract from it.

Whole
God is not half-hearted, and he doesn't do things halfway. What he promises, gives or makes, he does completely. Through the death of Christ, every last sin-past, present and future-has been paid for, and those who receive Christ as Savior are free from sin's power. Through the resurrection of Christ, all of humanity has been given the opportunity to accept the freely given gift of grace and eternal life. From a high mountaintop, Satan offered all of the kingdoms of the world to Jesus if only Jesus would bow down before him. The offering of the whole earth was not enough to distract the Lord from his mission.

Lamb
Lambs are cute and cuddly - the embodiment of innocence. They're also the animals God chose to use as sacrifices to pay for the sins of the Israelites. Under the Old Testament law, priests had to kill a lamb with no physical defects as payment for the guilt of an individual.

Later, God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to earth as the Lamb of God. Because Jesus died to pay for the sins of all humanity, we never again need to sacrifice lambs. The innocent blood of Jesus covers our guilt, allowing us into God's kingdom for eternity.

Sheep
The Bible compares people to sheep and God to a shepherd. Sheep are not know for their intelligence or power. They need a shepherd to protect them. Jesus Christ called himself the Good Shepherd. He promised to care for us, his sheep, and keep us secure from harm. Likewise, in the church, we are to care tenderly for others as an extension of Christ's love.

Bread
In many cultures, bread is the essential element of the diet. In the Old Testament, God provided special bread (called manna) for the people of Israel as they were wandering in the desert. The manna rained down on them as "bread from heaven" (Exodus 16:4). Yet God also told his people that "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Jesus Christ used bread as a symbol of his body being broken in death. Christians remember Christ's death by "breaking bread" (eating bread) together during church services, just as Jesus commanded his disciples to do the night before he was crucified. This part of a church service is usually called "Communion" or "the Lords Supper." Taking part in Communion helps us remember the significance of Christ's death until he comes again.

Leadership
The game "Follow the Leader" teaches children to watch and comprehend directions through imitation. It's a game of faith, for the children trust that the "leader" won't make them do anything dangerous.

God's children follow leaders too-spiritual leaders. And poor Christian leadership can result in others going astray. It is because of this responsibility that Christian leaders will be subject to a harsher judgment from God than will Christians who are not leaders.

Fire
Fire can reduce an entire building to ashes in a matter of minutes. The breathtaking power of fire is an appropriate parallel for the awe inspiring strength of God. He appeared to Moses in a burning bush (see Exodus 3:2) and to the Israelites in a pillar of fire in the desert (see Exodus 13:21). But the Bible also cites instances in which fire is a literal instrument of God's judgment. Burning sulfur destroyed the Old Testament cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and fire consumed the Israelites who disobeyed him in the desert. God has created a lake of fire for the eternal punishment of Satan and his followers.

8. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

10. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

11. Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
13. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Reinstates Peter

15. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16. Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17. The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

18. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted, but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

20. Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21. When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

22. Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23. Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

24. This is the disciple who testified to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

25. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

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THE STARTING POINT STUDY BIBILE New International Version
The Luis Palau Evangelistic Association / www.luispalau.org