The Gospel of John

Believe
Beliefs dictate who we are and how we live our lives. To believe in something is to have faith in it. Though it may seem feeble to accept something on faith rather than fact, we all believe many things on different levels without being experts through experience or knowledge. A Christian's life is a demonstration of grounded belief in action.

Merely "believing" in God does not make someone a Christian any more than believing in exercise keeps one in shape; a person must actually exercise to stay in shape. Demons "believe" in God (James 2:19). They know he exists, but they don't choose to follow him. Believing that Jesus Christ is your Savior means believing that Jesus' death pays the penalty for your sin. As a result of this belief you repent-you turn away from your sin-and obey Jesus Christ.

Condemn
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a political radical arrested for treason in czarist Russia. Condemned to death, he was in front of the firing squad when a last-minute pardon came from the czar. Rather than death, he received life. The experience lead Dostoyevsky to write about redemption versus condemnation in his novels Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov.

Before we trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, we were condemned. Our sin promised death - eternal separation from God. But then God pardoned us. Almost daily, we have the option of condemning or forgiving people. Jesus Christ urges us to love each other and to let our righteous God do the judging.

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.

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.

World
World does not refer to the landmass represented by the globe of the earth; it refers to people, perspectives and practices. When we pray 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 (see Satan). That's why Christians are told not to love (see 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.

Darkness
Getting up in the middle of the night for a drink of water can be a frightening experience - especially after watching a scary movie. Darkness causes fear - whether or not we're willing to admit it.

God compares life without Jesus Christ to living in the darkness. It's a world without light, without understanding, without joy. Yet we're told that although Christ came to bring salvation to everyone, some prefer to reject Christ and live in spiritual darkness.

Evil
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot - these names are associated with the epitome of evil. With arrogant and wicked (see Wicked) schemes, they brought about unspeakable injustice and shed much innocent blood. Their evil went beyond the sins of racism, prejudice, lying, stealing or murder. It was their persistence and their pride in their atrocities that characterized these men as thoroughly evil.

We would be horrified if someone added our name to this list of wicked men, yet we all have sinful human nature that, without God, is capable of every kind of evil. The Truly evil person loves what God hates and refuses to admit his or her wrong. Avoid evil, for god will one day completely punish all evil.

Hate
Biblically speaking, hatred seems a bit confusing. We are commanded not to hate, yet sometimes we are commanded to hate. If we hate what is good, that is bad. If we hate what is bad, that is good. In other words, love what God loves, and hate what God hates. Hatred can be both a positive and negative action. The phrase "Love the sinner but hate the sin" expresses this concept well. Just as God loves humanity but detests sin, we are to love fellow sinners but hate sinful deeds.

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.

In the Bible, the word "disciple" can apply to followers of John the Baptist, students of the Pharisees or the broader circle of people who believed Jesus' teachings. But it most often refers to the twelve disciples whom Jesus asked to follow him. They lived with him night and day and learned from his teaching and lifestyle. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus' followers were not perfect, but they knew enough to recognize that leaving everything they had in order to follow Jesus was worth the price.

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.

Baptism
Pouring, dunking, sprinkling. What is baptism all about? The idea of ceremonial washing or cleansing appears repeatedly in the Mosaic laws of purification. Later Judaism incorporated this meaning of cleansing and purification into its idea of the new covenant relationship and used baptism as a rite of initiation. John the Baptist transformed baptism from a rite to a positive moral act. For him it was a sign of repentance and purification from sins.

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.

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.

Teach
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day," the old saying goes, but "teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." Teaching and learning are also crucial to our Christian faith. Learning is the first step, in fact, to telling others about Jesus Christ. Jesus taught the people about God. He explained what the Scriptures meant, and he taught with an incredible authority that the people had never seen before. In fact, the people called him Rabbi, which means "teacher." Jesus told us to carry on his work. We are to instruct people not only in the facts about salvation, but also in how to obey God and apply what they hear.

Jordan River
The Jordan River connects the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. When Abraham and Lot separated, Lot settled in the river's plains. Later, when the Israelites began to conquer the promised land, they had to first cross the Jordan River to enter the land. The river was at its flood stage, but God held back the waters so they could cross. It was also in these waters that John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ.

The Jordan River has been the boundary between Israel and the nation of Jordan since 1967.

Heaven
Do you ever wonder what heaven is like? Heaven is separate from the earth, and some speculate that it's in another dimension. Because of sin, "heaven-on-earth" just isn't possible. But the true heaven is something much better then we can ever guess. God is in heaven, and although, to us, the distance sometimes seems too great a gulf to cross, we're told that the Lord actively watches over us, listens to our prayers and takes action in our lives.
For those of us who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, heaven will be our home when we die. In fact, Jesus Christ said he was returning to heaven to prepare a home for us. (John 14:2-3)

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.

Bride
Did you know that the followers of Jesus Christ are considered his bride? The relationship between husband and wife is one of the most intimate human experiences, and the Bible repeatedly asserts the importance of keeping this relationship pure and exclusive. The Old Testament prescribed severe penalties for husbands and wives who violated their promises to one another and to God. The Bible also provides a pattern for appropriate behavior for husbands and wives.

Belong
These days we can buy memberships to everything from health clubs to the British aristocracy––proof of our intrinsic desire to either fit in with those like us or be associated with those we wish to emulate. Belonging is a key Biblical concept as well. In the Bible, God spelled out which land belonged to which people, who belonged to which family, and what belonged to God himself. This usually prevented conflict and, at the same time, clarified owners' rights and members' benefits.

Bridegroom
A bridegroom is more than a role that a man plays on his wedding day. The Bible speaks about the way a bridegroom, a husband, should act toward his wife and family. Husbands are instructed to love their wives and serve them as Jesus Christ served the church. (Remember that Christ's commitment to love humanity led him to die for us!) Husbands are to cherish their wives, to treat them with respect and work to make their marriage a relationship of unity and affirmation. Marriage should include spiritual and personal growth for both husband and wife.

Friends
Many people wish they could be part of a group of friends. Others want to have deeper friendships than what they have. True friends listen, talk and spend time with each other. Friends shield us from loneliness, offer acceptance and give us common ground. They influence us more than we know. As with Jonathan and David, friends can strengthen us in the Lord (1 Samuel 20:16-22; 23:15-18) or, as with Jonadab and Amnon, friends can lead us into sin and disaster (2 Samuel 13:3-16).

The people we know and esteem as dear to our hearts speak volumes about who we are. Friends usually love the same things that we love. The deepest friendships grow between those who not only love God but also help each other grow in him. Individuals like Abraham and Moses shared God's heart, and he called them his friends.

Greatness
The Bible teaches us that God thwarts those who try to raise themselves up to greatness in people's eyes. It also teaches that those who humble themselves before God will be raised up by God to true greatness. You might think of God's path toward greatness as similar to the law of gravity, except in reverse: "Whoever goes up must first come down".

Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son - yet is completely God.

Before Jesus came to the earth, the Holy Spirit guided and directed select people at specific times for specific purposes. To prophets, he revealed future events and warnings of judgment. To kings, he gave wisdom to rule. But when Jesus was near the end of his life on earth, preparing his disciples for his impending death and resurrection, he promised that the Holy Spirit would, form that time on, be with his followers all the time.

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.

Eternal
Eternity is much more profound than our common perception of it. God describes himself and his ways as eternal - he and his ways have always been and always will be. His commands, promises and truths are the same forever; they are unchanging. Therefore, we don't need to worry about constantly redefining God's standards for us. He doesn't change. What he says in the Bible will always be true.

Life
Do you want to live forever? Jesus Christ says he's the only true way. He says he's the door to a life of abundant blessing. God is the giver of life, and his role as such started with the creation of our ancestors, Adam and Eve. When sin entered the world, we were blocked, not only from having eternal life with God, but also from a meaningful life on this planet. Both can be obtained through God himself.

Reject
Whether we're bruised or crushed, rejection always hurts. Jesus Christ experienced rejection, and he told us that we, too, would be rejected if we identified with him. Some people experience taunting or humiliation. Others, like Jesus, experience the ultimate rejection: death.

No matter how rejection devastates our lives, there is one person who will never reject us. That person is God. Those who despise God and reject his call will find themselves rejected from his presence forever. Those who have responded to his call and cling to his promises will be accepted by him even if the entire world rejects them.

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.

When Andrew (see Andrew) and a friend first met Jesus Christ, they stayed with him for a day. Later Jesus chose Andrew and eleven others as his disciples, and they spent three years together. Before Jesus went to the cross, he commanded his disciples to remain in him always. Just as they were constantly with him as he traveled throughout Judea, they were to live their lives centered in Christ. Jesus explained this using the picture of a vine and its branches. Like branches, we must be completely connected to the vine, Jesus, for our source of life. When we don't remain in him, we wither, and our lives cannot produce any fruit.

Pharisees
If you lived in the time of the Pharisees, you were in big trouble if you had a house fire on the Sabbath. Carrying your clothes out of the burning building was strictly against the law. But putting your clothes on before escaping was legal!

The Pharisees were the most influential Jewish leaders while Jesus was on earth. They tried to perfectly uphold the law, and they imposed that expectation on others. Yet as carefully as they defined the law, they went one step too far and made it the epicenter of their faith. Jesus was not impressed with their law - abiding ways; in fact he harshly criticized them for burdening people with unnecessary rules and forgetting how to love others.

Galilee
Described as hilly country, Galilee was located in the northern part of ancient Israel. Jesus was from Galilee, as were his disciples; much of his ministry took place in Galilee. During the time of Christ, Galilee made up about one-third of the present-day holy land. In more modern times, Galilee was revived through Zionist colonizations. The land became part of modern-day Israel after the Arab-Israeli war in 1948-1949.

Samaria
Samaria applies both to a region and a city. This hilly area belonged to the tribe of Ephraim (see Ephraim) and half the tribe Manasseh (see Manasseh). the city of Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel for about 75 years until the northern kingdom collapsed in 721 B.C. under Assyrian attack.

In New Testament times, the larger Jewish population scorned samaritans because they were descendants of mixed marriages and had strayed from mainstream Jewish teachings. Jesus Christ's stop in Samaria and his conversation with a Samaritan woman were, therefore, particularly significant. Jesus also told a story about a Samaritan who stopped on the road to help a robbery victim after two Jewish religious leaders had passed by without offering aid.

Jacob
Schemer, con artist, opportunist, coward - all these labels can legitimately be applied to Jacob. But, "chosen of God?" Hero of the faith? Father of the Israelites? It seems unlikely, at least in his early days.

Jacob, born to Isaac and Rebekah, was the second twin to come out of the womb. But before he and his brother were born, God told Rebekah that two nations would come from her and that the older would serve the younger. This was in direct opposition to the traditions of that day, which held that the oldest son should receive the primary inheritance.

Joseph
Three brave and noble men bearing the same name made a difference in the world for all time. These men were all named Joseph. The first Joseph appears in the Old Testament. He was the youngest and favorite son among twelve brothers. Through the betrayal of his brothers, his own perseverance and God's perfect planning, Joseph became the second in command in Egypt. He provided for the Israelites by supplying food during a long famine.

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.

18. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” 19. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus

22. After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.

23. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24. (This was before John was put in prison) 25. An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – the one about whom you testified – well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

27. To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ 29. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

30. He must become greater; I must become less.

31. “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.
34. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
36. Whoever puts his faith in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman

1. The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2. Although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4. Now he had to go through Samaria. 5. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Topic: God the Artist
John 3:14 - 15

A masterpiece restored

Jesus used the sculpture of the snake as a metaphor of his redemptive work. But how could Jesus employ what had become an idol to illustrate his own death on the cross?

King Hezekiah had repented of the Israelites' idolatry (see 2 Kings 18:4, p.405), and Jesus now made use of the bronze snake according to its original purpose of forgiveness and restoration. This is the heart of God's redemptive plan for all aspects of life. When sin is dealt with, God's original purposes can be restored.

Over the years a stunning masterpiece had grown dull, grime masking the vibrant colors of the original. A team of specialists gathered to restore the painting to what the artist had first portrayed. It was painstaking work, but the team members had done their research and knew what to do.

Like the masterpiece, our gifts can be restored to their original purposes - once our lives have been cleansed and the stain of sin removed.

God is at work to restore creativity. Ask him how you can use your creative gifts to be involved with him in the restoration process.

Want More?
Isaiah 61:1-7; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
Ephesians 1:7-10; Colossians 1:15-20

Topic: Salvation
John 3:16

From shame to honor

Ishmael eagerly awaited the birth. The Afghan villager already had three sons, and when a fourth was born, he and his wife rejoiced. Then Ishmael made a painful choice. He loved his new son, but he gave him to a neighbor who had no sons. In Afghan culture, only male children carry on the family identity. Shame covered every man who had no male offspring. Ishmael's gift lifted the shame from his neighbor's home.

A father giving away a beloved son is beyond our understanding. Yet that is precisely what God did for us. Humanity's sinfulness covered us in shame by God's holy standards. We could do nothing to change it.

John 3:16 captures the essence of the gospel: Motivated by his love for us, God gave up his one and only Son, who died to set humanity free from the bondage of our sin and shame.

Do you think and feel like a person who is deeply loved and treasured by someone significant? Why?

Food For Thought:
Psalm 25; 34; Joel 2:18-29

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