Dear Explorer,
Read John 1:6-8
Look at the first phrase of John 1:6. “There was a man sent by God….” Stop right there. Hold everything. News Flash! Did you know that the last time the Jews had heard God speak through a prophet (Malachi) was 400 years ago!!!! In other words, no one alive had ever heard of someone who was sent by God.
Most of the Jews were still worshipping God and trying to follow Him as best as they could. But their religion had become mostly a list of “do's and don'ts”. It had grown old and stale and confused with other religions and philosophies. Some were still trying to follow God's rules, but they had expanded the rules until they weren't sure which ones were the right ones to follow. Everything was a mess. Even the priests who taught God's Law didn't follow it.
Then God did something in the middle of this mess. He sent a man named John. Just for clarity, we're going to call this man John the Baptizer because there's already a John – the writer of the book of John. Later you'll see why we call him the Baptizer.
Looking at John 1:6-8, can you determine what was John the Baptizer's assignment from God?
So, what is a witness?
Someone who tells what they have heard or seen or experienced.
Now one of the purposes of this Bible study is to teach you to read carefully and figure out the meaning – not just read over the top layer. We do that in two ways: physically and spiritually. Physically you may need to look a word up in a dictionary, read the footnotes in your Bible, ask another follower of Jesus, or contact me! Spiritually, we ask God to lead us and teach us through His Holy Spirit so that we can interpret and understand His message to us. I like to pray before I start reading or studying the Bible and ask God to help me understand and apply what I'm reading. You can pray, too. Simply address God and talk to Him. Since He's everywhere, He can hear you. We'll talk more about prayer and lots of other things as we study together.
And unlike any book you've ever read or studied – God says that the Bible is alive and powerful. One thing that that means is that every time you read it, you will see something new to learn and apply to your life. So, it's important that you ask God to help you see wonderful things in His Book.
Read John 1:9
What metaphor does John (the writer) use to describe Jesus?
What does light do?
Light is the opposite of darkness. And light gets rid of darkness and reveals what is really there. Light is also used to represent understanding. An example is the way we might say, “A little light bulb turned on in my head!” to mean “I had a great idea!” Light, in a scientific sense is energy. Sunlight provides life to all living things.
Now just looking at John 1:9, what was Jesus' purpose in coming to this world?
Jesus came to light up your life! And He came to light up the rest of the world, too!
In His service, dale
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