That You May Believe - 1

"THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE"
Introduction And Prologue

John's purpose in writing his gospel is clearly stated in Jn 20:30-31 "Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life." His purpose was to create faith in Jesus and that we might have life in His name. How does John create faith in his gospel? First he stated claims about Jesus in his prologue - Jn 1:1-18. He surveys the life of Jesus, with emphasis on claims made by Jesus Himself. John presents evidence to sustain such claims. With this lesson we begin a series of studies on the gospel of John, with the goal to strengthen our own faith and to create faith in others who have yet to believe. In this lesson we shall consider the prologue and the claims made by John about Jesus. For those who already accept Jesus as the Christ, this should help increase our understanding and appreciation of Jesus. For those who may not yet believe in Him, this lesson should set the stage for studies to come. Let's begin by reading Jn 1:1-18.

Jesus is not mentioned by name until verse 17 "The Law was given by Moses, but Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth." But it is clear that the "Word" is none other than Jesus Christ! Throughout this prologue, John makes several claims about Jesus. These claims illustrate Jesus' relation to various things. In verses 1-2 John’s first claim is to the relationship of Jesus to Deity and that Jesus existed before creation. "In the beginning was the Word" The word was suggests His being eternal. Jesus had a "face-to-face" relationship with God."the Word was with God". The word with implies a personal communion with God. Jesus possessed The fullness of Deity. "the Word was God". He possessed divine being, power, and attributes; i.e., Jesus was deity! When you sum up these attributes (eternal, personal, deity), then in relation to deity Jesus is "the essence of God", or "express image of God" (cf. He 1:3 "God's Son has all the brightness of God's own glory and is like him in every way. By his own mighty word, he holds the universe together. After the Son had washed away our sins, he sat down at the right side of the glorious God in heaven." ).
We next note The relation to Jesus to the physical world in verse 3. Jesus was the active agent in creation. "all things were made through Him". "without Him nothing was made that was made". "by Him all things were created..." - Co 1:16 "Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities. All things were created by God's Son, and everything was made for him.". - He 1:2 "But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son."
We have just read that Jesus Christ was the most active participant in the actual creation of all things that were made; but now we want to see what we can learn about the phrase "for Him". Does this mean that the creation was somehow meant to benefit Christ in some way? Does the phrase "FOR HIM" mean that all of the creation fulfills the purposes of Christ? Whatever the purposes of Jesus are, the creation, which includes everything in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, thrones, principalities, and powers all work the eternal divine fulfillment of His purposes. Our Lord is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power, as the scriptures reason for us that after all that He is the creator. I want to notice with you Revelation 4:11 that Jesus created all things for His pleasure.

Revelation 4:11 "Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. You created all things, and by your decision they are and were created."

This particular lesson does not exhaust the subject of the eternal purposes of God, but suffice it to say that the creation was for the fulfillment of those purposes. The creation is for Jesus. We notice that much of the scriptures center around the subject of the coming kingdom of the Christ; and then in the New Testament, we see the fulfillment of these prophecies in Jesus Christ, and how Jesus built His church. Our lives center on the pleasures of Christ, as we consider that all created things are for His pleasure. This word pleasure has a different connotation than what it means to the worldly man, who is in bondage to the pleasures of the flesh. The idea is that Jesus is the Master of all of His creation. Jesus has made His desires for mankind known in the scriptures by means of commandments. by His witness and by the Apostles’ doctrine.
Please note:
AV-will 62, desire 1, pleasure 1; 1) what one wishes or has determined shall be done;1a) of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ;1b) of what God wishes to be done by us;1b1) commands, precepts;2) will, choice, inclination, desire, pleasure. More could be learned on this subject alone and hopefully we will study this subject at a future date.

Let’s continue with John’s claims. In order to more fully comprehend all that John has written thus far we need to go back to the creation and look at some of the language there. Gen 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Here we read that "God" created. Is this a contradiction as to what we have already found in the NT. Note the original language from Strong’s Hebrew.
'ĕ?lo$?hi$?ym
el-o-heem'
gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used )in the plural thus, especially with the article( of the supreme God;
Note the plural use where the singular is a noun 'elo$?ah or 'eloah
Although we see the word "God" which is Anglo Saxon in the singular the Hebrews knew that God was plural in nature, but one in intent and purpose. There is ample evidence that God the Father, God the Son or Word, and God the Holy Spirit were all involved in the creation of heaven and earth. Thus confirming what John wrote, in relation to the physical world, John (and others) proclaim Jesus to be "the Creator". What an amazing claim!

We will expand on this thought in our nest lesson