There are many people who don’t care about the truth, only about what makes them feel good in the moment. However, there are too many examples of momentary pleasures leaving people ruined, hopeless and riddled with regret that self-centered gratification cannot be the answer to what life is all about.
Because the Creator is who he is, there is going to be a truth that us creatures must know. As we are aware that there are counterfeit kinds of money that make us careful to only have the real thing, it is of much greater importance that we can sift through all the counterfeit versions of life to find the one that is true, and real, and lasts forever.
This study brings us to see that the Creator has made himself known to us for real in the most personal of ways, the sending of his own Son into our world. Both the negative and positive ways people responded to him in the past encourage us to open our hearts to his truth and receive the gift of eternal life.
If you want to load a Word document version of this study onto your computer for prayer-journaling, you can find it here.[1] If you want a PDF version to print out, you can find it here.[2] If you have suggestions to improve this study, please send me an email. I would love the help! And, if you need assistance attaching to the Savior with the faith this section of God’s Book reveals, I would love to help!
9 The true light, which gives light to
everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was
made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and
his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were
born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God. (John 1 ~ ESV)
The stage is now set for us to see a primary aim of John’s Gospel account, to show us how to respond to Jesus as the Christ/Messiah. This paragraph reminds us of who Jesus is no matter what anyone thinks of him, and then distinguishes the three ways that people respond to his coming. Jesus is still relating to us as he is described, and all of us are on the stage in one of these groups of people. Today’s journey is aimed at leading us all into the right one!
Part 1: The Light That Made the World
The first thing to consider is the connection between who Jesus is as the true light of life and what it means for him to shine that light into the world. We cannot escape the realities of Jesus’ identity and work, and neither can we hide from him how we are responding to his light.
9 The true light, which gives light to
everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was
made through him, (John 1)
2. What aspect of Jesus’ relationship to the world
also means that we are all accountable to him?
3. What does Jesus’ description as “the true light”
indicate about his purpose in “coming into the world”?
4. How would you describe your experience of his
gracious activity to that end?
Part
2: The Unwanted Light
In the second part of this paragraph, we are shown two negative reactions to Jesus shining his light of life into the world. It is an opportunity to test ourselves to discern whether our response to Jesus the Christ is of the same negative variety, and whether we can honestly justify such a response.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. (John 1)
1.
What seems
contradictory about the connection between who Jesus was and how the world
responded to him (vs 10)?
2.
What seems
contradictory about the connection between who Jesus was to Israel and how they
responded to him (vs 11)?
3.
How have
you seen the negative reactions John describes in yourself or others?
4.
How do the
negative responses of the world and Israel indicate the positive responses God
desires from us?
Part 3: The Children of the Light
Our third look at this paragraph presents the positive response to Jesus Christ God obviously desires for us all. It presents the purpose of God in sending his Son into the world, and it leaves us with a clear conclusion of where we stand in relation to his gift of light and life.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1)
1.
What are
the two positive responses that contrast with the two negative responses
mentioned earlier (did not know Jesus, did not receive him)?
2.
What is
God’s promise to those who respond in the positive way described?
3.
What does
John clarify about how this promise is fulfilled?
4.
As you
identify whether you lean more to the negative response of not knowing and
receiving Jesus or to the positive response of receiving him and believing in
his name, how would you explain to someone that your response to Jesus makes
the most sense of everything we know about him?
Conclusion: Hearing, Seeing, Joining
Now that you have considered what Jesus came to do and how people responded:
1. What do you hear God speaking to you about?
2. What do you see God doing in you through this part of his word?
3. How are you going to join God in his work?
© 2021 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
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