Tag Archives: these are written

JOHN’S GOSPEL… CONCLUSION-36

Bible Study, ,

John 20:30-31 NIV
[30] “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. [31] But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John concluded his story but not Jesus’ story. As Jesus’ companion and eyewitness, he had much more to tell but…where would he stop? Jesus had said and done so much in his presence that he concluded, with a sense of wonder…

John 21:25 NIV
[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.”

Was this just exaggeration or was John so overwhelmed with material for his book that he was forced to leave it there, a kind of open-ended conclusion and admission that he could have written reams more and never gotten to the end of this marvellous God-Man’s story.

So, John ends his record of the Son of God with a declaration of his purpose. The other gospel writers leave the reader to decide the reason for each presentation for themselves, but not John. He made sure that every reader would reach the conclusion he intended, and be faced with a decision.

Every person on earth, at some point in life, must face the question, “Who will you serve?” and bear the consequences of that decision. Since there are witnesses to God’s existence everywhere that no one can deny, the witness of creation…

Psalms 19:1-4 NIV
[1] “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. [2] Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. [3] They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. [4] Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”

Romans 1:20 NIV
[20] “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

…and the witness of conscience,

Romans 2:14-15 NIV
[14] “(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. [15] They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them).”

Every person must decide about Jesus to settle their destiny.

To his credit, John intensified this witness by preserving and presenting the story of Jesus in written form. In this way, every reader is faced with a decision and a choice, to believe or not to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and to receive Him or reject Him as Lord.

John 1:12 NIV
[12] “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… “

Throughout his gospel, John presents records of Jesus’ miracles as signs, evidence pointing to His identity. In every clash with His opponents, Jesus reinforced His claim to be the Son of God. Time and again, Jesus’ words matched the revelation of Messiah in the writings of the Tanach. John presented Him as the embodiment of truth, God’s Word, prophesied in the Old Testament, clothed in a human body. Like the lamp of David’s psalm,

Psalms 119:105 NIV
[105] “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

…He came to bring light to the people who walked in darkness.

John 8:12 NIV
[12] “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

… shining the light on His true identity and offering His people the opportunity to receive and live by His light.

John masterfully wove together the two strands of witness, Jesus words and His works, that provide the undeniable evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. In Jesus’ own words, the reader’s choice will decide his/her eternal destiny by believing and receiving or rejecting His witness.

John 3:18 NIV
[18] “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

So, John urged, read to believe so that, by believing, you will have life through Him.

1 John 5:11-12 NIV
[11] “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

John 3:36 NIV
[36] “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

You be the judge. Your life is in your hands!

Christian Life, ,

WHY ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31

The answer to this question will affect the way you live out your Christian life. There are two possible answers.

You could answer it this way: “I am a Christian because my sins have been forgiven and I am going to heaven when I die.” Salvation (the forgiveness of your sins and asking Jesus to be your Saviour) is your passport to heaven. You have lost your guilt; you are assured of God’s help and you have escaped hell. Now you can live in the knowledge that your eternal destiny is secure and help in trouble is only a prayer away.

Is this the way the Bible explains why Jesus came to earth?

Heaven and earth are at war. Satan challenged God for the position of highest authority over His creation. He has already won humanity through deceit and stamped on us his rebellious nature. Jesus took up the challenge by coming to earth as a human being to live our life of perfect obedience to the Father. He was the only one capable of rescuing us from the devil’s clutches and giving us another chance to come back under God’s authority. If Satan could get Him to break His oneness with the Father, the contest would have been over and Satan would have won. God would have been dethroned and we would be under an eternal regime of cruelty and slavery.

But Jesus won, exposed Satan as a liar and a usurper, and stripped him of his authority. By dying as a sinless substitute, He paid the penalty for our rebellion, and rescued us from Satan’s clutches. God reinstated Him as the lawful King over all creation.

So now the issue is: Whom will you worship? On the day of Pentecost, preaching to Jews and proselytes, Peter put it like this:

“Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36 NIV).

Through the resurrection of Jesus, God proved that Satan’s last weapon, death, could not hold Him. Jesus was the winner. Now He offers us, by believing in Him, a share in His Kingdom

He leaves the choice to us. God has put His rightful king back on the throne. We must choose who will reign over our lives. If we do nothing, we remain under the dominion of Satan and will take everything that’s coming to him as the one Jesus whipped. If we choose Jesus as King, the Holy Spirit, God’s representative on earth, makes us alive, and comes to live and rule over us as His temples. We enjoy all the benefits of sonship because we have been adopted into His family as His own children.

So why are you a Christian? Are you a Christian because you want a free ticket to heaven or are you a Christian because Jesus is the rightful ruler over your life? Your reason for believing in Him will make all the difference!

LIFE THROUGH HIS NAME

Bible Study, ,

LIFE THROUGH HIS NAME

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life through His name.” John 20:30, 31.

Unlike the other three gospels, John clearly stated the reason for his story. His gospel rounds off the four pictures of Jesus that the four gospels present, each complete in itself and yet incomplete because they need each other to tell the whole story.

Matthew’s gospel was written for Jewish readers. He did not state his purpose, New Testament scholars have gleaned from the book that he presented Jesus as the King of the Jews and the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy.

Matthew’s birth narrative of Jesus and the genealogy of His ancestry highlighted His royal position. Although Jesus was born in a humble place, He descended from the line of David, Israel’s greatest king, in fulfilment of Messianic prophecy. He had visitors from the East who came looking for a new king whose birth they had discerned from the movement of the stars and who brought gifts that befitted a king.

Matthew focused on Jesus’ presentation of the kingdom of God, arranging the teachings of Jesus into blocks rather than in chronological order. The gospel He came to announce was good news about the kingdom of God and to enter, one needed to repent and receive the kingdom like a little child. Matthew often referred to the things Jesus did as the fulfilment of prophecy.

Jesus was born a king, He lived as a king, exercising His authority over the demonic realm and giving authority to His disciples to continue what He had begun. He died under the written indictment: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.”

Mark presented Jesus, not as a king but as a servant. There are no birth narratives — the birth of a servant was of no consequence. Jesus’ story was one of action. There is not much teaching in Mark’s Gospel; his emphasis was on what Jesus did rather than on what He said. Mark highlighted what the Jewish leaders and even Jesus’ disciples failed to grasp; that Jesus was first the Servant of Yahweh before He took His place as the king of the Jews.

Luke focused on Jesus’ humanity, and presented Him as the Son of Man. However, the title, “Son of Man” was not only a reference to His humanity as God addressed Ezekiel, but also a Messianic title as in Daniel 7:13, 14:

“In my vision at night I looked and there before me was like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and people of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall never be destroyed.”

Luke traced His ancestry back to Adam, the father of the human race. He presented Jesus as one who was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit; conceived by the Holy Spirit, baptised in the Spirit; driven by the Spirit into the wilderness; and one who prayed. Jesus was true man; He had the emotions and weaknesses of human beings. He entered fully into the experiences of humanity but He was truly the Son of Man.

John completed the picture of Jesus by presenting Him as the Son of God. Not birth narratives but rather a commentary on Genesis 1 is where he started. Jesus existed before He became flesh and took His place among humans. He was God’s Word, bringing all of creation into existence, enlightening every human being born into the world and giving Hs life to restore them to their rightful place as sons of God.

John recorded only seven miracles, referring to them as “signs”, pointing his readers to the nature of Jesus – the Son of God – and the outcome of each sign – faith in Him. The controversy between Him and His religious opponents raged around His claim to be the Son of God and His ringing statement, I AM…”

Four gospels, four pictures, King of the Jews, Servant of Yahweh, Son of Man and Son of God. This is who Jesus is. Our only response is John’s longed-for desire for his readers; to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and by believing, to have life through His name.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.