<>< THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN <><
From Touchpoint:
"WHAT IS HE LIKE?"
How would you describe someone you know to a stranger? What kind of word portrait would you draw?
For John, describing Jesus was an awesome task.
How do you describe the Son of God to people who have never seen Him?
John's approach was not to focus so much on what Jesus did here on earth but to tell us the kind of person He was and is. John's Gospel is not really a biography of Christ as much as a portrait of Christ, like a beautifully crafted painting. It is not so much a listing of the actions or events of Jesus' life as it is a descriptive insight into the Person of our Lord.
John starts with a stroke of his verbal brush that takes our breath away. This Jesus lived from the very beginning. He was always with God, yet He is God. He is the Creator of the universe, the very Word of God itself in the flesh. It is mind-boggling to think about and, in many ways, beyond our understanding, but John writes to tell us IT IS TRUE.
While Matthew and Luke, in their Gospel accounts, trace Jesus' human lineage from early Bible heroes through a Who's Who of Scripture, John leaps back over all of that and reveals the amazing TRUTH that even before the beginning of time, Jesus was with God. He has always been and will always be.
John's purpose was not to write another biography of Jesus' life on earth but to reveal Jesus as God's Son and even as God Himself.
John skips Jesus' birth, boyhood, temptation, transfiguration, calling of the disciples, parables, and even the great commission, to focus instead on Who this Jesus is: THE LAMB OF GOD, THE BREAD OF LIFE, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE, THE TRUE VINE, THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, and THE GREAT I AM. Seven witnesses called him "THE SON OF GOD" (John the Baptist, Nathanael, Peter, Martha, Thomas, John, and Jesus Himself).
After we have thoroughly viewed John's magnificent portrait, we are compelled to whisper in awe, "TRULY THIS IS THE SON OF GOD." Once we acknowledge that, we are brought to an inescapable conclusion: WE MUST BELIEVE IN HIM, TRUST IN HIM, AND ACCEPT HIM AS OUR OWN PERSONAL SAVIOR.
John's purpose in writing his Gospel was that we might believe in JESUS AS GOD'S SON and OUR SAVIOR! |
