6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:6-13 (NKJV)
Comment:
This second passage introduces us to John the Baptist. Now it is important that we keep our Johns straight; we have John the Apostle, John the Baptist, and John the Hess. John the Hess is our fearless Sunday school teacher, who is known throughout the land for his ability to find "volunteers." John the Apostle is the author of the Gospel of John that we are reading. He was one of the original 12 disciples and is thought to have been a close friend to Jesus during His earthly ministry. (All this was laid out nicely by John the Hess last Sunday during class.) John the Baptist is the John that is introduced to us in v6. He is called "the Baptist" in all the other 3 gospels (Mt 3:1; Mk 6:14; Lk 7:20) but not The Gospel of John. He is called "the Baptist" because he was sent by God to baptize repentant sinners in preparation for the Messiah's coming. John the Baptist came onto the scene in Israel after 400 years of no prophets at all. He came boldly and confrontationally preaching against sin and the need for repentance. Verse 7 tells us that he (John) came to bear witness to the light; we know from v4 that this light is the Word, which is Jesus.
We also see in this passage that even though the true Light "gives light to every man", not all received Him (v11). The fact that all have been given the light means that none will have an excuse when Judgment comes, only regret. However, the good news is in v12 and v13; we see that those who do receive Him He gives the right to become children of God. This adoption into God's family comes "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
The discussion questions that are pertinent to this passage are:
- What people are given the right to become the children of God? What does it mean to be a child of God?
- Are not all people children of God in the sense that He created us? Acts 17:28 How is this different than being children of God in the sense of vs 12-13 of this passage?
7 comments:
Yesterday, Jesus was "the Word". Today Jesus is "the Light". Every one needs to get this. If the Word was in the beginning then the Light was also in the beginning. Usually I think of light as brightness coming from the big yellow star we call the sun. But the book of Genesis tells us that on the first day of creation God said "let there be light". But wait, God did not create the luminaries (sun, moon, stars) until the forth day. So this light of the world which filled the darkness must be Jesus right? Is this another point proving that Jesus was truly in the beginning?
So, do we get our denomination "Baptists" from John the Baptist? Was our denomination founded on the belief that we were to proclaim Jesus and baptize other's in His name? It's sad to say, but I really don't know WHY we are called Baptists.
Praise the Lord, that we have the opportunity to become children of God if we only accept the gift Christ offers us!
Pam, I am by no means an expert but I believe the Baptist were initially called Baptist because of their method of baptism. The "original Baptist" began as separatist from state churches such as The Anglican Church in England. One of the main differences of the separatist is that they believed that baptism is reserved for confessing believers and infant baptism should not be allowed. So, the separatist taught that you did not become a member of the Church until you became a believer and was baptised, whereas, the Anglican (and Roman Catholic for that matter) church taught (teaches) that an infant can be baptised into the church soon after birth. I could be totally off on that but I'm pretty sure that's right.
As you read through Gen 1:3, God specifiaclly spoke light into existence- meaning created. Jesus and God are coexistent. Jesus is not a created being but He is I AM, so this reference is for physical light - as refered more clearly in vs 4. You are right that the heavenly bodies came later. This was just the way God determined He would allow ligh tot manifest the universe. Light is a creation of God, not a result of the sun "creating" it.
The method of baptism John used was full emersion, as refered in several places- including when John baptized Jesus. But, according to Matthew 3:1, John was called the Baptist prior to his ministry starting- so he was not named so for his baptism style. Although the name is a statement in theology, it has its foundation in John. But, the name didn't necessarily come from him.
Here are interesting articles with more info: http://www.baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm and
http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0559.htm and http://www.pbministries.org/Theology/Davis%20Huckabee/Sermons%20To%20Baptist%20Churches/ch25_retaining_our_baptist_name.htm
There are different views as to its origin but it is certain that the Baptist name is founded in our relationship with Christ and membership in the church.
Oh, by the way Trey, thanks for the clarification of the John's!!
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