John 1:1-14
Jesus Was With God in the Beginning
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
God and Jesus were together in the beginning...
We know this because it is written...Written with inspired Words...It was more than fifteen hundred years ago that God directed a diverse and variety of people to write the Bible...But it wasn't called the Bible then...It was called Scripture...There are about forty authors in the Bible who would write the inspired books of the Bible...The list of authors includes kings, shepherds, fishermen, teachers, a doctor, brothers of Jesus, and a tax collector...Many of these writers were personally involved in the events they wrote about...They wrote about events they saw, and people they met...Some of these authors, the Early Apostles of Jesus knew each other...Paul was at first originally against the followers of Jesus and persecuted them...But Jesus would convert Paul on the road to Damascus...Paul got to know Luke, and John Mark...Paul also had met Peter and James...They talk about some of the New Testament authors in the Jerusalem Council, where they met...The Jewish, or the Hebrew believer believed in the Old Testament Law of Moses, as well as in Jesus...Paul and Barnabas were meeting Gentiles everyday and teaching them about Jesus and His Ways and Teachings...Paul and Barnabas would take their ideas about the Non-Hebrew believer, called Gentiles (and what he should be required of), to the Jerusalem Council...Barnabas was not an author of any book in the Bible, but he was an early believer and has influence in spreading the Word of Jesus...Naturally differences would come up about the Jewish believer and the non-Jewish believer...The non-Jewish believer for the most part, did not know details of the Old Testament...Paul and Barnabas were spreading the gospel of Jesus...The council was headed by James and Peter and would be the group that would decide that Gentile converts to Christianity were not obligated to keep most of the rules prescribed to the Jews by the Mosaic Law, such as Jewish dietary laws and other...The council set the protocol for how to address certain cultural differences between Jews and Gentiles who had both accepted Christianity and were having fellowship with one another...Now all people had a path to believe in Jesus and how to address these certain cultural differences...
But most of the different authors never met one another, because of when the time period the Old Testament was written...From the last book in the Old Testament, Micah, there was a four hundred year gap, before Jesus was born...Yet the books were written under God’s Inspiration and His direction during those 1,500 years so they do come together and it can be read as one entire book, instead as a book of books, which is how the Bible got its name...The Word Bible is not in the Bible...The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew...The early language of the Greek speaking Jews and the early church was Greek...So when they talked about the Scripture the language was Greek...The Greeks has a word they called Ta Biblia...The word, Bible, comes from this Greek word , ta biblia, which means "the books."...While many people regard the Bible as a single book, it is in fact a library of books which were written over a period of approximately these 1500 years....The word Bible was was first used around 223 ad...The New Testament is believed to be written between 70 ad to 100 ad...This was approximately forty years after Jesus' death, before the first gospel was written...Soon the Old and New Testaments were put together to complete the story of how we are lead our lives...The Words show us LOVE, the Way, and the Truth of Life...By following these Words we can live an abundant life on earth...
The Bible which took over fifteen hundred years to write is all inspired by the Holy Spirit and by God...God's Word is for everyone...The rich, the poor, the educated, the uneducated, and every group...One reads the Bible to get to know Him and His Son...By knowing the Father and Son, we have guidance, knowledge, and an example of how we are to lead our lives...And the Way God had the book written, it never is outdated...As we read about the lessons of God's Son, we see that His lessons, His teachings, His Words will never pass...God ensured that the Bible are truly His history and background and His life's lessons were reaffirmed through His Son, Jesus...Jesus did many, many other things as well on earth...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...
John begins his gospel by telling us that Jesus was with God in the beginning...One day in the Gospel of John, Jesus stood up and said, He is Truth, the Way, and the Life...No one gets to God except through Him...Jesus told us before His death in His Priestly Prayers, that God's Word is Truth... Out of God's Character and Fullness we have all received Grace in place of Grace because of God giving us His Son...For the Mosaic Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ...No one has ever seen God, but the One and Only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father...God made His Son known and His Son made God known even more...Jesus is The Image of the Invisible God...For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily...It is in the face of the Son that we can know God...Every generation that has existed and will exist into the future can know of God...They can get to know Him and His Son through the Word of God, the Bible, which is Truth...
So from a New Testament perspective and that of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James and the other authors helped Christianity began as an outgrowth of their beliefs in Judaism...They saw the basis of the Old Testament and the wise men and prophets predicting that a Messiah would come...They believed that Jesus is our Messiah and Savior...The early Church continued with the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books...The gospels, Paul's epistles, and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament...The Old Testament and New Testament were combined so everyone would know the history and what and how God expects all of us to live...God expects us to love, because God is LOVE...Jesus expects us to love, because He teaches that the Two Greatest Commandments are to love God and to love neighbor...