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    Exploring the Word of God: Reflections on the Gospel of John
    Exploring the Word of God: Reflections on the Gospel of John
    Exploring the Word of God: Reflections on the Gospel of John
    Ebook86 pages1 hour

    Exploring the Word of God: Reflections on the Gospel of John

    By Joseph Tkach

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    About this ebook

    In this lay-level commentary, Joseph Tkach explains lessons we can learn from various stories in the Gospel of John. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we learn about ourselves as well. With an overview chapter by Jim Herst, a chapter by Paul Kroll, and two studies by Michael Morrison

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGrace Communion International
    Release dateSep 17, 2013
    ISBN9781301280490
    Exploring the Word of God: Reflections on the Gospel of John

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      Book preview

      Exploring the Word of God - Joseph Tkach

      Exploring the Word of God:

      Reflections on the Gospel of John

      By Joseph Tkach

      With additional chapters by Jim Herst, Michael Morrison, and Paul Kroll

      Copyright 2013 Grace Communion International

      Cover art by Ken Tunell.

      Scripture quotations, unless noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

      Table of Contents

      Explore the Gospel of John: They Might Have Life

      John 1: The Word Made Flesh

      John 2: Turning Water Into Wine

      John 3: An Odyssey of Faith

      John 4: True Worship

      John 6: ‘Let Nothing Be Wasted’

      John 9: A Blinding Light

      John 10: Which Voice Do You Hear?

      John 10:10 – The Abundant Life

      John 11: ‘Lazarus, Come Out’

      Right Words, But the Wrong Reason – John 12:12-19

      John 13: Footwashing: A Tradition of Service

      John 14: In His Name

      John 19: Crowned With Thorns

      Can You Believe It? A Study of John 20:18-29

      About the Authors

      About the Publisher

      Grace Communion Seminary

      Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

      Introduction: This project began in the mid 1990s. The first volume of Exploring the Word of God was published in 1995. We were not able to print any more volumes, but we continued to study and write articles about Scripture. We have gathered these articles and are publishing them as e-books. We hope you find these studies useful and encouraging.

      ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

      Explore the Gospel of John:

      That They Might Have Life

      By Jim Herst

      Vital lessons from the Gospel of John

      New Christians are often advised to begin their Bible reading with the Gospel according to John. Why? Because this book, more than any other, comprehensively explains Jesus’ identity as the Son of God who came to earth in order to save the world from sin.

      This truth is encapsulated in the most famous verse in the New Testament: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

      John tells us that because Jesus is God in the flesh (fully divine yet fully human) he is able to reveal God to us clearly and accurately. So if we want to know what God is like, we only have to look at the life of Jesus of Nazareth who was, in the words of the apostle Paul, the image of the invisible God…. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1: 15, 19).

      To appreciate the true significance of John 3:16, let’s analyze it within the context of the book as a whole. We will center our discussion around what could be called the twin pillars of John’s theology: Present Judgment and Present Salvation. We’ll quickly see that there is far more to the fourth Gospel than a sentimental call to give your heart to the Lord.

      Present judgment

      John discusses the problem of sin more than any of the Gospel writers. In fact, he uses the word sin more than Matthew and Mark combined! This takes many Christians by surprise—probably because they don’t usually associate John, the apostle of love, with such an unlovely subject as sin.

      But John makes it very clear that, unless sin is dealt with, human beings will perish eternally. The flip side of John 3:16 is that those who do not believe do not have everlasting life. We rightly cite this text to show that the ultimate demonstration of God’s love is the provision he has made for the sins of humanity in the sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus the Christ. God forbid we should ever forget this central truth. But we must not overlook the fact that this love of God is aimed at saving us from a terrible fate. Those who believe are saved, but those who do not believe do not have everlasting life.

      For John, the possibility of men and women perishing is very real indeed: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him (3:36). And Jesus himself warns: If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins (8:24).

      In other words, unrepentant sinners exclude themselves from God’s gift of life and bring his judgment upon themselves. And this judgment is a present one: Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only begotten Son (3:18).

      True, there is a final judgment of Jesus Christ (John 5:27-29), but this judgment is not only a future reality, it is already in operation: And this is the judgment, that the light [Jesus Christ] has come into the world (3:18).

      The problem is that some men and women love the darkness rather than the light. They prefer darkness (living in sin) over the light (living in Christ) and thus shut themselves up in darkness. This, to quote Martin Luther, is man curved in on himself. In such a state, human beings are slaves of sin (John 8:34). Without God’s salvation, they cannot break free.

      For John, then, men and women divide according to their attitude to Jesus. Either you are for Christ and on the road to life, or you are against Christ and on the road to death. So monumental is this aspect of Christ’s ministry that he can be said to have come into the world for the express purpose of judgment: For judgment came I into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind (9:39).

      This does not mean that Christ’s primary purpose was to condemn the world. On the contrary: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but

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