GENE 100 Regent University The Role of Christ in John 1 to 3 Discussion GENE 100 Discussion This week, we have examined God’s unfolding plan of salvat

GENE 100 Regent University The Role of Christ in John 1 to 3 Discussion GENE 100 Discussion

This week, we have examined God’s unfolding plan of salvation through Israel. God made covenants with humans. We see this in the life of Abraham, Moses, David, and the people of Israel. Ultimately, the Old Testament points towards a New Covenant under Christ Jesus. After several thousand years of God’s unfolding plan, Jesus breaks on to the scene, declaring that the Kingdom of God had come. You have read about the start of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of John 1-3.

In 300-350 words, identify two aspects/identities/roles of Christ in John 1-3 and discuss this role in light of a theme or themes we have learned in Weeks 1-3.

For example, you might note in John 1 that Jesus is identified as the “Word” who was present at creation. How does this relate to our study of the creation narrative in Genesis 1?

Another example might be to highlight the fact that John the Baptist calls Jesus the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” How might that connect to the story of the Passover? John 1-3 New International Version (NIV)
The Word Became Flesh
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[a] 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.
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.
9
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.
14
(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[b] is in closest
15
relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders[c] in Jerusalem sent
priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but
confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
19
21
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those
who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
22
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one
calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”[d]
23
24
Now the Pharisees who had been sent
25
questioned him, “Why then do you
baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
“I baptize with[e] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do
not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I
am not worthy to untie.”
26
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John
was baptizing.
28
John Testifies About Jesus
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when
I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before
me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water
was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
29
Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven
as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one
who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the
32
Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy
Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”[f]
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.
Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
35
36
When he saw
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning
around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
37
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39
“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with
him. It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John
had said and who had followed Jesus.41 The first thing Andrew did was to find
40
his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the
Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be
called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter[g]).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to
him, “Follow me.”
43
44
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.
45
Philip
found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in
the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the
son of Joseph.”
46
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an
Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
47
48
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before
Philip called you.”
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king
of Israel.”
49
Jesus said, “You believe[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.
You will see greater things than that.”51 He then added, “Very truly I tell
you,[i] you[j] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and
descending on’[k] the Son of Man.”
50
Jesus Changes Water Into Wine
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’
mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the
wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have
no more wine.”
“Woman,[l] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet
come.”
4
5
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial
washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[m]
6
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to
the brim.
7
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the
banquet.”
8
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been
turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the
servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom
aside10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the
cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have
saved the best till now.”
11
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through
which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and
his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
12
Jesus Clears the Temple Courts
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and
doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip
out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he
scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To
those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my
Father’s houseinto a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written:
“Zeal for your house will consume me.”[n]
13
The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove
your authority to do all this?”
18
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in
three days.”
19
They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are
going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his
body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had
said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
20
Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw
the signs he was performing and believed in his name.[o] 24 But Jesus would
23
not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any
testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member
of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we
know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could
perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God
unless they are born again.[p]”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely
they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
4
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but
5
the Spirit[q] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying,
‘You[r] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its
sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is
with everyone born of the Spirit.”[s]
9
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these
things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to
what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I
have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will
10
you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13
No one has ever gone into
heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[t] 14 Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted
up,[u] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[v]
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the
16
name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into
the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds
were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into
the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the
truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have
done has been done in the sight of God.
John Testifies Again About Jesus
After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside,
where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was
22
baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and
people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in
prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a
certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and
said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the
Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is
going to him.”
To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from
heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but
am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend
who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when
he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now
complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[w]
27
31
The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth
belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes
from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but
no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that
God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God,
for God[x] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has
placed everything in his hands. 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.
Footnotes:
a. John 1:5 Or understood
b. John 1:18 Some manuscripts but the only Son, who
c. John 1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and
elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15,
16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
d. John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
e. John 1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)
f. John 1:34 See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God.
g. John 1:42 Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock.
h. John 1:50 Or Do you believe … ?
i. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
j. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
k. John 1:51 Gen. 28:12
l. John 2:4 The Greek for Woman does not denote any disrespect.
m. John 2:6 Or from about 75 to about 115 liters
n. John 2:17 Psalm 69:9
o. John 2:23 Or in him
p. John 3:3 The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.
q. John 3:6 Or but spirit
r. John 3:7 The Greek is plural.
s.
t.
u.
v.
w.
x.
John 3:8 The Greek for Spirit is the same as that for wind.
John 3:13 Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven
John 3:14 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.
John 3:15 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 21.
John 3:30 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.
John 3:34 Greek he
New International Version (NIV)
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War of Words: Getting to the Heart for
God’s Sake
Desiring God 2008 National Conference
The Power of Words and the Wonder of God
September 27, 2008 | by Paul Tripp | Topic: Speech | Conference: 2008 National Conference
(These are notes taken during the session, not a manuscript.)
There are three things I know about you:
1. You talk. Every day of our lives and every relationship is filled with talk. Words are God’s
idea, and they belong to him. So when you hear the word “talk” you ought to hear
something that is high and holy and important. Let us never regard talk as something that
doesn’t matter.
2. Both the saddest and the most celebratory moments of your life have been
accompanied by talk.
3. Your world of talk is a world of trouble.
This last point is defeating, but the redeeming love of God is extremely zealous. And because of
that we can have the courage to look at this difficult area.
What is the trouble of our talk?
For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each
tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are
grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of
his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for
out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45)
Christ teaches us in this passage that we live out of our hearts. What does the Bible mean by the
word “heart”? It means the causal core of your personhood. It is your directional system, your
steering wheel. Your behavior isn’t caused by the situations and relationships outside of you. It’s
caused by the way your heart reacts to those things.
Word problems aren’t vocabulary or technique problems. They are heart problems. Christ uses
the example of the tree. Apple trees are apple-istic all the way down, a principle of organic
consistency. We want to think that our problem is outside of us rather than inside of us. But that is
a very dangerous heresy, because when you can convince yourself of that, you quit being a
seeker after the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. You must come to admit that you are your
greatest communication problem.
Much of what we do in our attempts to change communication is nothing less than trying to nail
apples onto a fruitless tree. You may get it to look authentic and good for a little while, but those
apples will soon rot and the tree will be fruitless again next year.
It’s only when you stand before your Redeemer and are humbly willing to say, regardless of the
flawed people you live among, “I am my greatest communication problem,” you are heading in a
direction of fundamental change.
What is the war for the heart?
It is most briefly summarized in a little phrase in 2 Corinthians 5:15: “[Jesus] died for all, that
those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was
raised.” Sin is fundamentally antisocial. It makes myself the primary focus. It is all about “I want, I
want, I want, I want, I want.” Apart from Christ we are vats of desire and entitlement. Notice Paul’s
warning in Galatians:
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an
opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is
fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and
devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians
5:13-15)
We must never say that harsh, proud, unloving, ungracious communication is ever OK. It’s not
OK. God has invested words with power and Paul says that people can be destroyed by what
you say. Sin dehumanizes the people in our lives. It makes them either into vehicles that help me
get what I want or obstacles that get in the way of what I want. If they help me get what I want, I
speak kindly to them. If they’re in the way, I speak harshly to them.
God didn’t give us grace to enable us to serve our own kingdom. He gave us grace to enable us
to serve his kingdom. The entire law is summarized in a single command: love your neighbor as
yourself. Why is that a summary of all that God calls me to? Because it is only when I love God
above all else that I’ll ever love my neighbor as myself. You don’t fix language problems
horizontally. You fix them vertically.
What kind of kingdom is the kingdom of God? It’s a kingdom of boundless, glorious, powerful,
personal, transforming love. The center event of that kingdom is a shocking sacrifice of
redeeming love. You know nothing about his kingdom unless you understand that it is a kingdom
of love. And it’s when our hearts are taken up with the mystery of that great love that our words
become words of love and peace and healing.
True love is not propelled by duty. It is propelled by gratitude. We love because he first loved us
(1 John 4:19).
What is this thing called love that is to drive my world of talk?
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been
born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God
sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love,
not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and
his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12)
You don’t define love through a set of abstract concepts. You define love according to what God
did. Love is willing self-sacrifice for the redemptive good of another that doesn’t demand
reciprocation or that the person being loved is deservi…
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