John 1:6-10 New International Version (NIV)
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.
Today I am continuing our sermon series through John. It is important to learn the book of John it is one of the greatest witness tools ever created. It is essential in Christian teachings. I spoke last week briefly on verse five so I am going to add below. It is for someone but I am not sure yet.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
The light is not overcome, nothing overcomes God. His light shows what it is supposed to show and unveils its mystery. He gives life from birth into the world. Our God is the God of life, he is light. There are several passages where we are to be a radiant people sharing him in joy. We must never loose anything else. We must reflect his brightness and let it saturate our hearts to share. He lit up the world. Joyfully set in radiance and he did not lose his light. We must not lose ours. Though when first up we can not hold the light at its fullness we adjust to its message of radiance. Light must not lose it radiance. Though we adjust we must not harden our hearts to the light. It's joy should remain fresh. To do this is easy when you receive the Holy Spirit and never ask leave him. He is gentle to have so you don't get tired of him. The walk or the path maybe hard but your Comforter is always there. The light comes in and takes over the darkness. Let it's energy shine, let it's warm come, let it fill the earth with glory. Let it shine like the new day.
I want us to understand John. Youngest of all disciples, wrote much of the new testament with 3 letters 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, Revelation, and the gospel of John.
Wikipedia states this about the Apostle John.
"John the Apostle (Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ ܫܠܝܚܐ Yohanan Shliha; Hebrew: יוחנן בן זבדי Yohanan ben Zavdi; Koine Greek: Ἰωάννης; Latin: Ioannes; c. AD 6-100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament, which refers to him as Ἰωάννης. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome. His brother was James, who was another of the Twelve Apostles. Christian tradition holds that he outlived the remaining apostles and that he was the only one to die of natural causes: Judas Iscariot died by suicide, while the other ten all are considered to have died a martyr's death. This is because the Church Fathers considered him the same person as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Elder and the Beloved Disciple, although modern theologians and scholars have not formed a consensus on the relative identities of these men. The traditions of most Christian denominations have held that John the Apostle is the author of several books of the New Testament."
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
John had great faith, he suffered for his fate near the end of his life.John was in Christian tradition dumped into a vat of oil as punishment and banished to the island of Patmos. He believed much in his faith.
Verse 8
8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The disciples stopped self worship even John the Baptist preached against it. Where John the Baptist said, he was not worthy to untie the shoes of Jesus.
After doing a Miracle Acts 14:8-15 they tried to worship Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes. Paul quickly stopped their worship. Only Jesus deserves to be praised.
God deserves him honor and we must worship God Monotheistically. That means we only worship one God.
As it says in the 10 commandments: "Worship the Lord God only and him only shall you serve."
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.
God did not play favorites but tried to reach out to every person. Jesus was born out of wedlock, though Mary was a virgin. He was seen as a common man that changed the world. We face scorn every once in a while Jesus faced it in his day. He became sin on the cross and faced the full scorn of the cross as he absorbed our sins. His face was maimed as the thorns and the beatings took place. He suffered for his faith as the King who takes our sin.Though he faced the scorn he arose. Scorn was vanquished.
The light shines again.
