John, to my dear friends in Christ; in John 1:6-13 we see God, talking through John, telling us about John the Baptist. We will also see God repeating what he just told us in the first five verses, remember when God repeats Himself, it is VERY important.

In John 1:6, "There came a man sent from God, whose name was John." we see John the Baptist being sent from God, as we will study later, this John is the same one talked about in Isaiah 40:3, "A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.". In Luke 1:5-80 we see John is selected even before his birth for the role he is to undertake. How marvelous for John and his parents to know the role that John was to take, there was no "I think this is what God wants of me" this was a direct revelation sent by an angel of God to Zacharias, John's father, where there was an absence of direct revelation for 400 years. This fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 is the paving of the way for the Messiah (Jesus Christ).

In John 1:7, "He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him." John is a witness to the Light. John's role as a witness is very important as we will see later, since he is a witness to the Light's (Messiah's) arrival. In Deuteronomy 19:15 a testimony is only considered valid with two or more witnesses. In this case we have John and Jesus as witnesses to Jesus' mission. We will see later that the Father and the Holy Spirit are witnesses to Jesus' mission on earth as well. The second part of the verse tells us again, that Jesus is the Light (source of eternal salvation) and this connects with the third part of the verse pointing the way to a belief in Jesus as the Messiah. Now we realize John's role was to prepare the people through the baptism of repentance, Mark 1:4, "John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.". Once the people saw the need and desire to repent and be forgiven for their sins, they could see Jesus for His mission as the Messiah. You will notice later on that most Pharisees and Sadducees refused repentance in their lives, hence, they refused to see Jesus as who He really was, the Messiah.

In John 1:8, "He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.", again John will testify in John 1:25- 27 that he is not the Light, but testifies about the Light. If only the Pharisees listened to what John was saying to them.

In John 1:9, "There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.", again God repeats Himself, He is sending Jesus as the true Light (of eternal life) into the world for everyone, and it is up to every person to accept or reject. Most will reject the Light because they like the darkness better than the light, John 3:19 tells us, " “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.".

In John 1:10, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ", again God repeats Himself and tells us Jesus as God the Creator came to the world, but the world did not know Him. The Greek word for know is (ginosko) which means to come to know, recognize, or perceive. Again, only a few out of thousands of Jews recognized Jesus as who He truly was, the Messiah. Notice Jesus was in the world and not of the world, just as we are called to be in the world but not of the world.

In John 1:11, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.", this is another way of saying what verse 10 tells us, that Jesus was not known by His own people, the Jews.

In John 1:12, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,", the Greek word for received is (lambano) which means receive or accept. The Greek word for gave is (didomi) which means to bestow. The Greek word for right is (exousia) which means power to act or authority. All together we see that "As many people who accepted Jesus, Jesus bestowed to them the authority to become children of God", awesome isn't it? Then at the end of the verse to bring everyone into authority even those who believe in His name. We have the right to be children of God if only we believe in His name, John doesn't just mean to believe He existed, but to believe to the point to trust in Him for your salvation.

In John 1:13, "who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.", we will study this in John 3 when Nicodemus finds out about being born again of the Holy Spirit. Now God gives us a glimpse that we must be born not of man but of God (Holy Spirit). Also, this verse tied in with John 3 tells us that the Holy Spirit is God as well. Something interesting to note, before we are born of the flesh we are in darkness, once born we are in the light. Being born again takes us out of spiritual darkness into the Light, awesome isn't it?

Dear Heavenly Father, how awesome to know that we who are born again have the right to become children of God. Help us as we talk to our friends and relatives that they too can have this right, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

God's Many Blessings to You,

john

In John we see Jesus as: