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#1 – Knowing God Better – John 1

A little bit of housekeeping first, ok?

There are various translations of the Bible. Some use more formal wording than others. But the differences are minor. If you have a Bible, use it. You don’t need a particular one.

I will be using the New Living Translation. But NIV, EST, NAS, or many others are just fine.

If you want to use a Bible online, go here: www.bible.com/bible/116/JHN.1.NLT

So you know, “John 1:3-4” means, the book of John, chapter 1, verses (sentences) three and four. It’s just a way of notating the chapters and sentences, so we can quickly find something.

The Gospel of John is the 4th book of the New Testament. It is written by the apostle John, who was likely Jesus’ closest friend. This is John’s biography of Jesus, where John reports everything he saw, heard from Jesus, and knew about Jesus, as he followed Jesus for three years, as one of Jesus’ chosen apostles.

Most of John’s gospel is straightforward reporting. However the first paragraph can be a little confusing. John starts with important truths about Jesus, but does not yet reveal who he is talking about. John writes, “In the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

Later, John lets us know the Word is Jesus. “…the Word became human and made his home among us…the Father’s one and only Son.”

Today we’re going to look at John 1:1-5. (John, chapter 1, verses 1-5)

Q – When did Jesus begin to exist? (see below)
A –

1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.

It says that the Word was *with* God, yet also *was* God.

Q – In verse 2 (see above), was Jesus ever not with God?
A –

Jesus did not come into existence as a baby in the manger, Christmas morning. Jesus, as God, has always existed. In fact, he was involved in the creation of the universe.

Q – How was Jesus involved in the creation of the universe? (see below)
A –

3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.

A candle is stronger than any darkness. It says that his life brought light to everyone.

Q – When you hit dark times in your life, how does verse 4 and the following verse, give you hope?
A –

5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Write a summary here of what you learned from these 5 verses:
A –

That’s a lot!! I’m amazed at all that God reveals to us in such a few sentences. He’s so kind to disclose so much to us.

“Thank you, Jesus, that you want us to know you.”

Next study we’ll pick up from here. Feel free to read all of John, chapter one.

By the way, if you’d like to see an explanation of the Trinity, this might be helpful: www.everystudent.com/forum/trinity.html

Sincerely,

Marilyn Adamson
director of EveryStudent.com
and StartingwithGod.com

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