John 1.19-23 - (Not) The Messiah

Our story finally begins NOT with Jesus but John (the Witness).  In [Bethany-beyond-the Jordan] [28].  Not the village where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived, a couple of miles from Jerusalem.  John is out in the middle of nowhere, Transjordan [If you were gonna launch a ministry - would you do it 30km from Jerusalem?  That's an all-day trip - like launching an East Texas ministry way out in West Texas?].  Bethany-beyond the Jordan.  This is a now-unknown village, somewhere near the Jordan river.  And that’s where we find John the Witness, baptizing people [in the shadow of Machaerus, the fortress prison where he would later be beheaded].  

[19 This is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”] THIS is the witness of John.  This is why he came!  To be a witness.  Here’s his testimony.  He knew something, AND was willing to testify.  He was available.  And what did he say?  Well, we begin with an interrogation.  And John our author gives us a very detailed description - it suggests that he was there for this questioning.  He was already following John the Witness.  And the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem - the Pharisees - send a delegation out to John the Witness.  They ask him, “Who are you?”  But that’s not their REAL question.  

At this time, early 1st cent AD, what every Jew really wants to know is, Are you Him?  Are you the One, the One we’ve been waiting for?  John, are you the Messiah?  I think at first even author John was wondering if maybe John the Witness was the Messiah.  So John answers their REAL question in the next verse: [20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”] Notice: author John triple records (3x!) that John the Witness answers emphatically, “I am definitely not the Christ.”  I’m not the One you’re looking for.

They were looking for the Messiah.  Christ is the Greek equivalent of that Hebrew word, Messiah [=mashiach].  It means, anointed.  You took a moshchah (consecrated portion) of the meshach (anointing oil) and you would mashach (anoint, smear/spread it on) someone and then they were God’s Mashiach.  Someone whom God has anointed, set apart for a special purpose.  At first in the OT it refers to [Aaron], the high priest.  After Israel insists they want a human king, it mostly refers to their [king]: Saul, David, Solomon, etc.  Those men who were anointed by God to lead His people.  Mashiach.

But there’s one passage in the OT where God promises to one day send this other [Mashiach].  And it is one of the most amazing prophecies in the entire Bible, found in Daniel [9.24-27].  At that time Daniel and his people are in captivity, in [Babylon].  It’s around 539BC.  Daniel has been in captivity in Babylon for some 65 years.  They have been there almost their entire lives.  Jerusalem, its walls, and the temple, the house of the Lord - all lies in ruins.  Nebuchadnezzar is long gone, and is there any hope for the Jewish people?  They are still looking forward to, longing for a day not only when they will be able to return to Jerusalem ["Next year in Jerusalem!" - it's a thing for Jews still today...], but they also long for this time when they will no longer be ruled by ANY foreign king.  Unfortunately, in 539BC, NOW the [Medes and the Persians] have come to power, and they’re even more powerful than the Babylonians.   

But Daniel, having a QT, sees a promise from God to Jeremiah [29.10], that the Jewish people will be in captivity in Babylon for 70 years.  Those 70 years are just about up!  So Daniel is praying and seeking the Lord [Dan. 9:19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”].  And God sends a messenger.  The [angel Gabriel].  [Dan. 9:25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.] [7+62=69 weeks, 69 sevens, 7yr periods = 483 yrs].  There are different ideas as to which “decree” Gabriel is referring:  

-Cyrus/Zerubbabel, 538 BC [Ezra 1.1-4] - TEMPLE

-Darius/Haggai&Zechariah, 520 BC [Ezra 6.1-7] - TEMPLE

-Artaxerxes/Ezra, 457 BC [Ezra 7.11,18,9.9] - WALLS = CITY

[Ezra 7:11,18  Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest: “Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God…9:9 “For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.]

[Using that 2nd Ezra date, 457BC —> 483 yrs = 27AD]  What does Gabriel say will happen right around year 27AD?  Mashiach.  Messiah the Prince.  This prophecy is so amazing!  Look at the next verse in Daniel: [26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off…]  Are you kidding me?  This long awaited Anointed One, Mashiach, will come, after 483 years - but then He’ll be “cut off”?  What is Gabriel talking about?  Daniel is receiving this prophecy almost 600 years before it happens.  What are the chances of this?  A lucky guess?  But so fast-forward back to John the Witness and here are the Jewish people, right around 27AD, and these are heady times, cuz anyone who is familiar with Daniel’s prophecy AND who is NOT prone to unbelief knows that pretty much, any day now… Mashiach!  Messiah the Prince is going to come!  They come to ask John, Who are you?  And he has to three-peat it: I myself am NOT the Messiah.

Then “who are you?”, they ask.  [21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ]  Why would they ask if he was Elijah?  It’s another promise: [Mal. 3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple. 4:5  “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.]  Elijah was one of the most powerful prophets ever.  His exploits were the stuff of legend.  He also held the distinction of being one of only two people who the Lord took straight up to heaven.  Most Jews believed that Elijah himself was going to show up right before Messiah came.  But nope, John is not Elijah.  So they ask, are you “The Prophet”.  Who was that?  It’s another promise: [Deut. 18:15  “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.].  In other words, not just any prophet.  Someone like Moses.  [Moses and Elijah - what do they have in common?]  And again John says, no.  But Jesus will later confirm: [Matt. 11:7,9-10,14  Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.].  So why does John flat out say, “I am not Elijah, NOT the Prophet”?  That's a legit question...

[22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”] You’re for sure somebody special - so who? [23 He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”].  That verse in Isaiah actually says, clear the way for the Lord.  Clear the way.  Prepare the way.  I think he’s saying, you’re trying to make this about ME.  This is NOT about me.  John knew that it was all about Messiah.  Christ the Lord.  100s & 100s of years of Jewish prophecy, fulfilled in Jesus.  Messiah.  John says, I am NOT Him.  I’m here to clear the way, to point you people TO Him.  To Jesus.  And that’s our job - point ourselves and others to Him.  HE is The Messiah.  Anointed by God to lead His people.  Out of slavery.  Out of death.  And into eternal life.  Into this place where we can make it all about Him...

John 1:14-18 - "Full of It..."

Last time John dropped one of the most profound truths in all of Christianity: the glorious infinite God Who always WAS came to earth.  He took on finite human flesh and camped out among us.  Emmanuel, God WITH us.  And John is saying, I had a front row seat.  I saw it all - hung out with Him, touched Him.  We saw His glory.

[14] And so as John is reflecting on the breathtaking goodness he beheld, the glory of the Father on display in Jesus, he describes this glory he saw as, full of grace and truth.  That’s what you see when you get a full frontal look at Jesus.  God’s glory is full of grace AND truth.  

Grace: we’re talking unconditional love, come-just-as-you-are-warts-and-all acceptance, compassion, mercy.  Grace means we get what we don’t deserve, could never deserve.  And it doesn’t matter who you are.  It doesn’t matter what you’ve done.  It doesn’t matter where you’ve been.  FULL of grace.  We saw His glory, glory enough to floor ya, to bring you to your knees in awe and wonder - but you could still approach.  Because that’s what you get with Jesus.  Often times, important people can be intimidating.  You might be hesitant to talk to them.  But not Jesus.  He says, c’mere.  C’mon over.  Over and over: "Come to Me..."  AND He has even made the first move.  HE has come to US.  And whoever receives Him hits the motherlode jackpot of grace. Come just as you are.  Grace: He's so full of it!

AND full of truth.  Truth that says, I love you so much I came all the way to you, I love you just as you are, BUT I love you too much to let you stay that way.  Truth tells me what’s right, AND what’s not right. Truth points out the stuff the Lord wants to cut out of my life.  The messiness and the brokenness that hurts others AND hurts me.  

Grace AND truth.  It’s love that loves us too much to let us stay in the pigpen.  Let Me help you out of that.  In fact, let Me help you cast off these old filthy rags, and dress you in a white robe of My righteousness.  Let Me take out your old selfish unbelieving heart, and put Mine in its place.  This might hurt a little bit…  Heart transplants are like that.  It might take a while for that new heart to get up to full speed.  But it’ll be worth it - cuz we’re going for glory.  [2Cor. 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.].  God’s glory on display - in me!!??  Not to notice me.  To notice Christ in me.  [Gal 2.20].  FoG&T.

THIS is why Jesus is THE God•send.  Cuz we desperately need grace AND truth, and He’s full of it.  And what do we get with the world (that does not know Him)?  [Rom. 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…].  The world prefers the lie.  About God.  About life.  Most places in the world, you can’t trust your neighbor cuz everybody lies.  The world lies to get ahead.  The world lies to get what they want.  You don’t get truth.  AND you don’t get grace.  The default position of the world is works.  You get what you deserve, what you've earned (altho maybe not even that?).  But, "Survival of the fittest"?  That’s works.  Getting what you deserve.  And when it comes to the most important issue in life - where I will spend eternity - the world gets it SO wrong.  The world - assuming you get what you deserve - tries to earn its way into eternal life.  Every religion in the world (except for one: true Christianity).  Working your way into heaven.  The problem is, heaven is a perfect place, and you and I have to be perfect to get in.  And no matter how hard we try, we will never work our way into perfection.  The truth is, we all need grace.

We saw His glory, we noticed - and He was FULL of grace and truth.  How full of grace is Jesus?  [16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.]  Literally, grace against grace.  It means, when one supply of grace is exhausted, another is readily available. It is inexhaustible.  We will never run out of grace in Jesus.  God’s fullness supplies all we need, and then some.  Enough for sharing.  He’s so full of it!  We saw it - abounding, amazing everlasting love in the flesh, with skin on: we saw -> and we received.  WE understood the truth about Him, and we believed in Him, John says.  The Word of glory, so full of it - we received Him, and now we’re sharing Him with you.  And if you’ve believed in Jesus, you’ve received fullness of grace and truth as well.  Of His fullness we’ve all received, John says.  If you’ve received Jesus, if you’ve believed in Him, trusted in Him as your Savior, you received of His fullness.  [2Pet. 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.]  Grace upon grace.  Everything that we need. [Phil. 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.]  Grace.  Glory.  Inexhaustible breathtaking goodness that we could never ever deserve.  That’s what we behold in Jesus, and that’s what we receive when we receive Him.

One thing we don’t receive is a bunch of do’s and don’ts.  [17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came to be through Jesus Christ.]  The law gives us a bunch of do’s and don’ts.  But it doesn’t give us grace, nor does it give us the whole truth.  It says do this, that, and the 630+ other things.  But the fine print is, we are on our own, and oh by the way, we’re doomed to fall short.  We’ll never be able to keep all of it.  We will never be able to make ourselves perfect enough to be accepted by a holy God.  At which point the law gives us what we deserve - just punishment.  But the real point of the law is to point us to Jesus.  (First mention of Jesus right here in this verse, btw!)  And He is the only Source of grace and truth.  Law says, I need to do in order to be blessed.  Grace says, I can do because I am blessed, I have been blessed in Christ, by Christ.  Full of it!

Grace and truth came to be through Jesus.  It’s not that the Law was not true - but it was only part of the truth.  AND there was no grace.  But when Jesus came, when the Word became flesh and showed up in our midst, we finally saw the grace and the truth we so desperately needed.  FULL of bottomless grace and truth.   Free refills for everyone!

We beheld Him.  Jesus.  [18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.]  God the Father - no one has ever seen Him, John says.  He’s invisible [Col. 1:15  He is the image of the invisible God]  Not simply image-BEARERS, like Adam/Eve and all their descendants.  But Jesus, the begotten God, now in flesh appearing, is as close to the heart of God as you can get - He exegetes God.  Jesus “explains" the Father in a way that helps us understand Him better.  [He WAS, WITH God, IS God, the exact same essence].  Again, no mistaking what John is telling us here. [John 14:7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”] You know Him - IF you know Me.  [Phil. 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,].  Do you know Him yet?  This is the goal of all of life…

John says, Jesus was in the world, but the world did not know Him.  Even the so-called chosen people, His own didn’t receive Him.  But as many as receive Him, to them He gives the right to become children of God.  If you haven’t yet received Him, why wait?  What is holding you back?  Why would you NOT want to receive this One Who offers this inexhaustible supply of grace and truth.  So full of IT.  In our dog-eat-dog world, you mostly don’t get those.  You get lies.  Half-truths.  Deception.  You don’t get grace.  You get three strikes and you’re out (and maybe not even three?  You get try harder.  You get the prospect of a cotton candy existence that promises satisfaction but will never ever fill the hole in your heart.  Come to Me, He says.  Will you receive Him today?

John 1:14-15 — On Riddles and Enigmas

[14  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.] [The Word Who always WAS GOD], was with God, and He came to be flesh.  The Incarnation.  [In carne = in flesh].  In flesh He came to be.  Same word, the verb for genesis, came to be something else.  We say He “took on” flesh.  He didn’t cease to be God or change His divine power or eternal essence in any way.  Christ TOOK ON flesh.  John gives us another mind-blowing truth.  THE great Enigma.  How does the immutable infinite take on the finite?  How does the Eternal robe Himself in a “mortal” body?  Lungs filling with air, heart pumping blood, legs walking, hands holding.  The Word came to be flesh.  It’s one of the great antinomies of Christianity, where two things cannot both be true, but somehow must both be true. A riddle for the ages.

And THEN He dwelt among us.  Literally, He tented in us.  Jesus camped out, in our midst.  Of course bodies are tents —> not permanent dwellings [2Cor. 5:1-2  For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,].  So… the King of Glory basically came and [lived in a tent].  God with us.  But there is another amazing beautiful picture here, because the place where God had lived among His people, His shekinah glory, was literally a tent.  [The Tabernacle] was a really big, very special tent.  “The Tent of Meeting”.  THE place where the people of God encountered the presence and power of almighty God Himself.  [THE God•send]…

AND WE SAW HIM!  John says, He tented among us!  He showed up and lived in our midst.  We had a front row seat!  Maybe we wouldn’t have believed it if we didn’t see it with our own two eyes.  [The Word became flesh…] [1John 1:1  What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life...].  We saw Him, we touched Him.  We beheld Him.  John loves this word, behold.  It gives us our word, theater.  Theatrical.  Something to notice, and watch.  We noticed it.  Cuz it’s possible for something to be in your field of vision and you [don’t see it].  Not really [Matt. 13:14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,  ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE].  We beheld Him.

And what exactly did we behold?  We saw His glory.  We saw exactly what you’d expect if God showed up in human flesh.  Glory makes you say, [whoa].  Talk about noticeable.  Breathtaking goodness, greatness that is so good it’s hard to describe.  Pictures and words don’t do it justice - you know that kind of extra-ordinary?  Beauty.  Majesty.  But THIS goodness, THIS glory - it was on another level.  Jesus came to be that Place where people encounter the presence and power of almighty God Himself.  God with us.  He camped out, WITH US!  We saw His glory. [Like Moses, we need to turn aside…!]

When John says WE saw His glory, I think he’s recalling the Mount of Transfiguration.  The [unforgettable sight] he and his brother and Peter beheld up on that mountain…  [Lk 9.28-36].  John is the only Gospel writer who was actually on that mountain, and (strangely) he’s the only one who does NOT mention it.  Except I think here.  We SAW it.  Up on that mountain.  We saw His glory.  Glory.  As of the only begotten of the Father.

The Only Begotten of the Father.  Only begotten.  I.e., there is no other.  This word describes a parent who only has one child.  Only begotten means there are no others.  The word is [mono-genes].  That which makes God God, which is peculiar to His makeup, the “divine DNA”?  Jesus - and NO ONE ELSE - has the same DNA, the exact same essence.  The same glory.  And He always has.  Divinity.  Eternal.  Holy holy.  Almighty.  God.  Enigma.  People bear God’s image yes, and He adopts us into His family as sons and daughters when we believe in Jesus yes, but Jesus is the only begotten God.  There are no others.  There is no one else like Jesus.

And this Word, Who was God, DID become flesh.  Somehow - God the Son was conceived by God the Spirit in the womb of a young Jewish virgin.  Somehow.  And He lived, He tented among us.  For a season.  Took on flesh.  He got tired.  He got hungry.  He had to use the bathroom.  He got splinters.  He bled.  He was tempted.  He was rejected and disrespected.  He was mistreated and misunderstood.  He felt everything that we feel - in the flesh.  He knows.  He can sympathize [Heb. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.].  Jesus feels what we feel.  What is it you’re going through?  He knows.  He knows how you feel.  He knows what it feels like. He sees you, struggling up that hill.  He is with you.  Emmanuel - God with us.

Perhaps you’re not struggling like that so much in this season (give it a minute…?).  Maybe it’s everything around you.  Maybe it’s those people around you?  Jesus was around all kinds of annoying people.  All kinds of brokenness.  Think about how messy people are.  Think about this holy eternal Son of God, taking on flesh, and camping out in the midst of all our messiness.  John says, we saw it all.  Front row seat.  But when we looked at Him, when we beheld Him, we saw Glory.  The breathtaking goodness of God.  We saw Love.  We saw Perfect Patience, and loooong suffering.  We saw great Kindness.  True Compassion and caring.  We saw Full Mercy, and gentleness.  We saw total Faithfulness.  We saw righteous Zeal.  We saw power, and holiness.  He camped out with us.  He took on flesh.  Subject to ALL the same temptations that we are.  Jesus was IN the flesh - BUT He never gave in to the flesh.  He related to ALL the messiness around Him in ways that showed off the great goodness of God.  He could enjoy all the good things His Father had given, but they did not consume Him.  Zeal for His Father consumed Him.  Somehow He never took His eyes off the Father.  And when our eyes were on Jesus, John says, they saw glory.  We saw His glory.  

[15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”].  John the Witness repeats this exact phrase in v. 30.  John the author includes it twice - so this must mean something.  We don’t want to hurry past it.

Literally, the One coming [BEHIND me, has come to be IN FRONT OF me, because BEFORE me HE WAS].  He WAS.  This is where John started us out, the very first thing he said about Jesus - He was.  [In the beginning The Word WAS].  He always WAS.  And THIS gets Jesus to the head of the line.  IN Front, front and center.  For all of history.  For all humanity.  For you and me and Bobby Lee.  

The preexistence of Christ - “He WAS” - establishes the preeminence of Christ.  He must come to be first because He came first.  He must come to be first because He was.  In the beginning.  And before the beginning - He was.  Always was.  And one reason then that the preexistence of Christ becomes so central to John our author is, it was central to John the Witness.  It’s the first thing John writes about - and it’s the first thing we see John the Witness talk about.  The One coming behind me HAS come to be in front of me.  He must come first.  He must increase - in your heart and my heart - and every heart.  Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.  He is first.  He must increase…  May that be true in our lives and hearts - and in our world...

John 1:12-14 — Born of God

So far we’ve seen how the Word, Who was and is God, Who is the Life and [True Light] of all people, came into our world to enlighten every person.  Came into our world of darkness, but darkness did not eagerly take Him, the world He made didn’t recognize Him, and even His own people did not receive Him.  BUT [12 But as many as received Him, to those who believe in His name, to them He gave the right to become children of God]  Whoever DID receive the True Light, Whoever DID believe in His name - all these get the right to become children of God.  And remember, this is not just believing about.  Knowing things about Jesus.  [Receiving = believing (IN).  Believing = Trusting].  Trusting in Jesus --> The right to become children of God.

This right, this authority to become God’s children - this is not merely a mind-boggling unparalleled privilege of unprecedented proportion.  This is a guarantee.  When you have authority, you have the [guarantee] of that thing happening for you, or thru you.  This is my right.  I have the authority to receive it or do it, whatever it is.  And the authority-granting Power is pledged to back it up.  They guarantee that [right].  For believers, THIS particular authority [12], this guarantee is given and backed up by God Himself.  Whoever receives Jesus, to any and all who believe/trust in His Name, is guaranteed - by God Himself - to become a CHILD of God.

THIS word for child does not mean a very young person.  Oh, you’re just a child.  It’s not just any old child.  This word is about the relationship with the parent [A child vs MY child].  This child is the true child of the parent in question.  Belongs to their family.  When you and I trust in Jesus, we become a true child of our Father in heaven.  We truly belong to His family [Rom. 8:15b-16 …you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God].  When you trust in Jesus, suddenly the nebulous God up there in the heavens somewhere is now “Our Father”…  He's MY Father.

But we become a child of God.  It’s this same verb of the noun, genesis.  You become, you come to be something else.  You were NOT that, but then you came to BE that.  In other words, when we are born the first time, out of our mommy’s tummy, we are not truly children of God.  Not in this sense.  Spiritually speaking we are born not children of God but actually children of wrath [Eph. 2:3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.].  Look at that life.  It’s all about what I want.  It’s all about me.  Children of wrath - this is really bad news.  But John is saying, we CAN come to be true children of God, actual members of His family.  But what does it mean to become a true child of God?  

[13 ...who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.]  Born of God.  Born of God.  What does that mean?  God is spirit [John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”].  God is spirit —> we’re talking about a spiritual birth.  Because… [Eph. 2:1  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…]  Even tho we were physically alive, we were dead.   Our spirits are dead - from the moment of conception.  The Light of Zoe is out.  The spiritual death, this separation from God, we inherited from our first father, Adam [1Cor. 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.  Rom. 5:18   So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.].  Zoe.

We all get bios life in the womb, passed down from Adam, but NOT zoe life.  From Adam we get death.  Physical death, and spiritual death.  So much [death] in our world, images of death.  Death truly haunts our reality.  The Lord really meant it when He said, this one thing I’m telling you NOT to do, if you do it, you will die [Gen. 2:17 “…but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”].  When we’re conceived as babies, our spirits are actually dead.  And we are born separated from God and His zoe life.  His Light is out in our hearts.  Darkness, remember?  Living/walking in darkness.  But there is good news! God made a way back to Zoe.  To Him.  Born of God.  The right to become true children of God!

And yes, God is the One Who makes it happen.  He is the One Who so wants it to happen!  He wants it for you and me way more than we do.  This spiritual birth, John says, we are born of God’s will [13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.].  This is God’s [thelema], God’s [desire].  THIS is what HE wanted.  He wanted us to be restored.  God so wants us to have Zoe, to enjoy abundant life with Him, this vital connection to Him.  You know how much He wants it?  You know how much He wanted it, for us, AND for Himself?  He wanted it SO MUCH!  [God SO loved…].

But THIS birth is NOT of blood.  NOT from some fleshly desire, in some heat of passion.  NOT because some couple wanted to make it happen.  This is definitely NOT a biological birth.  Spiritual birth is not a result ANY thing that ANY person does.  It happens because God SO WANTS it to happen.  All we have to do is receive.  Receive Him.  Believe IN Jesus.  God sent the Word, the Light of life, AND He has sent messengers, so many messengers with messages of words to tell us about the Light.  And when we believe, when we trust in The Message, we are authorized and guaranteed to become the true children of God Himself.  Actual members of HIS family.  Children of the Light. [Rom. 9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.]  Born of God, in His family.  God’s promise.  Guaranteed by God Himself.

This is a different kind of family, tho.  Not of blood.  This family is not a bunch of blood relatives, maybe who gather on occasion at some family [reunion].  This is God’s family.  He is our Father, ALL those who believe in Jesus, and WE who believe are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  Family.  WE gather all the time to learn more about Him, and to celebrate this One Who makes us one.  Who makes us family.  Who makes us His.  Born of God.  This is the re-genesis of zoe, the igniting of spiritual life.  And this Light is kindled in us, our spirit is made alive, we are born of God when we receive Jesus.  As many as receive Him.  When we eagerly take Him and believe in Him.  Have you done this?  When are you going to believe?

Note that John gives us three triple-clauses (double ands) in this prologue:

1:1  In the beginning was the Word, AND the Word was with God, AND the Word was God. 

10  He was in the world, AND the world was made through Him, AND the world did not know Him. 

14 The Word became flesh, AND He dwelt among us, AND we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Note the progression of the three climax statements here: 

The Word was God --> The world did not know Him --> We saw His glory.

But WE saw His glory, John says.  The world didn’t recognize Him, they didn’t know Him [darkness, remember?] - but John did!  We DID know Him!  And we saw His glory, he says.  Glory is God’s blazing breathtaking greatness and goodness.  To see Jesus, this Word Who was God, to receive Him, to eagerly take Him, to know Him is to have a glimpse of how brilliantly glorious He is.  The Light of His truth and glory blazes up and shines in your heart.  The Light is shining… The darkness, it did not eagerly take it.  BUT whoever does, as many as do receive Him, who believe in His Name (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God. 

Patrick Henry once said, “The most cherished possession I wish I could leave you is my faith in Jesus Christ, for with Him and nothing else you can be happy, but without Him and with all else, you’ll never be happy”

How about you?  Have you received Him?  Will you eagerly take Jesus into your heart today?  Born of God.  There is no real Zoe, no lasting joy apart from Him...