My personal conviction is that all Bible beginners should start with the book of John.  He is the eyewitness to Jesus who watched as He died on the cross and met Him after He rose from the dead.

 

John begins his account in John 1 with one of the most compelling chapters in the Bible, and he starts it with “In the beginning…..”.  I do not believe that this is a coincidence.  I think that John is testifying to Genesis and to all of the Old Testament by using these three words.  And he goes on with these powerful words:

John 1  10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– 13children born not of natural descent,F3 nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,F4 who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

“To those who would receive Him…..”

An invitation to all of us.  It requires no status.  No resume.  No power.  No specific race.  There is no requirement for what you must do.  There are no rituals.  There is no hidden agenda.  It is very simple:  Invite Him into your heart and RECEIVE Him.

 

If you have ever felt disregarded or ignored, underappreciated or overlooked, unreceived or unrecognized, then you stand in the company of the King of the Universe……and He knows exactly how it feels because He has lived it out in the very flesh that we live in.  He sees us from on high, He loves us beyond our knowing, and He recognizes us.  I believe that one of the reasons that God had John write this is because He wanted to tell us that He knows how it feels to walk into a situation and not be RECOGNIZED.

 

The scriptures told of His coming and described Him with great specifics.  Those who pressed in knew that the King would be from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) that He would declare Himself King on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9) that He would be pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53).   David even gave specifics about His crucifixion in the 22nd Psalm as He wrote about His betrayal, His being mocked, His clothes being gambled over.

 

But Jesus came willingly and yet had to endure that those who held the position of showing Him to the people DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM.  How greatly that must have hurt Him.  You see, it wasn’t those nails that held Him to that cross, it was His love.  And those who were supposed to love Him as He came to pay the debt did not choose to recognize or acknowledge Him.

 

This story fascinates me:

  • God shows up in the flesh as predicted by the scriptures.
  • He knows He is there to be crucified and punished in our place–but comes anyway.
  • The guys who He came to reveal Himself to don’t even recognize Him as Savior, get jealous, and promote His execution.
  • The friends who are there with Him, watch His miracles, and see Him as the Son of God…..run off when He gets taken into custody and has to go through the hardest trial of His life.

…….but it is backed up, consistently, by the rest of the Bible.  Story after story of men messing up things that they should of been able to do.  And then God fixing it and putting His perfection over it.

 

This man Jesus……He is awesome—-and that is why I chose Him to be my Lord and My Savior.  He is MY ONLY HOPE.

 

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J