Let’s return to John’s theme statement and investigate further. Remember this?
but these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31
- believe
- that Jesus is the Christ,
- Son of God,
- having life in His name,
Did you think I had forgotten? No way. We will unpack this as we go along. Do you understand that Jesus is the Christ? Where does this “Christ” concept come from? It comes from the Old Testament and the idea of the Messiah. Messiah is the “Anointed One”. The One who is Coming. The “blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD” One. Christos is the Greek word for the Jewish word Messiah, which means the same thing. The Anointed One. Jesus IS THE ONE to whom the whole Bible is pointing; the focus of the prophecies, the One who is the expectation of Israel.
So John is writing all this (His Gospel) so that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, The Messiah, the Son of God.
Do you know that? Oh not just know it with your head but know it with your whole being? Your heart, your mind, your soul, your strength and anything else of importance you can think of. In this day and age we might say do you know it with your money too?
Tomorrow I will look at #4 before we move back to the text of John. I am deliberately leaving Son of God for a while yet. Why? To give you time to dig on your own. Two important terms that are used of Jesus and by Jesus are:
- Son of Man
- Son of God
Both are hugely important. Study them.
Bible Study Tip: Make sure you study all the important words and concepts in your bid to understand the whole.
Ian Vail
Each of us is a mixture of dust and deity.
Anon