Latest / Finding Jesus Again / Episode 1; Believe and Receive
Transcript
- John Smithson: Hey everybody, this is ⁓ John Mark, and I want to welcome you to Finding Jesus. This is my personal rediscovery of Christ as I read through the book of John without a filter, without a lens. I want to try to rediscover what God has called us to do, who is who God has called us to be, who Jesus is, what he has said, and the commands that we're supposed to follow. And I'm excited to have you along this journey with me. So we're just gonna read. ⁓ this is pretty unscripted. It's not well planned. Just me reading the word and elaborating on it, talking about it, kind of talking about some things that that maybe I I struggle with, or things that I that I'm searching for answers for, or things that that are enlightening to me. We're gonna keep these at about five to ten minutes a day. And ⁓ we're gonna drop these five days a week, Monday to Friday, and we're gonna get through the book of John, however long it takes us. We're gonna try to cover it in thirty days, but we're not gonna push it. Again, we're gonna kind of keep it pretty organic. So we're just gonna start off in John chapter one, verse one, and today we're gonna cover verses one to eighteen. So we're gonna start with John chapter one, verse one. It says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God. He was in the beginning with God, all things came into being through him, and apart from him, not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it. So so basically, you know, these verses really kind of enforce the deity of Jesus and who he is. It tells us that in the beginning That was the word. And the word is Jesus. And the word was with God. So in the beginning, Jesus existed, Jesus was with God. And Jesus is God. I wish I had a great definition to give you of the Trinity. I I've heard lots of different people try to explain it. They all fall short for me. I think that in our minds that we really can't maybe grasp how the Trinity works, but the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, how they can all be three separate Yet they're all God. But that's just ⁓ that's it's just something that maybe we can't completely understand, nor should we be be able to be able to understand, because if we could understand and explain God, would he be God and would we be us. So I'm not gonna try to bore you or try to figure out a way to explain to you how Jesus was there in the beginning with God, and Jesus is God's son, and Jesus is God. It's just what the word tells us that in the beginning was Jesus. And Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God, and Jesus created all things. This is all things came into being through him, and apart from him, not even one thing came into being that has come into being. So nothing, according to John chapter one, nothing existed or can exist outside of Jesus having created it. And in him was life, and then and the life was the light of mankind. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it. Of course, it's talking about ⁓ when Jesus came into the world to bring life, and the world did not receive it. So let's read on verse six, starting at verse six. A man came, one sent from God, and his name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. This was the true light that coming into the world. enlightens every person. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not accept him. Again talking about Jesus, when Jesus came, the world didn't know him or accept him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. To those who believed in his name, who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, Nor of the will of man, but of God. So I want to kind of stop right here because in in this Bible study, I'm looking for things that give me a definition of what it means to be a believer. And here's number one. It says, As many that as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. To those who believe in his name. are children of God. So today if if you have received him, which means that you have asked him into your life, that you have accepted him as a part of your life, receiving him, and you believe in him, believing who he is, believing that he is the Son of God, believing that he is God, then it is given to us the right to be children of God. Like first requirements that we that we see here is not a a list of rules or you got to do this or you got to do that. It's simply believing and receiving. And I want to emphasize that. And I want to receive that for myself because, you know, I tend to put a lot of a lot of baggage on top of the basics when it comes to Christianity. And that again, it's what a lot of this podcast is going to be about, is going to be just kind of getting back to the basics and just finding Jesus. And the first thing we receive that I'm receiving here is that. We just must receive him and believe in his name, and we can become a children of God. I am a child of God because I have done those things. So let's read on. We're going to read on one more portion, starting with verse fourteen. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about him calling. And called out saying, This was he of whom I said he is coming after me and has proved to be my superior because he existed before me. For of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time, God the only Son, who is in the ar who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained him. So I just want to kind of emphasize a couple of more things here. Number two, from Moses we received the law, but through Jesus we received grace. This is the foundation of what Jesus has come to teach us. Moses gave us the law, and the law ended up giving the people condemnation and guilt and dogma and Lots of other things, but Jesus came so that we can receive grace. And this is the foundation of what Jesus has come to teach. And then one other thing, number three, is we understand God by seeing and studying Jesus. And that again, I've I I've talked about why this podcast is so important to me and why I'm doing it from the book of John is because I want to know who God is, not from what I've heard, not from all the religious teaching that I've received or the the, you know, the studies that I've been involved in. I just want to look at the life of Jesus and understand who God is. I want to find Jesus. I've been preaching and teaching about Jesus for years and I just want to make sure that I know him. I'm in a w in a in a different place in my life. I'm getting older. ⁓ you know, I've been looking and thinking about the fact that you know I'm going to be going out into eternity one of these days. You know, it's a point under man wants to die, the Bible tells us. And I just want to be ready. In my heart I want to be ready. And also I want to make sure that I'm showing the cre the correct Jesus to the people who are around me. So we're going to look at the life of Jesus over the next several weeks and and understand who God is and understand who God has called us to be. I think thank you for being on this journey with me, finding Jesus And we will see you tomorrow.