John
wrote the book of Revelation about
A.D. 95. Later, after
John’s exile on Patmos, he wrote
three epistles and a gospel that
bears his name. The gospel of
John is much more than his
recollection of personal experiences
with Jesus; it also contains
“new truth” which Jesus
revealed to John when he wrote the
book. This is why John’s
gospel differs considerably from the
other three. At the beginning
of the second century A.D.,
Christianity was in trouble.
The spiritual condition of the seven
churches mentioned in Revelation 2
and 3 reveals how quickly a church
can apostatize. Therefore, to
help the believers, Jesus gave John
information that would have resolved
many conflicts if church leaders had
considered and implemented the Gospel
of John.
The
Gospel of John is only surpassed by
the book of Revelation in revealing
all that Jesus is and the book of
John is a theological
cornerstone. John, with divine
influence, wrote the Gospel of John
for those who received the
“early rain” in the same
way he wrote the “Revelation of
Jesus” for those who will
receive the “latter
rain.” It is so ironic
that while God gave the Gospel of
John to settle conflicts between
early Christians, the very first
sentence ignited a conflict that
continues to endure through
today! “In
the beginning was the Word[Jesus],
and the Word was with God[the
Father], and the Word was God[just
like the Father].”
(John 1:1,
insertions mine)
Jesus
wants His followers to know that He
is a God just like the Father is a
God. The first sentence in the
Gospel of John declares that two
separate, distinct, coeternal Gods
existed before creation. Many
early Christians (mostly Jewish
converts) strongly opposed the idea
that Jesus was deity (because Jewish
tradition rejected polytheism) and
other early Christians (mostly
Gentile converts) easily embraced the
idea that Jesus was deity just like
the Father because polytheism was not
a strange concept for them.
After centuries of lively dispute
over the deity of Jesus, church
leaders in Rome terminated the
conflict during the sixth
century. Their solution was a
disaster. The Catholic Church
claimed there is one God who
manifests Himself as three persons
(thus, monotheism was preserved and
theappearance of
polytheism was recognized). The
Catholic Church and many Protestant
churches today try to maintain this
futile compromise.
The
Catholic solution (one God
manifesting Himself as three persons)
is not a viable solution because it
places the Bible in a state of
internal conflict. Internal
conflict occurs when one Bible verse
violates the meaning of
another. For example, in
Revelation 5, the Father conducted a
search throughout the universe for
someone worthy to receive the book
sealed with seven seals.
Eventually (according to the Catholic
solution), the Father found another
version of Himself to be the only
person in the universe worthy to open
the book. This conclusion is
nonsense. The Father is not
Jesus and Jesus is not the
Father. The Catholic solution
also makes the Bible
unintelligible. For example, if
there is only one God manifesting
Himself as three persons, we have to
consider who spoke from Heaven at
Jesus’ baptism and said,“This
is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am
well pleased.”(Matthew 3:17)
Does the Father mean, “I’m
very happy with myself?”
Additionally, if there is only one
God manifesting Himself as three
persons, we have to consider who
prayed to whom before going to the
cross. Jesus said,‘Father,
if you are willing, take this cup
from me; yet not my will, but yours
be done.’ ” (Luke 22:42)
If there is one God manifesting
Himself as three persons, why would
Jesus pray to Himself, saying
“not my will, but yours be
done?” Of course, a single
God does not have two separate,
distinct wills.
InJohn 1:1,
Jesus declared to John that He and
the Father are separate, distinct,
coeternal Gods. Last month, we
learned that Jesus is called
“The Word” because the
Father speaks through Jesus.
The Father is an invisible God (Colossians 1:15;John 6:46)
and He lives in unapproachable light
(1 Timothy 6:16);
therefore, when the Father has
something to say, He speaks through
the only God that is a visible God. (1 John 1:1)
Jesus
is the Creator of Everything That
Exists
John
1 reveals another fact about Jesus
and, strange as it may seem, many
Christians still do not believe that
Jesus is the Creator of
everything! They think the
Father created the universe, but John
wrote,“The Word
became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. . . He was in the world,
and though the world was made through
Him, the world did not recognize
Him.” (John 1:14,10)
Jesus created the universe, the
angels, everything in Heaven,
mankind, and everything on
Earth. Jesus creates whatever
the Father wants created. “For
by Him[Jesus]all
things were created: Things in Heaven
and on Earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers
or authorities; all things were
created by Him[Jesus]and
for Him[the Father].” (Colossians 1:16,
insertions mine)
It
is important to know that Jesus is
the Creator, the Father speaks
through Jesus, and that Jesus is a
God who was with the Father before
anything was created, because these
facts indicate there is more than one
God! In fact, later in this
series of studies we will learn that
three Gods function as one God!
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
decided to set up the operation of
the Trinity in this way and this
arrangement is one of the most
beautiful things that a human being
can contemplate.
Given
what we know from John 1, considerIsaiah 44:6,24. “This
is what the Lord[Jehovah]says
– Israel’s King and
Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the
first and I am the last; apart from
me there is no God. . . This is what
the Lord[Jehovah]says
– your Redeemer, who formed you
in the womb: I am the Lord, who has
made all things, who alone stretched
out the heavens, who spread out the
Earth by myself.”
Is it the Father or Jesus speaking in
this verse? Before you answer,
zoom forward in time about 750 years
to A.D. 95. John is exiled on
the island of Patmos and one Sabbath
day, He received a vision. “On
the Lord’s Day I was in the
Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud
voice like a trumpet. . . I turned
around to see the voice that was
speaking to me. . . When I saw Him, I
fell at His feet as though dead. Then
He placed His right hand on me and
said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am
the First and the Last. I am the
Living One; I was dead, and behold I
am alive for ever and ever! And I
hold the keys of death and Hades[the
grave].’ ” (Revelation 1:10-18,
insertions mine)
John
saw someone who was dead, but is
alive forever and ever, who was the
first and the last, and who held the
keys of death and Hades. Only
one possible individual could be this
person: Jesus. Isaiah 44:6,24 referred to
Israel’s King and Redeemer; as
someone who stretched out the Heavens
and spread out the Earth all by
Himself; and someone who was the
first and the last and apart from
Him, there is no God. The only
individual who fulfills these three
elements isJesus!
However, this raises a couple of
questions. How can Jesus say
that apart from Him, there is no God
if the Father is also a God?
How can Jesus say that He is the
first and the last if He was with the
Father in the beginning?
My
understanding is that when Jesus
spoke to Isaiah, Isaiah interpreted
His words within the context of
monotheism. Israel did not know
that two Gods existed (although the
Old Testament offers several
hints). The time had
not yet come for Israel to know about
two Gods. Therefore,
theonly God who
revealed Himself in the Old Testament
was Jesus. Notice what this
means: Jesus created Adam and
Eve. Jesus sent the flood in
Noah’s day. Jesus was the
Almighty God who spoke with Abraham
and Moses. Jesus passed over
Egypt killing the firstborn.
Jesus delivered Israel out of
Egypt. Jesus spoke the Ten
Commandments from Mt. Sinai.
More than 97% of the time, the
Jehovah [eternal God] mentioned in
the Old Testament is Jesus. Now
that we understand there are many
references to Jesus in the Old
Testament, perhaps the infinite
sorrow found in this statement will
make sense:“He
came to that which was His own, but
His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11)
Apostasy
overtakes people when people refuse
“new light.” When a
religious body becomes set in its
ways, whatever truth it may have will
become stagnant. When
truth becomes tradition, tradition
becomes absolute truth. Of
course, the Father understands the
process and this is why He is
constantly releasing “new
light” to freshen and expand the
body of truth that exists. (Ephesians 3:1-6)
When people reject “new
light,” they cannot prevent
themselves from falling into darkness
(apostasy) because the light of truth
never stops moving forward.
Therefore, if we insist on standing
firm on our traditions and refuse to
move forward with “new
light,” we will soon be left in
darkness.
Tradition
Versus Truth
Suppose
you were a priest in Israel at the
time of Christ. Naturally, you
would be deeply committed to the
doctrine of monotheism.
Moreover, you would have memorized
(among many Scriptures)Isaiah 54:5: “For
your Maker is your husband — the
Lord[Jehovah]Almighty
is His name — the Holy One of
Israel is your Redeemer; He is called
the God of all the Earth.”
Given your religious knowledge, what
would you have thought if Jesus
physically stood before you claiming
to be Jehovah, “the God of all
the Earth?” You would not
believe that a homeless man could be
Israel’s Maker and Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel, the God of all
the Earth unless the Father revealed
it to you.
The
disciples struggled to understand who
Jesus was. One day, Jesus
tested His disciples:“
‘But what about you?’ He
asked. ‘Who do you say I
am?’ Simon Peter answered,
‘You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God.’ Jesus
replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon
son of Jonah, for this was not
revealed to you by man, but by my
Father in Heaven.’ ” (Matthew 16:15-17)
Even John the Baptist had a moment of
doubt during the final days of his
life. (Matthew 11:3)
However, after the disciples saw
Jesus die on the cross and ascend to
Heaven, their faith in Him became
unshakeable.
John
wrote:“The life
appeared; we have seen it and testify
to it, and we proclaim to youthe
eternal life,
which was with the Father and has
appeared to us.” (1 John 1:2,
italics mine) Jesus is Jehovah
(an eternal God) just like the
Father. He is the only one who
has ever seen the Father:“No
one has ever seen God[the
Father]but God[Jesus
Christ]the One and
Only, who is at the Father’s
side, has made Him known.” (John 1:18)
So, Jesus came to Earth with
“new light” from Heaven
during the 70th week
of Daniel 9. The Father wanted
to terminate fourteen centuries of
Jewish monotheism and a few people in
Israel eventually saw “the
light.” “In
Him was life, and that life was the
light of men!”(John 1:4)
Summary
“New
light” never ends.
“New light” always produces
conflict because leaving tradition is
a social and religious test of
faith. Of course, not
everything called “new
light” is “new
light.” The devil produces
so many lies that many people feel
safer if they stay with
tradition. Standing firm in
tradition is much easier than
embracing new light with its social
and religious consequences.
Therefore, common sense dictates that
no one should abandon religious
tradition without prayer, careful
Bible study, and an honest
investigation. No one should
abandon religious tradition without
seeking and receiving confirmation
(peace about the matter) from the
Holy Spirit. Finally, no one
should abandon religious tradition
for any other reason than an honest
desire to walk in the light of
truth. Those who love truth are
always eager to know the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit even better!
