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Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 1-2] The Faith of Believing Only in the Word of God (John 1:1-8)
(John 1:1-8)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”
It is written in John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” Jesus who was in the bosom of God the Father came to this world in the flesh of man to save us from the sins of the world. Not one human being has seen God with the eyes of the flesh. However, God appeared and showed Himself to us through His Son. God the Son came to this earth wearing the flesh of a human being and revealed Himself as the Son of God to be seen in the eyes of the people.
The Lord said to us, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). God is saying that no other name can save us from the sins of the world except the name Jesus that God gave to His Son. Is Jesus Christ the only One on earth who has the name of the Savior who can save all the sinners from their sins? That is true. Jesus Christ is the Savior of our mankind, and He stayed on this earth for 33 years to save all of mankind from all sins. No one except Jesus has the power to be the Savior who can save mankind from the sins of the world.
In the world nowadays, there are people who pretend to be a savior. Don’t these people have something wrong in their heads? There can be no true Savior in this world except Jesus. Only Jesus is the true Savior to mankind, for He is the only One who took our sins once and for all through His baptism from John the Baptist, and then cleansed all the sins of mankind. Only Jesus took our sins and shed His blood on the cross to receive the punishment for our sins, and gained a victory rising again from the dead. Therefore, all the people who say that they are the saviors, instead of Jesus, are liars. The Bible declares that Jesus is the only Savior, but there are crazy leaders of some religious sects who say that they themselves are the saviors. One of them claimed that he had read the Bible over 3000 times. When I heard of this, he was in his late 40’s. People under him testified that he had read the Bible 3000 times during about 10 years of believing in Jesus. If he has read 3000 times in 10 years, it means 300 times a year then. A year is 365 days, so it means that he had to read the whole Bible about once a day. Such false prophets are deceiving the people declaring impossible things as fact.
We should never be deceived by such people. Now, if the last age comes, it is recorded that many people will appear and declare themselves as the savior (Matthew 24:5). I know that those who call themselves the saviors are relatively handsome in the flesh, and they claim to make fire fall down from the sky and make wonders and miracles happen with their faith. According to them, there is another savior besides Jesus. However, there is no other true Savior except Jesus.
John the Baptist and Jesus worked together to fulfill the salvation of mankind by fulfilling the righteousness of God. Then, was John the Baptist another savior? No, he was not. John the Baptist merely had played an assistant role to Jesus while He took the sins of the world. Jesus came to this earth and took all the sins of mankind once and for all through the baptism that John gave to Him. Jesus took the sins of the world through the baptism that He received from this John, and with the precious blood that He has shed on the Cross, He accomplished the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Those who believe only in the blood of Jesus say that John the Baptist has failed. They argue that John was so radical that the authorities of his days could not tolerate him. However, they misunderstood the main mission of John the Baptist. They teach such absurd nonsense out of their ignorance of the Scriptures.
Therefore, we must know the mission of John the Baptist correctly. Only then, can we realize and understand the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. The entire Bible is the Word of God that reveals the Truth that Jesus saved mankind from sin by receiving the baptism from John and by being crucified. Who are the people of proper faith? They are the people who believe in the fact that Jesus Christ has come by the water and the blood. The faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the correct faith.
John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word that in the beginning created the entire universe and all the things was God. It was also Jesus who created the universe at the time of the Creation of the world because Jesus is fundamentally God. Jesus is God the Son among the God of Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This Triune God each has their own Person, but all of these three are the same God to us.
It is written in Genesis that Jesus created this world. And, it is written in the Gospel According to John that Jesus was God who saved us from the sins of this world. Jesus was God Himself who came to this earth wearing the flesh of man and saved us from the sins of the world once and for all.
It is written in John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” “The light of men” here refers to the position of Jesus and His mission through which God saved us from the sins of the world. And the “light of life” represents the love of Jesus that saved mankind from sin. All creatures were destined to die for their sins, but our Lord came to this earth and gave new life to the people who believe in Him. He sent Jesus, who was baptized by John the Baptist, and then shed His Blood, and rose again from the dead. The Lord was the Savior who gave us new life. Jesus was the light of salvation to all people. Our Lord is the light of salvation. He came to this earth and took the sins of this world once and for all by receiving the baptism. Then He received the judgment for all sins by being crucified in our stead and then rose again from the dead through the righteousness of God, wiping away all our sins once and for all. “The life was the light of men.” Our Lord saved us from all sin by giving us His life with the water and the blood. Jesus became the true life for us, and the baptism that Jesus has received from John and the shedding of the blood completed the righteousness of God.
Jesus Introduces Himself as the Bread of Life
Jesus introduces the will of the Father. “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).
After Jesus performed the miracle of the five barley loaves and two small fish in the wilderness and fed all the gathered people, He said that He was the bread of life from Heaven (John 6:32-35). There has been much bread on the earth, but there is only One who came from Heaven. He told us that He Himself is the true bread of life. To blot your sins out, all you have to do is to eat the bread of life. We have to believe in Jesus, who is the bread, wiping out the sins: the true bread that makes us earn eternal life. Jesus is telling us by coming as the bread of life: “Those who eat My flesh receive the remission of sin and earn eternal life.”
Our Lord wanted to eliminate the sins of the people by coming to this earth, and so he did as a man. Jesus wanted to give His flesh and blood to all the people on earth in order to save their souls that were dead from sin before God. Jesus came to this earth out of His own accord wearing the flesh of man and gave the gospel of the water and the Spirit to let the people in the world receive new life, the eternal life, and the remission of sin.
Jesus was God fundamentally. It is exactly our Lord Jesus who made the trees on that mountain, the grass, the great sun in the sky, that huge Milky Way, this ocean, all the animals, and He made you and me. I am stating that our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, came as the Savior. God created man according to His image, and when these people fell into sin, God Himself was born into this earth wearing the flesh of man through the body of the Virgin Mary, giving up His seat of glory to take away the sins of these people. The Lord came to this earth out of His own accord and let the people receive the remission of sin and eternal life by giving His flesh and blood.
My fellow believers, let us examine why Jesus gave us His flesh and blood. The Lord said, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed” (John 6:54-55). Let us examine what Jesus meant by this passage.
First let us take a broader look at John 6:52-57. “The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.’”
What did the Lord Jesus give all humanity to save them from their sin and allow them to live? First, Jesus gave His flesh to save the people from sin. It means that Jesus has given His body to us. Second, Jesus also gave His blood. Therefore, if we eat the flesh and the blood of the Lord, we abide within the Lord, but if we do not eat the flesh and the blood of the Lord, we do not abide in the Lord. Do you understand what I am talking about?
Our Lord came to this earth in the flesh. Then, our Lord gave His flesh to us to save us, all humanity. What does it mean that He gave His flesh? Did He actually give us His flesh by cutting it from His body? During the Last Supper, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Let us read Matthew 26:26. “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”” The Lord gave blessing with the bread and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Our Lord has set this Holy Communion by His Word, and we are celebrating this in remembrance of His righteous act for our salvation. The Lord took the bread, blessed, broke and gave it to the disciples saying, “Take, eat; this is My body.” He saved us by giving His flesh, and allowed us to receive eternal life by giving His blood to us. My fellow believers, do you understand? Our Lord did not only say, “Take, drink; this is My blood” but He also said “Take, eat; this is My body” when He practiced the first Holy Communion.
When our Lord came to save us from sin, He came by wearing the body of man, the flesh. If the Lord did not come to this earth with the flesh and the blood, He could not save us humans. Our Lord, in saving us, had to come by the same body as us, that is, in the flesh and the blood. Where is our life? It is in the blood. This blood is our life (Leviticus 17:11). And, where do we commit sin? We commit sin with the body. We also commit sin with the mind, but we also commit sin with our bodies during our whole lifetimes. So, our Lord had to come to this earth wearing the flesh to eliminate the sins committed by mankind. It was to give us His flesh. It was to bear all the sins of the world onto His body by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, the representative of all mankind.
And He gave us His blood. The Lord gave us eternal life, and fulfilled the remission of sins by giving us His flesh and the blood. Our Lord has saved us by taking all the sins onto His own body. So, our Lord said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
What did Jesus have to do in saving us from all the sins? First, Jesus had to give us the flesh. We can receive salvation only when the Lord has given us His flesh. If the Lord didn’t give us the flesh, we could not be saved. So, our Lord came to this earth wearing the flesh of man to save us, and gave us His flesh by receiving the baptism at Jordan River, when He became 30.
Jesus is the Savior who came to this earth wearing the same flesh as ours.
It is written in John chapter 1 verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
What are the “grace and truth” mentioned here? This means that Jesus has become our Savior by giving us His flesh and blood: that He gave us the remission of sin by receiving the baptism from John, dying on the Cross, and rising again from the dead. What we have to know is that the Son of God came to this earth wearing the flesh of man according to the prophesies in Old Testament. Namely, the Son of God came to this earth and saved us from the sins of the world. It is important for us to know and believe this.
You must know that Jesus is God, the One who created the heavens and the earth. Do you know that Jesus Christ is our God and Savior? Our salvation is guaranteed when we know and believe that Jesus is the true God and our Savior. Jesus not only created the heavens and the earth with the Word, but He also came to this earth as the Savior wearing the flesh of man (Genesis 1:1-2, John 1:1-14). God came to us wearing the flesh of man through the body of the Virgin Mary to save us from sin. Jesus is the true God of the universe who came to save us from the sins of the world by wearing the body of man.
The Lord lowered Himself to save us from sin and He experienced the weaknesses of man. He knows how weak and evil we are, and how Satan the Devil is so conniving. We may think that it will be okay if the Lord drives out the Devil once with His authority and power. But, the Lord did not do that. Mankind had fallen into sin by being tempted by Satan the Devil, and The Lord wanted to save mankind fairly with His justice. Therefore, He took all of our sins onto His body by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, and then bore the judgment of all those sins once and for all by shedding His blood on the Cross. This is the love of God and God’s truth and justice. If we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we are able to follow the bright Light of the Truth, because our Lord so loved us and saved us completely and properly from sin with His law of justice.
We do not praise Him admiring only His power. We cannot praise Him just because of His power. He did not lie to us. And He did not use all of His divine power. Rather, He became the same being as a creature of flesh and blood, and saved us from sin and judgment, by properly satisfying the law that states that the wages of sin is death. Human beings were destined to die, to go to hell, and to suffer for their sins, but Jesus took all of our sin and bore all the condemnation vicariously by sympathizing with our situation. Jesus saved our humanity justly and fairly by taking the death and suffering of all human beings, in order to save them. This is God’s grace of glory. The reason that we call Jesus, God, and believe in Him as God is because Jesus created the heavens and the earth, and He is our Savior. This is also the reason that we praise Jesus.
In Old Testament times, God set His law of atonement: If a sinner laid his hands on the sacrifice, saying, “God, I have murdered today, and I committed adultery,” his sins would be passed onto it. Thus, God had established the law of passing of sins onto the sacrifice by confessing the sins to God and laying their hands on it. God then received the sacrifice in place of the sinner, and judged that sacrifice instead of those sinners, and gave him the remission of his sins. The burnt offering in the Old Testament was the promise that God would give the eternal remission of sin like this in the future.
Inside the courtyard of the tabernacle there was the altar of the burnt offering, which was where God received the burnt offering of meat of the sacrificial animal. God’s law states, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Those who had sin had to pay for their sins with the corresponding wages, the death of their lives. This was why they had to offer the blood of the sacrificial animals in place of themselves to be spared before God from His judgment.
As the sinners in Old Testament could receive the remission of sins by laying hands on the sacrifice, drawing the blood of the sacrifice, and giving God the fragrant scent of burning it on the fire of the altar, mankind could also receive the remission of sin by believing in Jesus Christ who came to this earth as the Lamb of God, received the baptism from John the Baptist and shed His blood to death on the Cross. This is the very gospel of the water and the Spirit that makes us sinless when we believe in it wholeheartedly. If we do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we will be condemned, because we cannot receive the remission of sin, but if we do believe in it we will go to Heaven without fail. Those who have already been pardoned from their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit shall be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
God has set this sacrificial system to save mankind, and promised to save us if we would believe in Him according to this promise. My fellow believers, this is the promise of God. What I mean by following the light is not that we must see some sparkling light in a mirage. We must follow the Light of the Truth in our minds.
The reason why Jesus received the baptism in the Jordan River was to save mankind completely by taking all of our sins by grace and fulfill the complete salvation. We can be thankful that God had come in the flesh of man and received the baptism to give mankind the great gift.
While reading this book you will truly understand who Jesus Christ is and you will receive the remission of sin and eternal life by coming to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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