Daily Meditation -  BIBLE STUDY

The Bible Study Series - New Testament
St. John's Gospel - Chapter 1

The Beginnings of Times

What happened in the beginning is clearly recorded in this Gospel.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". (John 1:1)  

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)     

  In him was life (John 1:4) God took the form of man, and came to the world, to reveal himself.  But the men did not believe Jesus, who was God in flesh and dwelt among them.  God gave power to as many as received him to become the sons of God.  It is stated clearly in this Chapter, that the world was made flesh and dwelt among them in a way the people could behold His Glory and see that He was full of Grace and Truth. 

John the Baptist

John was sent by God as a messenger to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus Christ 
to come into this world.  When People questioned as to whether He was Elias or a Prophet, he said that He was just a voice of one crying in the wilderness.  Further, when people asked as to why he was baptizing, then He said, that He was baptizing with water, the one who is going to come after Him, will baptize with the Holy Spirit.  He also added that He was not even worthy to unloose his shoes. 

The Appearance of Jesus

After the things mentioned above took place, Jesus appeared on the scene in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was Baptizing.  When he saw Jesus coming towards him, he said "Behold the lamb of God, which take away the sins of the World". (John 1:29)  

When Jesus came out of the water, after being baptized in river Jordan, the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove, and it abode upon Him.  Then John declared, "This is the Son of God" (John 1:34) 

 Then two disciples followed Him, and they were Andrew and Simon.  When Andrew saw Jesus first, he told his brother Simon, that they had found Messiah, the Christ. When Jesus went forth to Galilee and saw Philip, he told him to follow him.  Then Philip saw Nathaniel and told him that they had found Jesus at Nazareth, and Nathaniel said, will any good thing come out of Nazareth.  

When Jesus saw Nathaniel, he said, "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile"! (John 1:47)  

When Nathaniel asked Jesus, if he knew him, he said that he already saw him under a fig tree.  Nathaniel responded with an awe saying, "Rabbi thou art the son of God; thou art the King of Israel" (John 1:49)  

Then Jesus responded by saying, Do you believe me, because I said that I saw you under the fig tree, and then added that from that time, he shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man (John 1:51)

Summary and Conclusion

• Saint John's Gospel is the first book of the New Testament
• It is clearly stated in this Gospel, that God was there in the beginning, and that he revealed himself as the Word
• The Word became flesh and that was Jesus, the Son of God
• God chose to reveal Himself by taking the form of man, and dwelling among them
• John the Baptist was sent into this world, to prepare the way for Jesus to come
• John and the other disciples that instantly followed Jesus, when they had an encounter with him, spontaneously recognized the fact that the Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and they responded with a sense of excitement and wonder that He was the Messiah, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, etc. 
• Jesus responded to these first few disciples by saying that they will see with their own eyes, the Glory of God!   

- The End-

========================================================================================
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW THE PREVIOUS ISSUES 
OF OUR DAILY MEDITATION, 
PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE: 
www.iicmweb.org 

========================================================================================

I. IICM OFFERS  THE FOLLOWING
Accredited Theological Degree Programs
through Correspondence, Internet, Residential Bible College 
and Open Theological University of IICM 
in English and in Tamil (An Indian Language)
and in Several Major World Languages including 
French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, 
Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian etc.
(We need help to run our Courses under Franchise Agreements 
in all Major World Languages and in the Regional Languages of India) 
 

For a free Catalog and an Application, please send us an email to iicm.vv@gmail.com (if you live in India)
or to iicm@aol.com and iicm.tkp@gmail.com  
(If you live in any Country outside of India, please identify the Country of your Residence)

=================================================================================