Jesus and His Incarnation
A verse by verse study of John 1:1-14, a study of the incarnation of Jesus and who He is.
| Bible Verses | Study Helps |
|---|---|
| JOHN 1:1-3, ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. 2, The same was in the beginning with God. See Genesis 1:1 3, All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. |
* V1-3 The deity of Christ. * "In the beginning" - before the creation of the world Jesus was with God, and Jesus is God. (See John 1:14; Genesis 1:1 * He was eternally with God as Jesus said in John 17:5. * The name of the "Word" is Jesus as it tell us in Revelation 19:13. * Jesus is God and is from eternity to eternity, Hebrews 1:8. * Paul confirms that Jesus made all things, Hebrews 1:1-2. * Jesus created all things and all things are upheld by Him, Colossians 1:15-17. The Pre-incarnation work of Jesus * V3 - Jesus is the heir of all things and also made the worlds, Hebrews 1:1-2. * We can actually see that Jesus is revealing God when He began the creation since all creation reveals God. So all of mankind is without excuse if they reject Jesus. Romans 1:19-20; Psalms 19:1-6. |
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| 4, In him was life; and the life was the light of men. | * V4 – In Him was life, meaning salvation and eternal life for those that
place their faith in Him, John 3:16; John 8:12. * Jesus is the way, the only way, the truth and the life, no one goes to the Father except by Jesus, John 14:6. * Jesus is the resurrection and life. Those that believe in Him shall never die, meaning they will live with Jesus eternally in the New Jerusalem, John 11:25-26. |
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| 5, ¶ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. | * V5 – Jesus came into the world so that the world through Him might be saved.
Those that don't believe in Him are condemned already, John 3:18. * The truth of salvation has come into the world but mankind loves darkness, evil, things of the world, and hate the truth of salvation. That is because they loved this darkness, this evil, and refuse to come to Jesus so their deeds would not be reproved. * So this light of salvation is known to all mankind but remaining in darkness their mind could not grasp it. John 3:17-20. * Jesus tells us to walk while we have light and that the one who walks in darkness doesn't know where he is going, John 12:35. |
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| 6, There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7, The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8, He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. |
* John the Baptist verses 6-8 * John the Baptist was sent by God as a witness of Jesus Christ to an evil world. * The Light mentioned is Jesus Christ which John the Baptist told everyone that through Him they might believe. * John the Baptist said he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness to make straight the way of the Lord, John 1:23. * John the Baptist was a messenger promised long ago by Isaiah the prophet. He was to prepare the way of the Lord and make His path straight. * He baptized in the Jordan river and prophesied that the one coming after him, Jesus, was more powerful than he was, Mark 1:1-8. |
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| 9, That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. | * V9 – The true Light which is Jesus enlightens everyone so that they have an
opportunity to see the truth and accept or reject it. His light shows us the
sinfulness and spiritual need of all human beings. * All mankind have been en-lightened, and those that accept Jesus experience salvation. * Those who reject this enlightenment experience eternal separation from God in a lake of fire, Revelation 21:6-8; 20:13-15. * Mark gives us the gospel message heard from Jesus, Mark 1:5-10. |
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| 10, He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. | * V10 – John tells us that even though Jesus had done so many miracles before
them, yet they did not believe Him. Then goes on to tell us what the prophet
Isaiah foretold about this, John 12:35-40. * Jesus Himself tells us that those that believe should not live in darkness. However, those that do not believe will be judged by the one who sent Him, God the Father, John 12:44-50 |
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| 11, He came unto his own, and his own received him not. | * V11- The people that Jesus came to, His own, were the Jews. Jesus not only
created them but He bought them for Himself out of all the nations, but when He
came to earth in a body of flesh they did not accept Him. There were a few that
accepted Him, but for the most part they rejected Him. * He then turned to the Gentiles, all nations except the Jewish nation, to call out a people for His name, the Church. * In the Tribulation He will again turn to the Jews. |
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| 12, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: | * V12- Not everyone rejected Jesus and to those who did not reject Him but
believed on His name He gave power to become the sons of God. * To believe on His
name is to understand that all mankind has sinned, Romans 3:23, and that there is
a price (the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God in a lake of fire)
to be paid for sinning, Romans 6:23. * So to believe is to know that Jesus died to pay the price for your sins, that He died, was buried, and was resurrected. |
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| 13, Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. | * V13, This means those that believed in the name of Jesus, His death, burial,
and resurrection. * This new life in Jesus Christ does not come by physical desire nor by any works you can do, but it is a spiritual decision to trust Jesus Christ. * The word flesh is used in most of Paul's writing as an indication of sinfulness but John uses it here as a weakness of human flesh. * This new spiritual life comes from God Himself and He should be the object of our faith and not our race, heritage, work, or our own efforts. |
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| 14, And the Word was made 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. | * V14- This "Word" mentioned by John in verse 1 existed before
anything came into being. * Then this Word was made flesh and called Jesus. So He did not appear to be a man, He became one. Philippians 2:5-9. * Jesus took on a human body, the incarnation, but not a sinful nature. * Note also that John equated the Word and Jesus, and this is the last time he references the "Word" in this Gospel. In the rest of the Gospel he will use the name Jesus and Father and Son. * Jesus is the preexistent Son of God, the Creator of the world, the Executor of the will of the Father. * Jesus, as the human Son of God, resembled His human Father except that the likeness was exact, Philippians 2:6. * We can become children of God, John 1:12-13, but Jesus' relationship with God is eternal and of the same essence as the Father. * The "only begotten" means Jesus was unique or the only one of His kind. It does not mean that there was a time that Jesus was not and then the Father brought Him into existence. * Grace refers to graciousness or goodness while truth is integrity or truthfulness. The incarnation is an expression of God's grace to mankind. Grace and truth are not knowable apart from God who revealed them through Jesus. |
