{"id":737,"date":"2023-10-27T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=737&2023"},"modified":"2023-10-24T18:00:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T00:00:24","slug":"the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: John 1:1-18 (GW)<\/div>
\r\n

1\u00a0<\/sup>In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2\u00a0<\/sup>He was already with God in the beginning.<\/p>

3\u00a0<\/sup>Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.<\/p>

4\u00a0<\/sup>He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.<\/p>

5\u00a0<\/sup>The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.<\/p>

6\u00a0<\/sup>God sent a man named John to be his messenger. 7\u00a0<\/sup>John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. 8\u00a0<\/sup>John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.<\/p>

9\u00a0<\/sup>The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. 10\u00a0<\/sup>He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn\u2019t recognize him. 11\u00a0<\/sup>He went to his own people, and his own people didn\u2019t accept him. 12\u00a0<\/sup>However, he gave the right to become God\u2019s children to everyone who believed in him. 13\u00a0<\/sup>These people didn\u2019t become God\u2019s children in a physical way\u2014from a human impulse or from a husband\u2019s desire to have a child. They were born from God.<\/p>

14\u00a0<\/sup>The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness and truth.<\/p>

15\u00a0<\/sup>(John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, \u201cThis is the person about whom I said, \u2018The one who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.\u2019\u201d)<\/p>

16\u00a0<\/sup>Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is. 17\u00a0<\/sup>Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ. 18\u00a0<\/sup>No one has ever seen God. God\u2019s only Son, the one who is closest to the Father\u2019s heart, has made him known.<\/p>\r\n

Read John 1:1-18<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

Of all the introductions to the gospels, the gospel of John stands out as especially unique. While Matthew opens with Jesus ancestry, Mark opens with a simple statement, and Luke opens with a reason for writing, John immediately points us back to the very, very beginning \u2013 and specifically on Jesus\u2019 divinity.<\/p>\r\n

While the language John uses is very simple, the concepts he describes are incredibly profound.<\/p>\r\n

It is at the close of this introduction where a verse stands out to me as being incredibly profound \u2013 and it is a verse that we are tempted to miss or skim over when reading.<\/p>\r\n

In verse 16, we read, \u201cEach of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is.<\/strong>\u201d While this is profound, John continues by describing the gifts he is referring to: \u201cLaws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 17)<\/p>\r\n

John describes the Law as a gift that God gave. While the Law was given through Moses, it originated because of the Word and it was given as a gift. God gave us life, He gave us the Law, and He didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\r\n

After describing the gift of the Law, John now introduces us to Jesus Christ \u2013 the Source of kindness and truth \u2013 who is another gift. God showed kindness towards us by sending Jesus to live among us. It is through this act that we see God is interested in having a relationship with us. John tells us that we can only see God\u2019s true character by looking at Jesus \u2013 and Jesus is the Source of all kindness and truth.<\/p>\r\n

We could also parallel this by saying that Jesus is the Source of both God\u2019s Love and God\u2019s Law. Jesus balanced perfect love with perfect obedience to the Law that was given through Moses.<\/p>\r\n

John summarizes one reason we need Jesus by saying, \u201cNo one has ever seen God. God\u2019s only Son, the one who is closest to the Father\u2019s heart, has made him known.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 18)<\/p>\r\n

The message John gives is simple: If you want to know what God is like, simply look at Jesus. Jesus is the only way we can truly see God\u2019s character, and in Jesus, we can see how God balances the gifts of law and love.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Of all the introductions to the gospels, the gospel of John stands out as especially unique. While Matthew opens with Jesus ancestry, Mark opens with a simple statement, and Luke opens with a reason for writing, John immediately points us back to the very, very beginning \u2013 and specifically on Jesus\u2019 divinity. While the language […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nThe Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Of all the introductions to the gospels, the gospel of John stands out as especially unique. While Matthew opens with Jesus ancestry, Mark opens with a simple statement, and Luke opens with a reason for writing, John immediately points us back to the very, very beginning \u2013 and specifically on Jesus\u2019 divinity. While the language […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-27T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-27T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":766,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-27T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"Of all the introductions to the gospels, the gospel of John stands out as especially unique. While Matthew opens with Jesus ancestry, Mark opens with a simple statement, and Luke opens with a reason for writing, John immediately points us back to the very, very beginning \u2013 and specifically on Jesus\u2019 divinity. While the language […]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2023-10-27T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18","datePublished":"2023-10-27T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/"},"wordCount":766,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/","name":"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-27T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/the-unappreciated-gift-john-1-1-18\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Unappreciated Gift: John 1:1-18"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}