The Book of John
(Joh 1:6-18)
[Study Aired November 5, 2026]
In the first few verses of the opening chapter of the gospel of John we were introduced to the Father and the Word who was with God, and the Word was God. (Joh 1:1-5).
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
In these opening verses (Joh 1:1-5) we learn that the Son of man was created to reveal the Father, and in verse three we read “All things were made by him; [Christ] and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
It is what Christ created [“all things”] that is being used to reveal the Father, and no man can come unto the Son to have those things revealed unless the Father is dragging us to Christ (Joh 6:44, 1Co 2:13-14, Joh 17:3, Joh 6:53-59).
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (Mat 13:13)
All things that the Father has have been given to the Word or Christ (Joh 16:15) and in Christ was life; “and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
The all things include along with the spirit of God without measure (Joh 3:34), the creative ability to create everything that exists in the physical realm as a canopy to reveal the unsearchable greatness of God the Father (Rom 1:20, Job 9:10, Rom 11:33).
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things (Heb_11:27) of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Job 9:10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
The world lives and moves and has their being in Christ, but cannot acknowledge that God is working all things according to counsel of His own will because of the man of perdition who resides on the throne of man’s heart telling us otherwise (2Th 2:5-8, Eph 1:11, Rom 8:9, Rom 8:28).
Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:28 And we know (Rom 8:9) that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Joh 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
Joh 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
Joh 1:8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
With these verses above in mind we come to our opening verses in our study (Joh 1:6-8) that tell us John the baptist who was sent of God was not that light of the world, and that God’s elect are, through Christ (Joh 9:5, Mat 5:14) and “He [John] was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light”.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world.[Christ is still in the world in His elect (Mat 16:18, Heb 5:7, 1Jn 2:17-27)] A city [church] that is set on an hill [Christ] cannot be hid.
You can be doing the work of God as John was, bearing witness and pointing to Christ as the Christian churches of the world do and still not be that light. This was the time when the first of the first fruits [Christ] was to be revealed to the world, and God gave John the baptist that honour of bearing “witness of that Light”.
God’s elect are witnesses of these things (Luk 24:47-48, Act 5:32, Rev 11:3), that we are the light of the world, and the churches of this world along with all of humanity “the whole creation”(Rom 8:22) bear witness by serving us in their unbelief (1Jn 4:6, Rom 8:20-23, Rom 11:19-22).
Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
[beginning with God’s own people typified by Jerusalem, John the baptist was physically baptizing those who were being drawn to him, and this scenario of preaching “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”, is typical of the reality that all men will be saved “that all men through him might believe”(1Co 15:22) starting with the elect typified by “Jerusalem”, and typified by those who brought “forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Mat_3:8)]
Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Christ is the “true Light” which “lighteth every man that cometh into the world”. We live and move and have our being in Christ (Act 17:28) whether we believe in him or not, and as such God is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). There is also those who believe in Him but God alone knows who will continue to believe in Him and become disciples indeed (Joh 8:31-36, Rom 8:28).
Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
The world was made by Christ and yet “the world knew him not”, and so without that knowledge of God and Christ we are left in darkness (Joh 17:3). We must be granted to not only have the knowledge but to continue to abide in the truth in order to become disciples indeed who know God and Christ (Joh 8:31-36).
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Christ came unto the Jew’s of his day, his own family and people “and his own received him not” (Mat 13:55, Joh 15:18-21). They knew who Christ was physically, but had no comprehension of who he was spiritually.
Mat 13:55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (1Jn 4:17)
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. (Rom_5:10 , Lev_16:21)
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Joh 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not”
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, (1Jn 3:1) even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.(Php_2:12-13)
When we receive God “as many as received him” it is because we have been received, and are being dragged to him in order to be sanctified through God’s word (Joh 6:44, Joh 17:17). Paul explained this dynamic in this way in (Php 3:12-21, 1Jn 4:19).
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after,”as many as received him”(Joh 6:44) if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (“We love him,(Rom 5:5) because he first loved us.”1Jn 4:19)
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.(1Jn 1:7)
Php 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.(1Jn_3:2-3 , 1Co_2:16)
In order to do the work of God we need to believe (Joh 6:28-29), and what we are to believe is the words of eternal life we have been given which is what “to them that believe on his name” means.
Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
In order to do the work of God we must believe and in order to believe we must be born again “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”, meaning we have been sealed with the holy spirit of promise and are able through Christ to fulfill God’s will “in earth, as it is in heaven” (Eph 1:13-14, Php 2:12-13, Mat 6:10).
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,(Php 2:12-13)
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.(Heb 5:7)
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Joh 1:14 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.
Christ was the first to be “full of grace and truth” as a flesh and blood man who dwelt among us (Col 1:18). We beheld through the scriptural accounts and via the body of Christ since Pentecost, “his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father”. We beheld Christ’s glory first, which glory is represented by his obedient spirit to the Father, even being obedient unto the death of a cross (Php 2:8), and this obedience that he learned by the things he suffered (Heb_5:8) demonstrated that Christ was “full of grace and truth”. It is this same grace and truth that has come unto the body of Christ that we are growing in (Col 1:27, 2Pe 3:18) as we are dragged to the Lord (Joh 6:44).
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.(1Jn 4:17, Gal 2:20)
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ “full of grace and truth”. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John bare witness of him and said this “This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me”. John is demonstrating with these words that he knows Christ was the Word who came before him “for he was before me”(Joh 17:5).
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
John is also acknowledging Christ’s preeminence and that John’s baptism was only pointing to the greater baptism of fire that would convert those who would be baptized by it (Mat 3:11). The law and the prophets may convict us of sin, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christs fiery baptisms “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Rom 6:3, Mat 3:11, Joh 1:17), that teach us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust (Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6) as we live by “the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2, Php 2:12-13).
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
All have received “of his fulness” all have seen through the words and works of Christ the revealing of the Father, whether the words were received or not (Rom 1:20). The receiving of the word as mentioned above is the miracle that God gives to the elect first who are likened unto the seed that falls on the good ground and brings forth much fruit, an increase that comes from God (1Co 3:6-7).
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
The statement “grace for grace” uses the word grace twice as a witness to us that God’s favour or grace is upon those who are being judged in this life, and going from glory to glory (2Co 3:18) through that judgement process (Eph 2:8, 1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17).
All men will be saved in time and that fulness that we have received of Christ’s life “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace” will one day be understood for what it represents within us. As mentioned, it is those who are given eyes to see and ears to hear what those words “grace for grace” mean in this age who will be in that blessed and holy first resurrection having been saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
No man hath seen God at any time, means no carnal man has comprehended who God is at any time or physically seen God, however “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”.
The apostle John represents the elect [Christ’s Christ] who was resting in the bosom of Christ as a type and shadow of the reality that we now know the Father and the son (Joh 13:23, Joh 14:20, Joh 14:9, Joh 17:3).
Joh 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Thank you, Lord, for opening our eyes! (Mat 13:16-17).
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.