Introduction

Reader Please Note:

~Italics, bold, and brackets have been added by author for emphasis.

~Verses from the Gospel of John will be centered.  Other verses of reference will be in italics, but remain in body of this study.

Remember chapters will follow chronological order so click on “older posts” to continue reading.

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The Simple Gospel of John

by
Kay Frances Graves

Introduction

     This post is not being written to interpret the Gospel of John, but to demonstrate how simple it is to understand the Gospel of John. It is the reader’s responsibility alone to seek the correct interpretation from the Holy Spirit which resides in God’s Holy Word and hopefully in the heart of the reader as well.

     While the Word of God has many levels of understanding and can be applied to countless experiences in life, this attempt is being made as a means of encouraging those who desire to hear the Voice of God, because they may not yet feel “qualified” to interpret and apply what they are reading.

     What offense caused William Tyndale to be burned at the stake in the year 1536?

     Wasn't it for that "awful crime" of translating the Word of God into the common language of the people?

     Actually, his most deliberate, self-sacrificing intention was to get the Word of God into the hands of every person, even the farmer plowing the field, so anyone and everyone could read the Bible for themselves and thereby many could come to a saving knowledge of Christ, turn from their sin, and receive eternal life.

     The enemies of Christ have been engaged in an attack against the Word of God since the very beginning.

     When they could not stop the printing of the Bible, they simply changed tactics and became busy waging psychological campaigns designed to steal the confidence of those who desired to hear the Voice of God through the pages of His Book.

     One way this is accomplished is through propagating the devil’s lie that “understanding the Word of God is impossible without some ‘learned’ hierarchical figure interpreting it for us.”

     Thankfully we have a place we can go for correct interpretation. That is the Word of God itself where the Spirit of God resides. Once we are born-again of His Spirit (click on picture--top--left side of this page--"God's Gift of Salvation"), His Spirit becomes our Teacher and Guide and has promised that He will lead us into all Truth.

     Let us therefore embrace His Holy Word, freely feasting from it with all joy and thanksgiving.

     The Simple Gospel of John is now being served! “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Ps. 34:8)

God’s purpose in giving us His Word:

* It is the means by which everything has been brought into existence.

* It teaches us the value and power of His Living and Written Word.

* It defines who the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit really are.

* It provides for and defines His eternal priorities for us.

* It provides for and defines His earthly priorities for us.

* It equips us to enter into the universal battle between good and evil.

* It saves us from ourselves and enables us to endure to the end.

Who is John, the man who wrote down the Gospel of John, as God gave it to him?

* He is “the disciple whom Jesus loved."    

* He is the Apostle, one of “the sons of  thunder,” known for their zeal.

* He is the one who leaned against the  bosom of Jesus at supper.

* At the cross, he is the one to whom Jesus entrusted His aged mother.

* He was the first male to believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

* He was the first to recognize Jesus on  the shore of Lake Galilee.

* He is also the man who wrote the Book  of Revelation as God gave it to him.

Genesis 1
The God Said Verses

These “God said” verses found in Genesis, Chapter 1 give us greater insight into what God has for us in John, Chapter 1:

¹In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

³ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

¹¹ And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

¹⁴ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so.

The first place we are introduced to the significance and power of the Word of God is in the very beginning when God was speaking all things into existence.

(See Next Post to Begin Reading John, Chapter 1)