Evening star., 1932-01-02

| ular book of the Holy Scriptures. Inc
aim of the Lesson Committee IN Sc
lecting this course from the fourtr
| Gospel could be condensed and stated
in the words of John, who tells us that
this was written that ye may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son OF
God, and that believing ye may nave
| life through His name"
John reveals his early Hebrew train
! ing. as we'll as the evidence Of his per-
sonal fellowship with the Master, IN
writing his graphic gospel Evidently
! he was moved to write to meet the
| false teachings of the Gnostics and
! EbioniteS. Drawing from his lntlmate
! knowledge of the inner and public he
of the Lord, John gave to the world
a gospel that in its sublime, simple,
: spiritual statements shattered com
| pletely the Gnostics, who claimed 10
possess "a deeper insight INTO the
| mysteries of religion than the ordinary
| believer" 1t antagonized their prlncl-
pie that there existed necessary
| conflict between matter and spirit.
| John selected his material so as TO
coInteract the heresies of both the
Gnostics and the EbioniteS, who de
MED the divinity of the Savior, Whlle
admitting His messiahship, and main
| tanning the continued obligation OF the
| Jewish law" In the prologue or IN
| PRODUCTION to his gospel that Is con-
| tanned in our lesson for this week IL
| is evident that John was seeking 10
correct the false ideas OF GODS reVe-
lation to the world and to maintain
| the uniqueness and all-sufficiency oil
the revelation of God In Christ.
The Eternal Word.
1t has been frequently said that
three words-life, light, love-furnish us
the key to the matchless gospel OF
John. The beloved apostle must have
felt the limitation of human speech
| when he tried to express the infinite
| mysteries of Gods love in finite speech.
He felt the longing of God to give eX-
preston of Himself to man. 1t had
| been part Of His program from the be-
| ginning of time. The limitations OF hu-
manity made it impossible for men TO
understand how God loved them, until
there should be given them, in form
that they could understand, revelation
of the interests of the Omnipotent and
Everything One in mankind. The LORD
Jesus appeared in the flesh to meet this
| necessity and by His life, labor and love
| impaired unto men a knowledge OF the
| life and light of God in reference TO
| their salvation.
In the opening of his gospel, one is
| impressed by the influence Of Genesis.
| Both start with the timelesSness that
| marked not only the creation, but also
the existence of the preincarnate Christ,
who John speaks of as THE Word" !"
Before CREATION began there existed One
who mirrored back to the Divine mind
| His own ideas. He was His Thought
Revealer in creating the universe, for IN
| that act He pictured to Gods nina
His own eternal thought-ideal in out
ward form; and in the sustenance of
| the universe" our Lord is the Revealer
of Divine Ideas to man. 1t was not suf-
| ficient for THE Word" to try to make
God known through nature and the rev.
elations Of the prophets. He had to
| become Gods representative to men by
becoming incarnate and dwelling among
them, so that humanity could under
stand Gods love through the life Jesus
| lived and the light He gave to human
ity concerning the Father by His revel-
ations of His love in sending His only
begotten Son, as the source of all life
and truth.
In the opening paragraph John pic
lures not only the eternity and per-
sonality of Christ" as One who lived
face to face with the Father and was
One with Him, but also the tragedy
of His advent through His rejection by
men. Throughout all time the divine
light of truth was shining in the rea-
son and conscience of men, yet when
Jesus appeared in person among them
they refused to accept Him and find
through Him life and light from above.
John the Baptist appeared among men
and aroused his fellow countrymen
with his God-given message, so that
they had to be assured by him that
| he was not the. light, but was sent to
bear witness to "the true light" to
every one who would accept Him.
| John points out that when Jesus ap-
peared among His own people they
refused to accept Him. Unbelief was
! the cause of His rejection as the
true light" by the world, that was
too wicked and spiritually blind to be-
hold in Him the Son Of God, their
Savior and Redeemer. Although Jesus
was rejected by the leaders Of the ma
| ton and the people as a whole, there
were some who were prepared to re-
ceive Him. While John pictures the
tragedy of his nation rejecting Christ
! Jesus as their Messiah, he also paints
against that dark background the un-
| folding of faith that results in life.
For to "aS many as received Him. to
them gave He power to be the chill
dren of God, even to them that be-
| lieyed on His name" through direct
supernatural exercise of divine power.
| The life of Christian cannot be ex--
! planned by the laws of heredity, or OF
environment or Of personal resolution;
it is impaired to men through the
Spirit of God.
Spiritual Results.
When "The Word became flesh" at
His birth in Bethlehem's manger, He
! became human in the broadest sense.
Although He had existed through all
| the ages as pure spirit, when He en-
tered the human race, there existed IN
| that physical body of our Lord both the
| human and the divine. No explanation
of ChriSt's life in the purity OF HIS soul,
speech and service being absolutely
| free from sin, can satisfy the thoughts
Of men, except that Jesus was what
He claimed to be, the Son OF Soq; h
| This manifestation Of God in the nesn
was the glory of Christ's ministry
among men. John pointed to HIM,
whose fullness Of grace and truth hao
resulted in His surprising the BaptlSt'
who introduced Him to the world, as
! the One who was TO come that was
greater than the voice that preached
| in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way
of the Lord" he impaired of His grace
to all who received Him, so that they
came to possess life full of grace
and truth. These disciples united their
testimony with the Baptist and the
Apostle John concerning the character
personality and power Of the Christ,
| who brought life and light to men.
The great longing OF men has been
| In know God but not until Jesus ap-
| reared was it possible for them to
grasp the love of God, for He, who
was the only begotten Son, had de-