*Clarified to observe modern standards of sentence structure, punctuation and grammar.
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1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [Christ is the Word of God; his name is the word of God. The Bible is not the Word; the Bible is scriptures. The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning. Then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Pro 8:22-30.]
1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. [The Word, who dwelled with God in the beginning, stepped out to become Jesus, the firstborn in the dimension of the new creation.]
1:3 All things were made by him; and there was nothing made without him. [him is Jesus.]
1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.1[Him is Jesus, the life and the light of men.]
1:5 The light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it.2[But men in their darkness do not understand.]
1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the Light.]
1:7 This man came as a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. [John came to bear witness to the Light, which had been prophesied to be God's salvation to the ends of the earth, to both Jews and Gentiles.]
1:8 He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of the Light. [John was not the Light, but he witnessed the Light, Christ.]
1:9 Which was the true Light that enlightens every man who comes into the world.3 [Jesus, the true Light that enlightens every man who comes into the world; the Light, Jesus, who is in every man who comes into the world.]
1:10 He was in the world, and the world had been made by him, and the world did not know him.
1:11 He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.4
1:12 But as many as received him, to them he gives power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on his name;5
1:13 Children born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
1:14 And the Word was made flesh [human, incarnate], and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only One to come from the Father, full of grace and truth.
1:15 John testified about him and cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me; for he was before me.'"
1:16 And from his fullness we have all received grace after grace and gift after gift.
1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
1:18 No man has seen God at any time, the only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, had made God known. [Jesus Christ, who was a part of God from the beginning, reveals God through himself. To see Jesus revealed in your heart, is to see God... God is known only through revelation, not through reading, study, and talk.]
1:19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
1:20 He admitted, without any vagueness, confessing, "I am not the Christ."
1:21 And they asked him, "Who then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?"6 And he answered, "No."
1:22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say of yourself?"
1:23 And He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as said the prophet Isaiah.
1:24 Now those who had been sent were from the Pharisees.
1:25 And they asked him, "Why do you baptize then, if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the prophet?"
1:26 And John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you, whom you do not know.
1:27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal's strap I am not worthy to unloose."
1:28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Look, there is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
1:30 This is he of whom I said, 'after me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.'
1:31 And I did not know him, except that he should be revealed to Israel; for this reason I have come baptizing with water."
1:32 John testified, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
1:33 I did not recognize him; but He who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, 'Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
1:34 And I saw, and I testify that this is the Son of God."
1:35 Again the next day John stood with two of his disciples;
1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
1:37 And when the two disciples heard him speak, they followed Jesus.
1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi, (Master), where do you dwell?"
1:39 And He said to them, "Come and see." So they came and saw where he dwelt, and remained with him that day; for it was about the tenth hour.
1:40 One of the two disciples, who had heard John speak and had followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
1:41 He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah, the Christ."
1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, "You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas," which translated means stone.
1:43 The following day Jesus went into Galilee, and found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
1:44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
1:45 And Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
1:46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" But Philip said to him, "Come and see."
1:47 Now when Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said to him, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"
1:48 And Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Phillip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
1:49 Then Nathanael answered and said to him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
1:50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe only because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree?' You shall see greater things than these."
1:51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you that in the future you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
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1 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. Christ is the life; the life is the light; so Christ is the light and life of men.
2 And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it. Man is filled with darkness that chains down the light of Christ. The light shines to try to reason with us, but man does not understand that it is Christ within us, gently trying to show us a better way - with no threats, with no coercion - just gentle reasoning in hope that we will respond to godly living. Men do not understand this gentle persuasion; men have not even been taught by religion to expect to be reasoned with occasionally in their lives. So men do not comprehend what the light is, and they ignore its gentle counsel. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:4-5. The darkness of Christendom does not comprehend or explain the light. Christendom does not understand anything about the light; none of the wicked shall understand, Dan 12:10.
3 Christ is the light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world. This light is what convicts us when we lie or steal. This light is what reasons with us in our lifetime. And if we listen to the light, and obey the light's convictions, we love the light; we love Christ. But if we love our lifestyle, and hate the charges of the light against our selfish actions, we hate the light; we hate Christ. Christ, the light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, neither does he comes to the light, for fear his deeds will be exposed and reproved. But he who practices truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be shown to have been produced [effected, formed, prompted, energized] through God. John 3:19-21. Christ in the flesh told us to believe in the Light, the Christ within you: While you have light, believe in [depend on, trust and obey] the light, that you may be the children of light. John 12:36. (God is light; to become children of the light, is to become a son of God.) When you have shown obedience to this light, you will receive the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him, Acts 5:32. This is the anointing, a further measure, which teaches you all things, and by which you come to know all things. 1 John 2:20, 27.
4 He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Jesus was rejected by the Jews, his own people. We read that and marvel, but wherever the Spirit of Christ is risen, Jesus is rejected by those people too. Why? Because Jesus will always stand against the religions created by men, who in their rituals and ceremonies seek to provide justification for their selfish life-styles and their evil hearts. This is exactly what happened when Jesus appeared as the resurrected Spirit of Christ in the early Quakers of the 17th Century; the Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists imprisoned them, whipped them, seized their properties, and killed them - even hanging them in Boston. Just as Jesus said: If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you, John 15:18... They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. John 16:2. So when the Spirit of Christ is again revealed in men, Christendom will again hate and persecute the risen Christ, whom they claim to worship and esteem.
5 But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on his name. Power to become a son of God, not immediately be a son of God. Belief in the name of Jesus is the start, not the end. Jesus is the word of God, (not the Bible). To receive Jesus is to hear him speak words from within your heart and to believe that he who is speaking to you is the Son of God, Jesus: The word (Jesus) is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart [so you may do it]; that is, the word of faith, which we preach. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God [from within your heart], Rom 10:8,17, Deu 39:11-14. Again, when you hear him, and believe who is speaking to be the Son of God, you have received Jesus; and when you receive him, power is released by God to recreate you into a son of God, a totally new creature, all old things having passed away.
- We have the power to become (not be) and live forever as a son God by believing in the name of Jesus and receiving him.
- We must exercise that power by making our first priority in life to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
- Through repentance, prompted by grace, we must kill our sinful nature by the Spirit to please God and find salvation.
- We have assurance of salvation to come when we are led (controlled) by the Spirit of God.
- Therefore lay aside all filthiness and superfluity [excess] of wickedness and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. James 1:21.
Hearing his spoken words, believing them, and keeping them, grafts them into your heart.There are three manifestations of the power of God that are necessary for change:
- the name of Jesus, (you have to at least believe in the power of his name, as him being the son of God).
- the true gospel - the true hope of freedom from sin and the kingdom — the good news that one seizes as their hope,
- the cross of Christ - the inward cross of self-denial, which is the exercise of the hope in faith of the true gospel's promises.
Christ is the Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world (John 1:9).
So Christ is the Light, which shows you your condition, and is the Word that speaks to you with commands and understandings.
The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so you may do it; that is, the word of faith which we preach. Rom 10:8,17,Deu30:14.
So we go to him and listen for His voice and watch for what He shows us about ourselves and what is in our heart.
If you love the Light and Word as Christ, you obey and repent from anything evil shown to you; and you are changed for the better.
Loving and obeying the Word and Light that shows you your condition, you are acknowledging this Teacher within you as Christ.
You have "received" the Light and acknowledged the Light to be Christ. Therefore, you believe in the Light.
Just like when Christ asked Peter, "whom do you say I am," and Peter replied: 'You are Christ, the Son of the Living God.'
Christ then said: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Mat 16:15-8
- the rock solid understanding that he who speaks to you is the Son of God, which the gates of Hell cannot prevail against.
Now look what Jesus further says about how rock solid applies to us:
For everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does [practices, obeys] them, I will show you what he is like:
He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon a rock;
and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it,
because it had been securely built or founded on a rock. Luke 6:47-48
He builds his Church on a rock solid foundation. He builds himself in you on a rock solid foundation.
If you go to Him (within you), listen to his words, and then obey them, you have identified the speaker as Christ -
just like Peter did in the physical realm, except your identification of Christ is in the spiritual realm within you.
Paul said: According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God that has been given to me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let each [man] be careful how he builds upon it. 1 Cor 3:10
The correct foundation is very important and key to your potential growth. Your foundation must come from Christ himself, not reading the Bible, not someone preaching to you, not what someone tells you. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, [in us] that he might destroy the works [sin] of the devil [in us]. 1 John 3:86 The Jews asked John if he was the prophet; the prophet (Jesus) of whom Moses referred to: from among you the Lord your God will raise up a prophet like me from your brothers; you shall listen to him in everything, whatever he says to you. And it will come to pass, that every soul who will not hear that prophet, will be destroyed from among the people. Acts 3:22-23 This applies to every generation of Jew and gentile, which includes you and me.
The soul is that part of man, which is capable of uniting with God to become an entirely new creature, sharing in the divine nature, united with God, who dwells within that man. Part of the soul is the light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world; it is the talent, which must be increased, or it is taken away and given to another. The soul is what must first be purified before God can unite with a man, to everlasting life of the soul.Note! The Jews knew the scriptures. The Jews were looking for the Prophet. But they did not recognize Jesus when he came because they had not been listening to the Father, whose word was in their hearts to obey; and so, the words of Jesus were strange, and unrecognizable. And today, if you have not been taught by the Holy Spirit, you too are incapable hearing: the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor 2:14; the natural man cannot understand sin, righteousness, or judgment. And so when the Spirit of Jesus speaks against Christendom through his saints, unless you have been taught by the Holy Spirit, you cannot understand: And none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Dan 12:10. And this understanding does not come from reading, it must come from words spoken by the Spirit of God directly to you.
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