The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #4471

My Hi-lite: John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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.
 

John 1:13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Instead of "Which were born" (the word born meaning begotten) some of the manuscripts (as noted in the Companion Bible) read "Who was begotten", which is singular, referring to the subject being discussed of the Light coming in to the world, i.e. Jesus Christ. And of course the begetting and birth of Christ was not dependent on mankind, or on the course of nature, or on the will of the flesh, or on family planning. No, His birth was due to the Will of God.

But didn't we just read in our last study that the begetting of John the Baptist was also by the will of God? Our Father SENT him here, right?

We also read the following verse in our last study:

John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:
Are you one of those to whom He has given power? Do you believe on His name, the Word of God, both Living and Written?  Then as one of God's elect your begetting and your birth WAS NO ACCIDENT either. It was also not dependent on mankind, or on the course of nature, or on the will of the flesh, or on family planning. No, your birth, like John's, was due to the Will of God.

If you have studied with us through the books of Genesis or Ephesians or Peter, etc., then you are familiar with the "World that then was" (II Pet. 3:6), before God destroyed it at the rebellion of Satan. And before He even formed this present earth age He set your time to be sent here, as one of His.

Ephes. 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

[5] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Your Father SENT you here to be a part of this final generation of the fig tree. You are somebody! You are a child of the Living God and you are truly well blessed indeed!

And because of His love for His children, having made them all to be born in the flesh, He Himself became born of flesh to dwell among us. (No one will ever be able to say at judgment, "Oh yeah, you try living in one of those flesh bodies once." He did!)

John 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.Dr. Moffat translates "full of grace and truth" as "full of grace and reality".

And John the Baptist, who was sent by God in the Spirit of Elijah, as the voice crying in the wilderness, bare witness of Jesus Christ that He was indeed the Word of God, the One who existed in the beginning, the One by whom all things were created, who now was made flesh and dwelled among us.

[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.
The Word was in the Beginning, long before John or you or me.

And get this next verse:

[16] And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
We can get all spiritual here and overlook the fact that ALL we have received, from our very souls to this beautiful place called earth, yes, the very air we breathe, came from Him. EVERYTHING!
1 Cor. 10:26
For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.
Plus we have all received grace because of His grace, His love.

And we need grace because we are all yucky sinners. The law, that wonderful schoolmaster that sets the standard, lets us know we indeed fall short.


To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.

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