Daniel Lazich

Who can hear God?

“He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” John 8:47.

The Jews did not believe that Jesus came from God the Father. Jesus asserted that they do not know him because they do not know the Father and do not belong to God but to their Father, the devil. Jesus reminded the Jews again that he did not come on his own initiative, but the Father sent him (John 8:42). Jesus justified his assertion that the Jews belong to the devil by pointing out that they want to do the devil’s work and kill him. So Jesus asks them, “Can anyone of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?” (John 8:48). The Jews did not even acknowledge that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham in the flesh, but called him a Samaritan. Because he loved them, Jesus is trying to convince them that he is their life. He is God the Father with them, in human form, their only source of life. He tries to impress upon them that he came to save the world, which is dead in sin, as stated in Ephesians 2:4–5.

“I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” (John 8:51). At this, the Jews reaffirmed their claim that Jesus was demon-possessed. They refused to understand or believe that if they accepted the Savior of the world, they would, there and then, experience eternal life in Jesus Christ. They refused to accept that without Jesus, no one could ever live. He is the life of the world. The Jews reminded Jesus that their Father Abraham had died, so they asked him, “Is he greater than Abraham?” (John 8:52, 53).

Contrary to the law of Moses, the Jews did not realize that God reckoned Abraham righteous because he believed God, not because of his greatness. So Jesus reminded the Jews: “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56). When the Jews reminded Jesus that he was not old enough to have seen Abraham, Jesus told them who he was. “Jesus answered, Before Abraham was born I am.” (John 8:58). Jesus was not just a messenger God sent to the world, but God, the Father Himself, in human form, in a sinful world, who came to save his enemies, the sinners. A similar misconception persists today, despite God’s clear announcement.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, … And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus reaffirmed this message. “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30). The literal reading of this verse is “The Father and I are one and the same.” Therefore, the apostle Matthew emphasized, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23). The apostle Paul confirmed, “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Only God, the Father, could do this. He accomplished it in the body of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha. Newborn believers always hear God.

Who crucified Jesus? Read the next blog.

The bread of life continued.

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35.

The people did not follow Jesus to be with Him. They followed Him because they wanted Him to satisfy their physical needs. Jesus fed them and healed their diseases, giving them an opportunity to understand that they needed to seek spiritual food. Food that meets bodily needs is temporary, but spiritual food lasts forever. Jesus does not call us to follow Him to receive the food and healing He offers, but to have Him. He is our life and our path to the Father for eternity. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). “I am the living bread,” proclaimed Jesus. In what way is He our “living bread”?

“This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51). Humankind was dead in sin; therefore, it needed new life. (Ephesians 2:1). We received new human life in Jesus Christ through the wonderful exchange of the human spirit in the body of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha. “But because of his great love for us, God, who abounds in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4–7).

God, in Jesus Christ, gave us more than we can now understand. However, to receive eternal human life and all that God offers, we must, here and now, trust and believe that Jesus has accomplished what He came to do (John 6:47). We must come to Jesus because we want to know Him and be with Him, because of who and what He is, not because of what He has to offer. God, on the cross at Golgotha, put our sin on Jesus Christ so that we can receive His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). God also placed our natural tendency to sin on Jesus (Isaiah 53:6). Therefore, our sinful human life died forever in the body of Jesus Christ on the cross. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” (2 Corinthians 5:14). God replaced our sinful human life with the perfect and eternal human life of Jesus Christ. On the cross at Golgotha, this great exchange was for all humankind (John 12:32). Those who believe that God has accomplished the salvation of the world in Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha have eternal life, here and now. Those who do not believe remain condemned (John 3:14, 15, 18).

Who can hear God? Read the next Blog.

The bread of life

“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” John 6:5.

Jesus already knew what he would do for those who followed him (John 6:6). He crossed to the other side of the Lake of Galilee to spend quiet time with his disciples. However, the people followed him because of the miracles he performed (John 6:2). When Jesus saw the crowd, he had compassion on them and decided to feed them miraculously to teach them a spiritual lesson. After witnessing the miracles, the people concluded that Jesus must be the prophet Moses had spoken of (Deuteronomy 18:15).

“Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.” (John 6:15). The people followed Jesus not because they wanted to hear his teachings, but because they saw in him a king who could feed them all the food they needed without working for it. However, the people searched for Jesus and his disciples and found them. They came to him and asked how he had gotten there. Jesus told them, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:26, 27. The people asked for a miraculous sign so they could believe him. John 6:30. They forgot or ignored the extraordinary way Jesus fed them the day before. Consequently, they reminded Jesus that Moses had fed them manna in the desert and asked him, “What will you do?”

Jesus, however, wanted to give the people spiritual food, not merely physical nourishment. He reminded them that Moses did not provide manna in the desert; the Father who sent Jesus into the world was the true provider (John 6:32). The one the Father sent is the “bread of life” that gives life to humankind (John 6:33). Because the world was dead in sin, Jesus came to give people new and perfect human life. “For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all you have given him.” John 17:2. Jesus fully revealed God’s love for humankind and showed that God is the only source of eternal life. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3.

To be continued in the next blog.

What did God do with the witness against us?

God commanded Moses about the Law, “Take this book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.” Deuteronomy 31:26.

Therefore, the Law Moses passed on to the people served as a constant reminder that they were rebellious, unable, and unwilling to obey God’s Covenant of Love. God’s covenant with His people was His covenant of love (1 Kings 8:23). Yet because He loved rebellious humankind, God was determined to do what only He could do—to restore rebellious sinners to Himself as His children. He resolved that humankind’s sinful spirit or life would die forever, as the Objective Moral Law requires. At the same time, He granted humankind a perfect and eternal human life, achieved through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Through selfless love, God made humankind a new creation in Jesus Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Accordingly, God united Himself in flesh and blood with rebellious humankind to remove the sin that separated them from Him. God accomplished this on the cross at Golgotha, in the body of Jesus Christ. He placed upon Jesus the sinful life of humankind and its inclination to sin (Isaiah 53:6). By forsaking Jesus, God destroyed the sinful life of humankind forever. On the cross at Golgotha, in the body of Jesus Christ, God removed mankind’s condemnation under the Objective Moral Law and eliminated the witness against us forever.

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15. Therefore, if we remain in Jesus Christ, as he commanded in John 15:4, no power in heaven or on earth can condemn us or stand as a witness against us again. However, our experience of new standing in Jesus Christ should be to the glory of Him who forgave us all our sins and freed us from condemnation under the Objective Moral Law. The new standing in Jesus Christ is ours, here and now, by trusting Jesus and obeying the universal Law of selfless love.

The bread of life. Read the next blog.

The witness against the people

But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set?” John 5:45.

What did Moses accuse the people of? Jesus referred to the Torah, the books of the Old Covenant, when He said, “Moses is your accuser.” In the desert, God wanted to speak directly to the Israelites, but they feared they would die if they faced such a mighty God. So they told Moses to go to God, come back, and tell them what God required; they would obey. When Moses read the book of the law to the people in the desert, they promised to follow everything God commanded (Exodus 24:7). However, God knew that people would disobey the agreement because they were natural sinners, unable to keep the commands. Still, the people were sincere in their promises because they believed they could faithfully follow all the commands.

God told Moses that what the people said was good. He added, “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep my commands always…” (Deuteronomy 5:28, 29). Accordingly, God gave the people the Ten Commandments as a reminder of what their agreement with God requires (Deuteronomy 4:13). Their contract with God required perfect obedience rooted in selfless love. However, they obeyed out of fear of consequences. Before leaving the earth, Moses commanded the people to love their God (Deuteronomy 6:5). He perhaps hoped that if the people loved their God, they would obey his commands.

King Solomon understood that people’s agreement with God was a “Covenant of Love,” which God always keeps (Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 Kings 8:23). Moses assured the people that God would enable them to love Him (Deuteronomy 30:6). Yet the people did not reciprocate. They failed to love their God and broke the covenant. “Like Adam, they have broken the covenant – they were unfaithful to me there” (Hosea 6:7). God requires obedience motivated by love, not merely out of fear of consequences.

People believed that if they followed all the requirements of their contract with God, they would be sinless and always in God’s favor. They did not realize that, because they are natural sinners, even their best efforts to obey the commandments could not eliminate condemnation under the Objective Moral Law. The Ten Commandments they promised to obey proved that they could not perfectly satisfy the requirements of the Objective Moral Law. Forced compliance with the Objective Moral Law may not be acceptable; yet sinners cannot comply voluntarily. Accordingly, the Objective Moral Law condemns sinners. How did God remove the Law’s condemnation of sinners and the evidence against us?

The witness against us was removed. Read the next Blog.

Our present possession of eternal life

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24. Jesus spoke in the present tense, “has,” indicating that self-surrendered believers have received irrevocable eternal life in Jesus Christ. The Greek noun for life is “Zoe.” Zoe is the new spirit God has given us, as promised. Ezekiel 36:26. Zoe does not refer to our biological life, the living. Our soul is our chemistry in the flesh. Jesus told us that the spirit is life, not the flesh. John 6:63. He also stated, “I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25. We live because Jesus lives forever. John 14:19. He has risen and lives eternally; therefore, those who trust him will also live forever.

Jesus endured temptation and was made perfect by defeating Satan, thereby securing perfect and eternal new human life for all who trust in Him. Hebrews 7:15, 16. The life Jesus secured for us is in Him, and no power can take it away from His faithful followers. It is guaranteed because God the Father granted Jesus to have life in Himself (John 5:26). Jesus spoke of the new life for humankind given by God in Jesus Christ. Jesus demonstrated the guarantee of eternal human life for us on the cross at Golgotha. On the cross, He voluntarily laid down His new and perfect human life, or separated His new human life from His body, so He could take upon Himself the sin and sinful human life. “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.” John 12:32, 33.

God placed the human spirit, which sinned in the Garden of Eden, into the body of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha. By abandoning Jesus, God destroyed forever the sinful human life, spirit, and sin that humankind committed in the Garden of Eden. Now, the self-surrendered believers have, here and now, the perfect and eternal human life of Jesus Christ. Without Him, we are walking dead in the eyes of God. God made Jesus to be sin so that we may become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). All humanity sinned in the first man, Adam, and humanity as a whole was justified in the Second Man, Jesus Christ. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14.

Therefore, faithful and loyal believers have indestructible, eternal life here and now in Jesus Christ. No power in heaven or on earth can take it away from those who have died to themselves and have Christ living in them. Eternal life is our present reality, not something we must work to achieve. Jesus obtained it for us because we cannot acquire it on our own.

The witness against the people. Read the next blog.

Can good deeds be evil?

This is the verdict: “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19.

Jesus spoke to the Jews, who diligently tried to follow the entire Torah, the law of Moses. To ordinary people, the law teachers seemed perfect because they consistently did good deeds with greater precision than anyone else. They were so careful to do what was good, according to the Ten Commandments, that they avoided close contact with ordinary people to prevent being defiled by what they considered “worthless” human beings. However, Jesus saw beyond the obvious. He understood the law experts’ minds and recognized their deeds for what they truly were: evil.

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22, 23). From a human perspective, we cannot fault the actions described. If we saw these deeds performed in the name of Jesus, we would be impressed. Yet Jesus calls those who performed such deeds “evildoers.” Why? He answers, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). They misrepresent God to people; therefore, they are false prophets.

Those who perform deeds and rely on the works of the law are evildoers because their actions are motivated by self-interest. They are full of themselves in everything they do. Therefore, their deeds are evil because they do them in the spirit of Satan, who became God’s enemy. After all, he was full of himself. In his pride, Satan declared: I will ascend, I will raise my throne, I will, I will, I will; no one else but me! Satan’s followers imitate him by doing many good deeds in the spirit of Satan, being full of self. When people focus on their “I,” they cannot see Jesus; thus, they do not perceive the pure Light, because Jesus is the only Light in the world.

Those who come to Jesus Christ become surrendered believers by crucifying their “I” and allowing Christ to live in them. They come to the Light so that it is clear who they have become in Jesus Christ. Because of the Cross of Christ, they have become children of God, and this is evident in the daily lives of believers. When surrendered believers come to the Light, it becomes obvious that they do their deeds in God (John 3:21). Our own “I” cannot and should not coexist with Jesus Christ in us. Our mind can have only one Master, and it must always be Jesus Christ. “Not I but Christ” should always be the saying of surrendered believers.

Our present possession of eternal life. Read the next blog.

You must be born from above!

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3.

The Greek word John used here means “born from above.” Jesus told Nicodemus that sinful human beings must be born from above to qualify for the kingdom of God. The “above” means from heaven. Jesus came from heaven; therefore, the birth from above is only possible in Jesus Christ. Nicodemus initially thought of biological birth, the birth in the flesh, when he heard that he must be born again. So he asked Jesus how such a rebirth could happen. This gave Jesus the opportunity to provide a deeper meaning of being born anew, or born from above. Jesus said that the birth from above is the “birth of water and the Spirit.” Just as the members of the “old humankind” are descendants of the first man, Adam, the members of the “new humankind” must be born in Jesus Christ, the Second Adam. When people willingly deny themselves and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and life, the Holy Spirit enters them, and they become a new creation, right then and there.

The idea that a visible change in behavior signals a new birth is common among believers today. However, physical changes in behavior take time to appear, whereas the birth from above, the exchange of the human spirit, is a one-time, deliberate decision, a permanent and irrevocable change. It is not visible when it happens, but its effects become evident over time. Even the most genuine behavioral changes do not last, whereas the new birth, the exchange of the human spirit, is eternal. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8. With sincere effort, anyone can do good works; however, only those born again by the exchange of the human spirit can do righteous works. The Holy Spirit, given to the born-again, enables them to do righteous works. Good works are done through the flesh; righteous works are by the Spirit and originate with God. John 3:21.

The apostle Paul summarized the above concept as follows. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitudes of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness.” Ephesians 4:22–24. Newborn persons always live and behave like new people because of their righteous nature in Jesus Christ. The old persons, however, live and act according to their sinful nature because they cannot do righteous works while possessing their sinful nature. “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good.” (Matthew 12:33). God made us a good tree in Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The birth from above, therefore, is a radical change in the mind of a believer who is surrendered to Christ. The person born from above acquires a new attitude and a new way of thinking.

Can good deeds be evil? Read the next blog.

Clearing the temple

“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at the tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.” John 2:13 – 15.

The phrase “in the temple courts” above actually reads “in the temple” in Greek. It does not say “in the temple courts.” However, the area surrounding the Temple was not inside the Temple building itself; nevertheless, it was part of it. The entire area surrounding the Temple was considered most holy. “This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.” (Ezekiel 43:12). Being in the court was equivalent to being in the Temple. However, only the designated priest could enter the Temple building. When reading this passage, we should focus on its message rather than on chronology or physical location.

By clearing the temple area, Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures foretold in Psalm 69:9. He made a crucial point: he is a High Priest of a higher order than the priests descended from Aaron. The high priesthood in the order of Aaron was an inherited role, so the earthly high priest could not serve forever. Jesus did not inherit the High Priesthood. Instead, God appointed him as the “High Priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6). The High Priest in the order of Melchizedek neither passes the role to a successor nor inherits it. Additionally, the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek did not serve in a temple built by humans. Jesus, the High Priest, served in his body, which is the temple built by God.

The primary role of the high priest in the order of Aaron was to symbolically remove the people’s sins once a year. He did this by confessing the people’s sins onto the head of the scapegoat, as described in Leviticus 16:21-22. In contrast, Jesus, as the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, permanently removed the sin humankind committed in the Garden of Eden and, therefore, all sins against the Objective Moral Law. He accomplished this in His body on the cross at Golgotha. “But the temple he had spoken of was his body.” (John 2:21). God removed our sins by making Jesus SIN, NOT a sinner, on the cross at Golgotha (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sinful human spirit (life) of humankind and the sin itself were destroyed forever in the body of Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha. Additionally, our tendency to sin, our iniquity, was laid on Jesus, and therefore it was destroyed (Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus, our scapegoat, carried our sins into the eternal abyss by experiencing separation from the Father. This separation from the Father, the only source of life, was the second death. Our sin can never return or be held against us again! Jesus, our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, serving in His body, removed our sin, which separated us from God the Father. He accomplished this once and for all; there’s no need to repeat it. He didn’t do it by serving in a physical temple, but by serving in the body God prepared for Him. He completed this on the cross at Golgotha. Therefore, Jesus carried our sins to Golgotha, not to heaven. (Hebrews 5:10; 9:24; 1 Peter 3:18). With this act, God made Jesus the Scapegoat who carried our sin and sinful life into the eternal abyss.

You must be born from above. Read the next blog.

The Light.

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4.

When referring to Jesus’s human life, John used the Greek noun “Zoe” and made it the central subject of his account of the Good News. The Good News is Jesus Christ. Jesus came into this world to give fallen humankind his indestructible human life, the “Zoe.” Thus, self-surrendered believers have Zoe here and now by trusting Jesus and God the Father. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24). The Zoe, the new and perfect human life of Jesus Christ, is not merely biological life but a new human spirit that God gave to humankind at the conception of Jesus. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).

Jesus entered the world with a new human spirit, bringing new life to humankind. The human spirit that God gave to humankind in the first man, Adam, sinned in the Garden of Eden and had to die a second death—there was no way out. Jesus Christ now has our new human life. He is the life-giving representative of the new humankind that God created in Jesus Christ. “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” 1 Corinthians 15:45. The life-giving new human spirit in Jesus Christ is also the light of men. Because the human spirit that God placed in Adam at creation sinned in the Garden of Eden, the first or old humankind could not see God as a loving Father. Sin caused darkness between sinful humankind and God, and led humankind to lose the true knowledge of God.

Jesus came to dispel darkness and reveal the true nature of God, the Creator. “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the Lord rises upon you, and his glory appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:2). Jesus, as the exact and complete representation of God the Father, illuminated the dark world with the full glory of God, his selfless love. As long as time lasts, the Cross of Christ will remain the most important witness to the truth that God is love. Because God is with us forever, there will never be darkness again (1 John 1:5). The Light with us gives us strong confidence that the Zoe, the eternal human life of Jesus Christ, is ours here and now and forever (1 John 5:11, 12). Born-again believers are in the Light—Jesus Christ—and therefore have freedom. They always reflect the glory of the Lord, his selfless love, and are being transformed into his likeness (2 Corinthians 3:17, 18).

The Light, the eternal life of the new humankind that God created in Jesus Christ, shone brightly, yet the dark world did not recognize it as the promised Savior. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:11). Although the people of his time did not accept him, Jesus Christ offered an unearned and unbelievable gift to God’s enemies, the sinners (Romans 5:10). “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12, 13). Additionally, as God’s children, we have full inheritance rights in the Kingdom of God. Yet God’s love did not end with this gift; it continued to give even more. “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” (John 1:16).

Clearing the temple. Read the next blog.

The Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1.

John begins his Gospel with “In the beginning,” perhaps referencing Genesis 1:1. The “old humankind” began with the first man, Adam. The “new humankind” began with the Second Man, Jesus Christ. Both the representative of the first humankind and the Representative of the New humankind come from God and are by God. Both were with God at the start of His creation of the world and of humankind. Therefore, both are sons of God (Luke 3:38; John 1:34).

The noun “Word” in John 1:1 does not refer to God’s spoken words but to His creative power. The entire Bible testifies to the “Word of God,” as seen in John 5:39. God spoke, and the universe came into existence, as shown in Genesis 1:1 and Hebrews 11:1. In Hebrews 11:1, Paul uses the Greek word “aionas,” meaning times and ages. Time is the beginning of the universe. The Greek noun “Logos,” or the Word, appears in various contexts in Greek philosophy and the Old Testament scriptures. However, in the Gospel of John, the Word clearly refers to God’s creative power. In the Greek New Testament, some passages do not capitalize the noun “Word,” while others do, reflecting ongoing debates among Christians about the true meaning of “Logos.” Does “Logos” refer to a unique divine being equal to God, or to the Creator Himself? Does it represent One God or the “Unified God”? This debate continues endlessly. The Greek phrase “and the Word was God” can also be translated as “and God was the Word,” emphasizing God’s creative power rather than merely His spoken words.

John’s introduction to his presentation of Jesus Christ is not to argue for the plurality of the Godhead but to affirm Jesus Christ’s divine origin. Humankind, as created in its representative Adam, was of divine origin. Consistent with their roots in an Earthly, temple-based religion, the apostles and first-century Christians worshiped only one God. As Paul emphasizes, Gentile Christians are “the wild olive branches grafted among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root” (Romans 11:17). John presents Jesus as the eternal Word of God because God, before creating humankind, determined to unite himself with fallen humankind in flesh and blood and redeem it from the kingdom of sin and darkness. The fall of humankind did not surprise God. God knew it before he began his creative work.

By presenting Jesus as the eternal Word of God, John emphasizes God’s love for humankind. Consequently, he portrays Jesus as the complete, final, and accurate revelation of God the Creator. Only Jesus, who was with God from the beginning, can truly reveal God to people. The Word is God the Father with us—Jesus Christ. “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9). The human spirit that God put in Jesus was with God before the creation. Jesus, as he was on earth, was the Son of God in his spirit; in flesh, however, He was the Son of Man.

The light. Read the next blog.

The day of the Lord.

“Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and blackness.” Joel 2:1, 2. Prophet Joel uses the locust metaphor, a common problem for those who work the land for a living. The imagery of locust destruction illustrates the consequences of apostasy and God’s judgment against the rebellious nation of Judah. Because of Judah’s apostasy, the enemies of Judah would turn the land of milk and honey into an uninhabitable place, unsuitable for comfortable living (Joel chapter 1).

Joel’s warning to Judah encompasses the four consecutive kingdoms that ruled over Judah: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Satan used these four powers in a coordinated effort to block God’s plans for humankind and, if possible, prevent the birth of the Messiah. The fiercest effort occurred during the Greek rule, when, with help from the corrupt priesthood, there was pressure to Hellenize the Jews and thus eliminate the nation of Judah. But the God of Israel is Sovereign. Therefore, His plans cannot be thwarted by any power.

Satan used the worst kind of evil to prevent the birth of the Messiah because he knew that if the Messiah came, he would never succeed in becoming the Most High (Isaiah 14:14). God loved the rebellious nation of Judah, so he called them to return to him. “Even now, declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart….” Joel 2:12. God promised to bless them as before and to give them the autumn rains in righteousness (Joel 2:23). The rains in righteousness also refer to the righteous Teacher, or the Teacher in righteousness. The verse above points to the Messiah, the Savior of the world, through whom God would remove the sin that separated humankind from Him. God accomplished this on the dreadful day of the Lord. “For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.” Joel 3:14, 15. The prophet Isaiah, almost two hundred years earlier, said the same thing (Isaiah 13:10).

Joel described the day as dreadful and asked, “Who can endure it?” (Joel 2:11). The dreadful day of the Lord occurred nearly two thousand years ago on a Friday, when the righteous Teacher, the Savior of the world, was made to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21. The Gospel of Luke confirms this description of the dreadful day. “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining.” Luke 23:44. The darkness on that day cannot be explained. On that day, God was in Christ, doing what humanity could not do for itself—reconciling rebels to Himself. 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19. “Who can endure it? And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” Joel 2:32. What God accomplished at Golgotha on the cross is beyond all human laws. Salvation belongs to the Lord and is offered unconditionally to everyone!

One Lord will reign forever.

“…Then the Lord my God will come, and the holy ones with him.” Zechariah 14:5, last part. The prophet Zechariah uses the devastating effects of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem as a backdrop to proclaim the day when God will destroy all evil. On that day, Zechariah says that the Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives and split it in two, creating a large valley. Zechariah 14:4. Perhaps this valley is where the New Jerusalem, which Zechariah describes in part, will descend from heaven. In the Bible, Jerusalem symbolically represents God’s people. “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and he showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” Revelation 21:9, 10. In Revelation 19:8, we see that the bride is dressed in bright, clean clothes. The true City, the New Jerusalem, is not dressed in bright, clean clothing. So, this must refer to the saved people who have received the bright white robes of Christ’s righteousness. Zechariah, in chapter 14, also describes the glory of the City.

“And in that day, it shall be that there will not be any light, but there shall be cold and frost for one day, and that day shall be known to the LORD. It will be neither day nor night, but towards evening there will be light.” Zechariah 14:6, 7 (Septuagint). Prophet Zechariah does not say that God’s future dwelling among His people will have no sun, but because God is present there, the City will not depend on the sun for its light. The day when the LORD and the Bride of Jesus descend to the Earth will be dark. Apostle John explains why the City, God’s dwelling, will not rely upon the sun’s light. “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” Revelation 21:23.

Zechariah also states that living water will flow from Jerusalem on that day (Zechariah 14:8). Jesus confirmed this and applied it to the redeemed. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38. In the Bible, the living water refers to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes from God to all who believe in Him. Therefore, the Spirit will flow into and from each committed believer.

Zechariah continues: “The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” Zechariah 14:9. The Apostle Paul confirms it: “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.”

1 Corinthians 15:24, 28. “He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44.

The day of the Lord. Read the next blog.