Therefore, we find life in the first chapter of John. The Gospel of John does not say, “In the beginning was doctrine, and in it was knowledge.” No, it says that in the beginning was the Word, that the Word was God, and that in this One, the Word who was God, was life. “In the beginning was the Word.In Him was life” (1:1, 4). A few words from the first chapter of this gospel will convince us of this fact.
The Gospel of John, the bridge between the two ends of the Bible, is also a book of life and building. We have seen that the Bible begins and ends with life and building. Thus, it bridges the span between Genesis and Revelation. Hence, it starts from the beginning in eternity past and it continues indefinitely into the future. The book of John opens with the words, “In the beginning.” However, if you read this gospel carefully, you will discover that the history recorded in it has no end. What bridges this gap? The bridge is the Gospel of John. Thus, it is clear that the Bible ends as it begins, with life and building.īetween Genesis and Revelation, the two ends of the Bible, there is a wide gap, a broad span. In the New Jerusalem the river of life flows and the tree of life grows in the waters of the river (Rev. In the last two chapters of Revelation, which are the last two chapters of the Bible, we see the building of the New Jerusalem. Revelation 2:17 says, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone.” This verse speaks of a stone which, according to the Bible, has no purpose other than that of building.
Revelation 2:7 says, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” This certainly is a reference to the tree of life in Genesis 2. The book of Revelation also speaks of life. Therefore, in Genesis 2 we have life and building. In Genesis 2 we see life, the materials that proceed out of the flow of life, and the building of a wife. Thus, the man was created, but the woman was builded. God took a rib out of Adam’s side and used it to build him a wife. “And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, builded he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Heb.). In Genesis 2:22 we find specific mention of the building. According to the further revelation of the Scriptures, especially Revelation 21, these precious materials are for God’s building. Following this mention of the tree of life, we see the flowing river and three precious materials: gold, bdellium, which is pearl, and onyx, a precious stone. After the Lord God created man, He placed him in a garden in front of the tree of life (Gen. Immediately after the creation of man, life was introduced.
If you read it with insight and with the heavenly vision, you will discover that it begins with life and building. What is the church? The church is God’s building. If you fail to realize that Christ is life and that the church is a building, then when you say these words they will simply be doctrinal terms. When we speak of Christ and the church, we must realize that Christ is life and that the church is a building. Christ is life, and the church is a building. However, considered from another angle, the Bible is a book of life and building. Many times in the past we have stressed that the Bible covers two main matters-Christ and the church. We need to have an overview of the Bible as a whole. This message is a foreword to the life-study of the Gospel of John. LIFE-STUDY OF JOHN MESSAGE ONE A FOREWORD
0 kommentar(er)
