Study 1 – John 1:1-5

 

Main Point: Jesus is the origin of all life who gives insight into what life is all about. 

Opening question for discussion: A friend asks you ‘Why in this day and age do you think Jesus is relevant?’ How would you answer?

 

1. John uses two titles for Jesus: ‘the Word’ and ‘the light’. As you read John 1:1-5 what can you find out about each? 

· John’s words remind the reader of Genesis 1. What do you think his point is?

For the leader: Probably two things- he’s establishing Jesus divinity and that He’s come to bring a new creation

· Many cults and other religions say Jesus isn’t God. Does this matter to the gospel? 

For the leader: the divinity of Jesus is a fact for John. Establishing this is one of the key purposes of John 1:1-3. 

2. What is John seeking to tell us by calling Jesus ‘the Word’? 

· In what ways is it a help to have a word from God about life?

For the leader: John Piper says ‘John calls Jesus the Word because he had come to see the words of Jesus as the truth of God and the person of Jesus as the truth of God in such a unified way that Jesus himself — in his coming, and working, and teaching, and dying and rising — was the final and decisive message of God.’ 

3. According to v4-5 what relationship exists between Jesus and the world? 

 

· In what sense does Jesus give ‘light to all mankind’? 

For the leader: Jesus was present and active in the creation of the world, the action that brought light and life to all things. 

· What does John mean by ‘darkness’?

For the leader: Darkness in the Bible is often referring to sin and evil. 

· The darkness doesn’t overcome the light. What’s the encouragement in v 5 for us? 

 For the leader: Sin and evil have not overcome Jesus. All authority in heaven and earth is his through his death and resurrection from the dead. 

Application Questions

 

4. If you read this with an interested non-Christian friend, what insights about Jesus should they find relevant? 

 

5. The passage makes clear that Jesus is God, God's word, light and life. What would it mean to live in the light of that reality for your friends? What does it mean for you?