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Subject 28 : If You Have Confusion and Emptiness in Your Heart, Seek the Light of the Truth
[28-13] Receive God, Who Is the Word
(John 1:1-18)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became 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 bore witness of 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.’” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became 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 bore witness of 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.’” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
When we know God, who is the “Word,” trust Him, and follow Him, we can realize who God really is and believe in Him unwaveringly. The Bible says, “He was in the beginning with God.” This passage tells us that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all together in the beginning. It is also written, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” The pronoun “Him” here refers to Jesus Christ, who came to this world as God Himself, who is the Word. That the world was made by Him means that all things were made by Jesus Christ.
We are grateful that, thanks to the Apostle John’s testimony, we can know God the “Word,” and we can also believe in His work. John 1:2-3 says, “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” From John 1:1, John is bearing witness of the work of the “Word.” The Apostle John is teaching us that the “Word” alone created all things.
Through the Word testified by the Apostle John, we have come to realize that everything visible to our eyes was created by Jesus Christ, who is the “Word.” Thanks to the Apostle John’s witness, we have also come to believe in the Word with our hearts, and we are all grateful for this. It is even more wonderful that through the Word written in John chapter 1, we can realize that Jesus Christ is the God who made us, and we can also believe in Jesus as our Savior with our hearts. We can see now that the universe we see with our eyes was created by the “Word.”
The Word Is the Light of Life
John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” From this Word, we can be grateful for the work of Jesus Christ, who came to deliver mankind, who had fallen into sin, from their sins. It is telling us that Jesus Christ has given new life to those who believe in the work of salvation that He carried out on this earth.
Let us ruminate again on the Word of John chapter 1. It is written in John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
We can see here that all things were made by the “Word,” and that this “Word” is God Himself who created the universe and everything in it. Without the Word written in the Bible, we cannot know who made this world. Unless we were told through the Bible that the “Word” made this universe, how could we have believed that Jesus Christ, the Word, is our true Savior? It is because the Apostle John testified that God the “Word” made the universe and that, through this Word, we are now able to know and also believe in God’s work. Therefore, if we want to believe in God the “Word,” then we must believe in the Word through which God revealed Himself, and it is then that we can reach true salvation.
It is written, “The Word was God.” When God revealed Himself through the Word of the Bible, we could realize and believe that the “Word” was God Himself. The Bible says, “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We are grateful that God revealed Himself through the written Word, for it has been made possible for us to enter the dominion of His Word by accepting Him into our hearts.
Let us now turn to Genesis 1:3-4 in the Old Testament. Here again, we can see the work of God the Word. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” From this passage, we can see that the “Word” created the universe and all things in it. God said in Genesis chapter 1 also that the “Word” made everything in the universe, and He saw that it was good.
The Apostle John also testified that the “Word” was with God His Father. This “Word” is our God, for He made all things in the universe and mankind. It is because the “Word” said, “Let there be light,” that light came into existence where there had been nothing but formlessness and void. From this Word, we have come to realize that Jesus came to this world as the incarnated “Word” to carry out His work of saving us from the sins of the world. And we can also see that He divided the light from the darkness in this world. This means that God our Savior, who is the Word, has divided people into those who believe in the work of the Word and those who do not.
The Bible writes that when the Word said into the formless and the void, “Let there be light,” there was light. This tells us that today, sinners can be washed from all their sins once and for all by realizing Jesus Christ’s work of salvation, who is the Word, and believing in it with their hearts. That is why the Word says that He divided the light from the darkness. This Word shows the work of the baptism that Jesus, who shines the light of salvation in this dark world, received from John, and those who believe in this Word have come to be delivered from their sins.
Therefore, if we want to believe in the work of the Savior with our hearts, we must do so with a clear understanding of the work of the Word, which is the basis of faith. In other words, we must be washed from all sins by believing in the work of God, who is the “Word.” Our faith must be founded on the Word. In simple terms, this means that as Jesus is the Word, the basis of our faith must be found in His work, and we must be saved by believing in this work with our hearts. Without the “Word,” we cannot have any basis for our faith. That is why we must believe in our God, who is the “Word,” follow Him, and obey His will.
From What Can We Know How This Planet Earth Was Made?
On what basis can we say that God made this planet earth and the universe? We can know this by believing with our hearts, for God, who is the “Word,” writes that He made them by His power. Thanks to our faith in God the Word, we can see how this universe was made. Because we have the knowledge of God the “Word” and faith in Him, we believe that He not only made the universe but has also saved us from all our sins. Thanks to the work of His baptism and the shedding of His blood, we can have the conviction of salvation by faith. If there were no written Word, it would have been impossible for us to have any confidence in our salvation.
Scientists say that the planet earth started with a single-celled lifeform like Amoeba or Paramecium. Advocating evolutionary theory, they claim that reptiles and mammals speciated from fish, some of the mammals speciated further into apes such as monkeys and chimpanzees, and in this process, primates including humans emerged, evolving into what we look like today. We can see, however, that this is fundamentally different from what the Word says, which tells us that God the Word made each species separately. If everything in this world were to evolve continuously as claimed by these scientists, then this world would have turned into an unpredictable, chaotic world as it would keep on changing.
In the beginning, God, who is the Word, made all creatures in the universe according to their kinds (Genesis 1:1-31). We must believe with our hearts in what God the “Word” says exactly as it is. God said that He made all lifeforms on this earth according to their kinds. As argued by today’s evolutionists, it is possible for God-made creatures to change depending on the environmental factors that different species face. However, such changes are limited to only minor variations on the surface, and the fundamental nature of lifeforms created by the Word remains the same. The “Word” is telling us that He made everything that we are seeing now, so what clearer evidence is there than this Word in which we believe?
In the beginning, the “Word” made two great lights: the greater light and the lesser light (Genesis 1:14-18). And He made all the stars in the heavens. It is the Word that made all this dominion of nature. And we believe as written in the Word of the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible is evolutionary theory found. We ought to therefore believe in the truth that God the “Word” created the universe for our progress of faith.
We can believe with our hearts that the “Word” made this universe and mankind because this is written in the Bible. Only the Word written in the Bible tells us about the God who created everything in the universe and mankind. We can believe in God because this beautiful universe and all things in it that we see with our eyes were made by God the “Word.”
In Him Was Life
Turning to John 1:4-5, the Bible writes, “In Him was the light, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” It is written here that the life was in the “Word,” and this life was the light of men. The “Word” became flesh to look for us and carried out the work of salvation to deliver us from the sins of the world. The Bible is saying here that the Word is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
Because Jesus Himself took upon the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, He could be crucified and save His believers from their sins. This means He is the Savior who can give true salvation to the believers. We can see this from the Word in Genesis 1:1-3 also: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”
Everyone’s heart was confused from the moment one was born on this earth. Like this, the human heart was always void with iniquities hidden deep inside, and that is why God the Word came looking for sinners, was baptized to take away all the sins of the entire world, and shed His blood to bear the condemnation of sins, thereby saving the believers from their sins.
The Bible says that the Triune God created all things in the universe and mankind. However, deceived by God’s enemy, Adam and Eve fell into the temptation of sin and came to face death. The angels standing against God made mankind, His creature, drift away from Him. However, God the Father prophesied that He would restore mankind by sending His Son as the Savior who would save them from sin once and for all.
Jesus Christ is the true Savior who delivers all sinners on this earth from the sins of the world. By being baptized by John the Baptist to carry out this work of delivering the fallen man from all the sins of this world once and for all, Jesus could take them away once and for all, He was also crucified to shed His blood on the Cross, and through His resurrection, He could give true salvation and new life into the hearts of those who now believe.
We Must Believe in Jesus with the Knowledge of the Ministry of John the Baptist
It is written in John 1:6-7, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.” God the Father sent the representative of mankind to this earth six months prior to sending His Son, Jesus Christ, and this man was none other than John the Baptist. Without the testimony of John the Baptist, it is impossible for us to know that the work of Jesus is the work of salvation that has delivered us from iniquities.
We know the fact that Jesus took upon the sins of mankind once and for all through the baptism He received from John when He came to this earth, and this is all because John the Baptist carried out his ministry by baptizing Jesus in the form of laying his hands on the head of Jesus. No matter how gifted one may be, no human being can know on his own that Jesus shouldered the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist. This is because without Jesus’ work of baptism written in the Word of the Bible, we cannot realize the fact that all our sins were passed onto the body of Jesus. That Jesus had to be crucified to death was also because He had accepted our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, and therefore it was to be punished for these sins.
When we turn to Luke chapter 1 in the New Testament, we see an angel appearing before Zacharias the Priest while he was ministering sacrificial rituals and saying to him, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you shall name him John. He will turn many people back to God” (Luke 1:8-16). We should remember that, like this, the birth of John the Baptist on this earth and Jesus’ coming to this earth as the Savior of sinners are all written in the Bible.
We must realize and believe that the work of the baptism that John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias, gave to Jesus and the work of the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross are interrelated. It is very important for us to understand the reason why the Bible writes about the work of John the Baptist before speaking of the work of Jesus. The Four Gospels in the New Testament begin with the work of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and record His death on the Cross and His resurrection from death. They testify that Jesus shouldered the sins of this world and carried them to the Cross because He took them away once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:29; John 19:17-35).
The Four Gospels bear witness of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist. This is because our sins would be passed onto the body of Jesus only if He took away the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist. It is because Jesus could be crucified and condemned for the sins of mankind only if He received His baptism from John the Baptist. The Bible writes that Jesus went to John the Baptist when he was baptizing the people of Israel for repentance. When Jesus sought to be baptized, John objected and said, “Why are You asking to be baptized by me when I need to be baptized by You? But Jesus said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
John the Baptist could fulfill his ministry of baptizing Jesus, the Savior of mankind, and thereby passing the sins of humanity to His head. This is all written in Matthew 3:13-17. “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17). This means that Jesus took away the sins of this world when He was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus was baptized by John to fulfill the first work that would wash away the sins of mankind. Because Jesus Christ shouldered the sins of mankind through His baptism like this, all that remained of His work of salvation was the shedding of His blood and death on the Cross, and His resurrection.
It is Because Jesus Was Baptized by John the Baptist That He Could Save the Believers by Being Crucified and Shedding His Blood
Let us now turn to John chapter 19. Here, the Bible tells us how Jesus was crucified, shed His blood, and died on the Cross because He had taken upon the sins of this world through His baptism. When Jesus passed away on the Cross, one of the Roman soldiers at the time pierced His side deeply with a spear, to verify that He was indeed dead. The Bible writes that blood and water came out of His side then.
It is written: “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe” (John 19:31-35).
It is said that when one dies, the blood and the water in the body do not mix and get separated instead. After Jesus was crucified while shouldering the sins of this world that He had taken by being baptized by John the Baptist, a Roman soldier pierced His side, and blood and water came out of His body. The Apostle John is testifying here that the precious blood and water of Jesus constitute the true testimony of the salvation of mankind, for he knew that Jesus had taken upon the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist.
John, a disciple of Jesus, said, “And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe” (John 19:35). When Jesus came to this world, He took away all the sins of this world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist in the Jordan at the age of 30, He was crucified, shed His blood and died on the Cross. Seeing His blood and water coming out of His body, John the Disciple bore witness of our salvation. The blood and water that came out of the body of Jesus testify that because He took upon all your sins and mine in this world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, He was crucified and shed His blood to be punished for these sins. In other words, by pouring out the blood and water that were in His body, Jesus affirmed our salvation for those of us who now believe.
That water and blood came out of the side of Jesus testifies that He took upon the iniquities of sinners in this world once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist when He came to the world, and that He sacrificed Himself as our propitiation for our sins by being crucified and shedding His blood on the Cross. This Word proves that Jesus has become the Savior by being baptized by John the Baptist, pouring out His blood on the Cross, and sacrificing Himself as the propitiation for all the sins of mankind. Therefore, we must now be washed from all our sins by believing that Jesus offered Himself as our propitiation through His baptism and blood. We must realize and believe that Jesus was not only baptized by John but also shed His precious blood to bear the condemnation of our sins.
Having come to this world to save sinners, Jesus carried out His righteous work by being baptized by John the Baptist, the greatest of those born of women, and pouring out His blood and water. And through this work, He has guaranteed us your salvation and mine. It is through the baptism Jesus received on His body and the blood He shed in this world that He has saved us as the everlasting propitiation of all mankind. Through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, Jesus accepted all the sins of mankind once and for all; by giving up His body on the Cross, He was punished for all your sins and mine in our place; He rose from the dead again; and He has thereby become our Savior.
Therefore, we must have the belief that the baptism that the Lord received from John the Baptist on this earth and the blood He shed on the Cross were the wages of our sins and the Truth of salvation. We must believe that Jesus came as the propitiation to wash away the iniquities of sinners, and that He has solved away all our sins through the baptism He received from John the Baptist. We must believe that Jesus is the One who has completed the work of salvation once and for all to deliver us from the sins of this world. We must therefore understand and believe properly in the work of the baptism that John the Baptist gave to Jesus, and we must believe that the sacrifice Jesus made by shouldering our sins and being crucified to death was to be the propitiation for our salvation.
It is written, “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John 1:8). John the Baptist is not our Savior, but the man who came to bear witness of the work of Jesus Christ the Savior, who accepted the iniquities of sinners when He came to this earth. John is the man who, as the representative of mankind, baptized Jesus, the Savior of mankind. His work was passing all the sins of mankind in the world to Jesus’ head. We must realize that when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, all your sins and mine were passed onto the body of Jesus once and for all. The essence of this baptism was the righteous work that Jesus, the Savior of mankind, who is the “Word”, carried out. Jesus came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man through the body of Mary, He accepted all our sins on His own body once and for all through the work of the baptism that He received from John the Baptist in the Jordan River, and John the Baptist is bearing witness of this fact.
The Bible says, “He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” This Word tell us that it is because John the Baptist baptized Jesus that Jesus could shoulder the sins of this world, be crucified, rise from the dead again, and ascend to Heaven. You and I must therefore be remitted from all our sins by believing with our hearts that Jesus took them away by being baptized by John the Baptist. We must realize that our sins were passed onto the body of Jesus through His baptism. And we must believe that Jesus paid off the wages of our sins by being crucified and shedding His blood, and we must be washed from all our sins. We must now realize that all our sins were passed onto Jesus through the baptism He received from John the Baptist. And we must believe that Jesus is the Savior who was crucified and shed His blood of life for us.
Jesus Christ Is the True Light
It is written in John 1:9-13: “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His]own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Jesus and His work are written as the “true Light” in the Word of the Bible. Why does the Bible refer to Jesus as the true Light? It is because Jesus, the true Light of mankind, accepted and shouldered the sins of mankind once and for all through the baptism John gave Him, and He was condemned for the sins of mankind once and for all by being crucified and shedding His blood on the Cross. Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was incarnated in the same flesh as yours and mine, took away the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, shed His precious blood on the Cross, and has thereby become the Savior who has delivered mankind once and for all from the sins of the world.
However, it is written in John 1:10-11, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” Put differently, people are living as sinners because they do not know the work of Jesus Christ, who came to this world as the Savior. They do not realize the work of Jesus Christ, who came to save them from the sins of the world. Many people remain sinners and are living as such because they do not know that Jesus Christ, who came to this world as the Savior of sinners and took on human flesh, is their Savior.
Let Us Know and Accept the Work of Jesus into Our Hearts
The Bible says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). Jesus, the Son of God, was born on this earth long ago, took away the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, was crucified, shed His precious blood while shouldering the sins of the world, rose from the dead again, and has now saved us, the believers, from the sins of the world. We ought to therefore realize and believe in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Savior, and thus bring joy to God.
To those of us who now believe in His baptism and the shedding of His blood, Jesus has given the right to become children of God. This means that Jesus has given the right to become God’s true children to those who accept into their hearts the Truth of salvation that Jesus has fulfilled with the baptism He received from John the Baptist and His blood on the Cross. From now on, everyone must receive the remission of sins into the heart by believing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who was baptized and shed His blood for us.
Jesus is God Himself, who is the “Word” in essence. By the power of the Word, He created the universe and all things in it, and He also made your ancestors and mine. Because the Triune God made human beings in His image, when they sinned and drifted away from Him, He had the proper plan of salvation to become our Savior. All of us ought to be grateful that we were able to receive the right to become God’s children in Jesus Christ by believing in His baptism and His blood on the Cross. All this work of salvation was planned by the Triune God before the foundation of the world, and when the time came, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth and made Him receive baptism from John the Baptist and be crucified; and as Jesus carried out this righteous work, God fulfilled His will in the hearts of those who believe.
When His people fell into Satan’s deception and sinned against God, Jesus Christ did not forsake them. Instead, He came looking for you and me, and He has saved us from sin through the true gospel Word of salvation. He went to John who was baptizing in the Jordan River, took upon the sins of this world by being baptized, shed His blood on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thereby given us true salvation. Therefore, those of us who believe must realize that we can receive the right to become God’s children by believing in the righteousness of Jesus. That is why the Bible says that to those who receive Him—that is, those who believe in His name—the Lord has given the right to become children of God.
God’s Children Are Made Neither of Blood Nor of the Power of Religion
John 1:13 says, “Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” This passage means as follows. To save mankind from the sins of the world, Jesus Christ had to be baptized by John the Baptist. He shed His blood and died on the Cross, rose from this death again, and to those who believe in this, He has given the remission of sins and the blessing to become God’s children. This means if we accept the righteous work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, into our hearts by faith, we can receive the grace to be saved from all our sins once and for all.
All nature in this world, and even the angels that are not visible to our eyes, are not God’s people but just creatures. As we know, Jesus Christ came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, took upon our sins once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, was crucified while shouldering these sins of the world, shed His precious blood to death, rose from the dead again, and has thereby given the gift of everlasting salvation to everyone who now believes in this Truth. Therefore, if we believe with our hearts that Jesus Christ took away our sins through His baptism and was punished for them, then it means that God has given the right to become His children to those of us who believe in the true Word of salvation.
The blessings of salvation that God has given us like this are not received of blood, but they are given to those who believe that Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood on the Cross, and rose from the dead again. By believing in the righteous work of Jesus Christ our Savior, we can now be blessed to become God’s children forever.
When mankind fell into sin by disobeying the Word of God, Jesus carried out the work of salvation by being baptized and shedding His blood to save humanity from sin. It was to take upon all the sins of this world on His body once and for all that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17). So let us believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood on the Cross as our salvation, accept into our hearts the blessing to become God’s children, and receive the blessings that belong to Heaven!
The Fullness of Grace Granted to the Believers
It is written in John 1:15-16, “John bore witness of 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.”’ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”
The Son of God, who is the Word, came to this earth as the Savior through the body of a virgin. To take away your sins and mine, Jesus was baptized, and He rose from His death on the Cross. To those who believe in the work of salvation that He fulfilled on this earth, He has given the blessing to become God’s children. The Lord has given the blessings of salvation to those who believe in the true Word that He has blotted out the sins of mankind with the baptism He received from John the Baptist and His blood on the Cross.
Thanks to the full grace of salvation that the Lord has given us, we are now able to be saved from all our sins once and for all. It is therefore by believing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we become God’s children. And it is by placing our faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that we are to enter the Kingdom of God and live with the Lord forever. What an amazing blessing this is! We have now come to live together with God and enjoy the glory of Heaven. This is the full grace of salvation that God has given to those who believe in His righteousness.
The Law Was Given through Moses, but the Grace of Salvation Was Granted through Jesus Christ
Verse 17 says, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Moses is the one who received the Law from God and relayed it to mankind. The Law is teaching us what our sins are. God is saying that all human beings are sinners, for they were born on this earth as sinners and are incapable of living according to the God-given Word of the Law.
However, the full grace of salvation that the Lord has given us is granted to those who believe in the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is offering the grace of true salvation to those who believe that the Word of the baptism He received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross constitutes their salvation. The Lord is testifying that whoever believes in His baptism and His blood on the Cross with their heart can be saved from all sins once and for all. So, by believing in the baptism that the Lord received from John and His blood on the Cross, we are able to receive the remission of all our hearts’ sins once and for all.
Jesus came to this earth in the age of the New Testament, took upon the sins of mankind on His own body once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist to accept the sins of the world, sacrificed Himself as the everlasting propitiation of mankind by offering His body to God the Father by being crucified and shedding His blood while shouldering the sins of this world, and has thereby given true salvation to those who believe. Because Jesus Christ shouldered our sins once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist in the Jordan River, He was able to be crucified, shed His blood, die in our place as the propitiation for our sins, rise from the dead again, and thereby give true salvation to those who believe in this.
We Have Not Seen God with Our Own Eyes
John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” No one has seen God with his own eyes. However, because Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son, took away our sins once and for all through the baptism He received on His body, shed His blood on the Cross, and rose from the dead again, we are now able to meet our God by believing in this Truth of salvation. By placing our faith in the righteous work of the baptism that Jesus received on this earth and the blood He shed, we have now come to be saved from all our sins. Through His only begotten Son, God the Father has revealed Himself to us as the Savior who is now offering us true salvation.
To reveal to us that He is the Savior of sinners, Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, shed His blood on the Cross, and rose from the dead again. As a result, it has been made possible for us to become children of the holy God by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus. Through the baptism He received on this earth, Jesus Christ has shown us that He is the true Savior of sinners. This work manifests and demonstrates to us who God really is. To sinners, He is the just Savior God, and to the believers in the baptism and blood of Jesus, He is the God who bestows His merciful grace. He is the Savior God who has revealed Himself to us as the just and merciful God.
Incarnated in the flesh of man, God the Word came to John the Baptist, was baptized by him, shed His blood on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and testified that He is the true Savior for you and me. Do you now accept into your heart the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross as your salvation? At this hour, I am testifying to you the true Word written in the Bible. You and I must listen to the written Word of the baptism of Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross, and we must also believe in it and recognize that the Lord has given us true salvation. If you accept into your heart the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood on the Cross as written in the Bible, you will be saved from all the sins of this world once and for all and become righteous.
We Must Receive Jesus Christ into Our Hearts
It is written, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). I have testified to you the Truth of salvation written in the Bible. I have now testified to you that God, who was the Word in the beginning, took on human flesh to save us from sin, took away your sins and mine once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and carried them to the Cross. In other words, I have borne witness of the fact that Jesus Christ, the Creator Himself, was baptized by John the Baptist to become our Savior, and He took upon all the sins of this world on His body once and for all. I therefore admonish all of us to accept into our hearts, by faith, that Jesus has become our Savior now by being baptized by John the Baptist and bearing the condemnation of our sins once and for all by being crucified.
We must believe in the Lord Jesus, who took away the sins of this world by being baptized by John, was crucified while shouldering them, said, “It is finished,” and rose from the dead again. I am now preaching to you the true Word of Jesus Christ that brings real salvation to the believers. If you want to be washed from your heart’s sins, then you must believe with your heart now that the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood on the Cross constitute your salvation. To blot out our sins once and for all, Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist and shed His blood on the Cross, and we must receive Him into our hearts as our Savior now.
God the “Word,” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth, was baptized by John the Baptist, was condemned for our sins, and rose from the dead again. He has promised that He will give true salvation to whoever accepts this true Word into the heart. Because Jesus Christ was baptized to take away our sins, shed His blood on the Cross, and rose from the dead again, He is offering true salvation to those who now believe in Him and His work as their salvation.
We must believe that Jesus Christ, who took upon our sins in the Jordan River through His baptism, and who was also punished for our sins by being crucified, is our Savior. Do you believe that Jesus Christ, our God who is the Word, has saved you and me from the sins of the world and become our everlasting Savior through the baptism He received once from John and His blood on the Cross? I am bearing witness of the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit continuously and repeatedly to you, lest you have a hard time believing in this Truth of salvation. That is why I am testifying to you the Word of the righteousness of God in such detail.
I have, so far, preached to you that the “Word” was incarnated and has become our Savior. After taking upon the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was crucified, and He poured out the blood and water that were in His body. We must accept into our hearts the Word of the baptism that Jesus received when He came to this earth and His blood on the Cross. We must believe now with our hearts that the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood constitute the Word of our salvation, and by this faith we must have the conviction of our salvation.
In the age of the Old Testament, to be remitted from their sins, the people of Israel passed them to their sacrificial animal by laying their hands on its head according to the God-established sacrificial system, drew its blood, put the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and burnt the remaining flesh by fire. In this way, they were able to be saved from their sins through faith. In the age of the New Testament, Jesus came to this earth, took away the sins of the sinners of this world by being baptized by John the Baptist, shed His precious blood on the Cross, and has thereby enabled those who now believe to be delivered from all the sins of this world.
This Truth of salvation that God has given us is also revealed clearly in the sacrificial institution of the Day of Atonement from the age of the Old Testament. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest prepared two goats. To one of them, he passed his sins and his household’s sins and sacrificed it to God. For the sins of the people of Israel, he passed them to the remaining goat by laying his hands on its head, drew its blood, and sprinkled the blood seven times on the mercy seat. In doing so, he was able to blot out all the yearly sins of the people of Israel once and for all.
The Word prophesied in the Old Testament like this was fulfilled once and for all in the age of the New Testament, when Jesus Christ came to this earth, took away the sins of the world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, was crucified, shed His blood to death, and rose from the dead again; and salvation has been fulfilled to those who believe in this Word. In other words, we are now able to be saved from all our sins by believing in this gospel Word of salvation.
You must wash away your sins now by believing that John the Baptist passed the sins of mankind to the body of Jesus by baptizing Him. You must believe that Jesus, whom John the Baptist bore witness of, is your Savior. Do you believe that Jesus is the Lamb of God who carried the sins of this world by being baptized? We must be saved from all our sins by believing in the Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and the Cross, according to the Word of God written in the Bible. The Word of the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed when He came to this earth is the true light of salvation for you and me now. Jesus is the true Light who has driven out the dark sins of this world once and for all.
Today, whoever believes that God, who is the “Word” revealed in the Bible, is the Lord who saved us from all sins when we were sinners, can be saved.
The Grace That God Has Now Granted to All of Us
In the ancient age of the Old Testament, the Word of God was written on a writing surface made from reed, called papyrus. Dried lambskins and goatskins were also used to record the Word of God. Israelites wrote the Word of God on lambskins for preservation, and they also made copies and stored them. As the original text and copies of the Word of God were discovered in their well-preserved state, it was passed down to us living in subsequent times. That is how we were able to encounter today the Word relayed by God’s servants who lived in the age of the Old Testament, and how we were able to be saved from all our sins by believing in it with our hearts.
Today, we are reading the Word of God from the Bible in one volume. If there were no written Word of the Bible, we would not have been able to know who God is. That is why God gave us His written Word, teaching us with this Word that Jesus has saved us from sin through His baptism and blood. So that we may realize clearly what the Truth of salvation is and believe in it, the Lord wrote His work of the baptism He received from John the Baptist and His crucifixion, and through the Word, He is telling us that He has saved those who believe in this work from all sins. Since we cannot trust oral traditions passed on from lip to lip, we must be saved by believing, through the written Word of the Bible, that Jesus is the Savior who has washed away our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood. It is then that we come to realize that true salvation comes into our hearts.
The God-spoken Word that His servants compiled into New and Old Testaments is the Word of the Bible that we are reading today. We must be saved from our sins by ruminating on this Word of the Bible and believing in it with our hearts. God had His servants work tirelessly to show the Bible, His Word, to His people, so that they may receive the remission of sins into their hearts and be saved. Therefore, we must believe that the righteous work of Jesus that God spoke to us is our salvation now. Jesus Christ has given the Truth of salvation to our hearts now through the written Word of God, and we must receive the remission of sins and become God’s children by believing in His baptism and blood.
Having read the written Word of God, we must receive the remission of sins by believing that the work of the baptism Jesus Christ received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross was for the washing of our sins. Those whose hearts believe unwaveringly in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross as the Truth of the remission of sins have become God’s people.
However, because all human beings were born with the flesh, they follow their own carnal lust rather than believing in the written Word of God. The reality is that, as a result, so many people have lost their way. It is not too late though. Even now, we must cast aside our own fleshly lust and be saved from all our sins by believing in the Truth that the Lord has spoken to us as our salvation—that is, in the baptism that Jesus received from John and His blood on the Cross. We ought to inherit the Lord’s Kingdom by placing our faith in the Truth of salvation prepared by our Lord. We must receive the remission of sins along with everlasting life by believing in the Word of God that He has given to all of us. We must realize what the written Word of God is telling us, and we must follow this Word by faith.
Because the “Word” is God, we must reach salvation by believing in every Word that the Bible says about how Jesus took away our sins and was condemned for them. For the “Word” written in the Bible is God to us, we must follow Him by believing in the Word He has spoken to us, and we must wait for Him by faith. When we deny our carnal thoughts and follow the written Word of the Lord by faith, it is then that true salvation and the true hope of Heaven abound in our hearts. The Lord blesses those who have received the remission of sins by believing in His Word to live their lives of faith in joy with the fullness of the Spirit. We ought to believe that the remission of our sins has been fulfilled with the written Word of baptism and blood, receive the God-given blessings of salvation, and follow the Word. For those who follow the Word of God by faith like this, the Lord will bless them to receive the remission of sins into their hearts, enter the Kingdom of God, and be glorified. This is the blessing that is received by those who have the true faith.
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