The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' John 1:29,30.
To introduce this verse Pastor informed us that the Bible has a mistake. This is a contradiction in the time line of John’s narrative. John is speaking of Jesus here but how could Christ have been before John if John was born first?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1.
Christ has always been. He was never created. He simply has always existed. To me this little exercise Pastor took us through has a profound importance. I have heard many people talk about how Christ could have been a teacher or prophet. Pastor talked about how many will try to say He was a good man but not God. Right here in John, that option is taken away from us. If Jesus had been born one second before John then when John says, “He was before me” he could simply have been talking about birth order. The fact is He wasn’t born first. So when John says Jesus came before he is clearly speaking of Christ’s eternal nature. His place as the Messiah, He is the Son of God. No way around it that is what he is saying.
Like Pastor has said, you don’t have to believe it, but don’t lie to yourself about what the bible says. This is not a matter of believing the Pastor about who Christ is, John spells it out clearly and plainly. Without that understanding of Christ’s Godhood, we cannot understand the significance of the Cross. He wasn’t a great man, Jesus is God amongst us.
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. John 1:12, 13
We are all born of woman but unless we are born again, born of God we cannot have the right to become children of God. Pastor laid this out for us simply, to be born again you must believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. We must ask Him to forgive our sins and we must pledge our love and devotion to Him in gratitude.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3
Now the problem is that no matter how simple or obvious the truth, some people frankly don’t want to know it. When asked, most people would say they want to know what is true, but Christ is the fulfillment of all truth. Genuine seekers will always end up at the cross. We all want the best life possible but we spend our lives seeking it in the world and only find pain.
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Mathew 6:33
Unfortunately, many people who have been fooled to believe they are too smart to need Jesus will find themselves suffering eternally in Hell for their arrogance. Please don’t be one of them. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and ask him to forgive you your sins. He will make you one of His children. Do this now and begin to discover the fullness of what life could be.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. II Corinthians 5:17
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