My first teaching for iCross

After much prayer between my pastor and myself, we both believed that God called us to start up a youth group.  The name iCross was decided because we are called to keep our focus upon Christ, hence Eyes on the Cross, or iCross for short.  I am going to try to post the teachings on here for everyone to read (after youth group of course).   Currently we are going through the book of John.  Go to after the page break to enjoy the first sermon of iCross.

John 1:1-5

            Tonight we are going to start our Bible study in the book of John.  The reason we are starting with this book is because this gospel was written to convince those who read this that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing in Him they would have everlasting life.  This book is the best book to study for anyone who does not believe in Christ.  John wrote in this gospel the purpose for this book ‘That they might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and by believing have life in his name.’ The book was also written to correct some things that were being said about Christ in that era that were not true.

            Some of the false teachings that were going on in that day were the following: 1. People were teaching that Christ was not God, but only a man.  When we study the Bible, we see that this statement is false, because Christ was 100% God, and 100% man.  It is hard for us to understand this fact, but Jesus was 100% God in his actions and how he lived, but he was 100%man in the fact that he experienced everything we go through in life as a human on this earth.  There were other myths about Christ as well.  One was that he was a phantom, and was not real.  This is not true, due to all the accounts given to us in the gospels.  Jesus did bleed when he was pierced on the Cross, so if he was not real, people would not have seen blood come from his body. 

            The author of this book was named John.  I want to give a little background on John’s life to help understand the person who wrote this book.  John was a fisherman with his brother James, and father Zebedee.  The gospel of Matthew Ch 4, verse 22 tells us how Jesus met James and John. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.  While John was serving as an apostle under Jesus, James and John were referred to as ‘sons of thunder’ because of their zeal for God, along with an instance when they asked Jesus to call down fire on a Samaritan town (Luke 9:51-56).  John was also there when Jesus dies on the Cross.  Jesus instructed John from the cross to care for his mother, Mary.  After Jesus’s death, John taught the gospel for many years, writing 5 books in the Bible in the process.  The names of the 5 books were John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Revaluation.  The book of Revaluation was written by John on the island of Patmos.  John was banished to this island by the Roman ruler Domitian, after the Roman leaders tried to boil John in a vat of hot oil, due to John’s belief in Christ.  John, by God’s grace was spared injury from this according to church history.  John was the only disciple to not die as a martyr for Christ.

            When John wrote this gospel, he took a different approach to this gospel, compared to the other 3 gospels.  John decided to start this book by going back to the very beginning of time.  John goes back to before Genesis 1:1. The book of Genesis starts with the creation of heaven and earth.  John goes back to the infinite past and states in verse 1: In the beginning was the Word.  John also says in verse1 that ‘the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The Word was being referred to as Jesus.  Jesus was with God in the beginning.

2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

            John then starts to tell us about creation.  As stated earlier, this started before the creation of the heaven and the earth.  Before anything was created in Genesis 1:1, there was the Word.  He was with God.  He was the in the beginning with God.  God then created everything else starting in Genesis 1:1.

            In Genesis 1:1 it says ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’.  When we look up God in the Hebrew for this verse, the Hebrew name for God is Elohiym, which is plural.  Why does this matter you may ask?  It matters because if Jesus and the Holy Spirit was not present when God the Father was creating the heavens and the earth, the singular form of the word would have been used in the Hebrew, the name El.  In Genesis 1:26. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  God was talking to Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

            John 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

            God created ALL things.  Nothing escapes God’s sight.  God made the heavens and the earth, and everything that is on the earth.  God created all of us, and he even knows the hairs on each person’s head, by number.  Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12).  Verse 5 is a reference to Christ coming to this earth, and being the light to conquer the darkness.

            You may be wondering how this applies to me.  This applies to all of us today, because Jesus is with God today.  Jesus is up in heaven right now, acting as our advocate with God the Father, when we pray to Him, pleading our requests.  The only reason Christ can do this is because He came to this earth, and died in our place to save us from our sins.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into us, to empower us to live for God wholeheartily.  As we press towards God, others are then able to see Jesus reigning in our hearts, pressing through the trial and afflictions we may face in life.  Some may be scared to accept Jesus as their Savior, because they are afraid of the change He will bring about in their life.  I testify to you all now that there is nothing greater than accepting Jesus as your Savior.  All of heaven rejoices every time someone accepts Christ as their Savior.

            At this time, we are going to bow our heads and pray.  If you want to ask Jesus into your heart, now is the time to ask Him in.  Jesus wants to be a part of every person’s life here, if you allow Him to be.  We are going to take a few moments in silence to pray.  God loves to hear from his children.  Ask Him for those things on your heart.  Amen!