He was in the world, and the world was created through
Him, yet the world did not know Him.
John 1:10, Modern English Version (MEV)
It is truly amazing when you get right down and think about it. With all the miracles surrounding the birth of Jesus; the choir of angels, the visit of the Magi, then all the miracles that He performed during His ministry, the Apostle John was still able to say that the world did not recognize Him. It is still true today that the world does not recognize Him, only now we place the blame on our own shoulders, believing it to be some failure in our message or presentation, so we invent an endless number of new gimmicks to try to get people to see, but still the world will not recognize Him. Maybe it is time for us to stop focusing so much on how we think things should happen and focus more on what God's Word tells us has, and will, happen.
As John Gill provides us with some additional information in his Exposition of the Bible:
John 1:10, Modern English Version (MEV)
It is truly amazing when you get right down and think about it. With all the miracles surrounding the birth of Jesus; the choir of angels, the visit of the Magi, then all the miracles that He performed during His ministry, the Apostle John was still able to say that the world did not recognize Him. It is still true today that the world does not recognize Him, only now we place the blame on our own shoulders, believing it to be some failure in our message or presentation, so we invent an endless number of new gimmicks to try to get people to see, but still the world will not recognize Him. Maybe it is time for us to stop focusing so much on how we think things should happen and focus more on what God's Word tells us has, and will, happen.
As John Gill provides us with some additional information in his Exposition of the Bible:
He was in the world,.... This is to be understood, not of his incarnation; for the word was denotes past existence in the world, even all the time past from the creation of the world; and the world intends the world in general, as opposed to Judea, and the people of the Jews in the next verse; besides, the incarnation of the word is spoken of in Jhn_1:14 as a new and distinct thing from this: but of his being in the world, when first made, and since, by his essence, by which he fills the whole world; and by his power, upholding and preserving it; and by his providence, ordering and managing all the affairs of it, and influencing and governing all things in it: he was in it as the light and life of it, giving natural life and light to creatures in it, and filling it, and them, with various blessings of goodness; and he was in the promise and type before, as well as after the Jews were distinguished from other nations, as his peculiar people; and he was frequently visible in the world, in an human form, before his incarnation, as in Eden's garden to our first parents, to Abraham, Jacob, Manoah, and his wife, and others,
And the world was made by him: so Philo the Jew often ascribes the making of the world to the Logos, or word, as before observed on Jhn_1:3 and this regards the whole universe, and all created beings in it, and therefore cannot design the new creation: besides, if all men in the world were anew created by Christ, they would know him; for a considerable branch of the new creation lies in knowledge; whereas, in the very next clause, it is asserted, that the world knew him not; and they would also love him, and obey him, which the generality of the world do not; they would appear to be in him, and so not be condemned by him, as multitudes will. To understand this of the old creation, best suits the context, and proves the deity of Christ, and his pre-existence, as the word, and Son of God, to his incarnation,
And the world knew him not; that is, the inhabitants of the world knew him not as their Creator: nor did they acknowledge the mercies they received from him; nor did they worship, serve, and obey him, or love and fear him; nor did they, the greater part of them, know him as the Messiah, Mediator, Saviour, and Redeemer. There was, at first, a general knowledge of Christ throughout the world among all the sons of Adam, after the first promise of him, and which, for a while, continued; but this, in process of time, being neglected and slighted, it was forgot, and utterly lost, as to the greater part of mankind; for the Gentiles, for many hundreds of years, as they knew not the true God, so they were without Christ, without any notion of the Messiah; and this their ignorance, as it was first their sin, became their punishment.
No comments:
Post a Comment