Our FIRESIDE Study Sessions

(Follow is a synopsis of our January 8th study session.
Unlike the photo above, it was cold and rainy here so we stayed inside.
Due to the overwhelming amount of participation by everyone who attended that night,
we have below, in good faith, attempted to distill the hour down to just the study.)

Grace and peace to all of you. Gene and I deeply appreciate all of you braving the cold and the rain to share food and fellowship with us this evening. If the creek rises and anyone needs to stay, we have extra room!! We are so grateful for your company. And I am especially grateful for the opportunity to share with you the love I have for the One who loved us enough to preserve this book, the Bible, for the past two thousand years so that we can still read it today.

As we learned our first Fireside, in order for heirs to learn of the will of the testator, they must read his or her testament. In this case, we can know God's will for us, by reading His testaments. And we have also learned that, through pretty unremarkable folks--shepherds, prophets, and many times people just like you and me--I personally am very shy, awkward before people, and not a very good speaker--through such as these and the seeming foolishness of our efforts, God can and indeed does make miracles, changing lives. In 1 Corinthians, the entire first chapter speaks about this. You see, God's value system is the opposite of our world's. He sees value in the unremarkable, the downtrodden, the poor in spirit--unlike our world which values winners, and prizes success above all things. In Romans chapter 10, verse 17, the great apostle Paul--another "loser" whose life God changed and used to bring people to Himself--Paul writes that "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." And we know that, unlike ourselves, God keeps His promises.

At these Fireside gatherings, Gene and I want so much to acquaint you, line by line, with this wonderful book. Sadly, many churches today no longer feel that is as important to do as other stuff. Others of us, for whatever reason(s) may no longer attend church. For Gene and I, now, gathering with you all here has become our new "church." After all, Jesus assures us that, "Wherever two or more of you are gathered in my name, so I am there in your midst." (Matthew 18:20)

Tonight, at this our third Fireside, we begin where we left off last time--in the great book of John, chapter 1, verse 4;

This book, as we learned together previously, was, in all probability written by John the apostle, historic brother of James of Zebedee, most probably Jesus' other cousin. Not to be confused with cousin John, the Baptist. This John, however, merely identifies himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." And what a great, humble, understatement of reality this seems to be. We have learned how John's testimony in this book, while, at once, being the most beloved portrait of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, carries with it the legal weightiness of a courtroom testimony, complete with witnesses.

In our last Fireside, we learned exactly what one meaning of the word "life" is. We read how Jesus, the Word who was with God, was God. And further underscoring such profundity, in verse 3 John states that, "All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made." John therefore declares to us that our world and everything in it was made by Jesus, declaring Him more than just a man, more than the Logos, but in fact Creator of all things and life itself. In Him was our very universe's creation.

But what are some of the other possible meanings of this Greek word for "life"in this verse, transliterated ZOE?

When we look in our Greek dictionary we find "life, spiritual life" and when combined with the Greek word AINIOS (AINIOS), "eternal life." (At this point our group discussed other interpretations of "life", at length, as well as many interpretations of "light").

Now, I want to ask you all, in the story of creation in Genesis how many trees did God plant in the midst of the garden which He designated as "off limits" to Adam and Eve? How many did He actually forbid them from partaking of? Upon reading Genesis 2:8-9, we see there were two trees there in the midst of the garden--the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. Which one(s) were prohibited? Continuing on in the story, in Genesis 2:10-17, we learn that God indeed forbade Adam and Eve from partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, under penalty of death.

What about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil inspired Adam and Eve to break God's only rule so far? What made the tree so desireable? Why does God remove them from the garden before they partake of the Tree of Life? What happened to the Tree of Life?

Answer: Now that they have broken God's only rule, sinned, He removes them so they can't partake of the Tree of Life and thus remain in a permanent, eternal, state of unredeemable sin. The Tree of Life is thus withheld by God, until such time as a sufficient remedy for the state of sin can be obtained. And how can God accomplish such a remedy? Through His own Son, on the cross at Calvary, thus enabling a tree of death to become the One and only way to life, eternal life, as Jesus Himself told His disciples before He was crucified, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

Where then did the tree of Life go? It was withheld by God it until such a time as He appointed, a time when all who call upon His name could be saved (Acts 2:21).

We will soon read about that Tree of Life standing by the river of life, in the book of Revelation--a book also written by John--in chapters 2, verse 7, and chapter 22, verse 2. For just as through one human, sin entered our world; through the self-sacrifice of One man, Jesus Christ, God has made it possible for people everywhere, sinners, of every nation, tongue and tribe--unremarkable people like you and me, to be forgiven for every wrong thing we have ever done or thought, so that we one day, may partake of that Tree and spend eternity with Him. (see Matthew 12:31,32 for "the unpardonable sin"--we had a lengthy discussion at this point re: this passage, one filled with personal testimonies.)

John 1, verse 5:
"And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Some English versions of the Bible translate "comprehend" as "overcome" instead. The reason is, the Greek word for comprehend--transliterated KATALAMBANO-- means "to obtain, attain, take hold of, to seize, to overcome, or literally, to become through." Just as a single burning candle is evident in a darkened room, so the light of truth and life burns brightly in our world today. But beyond that, His Light--His Truth--cannot be overcome.

Upon the Tree of death--the cross--Adam amd Eve's descendent Jesus Christ crushed the power of sin and its penalty; eternal darkness--bruising the serpent's head--by rising from a death He did not deserve, just as God promised He would (in Genesis, chapter 3) to become the Light of Hope for the world. For Jesus Christ knew no sin. So death, God's penalty for sin, could not overcome Him, but in fact was overcome by Him. Jesus willingly submitted Himself to the pain of death on behalf of all those who would believe on Him. But He rose from that temporary death to eternal life, becoming the Firstborn among many brethren--those who would put their trust in what He alone accomplished there--brothers and sisters also rising from death to eternal life, through Him. The Tree of Life.

Hence, our light, The Light--Jesus Christ, who was with God, and was God, shines in the darkness--our secular, rebellious, selfish world--and the darkness--sin and its wages, death--neither comprehended, nor overcame Him. (P.S. Noteworthy is the present tense of the word shines....)

Yes, He, the Word made flesh, being the only One to conquer death as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, offers Himself to us--Him, our Tree of Life-- so that all we who put our trust in what He alone accomplished and not ourselves, receive in return through repentance is His ongoing forgiveness, freedom from fear, hope for tomorrow, strength to keep going in the face of great adversity, peace of mind, and the only sure existing remedy for death.

And that, dear friends, is really, really good news. That indeed is the Gospel.