These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31
Jesus, the Word of God, had approximately three years of public ministry in which to bring the knowledge of God to the Jews. Many things that Jesus said and did during those years are not recorded. The Gospels are not exhaustive, nor were they intended to be. They do not present a full history, although they are historically accurate. The primary objective of the Gospels is that we might know who Jesus is and put our faith in Him.
As John closes his gospel, he writes, “There are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). John could have told us much more about the things that Jesus did, but the apostle, led by the Spirit, had a specific purpose in writing his gospel: that people would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that by believing they would have life in His name. As followers of Jesus, our lives should reflect the same goal.
The Life of Jesus Seen In Us
In the introduction to this book, I mentioned a phenomenon that has occurred in our society in recent years: people like Jesus, but they don’t like the church. If we as Christians truly know Jesus, if we are filled with His life, then our lives and our churches will attract people, not repel them. It is my prayer that through this series, you have seen Jesus in a fresh way and that His life in you is more visible to the world than ever before.
I am always on the lookout for a good gospel tract, but I believe that the best gospel tract we can give anyone is the gospel of John. It was written for the very purpose that we have in evangelizing: to convince people that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world, so that they will believe in Him and experience life in His name.
When we share Christ with people, it is vitally important that we give them the historical account of the gospel. Take them back to Genesis—back to the beginning, as John did (see John 1:1–5). Did God promise a Redeemer, or didn’t He? We can tell people that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6), but we need to state it in its historical context because a lot of religions make similar statements.
God’s Plan of Redemption
In the beginning God created man, but shortly afterward, fellowship between God and man was broken through sin. God promised to restore that fellowship through a Redeemer when He pronounced punishment on Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). Jesus is the culmination of God’s plan of redemption. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him, because He is the One whom God promised to the first two people back in the garden.
Today, we live in a multiethnic, multicultural society. People come to us from all over the world, having different traditions and religions. Many of them have never heard of Jesus. When we make the true claim to them that Jesus is the only way, we need to put it in context.
Do You Know Jesus?
This is why John wrote his gospel. He was showing us that Jesus is the Christ. The Messiah. The long-awaited Savior of the world. The One whom God promised Adam and Eve that He would send.
Do you know Jesus? Are you trusting Him, abiding in Him, drawing life from Him? If you are, then the world will be able to tell. They will see your servant’s heart, your love for other believers, your love for the lost. They will see Jesus in you. Ask the Lord for a fresh impartation of His Holy Spirit upon you, and go out each day, encouraged and unafraid in the power of the Spirit, that the people around you may believe in Jesus and have life in His name.