Version used: NIV
God told John the Baptist that his son (logos, light, spirit) was about to come into the world to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
John1: 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
John’s mother and Jesus’s mother were cousins so the two men should have known each other and yet John did not realize that Jesus would be the anointed one (Messiah, Christ).
John 1:32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
And so it was that,
John1:14 The Word (logos) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The anointed Jesus (Messiah, Christ) is the Son of God. Moses had delivered the Law that told men (servants) how to avoid the wrath of God. Jesus Christ brought to men true understanding of God, he made God known to men.
John 1:16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John 14:8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
By making God known to men, Jesus enabled us to become children of God (more than servants).
John1: 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
This is the Gospel (Good News!) of Jesus Christ. There is much more to tell but this is my answer if someone asks me, “What is the Gospel of Christ?”
DB
