This is the second training in the K-Path: Kingdom of God.
Motto: Love one another – Go and make disciples
John’s most concise Gospel summary is found in his first letter. What does this tell us about people and God and the Gospel?
1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
In your Growth Group look at John’s gospel introduction (1:1-18) and note down everything that is “good news” and try to summarise the gospel:
John 1:1-5, 1:6-9, 1:10-13, 1:14-18. (You might also like to look at John 3:16-21).
This is a very different expression of the Gospel from that recorded in the other three gospels. How would you describe this difference?
John’s was the last of the gospels to be written, towards the end of his long life, after 50 years of proclaiming the Gospel and reflecting on its meaning. The Gospel was being proclaimed in deeply pagan places where the Kingdom of God had no cultural meaning. John appears to have translated the Gospel from its Jewish cultural origins into a Greek pagan culture.
What has “The time has come…” been translated into?
What has “God’s Kingdom is near” been translated into?
What has the previous kingdom of Satan been translated into?
What has “Repent and believe the Good News” been translated into?
How close is John’s Gospel to what Jesus gave to Paul as seen here:
Act 26:18 Jesus said, “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
