Bought and Paid For By Jesus

October 19, 2025

In the gospel bearing his name, the Apostle John begins his record of Jesus by informing his readers who Jesus really is. John 1:1-18 serves as an introduction or prologue to the rest of his account. Most of us are familiar with this prologue, especially the first part that lets us know Jesus (the Word) is eternal, and He is God. We are also familiar with the last part of this prologue, which tells us Jesus (the Word) became flesh and dwelt among us. It is the middle part of this paragraph about Jesus that I want us to consider today. Let’s pick up in John 1:9: “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” Every human who has ever been born or ever will be born is touched by the light of Jesus. John isn’t telling us that every human will receive the light of Jesus in a saving sense or that God is ultimately going to save everybody. John is letting us know that the light of Jesus is felt by every human being. Any form of goodness, kindness, and compassion that is given or felt between humans is actually a reflection of the light of Jesus Christ. This light within all of us should serve as a springboard to pursuing a relationship with the source of that light, Jesus. John continues in Verses 10 and 11 by telling us that the very same Jesus who came into the world as a baby boy is also the One through whom the world was made. Jesus came into the world, but unfortunately, the world pretty much rejected Him. However, not everyone rejected Him. Verse 12 continues by letting us know that a few of the people who saw, interacted with, and learned from Jesus believed in Him and received Him. To those people (as well as those in the future), Jesus gave the right (authority) to become children of God. Dear believer, if you have repented toward God and believed in Jesus,  you are the child of the Most-High God (Acts 20:21). Don’t let Satan deceive you by trying to take your identity from you. I know you struggle at times, so do I. I know that sometimes you don’t live like a child of God, neither do I, but thank God, He loves us in not only our best moments but also and maybe especially, in our weakest ones. You are a child of the Most-High God, and neither Satan nor anyone else can take blessed standing away from you. Then, knowing our human inclination to think that anything good in our lives is a direct result of our individual effort, John reminds us in Verse 13 that our salvation (regeneration, being born again from above) has nothing to do with our effort or desire, but has everything to do with God’s will and God’s action of sending Jesus as our sacrificial lamb to pay our sin debt. Salvation is a work of God, not a work of human effort. Praise be to God for His grace, mercy, and lovingkindness. As much as we humans try to complicate the gospel (good news), the gospel in its simplest form is this. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus bought and paid for our place in the kingdom of God. Now THAT’s good news.

Be blessed and go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy