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Scripture reading: John 1-4

The Sin Nature: Humanity's Incurable Disease

One of my favorite TV series is The Walking Dead. If you are not familiar with this series, you are certainly missing out. Well, you are missing out if you like imagining what the world would be like in a post-zombie apocalypse.

The story revolves around a police officer, Rick Grimes. He has an accident and consequently falls into a coma, only to wake up in a hospital that is empty of all hospital staff, doctors, and nurses. The world he knew prior to the accident was gone. Now, he discovers that the world has been infected with a disease that every human being carries, which causes them to come back as zombies after they die. Of course, the possibility of turning is also present because if any of the zombies bite you, you will become sick, die, and eventually turn into a zombie. The show was so popular it aired for eleven seasons and has several spin-off series. I must admit I’ve watched the spin-offs as well.

It’s the underlying premise of the show, however, that offers a profound parallel to our weekly Bible reading, the Gospel of John. Just as every human being carries the disease of turning into a zombie upon death, the Apostle John seeks to communicate to his original audience that all of humanity is tainted with a different kind of disease: the sin nature (see John 3:3-7, 18-21; 8:34; 15:18-19).

Finding Connection: From Spiritual Death to Eternal Life

We are all born spiritually dead, which means we do not have a connection with God (see John 3:19-21). As you read the Gospel of John, you’ll discover that John seeks to tell his readers how they can become connected to God, to be “born again,” by receiving eternal life, the very life of God, by trusting in Jesus Christ for it (see John 3:3; 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; 11:25-26; 20:30-31).

Indeed, one of the central motifs of John’s Gospel is the contrast of light versus darkness (see John 1:4-5; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36). The image of light indicates personal knowledge of God, a personal relationship with him, versus darkness which indicates an absence of knowing God and a state of condemnation. During a conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20, NIV). The way to escape the spiritual darkness is to trust in Jesus, the Light of the World, and in him alone for eternal life.

How the Gospels Introduce Jesus

To fully understand John’s unique message of faith and eternal life, it helps to see how the other Gospel accounts introduced Jesus. Matthew was written to show his Jewish audience that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Israel (see 2 Samuel 7; Matthew 1-2; 4; 12:22-45; 14:12-15:47). The Gospel of Mark was written to show his Roman audience the true meaning of suffering and servanthood by demonstrating Jesus was the ultimate suffering servant (see Mark 10:45; 14-15). The Gospel of Luke was written to show Jesus as the perfect man (see Luke 2:52; 3:23-38; 5:16; 6:12; 22:41-44). The Gospel of John was written for the sole purpose of showing what a person must do to receive eternal life, which is to simply believe or trust in Jesus alone for it. Out of the four gospel accounts, the Gospel of John is the only book explicitly centered on evangelism. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as the rest of the New Testament, were primarily written with discipleship in mind, explaining what it means to follow Jesus after having believed in him for eternal life.

In fact, when someone who is not a believer asks you where they should start reading in the Bible, don’t tell them Genesis; tell them to start with the Gospel of John. Zane Hodges, a former professor at Dallas Seminary once said, “you can’t find one verse in Matthew, Mark, or Luke that says what John 3:16 says.” The Gospel of John is uniquely written to present the saving message and lead the reader to believe in Jesus alone for eternal life.

Have you trusted in Jesus alone for eternal life? If not, what keeps you from trusting in Him today?