Today’s readings.. (1 Chronicles 27), (Ezekiel 36), (John 1)     
                                                                                                                      
   Today we started reading the Gospel of John. It is one of the most challenging books to understand. But the Bible would lose our continuing interest if its meaning was immediately plain as we read it.  Often we have to carefully think about what we read.  This is God’s wisdom in the way he has caused it to be written. It never fails to interest us, especially when we suddenly see new connections of thought as our knowledge of God’s word increases.
   The problem is made greater in a few cases because translators may have a fixed idea in their minds as to the intent behind the words they are translating. John’s Gospel begins by using the word WORD.  “In the beginning was the WORD”   In the Greek this is the word logos. The lexicon (Vines) states it is “the expression of thought”  – conception or idea, also a saying.   In the way John uses it, sometimes it is translated as saying [eg John 4 v.47,49] in the context of Jesus speaking to his hearers. A primary meaning is a ‘spoken word’
   This leads us to recall that Genesis 1 is all about what God said, words which resulted in life appearing on earth, God’s word was spoken and things happened “in the beginning”.  All that the people heard in the wilderness was God speaking from the top of the mountain.  God was known by his WORD, no one saw God he was known only by his voice.  
   The translators confuse us in John 1 when they start to use the word “Him”   Earlier translators (Tyndale) used the word “it.”  The best way to get the meaning is to use the noun instead of the pronoun. For example verse 3 is better read as “All things were made through a word, and without a word was not anything made that was made” (Look at Isa. 55 v.11)
   But we can see a greater meaning here; a special spiritual meaning – that is, that the words of Jesus had the power to bring eternal life to those that accepted them.  This would result in a new spiritual creation leading to a race of immortal spiritual beings when Jesus comes again. Read carefully v.12,  “…to all who did receive him, who believed his name, he gave the right to become ‘children of God’ “   Those who believe in Jesus “receive him”! Which means?  It means we think that he comes to dwell in the new believer and the full reality of this will be experienced when he returns.  Read and think about John 14 v.23