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Study Gateway's First Listens: Find your next Bible study! Join host Shelley Leith as she curates first sessions of Bible studies on various themes each season, taught by some of the world’s most influential Christian authors, teachers, and pastors. To learn more, visit https://StudyGateway.com.
First Listens Season 4: Episode 8
Beautiful Word: John, by Megan Marshman
Plus interview with Megan Marshman
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH: Welcome, everyone, to Study Gateway’s First Listens where you get the first listens to the first sessions on Study Gateway so that you can find your next video Bible study. We are wrapping up Season Four where we have taken our inspiration from Women's History Month and focusing in on women Bible teachers you should know. I'm Shelley Leith, your host, and today in our final episode of the season, I get to introduce you to the Bible teacher I've have personally been the most excited to meet. Megan Marshman. Megan, welcome to our podcast.
MEGAN MARSHMAN: Wow, it's so exciting to be here with you. How wonderful it is to be a woman who loves the Lord and then is handed a microphone to share anything that God's done in our life, whether that microphone is a literal small group, or standing on a stage, I consider it such a great privilege to be talking with you, who is using your microphone to help equip others and talking to people who use us people sitting in a circle to equip people in their faith. It is a joy.
SHELLEY: Thank you. Well, Megan you live just up the freeway from me here in Southern California, and I had heard of you because of your role as the teaching pastor at Willow Creek. But the first time I actually heard your teaching, was when we released your study based on Jeremiah 29:11 called Meant for Good. You are a powerful teacher, Megan, and I'm so excited for our audience to meet you. But before we get started, I wanted to just share this partial list of the roles that you are filling right now.
• You are a teaching pastor at Willow Creek in Chicago.
• You are a women's pastor at your local church in Long Beach.
• You are the director of women's ministries at Hume Lake Christian Camps.
• You are a doctoral student in spiritual formation and soul care.
• You are an author of four books and Bible studies.
• You are a speaker—I counted 48 speaking engagements on your calendar for this year so far.
• and you are a mom of two young boys, Foster and Jedediah.
So, Megan. You've walked into a room. No one knows you. Everyone's going around the room, introducing themselves and telling a little bit about themselves. When it's your turn, what do you say?
MEGAN. What a great question. This moment actually happened to me Shelley, and I don't think you even knew about it when you were asking that. I was sitting in a room and we were going to brainstorm a book concept. It was actually one of my first solo books that I came out with years ago. So I’m in with a publishing house. And they have all these really influential people that work for the publishing house in a circle. And although the prompt wasn't this direct they said basically, prove why you're in this room. And everyone starts with their credentials, kind of like what you just did with me. And I mean, it's like, well, I used to work at so and so big name publishing company and so and so and then the next person, I actually work for bigger name company so and so. And it just kind of like everyone is impressing everyone. And I remember sitting there and thinking which direction do I go? And you know, what title do I hold? And I remember sitting back and asking the Lord, like, what do I share? And he brought to mind something that I did not want to share. And I thought like that has to be the Lord because nothing in me would bring up that. And so again, everyone's impressing everybody and then it gets to me and my response was: Hi. I'm Megan and I went to jail once. And everyone was shocked, including any version of me that was before that moment would have been shocked because I was the good Christian kid that grew up in a good Christian home. And I find myself in jail because I found myself with a difficult group of friends in college and my issue wasn't what I got in trouble for, which was stealing (how silly, because I had enough money for what I actually stole in my wallet); my issue is people pleasing and I go to jail. Walk out of a jail cell at—how old was I, 19? And my mom has her arms wide open. Which was very undeserved. And I looked at my mom and I thought, oh, I don't deserve that. And then my dad so poignantly said, my girl you never did. And that was probably the beginning of what became that long list of things that I do. Is an understanding of grace and how undeserving we are of any title that we hold. And so I understood grace, when I finally understood that I didn't deserve it and grace is unmerited unearned favor. So if I were to introduce myself, I hope that I always start with what brought me into relationship with God in the first place, which for me is the unmerited favor of God, and that's how I like even beginning it with you, although it's not my most proud moment in life, it is one of the most impactful that led to understanding that I am just a servant of the Lord in response to him serving me with everything I need.
SHELLEY: I'm so curious to know what you were like as a little girl. What did you want to be when you grew up?
MEGAN: Oh man. This going to be a little shocking for people that do know me but since this is the month of introducing to people you don't know, because most of you probably don't. And I tend to probably come across rather outgoing because I am, but when I was little, I was really quiet, not shy. I was just quiet by choice. I think it was just selfishness. And not, like, needing anyone. I was really independent and in fact, that's one of my biggest struggles to this day is my own independence, which is really interesting because it's applauded in the world. And yet, I'm realizing one of my greatest struggles is Christian autonomy; doing the life of faith without God, even my spiritual disciplines and doing everything without him and trusting God for salvation, yet not trusting him with relational challenges that we hold in life or with little worries we have about the future, and saying I have to go and figure that one out. In fact, I hear that phrase all the time: I just have to figure that one out. When I was little, you asked about when I was like when I was little, I wanted to figure everything out. So, me as a little kid was doing a whole lot of that. Unfortunately, I haven't always grown out of it I've become more aware of it by his grace.
SHELLEY: Okay. And so did you grow up saying I want to be a Bible teacher?
MEGAN: Oh, no. Sorry. I didn't even answer your question directly. I'm was just getting all into, like, everything. I wanted be a professional athlete. That's what I wanted and I had an offer to do so out of college and then declined it to work for like two dollars an hour at a Christian camp, and that was the beginning of ministry for me.
SHELLEY: Wow. What sport?
MEGAN: Basketball.
SHELLEY: Tough sport?
MEGAN: Yes.
SHELLEY: Great. Okay. I was also fascinated by the fact that you are a teaching pastor. What was your path to be becoming a teaching pastor like.
MEGAN: Oh, yeah. Whenever people walk up to me and asked like, how did you become a speaker? I kind of giggle because that jail story I brought up, which, by the way, I don't typically start off podcasts with that one. That's pretty unique to this a moment. But my consequence from the court…so when I went to the court, my parents had all of their friends write letters of recommendation to say like, this is not in her character, so I stood before a judge. And he said, I'm going to do something I've never done before (which was either really good or really bad). And it ended up being really good because what he asked me to do was to speak publicly at local high schools in the area where I went to college on the topic of decision making, and that's how I discovered that I had a gift to communicate. So actually, talking about my greatest weakness, which is been great when Paul writes that God's power is made perfect not in our strengths, but actually in our weaknesses, and I learned that firsthand. So that's when the journey began, when I got in trouble. And then my consequence was to discover my own gift.
So that's where it kind of began, but then from that point, I really just served my local church. And so, my next step for me was just being a small group leader. And then went up and volunteered as a small group leader at a Christian camp. That Christian camp hired me the next summer, and I was on stage running activities, and then someone said, do you want to share your heart in a seminar? And I said, sure. Shared my heart in a seminar. And then I started speaking at local Christian high schools because a lot of those students went to local Christian high schools, then a few of those students went to Christian colleges, started speaking at those, worked for a Christian publishing house and then as I worked for a Christian publishing house I got to work on curriculum to come alongside churches and equip them, not in their primary role, but in their supportive roles to equip the family, and that led me to speaking at pastors conferences and everything kind of just kept snowballing. Only two times in my life have I ever asked to speak somewhere, and both were declined. And so they said, do you want to work part time for the church? And I said no. Then a week later went on a journey, ended up working, and it's funny. My trajectory of, like, ministry was getting more and more influential, influential, influential, and the job offered before me was to just serve as a college pastor and speaking every week, and that's really where I developed communicating on a consistent basis. And then I worked at another church and another church. It's funny, I want it to be linear and I keep trying to make this as I'm speaking about it linear, and it just wasn't. It was just being faithful with right where God has you. So how to become a teaching pastor. When Willow Creek had a difficult season, I got a phone call from someone that just knew me as a college pastor and said, you were a faithful college pastor. And we have a church that's hurting. You want to love the church. I know that that's what you do. And I did. I love the church. Yeah. And so, then that happened, and I haven't left.
SHELLEY: Wow. There is a power and an authority that you have when you teach. What are some of the elements of your practice and your rhythms that give you that power in your messages?
MEGAN: Yep. I would say two things. One to let the message from the Lord impact you first. Then, and this kind of leads to number two, then when I'm sharing, I'm not tempted by what I used to be tempted by early on in teaching, which is a desire to be liked, or for people to like what I say, or a desire to be profound or clever or anything else that puts me as the main character of that time, of that moment of speaking. So those two things would be number one. When it affects me, it leads to number two: caring more about them getting it because I have, instead of them liking it. By default every communicator, whether you're in a small group or whether you're standing on a stage, wants to be impactful, and that's not wrong. They want to be compelling. They want to say something that's helpful and clever and makes people pause and think deeply and bring their heart and everyone wants that. But I think what the enemy does is he doesn't let us see the path and they think that our job is to simply take the information and then be really creative and make it a wow for other people. And I did that for a long time as a communicator and I really remember feeling so much pressure and then the more I've done it, the more I’ve come to realize, that pressure is not from the Lord. He's not putting pressure on me to be profound or clever or for people to like it. The only thing he's inviting is for it to change me.
SHELLEY: We're about to listen to the first session from your new study on the book of John, which is a book that has been taught by so many people. So how did you approach teaching through this beloved book?
MEGAN: Oh, we went the direction of God revealing himself. The way that we did it was really a concept developed by John Calvin, this idea of double knowledge. And really what it says is you can't know God unless you know yourself. And the way that we went about it is Jesus’s I Am statements, but also what that reveals about ourselves together. Now let me explain it. So for instance, and by the way, I would have disagreed with this concept about seven years ago when I wrote a book called SelfLess—how to think less about yourself and more of yourself at the exact same time. Okay. So I heard this concept and it's double knowledge. And it was as I was studying the book of John, which is…so let's say I know something about God, like, God is love, which many of us have heard our entire lives. And we can know that it can sit in an intellectual thing and not change us whatsoever. But when you suddenly know yourself and you know your wretchedness and your selfishness and then you consider that God loves you the same in your obedience as your wretchedness, you have the potential of knowing the truth you already know deeper. So I can know—here's another example—I can know God is sovereign. And yet, you look at yourself and you go, I'm so anxious. A lot of people get confused in this moment and they go like, do I not believe that he's sovereign and here I am. No. No. No. Our anxiety, knowing ourself and the things actually make us anxious, anxiety may not be one of the greatest evils of our world. I wonder if it actually can become…what it does is it's the Holy Spirit revealing in us an area that maybe we don't actually trust in his sovereignty, and that's his kindness that leads us to repentance, to turn toward him. We can use anxiety. We can even use anxiety. Isn’t that a wild conceptWhat we did with the book of John was to say, here's what Jesus reveals about himself. But what we must do is open up our heart to receive it in the places where we don't actually believe it. That doesn't force us to do something we could do in our own autonomy. It allows us to open our lives to the power of the Holy Spirit, who is the one that actually initiates faith as we open ourselves to him. So, I’d say that would be the unique way that we go about the book of John is twofold. Number one, what's the truth about God. First knowledge. Second, what is it revealing about us and how can we come out of hiding and allow the truth we already know to meet us in the place we need to know it the most.
SHELLEY: Very very creative and unique. I love that perspective, and I think that study is going to be one everybody's going to want to do all the sessions once they hear this first one. Before we before wrap up, I'd want to know if you have any current projects you're working on that you're excited about and would like to tell us about.
MEGAN: Oh, man. Yes. Shelley. There is. I'm currently working on what will double as my dissertation. And my next book with Zondervan which is based off of a Dallas Willard quote. So Dallas Willard was in an interview and in the middle of it—Dallas is one of the leading experts, has one been one of the leading voices on the topic of spiritual formation, which is a very fancy way of saying Christ formed in you. That's it. How we become more like Christ. And he was asked to describe Jesus in one word. And his response was…relaxed. And so, I am studying the life of Jesus and how in the world Dallas will use that one word. And if God's going to use all things for good to form us more into the likeness of Jesus because that's what he means by Romans 8:28, let’s not forget Romans 8:29, it says, it's to form us into the likeness of Jesus. That's the good that he's doing in everything. Okay. If that's the goal and Dallas Willard says he's relaxed, then why aren't we? And yet, Jesus grieved, and yet Jesus got angry, and yet Jesus was Man of Sorrows, and yet he delighted with his friends. He feasted. He celebrated. He had friends, he was disappointed with friends, he had church hurt. Okay. If that's who he is, how was he relaxed to even feel and live into the full human experience, and I believe it's this: because he was walking with the one who's not worried about a thing. And so, it's an invitation against autonomy and an invitation into doing everything with him, and the byproduct becomes the relaxed life of Jesus that can embrace grief, that can find a place and a purpose even for our anger and allow us to walk with the One who's not worried about a thing.
SHELLEY: Oh, man. Megan. It has been just as great meeting you as I imagined it would be. I know your schedule and the demands on your life and I'm so honored that you took the time to be with us today. Thank you. And now, my First Listens audience, I am pleased to present to you the first session from Megan’s study in our Beautiful Word collection called John: Believe I Am. Let's tune in right now to Session One.
[MUSIC PLAYING] MEGAN: You can know a lot about God and not know Him at all. How do I know? I grew up in a lot of wonderful environments where I learned a lot about God. In fact, who is God? God is the universe's creator and sustainer, plus the only Savior. There is no one greater. He's triune, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute, loving, sovereign, and righteous. Those are a few of his attributes. How do I know that?
Well, I know that from the Bible, where God has revealed Himself. Anything else is just an idol. You get the idea. Thanks, Shay Lynn. See, we're not just meant to know a lot about God. We can get to know Him personally. And in this study, I hope by the end you don't just know a lot of facts about Jesus, but that you know Him.
See, because actually knowing someone requires personal knowledge coming from being with someone over time and building trust. Knowing about someone is just the first step, but it is an important step toward actually knowing them. And it's the same with God. So wherever you're at in your relationship with God, great. Be right there.
Because as it turns out, God's not going to meet you where you're not. So you might as well show up here to this study, in this moment, right where you're at. And thankfully, God has made himself known to us through His Word and through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John-- the fourth account of the life of Jesus was written by a guy named John, a disciple of Jesus, the one whom Jesus loved.
The funny thing is that John wrote in his own gospel about himself, that he is the one whom Jesus loved. John wrote that. Would you ever introduce yourself that way? It's kind of cute, right? Hey. I'm Megan, by the way. Nice to meet you all. I'm the one who Jesus loves. The truth is, you are. You are the one whom Jesus loves too. And I hope you begin to believe that as we go through this study.
So let's start there, friends, on this journey through the Gospel of John, a narrative all about God in the flesh who came because He so loved you and me and us. Believe it. You're loved, so much so. You don't have to run around and search for it anywhere else. In Christ, you have it completely, fully, and eternally. Believe that about Jesus. Believe all of His words about you.
But also, His own words about Himself. Because, see, that is why John wrote the book. In John chapter 20:31, he gives us the precise reason when he writes this. "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
John is one of the four Gospels following the life of Jesus. Like Matthew and Luke, John has his own genealogy of sorts. But his genealogy goes back before time even began. It's a genealogy of, well, eternity. A genealogy of the pre-existent One. What other writing in history can make this audacious claim?
And John begins his gospel narrative by paralleling the beginning of the book, Genesis 1:1 when it is written, "In the beginning," a time before time where there was just God who, by the way, existed for forever. We often consider the word "eternity" moving forward. But Genesis and John hint toward eternity in the past, a God who existed before the beginning.
I can't quite comprehend that. God's always existed. But friends, I'm becoming more and more OK with a god I can't fully comprehend because a god I could fully comprehend would be a tiny god. And our God is bigger than I could ever imagine or think. And maybe it's good for all of us to hang out in that place of awe, that place where we can't fully know everything.
It actually will lead us to a place of worship. It's good for us. So we begin at the beginning in John with the word. John, chapter 1, verse 1, says this, "In the beginning was the Word." What or who is the Word? In Greek, the word is logos. Logos is the power and purpose of human life. See, while it was usually associated with an impersonal and abstract forces in the world, John intros his book by saying that power and purpose and meaning for life's existence is not an abstract principle, it's a person.
And this study will introduce you to Him. If you want to know who the true God is, who exists eternally, look at Jesus, the Son. Colossians, chapter 1:15 says, "The Son is the image of the invisible God." The invisible God is visible as we look to the life of Jesus. So you want to know what God's like? Good. Look at Jesus. He's the main theme, purpose, direction, character of this fourth book in the New Testament.
So what can we know about Jesus? Let's start with that knowledge. Well, in John, chapter 1, verse 14, it says that "Jesus became flesh." He wanted to be with us, humanity, so much so that he becomes one of us. Why did He come? Why would God become flesh to dwell among us?
Well, just two chapters later in John 3:16, a famous passage-- but receive it afresh-- tells us why, "Because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him"-- by contrast, not in themselves-- "shall not perish but have eternal life."
Jesus came because God loved us and desired to give us eternal life with Him for forever. My hope for you each week as we journey together through the book of John is that you will really get to know who He is in a personal and intimate way, and then believe He is who he says He is.
So we should get started with this question. Who is He? The entire book of John teaches us about Jesus. So John begins the book with this critical proclamation, revealing who Jesus is, God Himself, and then gives story after story of the miracles which John uniquely refers to them as signs, not miracles. And they're proving who He is.
And then along the way, Jesus makes these seven "I am" statements explaining the character and nature of Himself and of God. These are not Jesus's only statements about Himself throughout the Bible, and also in John, but they stand out in a unique way. They echo God's naming of Himself all throughout the Old Testament book of Exodus, strengthening the link between the Father and the Son, the Old Testament and the New Testament and ultimately providing a way for there to be an eternal link between God and us. It matters.
So let's unpack this a bit. Why do we give someone or something a name? It's to identify, to distinguish, to characterize, describe, familiarize. But in a sense, it's also to contain, to constrain, and even tame.
You see, when I know someone's name, they become approachable. There's no longer a need to be held at arm's length. Let me illustrate it this way. Imagine you were invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen of England. You naturally would be a bit intimidated by the grandeur of the occasion.
Can you imagine if she pulled you aside into the sitting room-- because they probably have one of those-- sat down right next to you and said, oh, please, call me Elizabeth? That would certainly be disarming. You'd probably even relax a little bit and even feel like the distance between you and her had somewhat diminished.
What then can we possibly call God? There is no name or moniker that can adequately characterize his essence. And any mere name would diminish His glory. Should He not rightly be held at arm's length? You see, we cannot and should not attempt to lessen the distance between ourselves and God. We must not in any way attempt to tame God.
As Mr. Tumnus rightly said of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, he is not a tame lion. And we err grievously and rob God of the glory due Him when we attempt to do so. So what is the only name that can even approach giving God His due? Well, God told Moses that he should be called this-- I am.
This phrase in Hebrew can be translated a number of ways. I am, or I exist, or I am the eternally existent one, or I am life itself. God is basically saying this, I am self-sufficient and self-existent. What this name communicates is that God is ever present, eternally unchangeable, and everlastingly constant.
Whatever it needs to exist, God possesses this within Himself. By contrast, maybe this will help. We are contingent beings. We are dependent upon someone or something else for even our very existence and breath. God is not contingent or dependent upon anything else. He contains, defines, and possesses existence within himself.
Is your mind rattling yet? Anything that exists owes its very existence and its very ability to be to God. That is the starting place to understand the audacity of Jesus's claim for Himself to be. "I am." And what's most shocking of all is that this unapproachable being actually desires to know you and me and, in His sovereign, compassionate way, makes himself known to us. And He does it in such a profound way.
The people around Jesus recognized what He was doing and saying and they were more than offended. Why? Because Jesus was claiming all throughout the book of John to be God. And this becomes a stumbling block for some of the people and a source of contention and division for others.
It was this assertion, these I am statements, that ultimately led Jesus to His death. And again and again in John's gospel, we'll see the ancient people of God-- specifically the rulers and self-appointed guardians of tradition-- missing the meaning of what Jesus is doing and ultimately who He is because they refused to believe it could be true in Him.
And even many who did believe were too afraid of what everyone else would say to make their belief even known. It was actually many on the edges of society who were the ones who found themselves close to Jesus, forgiven, healed, brought in by God's transforming love. You see, for His true disciples, Jesus's claim to be God was eventually the very life-giving truth they clung to and gave their entire lives for.
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY: These I Am statements of Jesus—offensive to some, life-giving to others. You’re listening to the first session in the Beautiful Word study on the book of John, by Megan Marshman, published by HarperChristian Resources and streaming on Study Gateway. Study Gateway is a streaming video service, and we’re the only one that has a subscription plan especially for small groups. For our First Listens listeners, we offer you an exclusive rate on our small group plan. When you use the promo code FIRST at studygateway.com, you’ll get 20% off of small group plan for up to 20 people. And, for a complete experience with Beautiful Word: John, take advantage of our publisher-direct pricing on the essential Bible study guide designed to be used with the videos. You’ll get the group discussion questions and leader materials, and personal Bible study and reflection exercises to do between sessions, PLUS you’ll get all the signature Beautiful Word features such as Scripture verse coloring pages and word art. Get all the details at Studygateway.com.
Now let’s return to Megan.
[MUSIC PLAYING] MEGAN: So where do you find yourself today? There's just the intro, just the beginning. Are you experiencing life in His name, longing for a deeper belief, to give more of your life? Do you want to be more in awe? Here's what I know. I just don't want to be satisfied whatever I understand to this point.
Oh, Lord, how we need you. We believe-- maybe some of us believe. Oh, Lord would you just help us in our unbelief? Can we just stop for a moment in the midst of the Bible study and confess that we have so much more to believe? Let's never let this, well, I know, ever become our posture towards anything, towards our relationship with God, towards understanding Him, toward our life, toward others, toward anything.
We might miss out on knowing it more, you see? While there was no clear way Jesus could have said what we needed to know, that He is Jehovah God, He didn't stop there. Instead, He continued to dive even deeper into revealing His nature and character by working purposeful signs and miracles that we're about to read about. I hope you're excited for the study. I am. Clearly.
But remember, signs-- these signs, these miracles, what He's up to-- signs always point to the purpose, the destination. They're a means to the end. And these signs are moments. They're moments when heaven is seemingly opened and when the transforming power of God's love bursts into the present world and we get to see what heaven, God's kingdom, is like.
And what's it like? People are healed, fed, satisfied, brought to life. Jesus wants us to see more of Himself through these signs and also these statements about Himself. And we will. Come expectant. You see, because Jesus is the end. Therefore, let these signs and statements lead you to the treasure, my friends.
Let them lead you to the Word who became flesh, Son of God, the promised Messiah. Each pronouncement reveals a new facet of His claim to deity. In this series, we're going to be going through seven of them. And each of them is a key that unlocks a new door, revealing His true identity.
He is the one they had been waiting for, the Word, the logos, Jesus Himself. And by the Spirit of God, may we grow to believe and find life in His name too. What an unbelievable promise. Let's know Him rightly and believe in Him intimately. But we must know who He truly is.
Kevin DeYoung once wrote a blog about the greatness of God being most clearly displayed in his son, Jesus. But he writes this, "How many people know the real Jesus?" He writes, "There's all sorts of Jesus. I mean, there's Republican Jesus who is against tax increases and activists judges, and for family values and owning firearms.
There's Democrat Jesus who is against Wall Street and Walmart, and for reducing our carbon footprint and spending other people's money. There's Therapist Jesus who helps us cope with life's problems, heal our past, tells us how valuable we are and not to be so hard on ourselves. There's open-minded Jesus who loves everyone all the time no matter what, except for people who are not as open-minded as you.
There's Touchdown Jesus who helps athletes run faster, jump higher, than non-Christians, and then determines the outcome of Super Bowls. There's Martyr Jesus, a good man who died a cruel death so we can feel sorry for him. There's Gentle Jesus, who was meek and mild, with high cheekbones, flowing hair, and walks around barefoot, wearing a sash, looking German."
And he goes on, "Hippie Jesus. There's Yuppie Jesus. Spirituality Jesus. Platitude Jesus. Revolutionary Jesus. Guru Jesus. Boyfriend Jesus. And Good Example Jesus, who shows you how to help people, change the planet, become a better you.
And then there's Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Not just another prophet. Not just another Rabbi. Not another wonder-worker. He was the one they had been waiting for"-- and us too-- "the Son of David and Abraham's chosen seed, the one to deliver us from captivity, the goal of the Mosaic law, Yahweh in the flesh, the one to establish God's reign and rule, the one to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, freedom to the prisoners, proclaim good news to the poor, the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world."
This Jesus who Kevin DeYoung wrote about tells us precisely who He is seven times. And as I read this list, would you just quiet your heart for a moment with me and ask yourself, what do you need to hear about who He is? What do you need to believe? And so by way of introduction, sit there quietly. Close your eyes if you need. And imagine Jesus boldly declaring each I am statement that's coming forth. Allow it to build anticipation for you to know and believe.
Just after he feeds the 5,000, he tells the crowd that just as God gave the people bread out of heaven in the wilderness that He too is that true bread of heaven. Jesus said this, "I am the bread of life." Friends, He alone can provide for you and satisfy you.
And as they came to the Festival of Lights, Jesus declares, "I am the light of the world." He's the original and eternal source of life and light in your life. In the midst of a parable about true and false prophets, a message that was going that was going way over their heads, Jesus says to them that, "The ones they're trusting to shepherd them are like thieves and liars, and their purpose is to kill and destroy." And then he bluntly explains, "I am the gate of the sheep and "the only good shepherd," the only door to life. And I know and care for you.
And as he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus proclaims, "I am the resurrection and the life." In other words, He has the conquering power over death and its consequences. In John 14, Jesus is simply answering a question, how do we know the way to God? Jesus declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He's the accessible path, the illuminating truth. He is the giver of life.
And then in John 15, Jesus is teaching about abiding in Him and uses this branch, abiding in the vine. And then he declares, "I am the true vine." I am the eternal source of life. Are you surprised by who He is?
Are you allowing Him to be these things in your life? Jesus Christ is not just to be a reflection of what we want Him to be. He's not a vending machine or a projection of our own desires. No. As we'll find out in the book of John, He is Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Savior of the world. More loving, more just.
And as Kevin DeYoung wraps up, "More wonderfully terrifying than we ever thought possible." And as you'll see, John's purpose in writing this book is that you might believe. This is a theme, the word "belief," spoken at least 100 times throughout the book. That's twice as much as the other three gospel writers combined. John wants us to not just know about Jesus, that He is these things, but that you would know Him personally and believe that He is who He says He is.
And to hit the statement, the purpose of writing the book, that by believing we may undeservedly have life in His name, that we may live our lives in light of our belief in Him. Dallas Willard put it like this. "We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true."
As you read this week, let the Holy Spirit lead you into personal knowledge, into adoration, into honest prayer with Him as we walk through His life and begin to experience life in His name together. So when you open yourself honestly to God and express the deepest parts of your heart in His presence, you will allow Him to heal and to transform and then-- watch this-- to fulfill your deepest longings and desires in Himself.
So will you open yourself to the truth with me? Let's allow God to lead us together, to turn our lives toward Jesus. Believe Him and find the life that He promises. Will you pray with me?
Father, here we are. And as you're just even listening to this prayer, would you simply open your hands as a posture of an openness of your heart? Oh, Lord, have your way in us. Illuminate the scriptures. Teach us how to love you and to receive your love, we pray. And all God's children said in unison, amen.
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY: Amen. Did you enjoy hearing Megan Marshman? I have to tell you, watching her is even better. We have unlocked Session One of Beautiful Word: John, and you can watch it for free at Study Gateway. Beautiful Word: John is a video Bible study published by HarperChristian Resources and streaming on Study Gateway. Here at Study Gateway you can find your favorite authors, pastors and Bible teachers, all in one place. We’re the only streaming video subscription service that offers a small group-sized plan, AND has user-based pricing for churches, no matter what the size. And don’t forget, you can use the promo code FIRST to get a 20% savings on a small group plan, and that discounted rate lasts as long as you keep your subscription!
With Study Gateway, you also get a direct link to our store, where you get publisher-direct pricing on the essential Bible study guide Beautiful Word: John. The study guide gives you everything you need to have a great discussion with your group, and the study guide has all the features of the Beautiful Word products, including verse coloring pages and word art. Is Beautiful Word: John going to be your next study? Get started right now by going to studygateway.com, click start free trial, choose the monthly small group plan, and use the promo code FIRST for your 20% discount.
Make sure you rate and review this podcast so other people can find this show too. I hope you have enjoyed Season 4 and meeting all of these women Bible teachers you should know. Thank you for joining us here on Study Gateway’s First Listens.
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