Joe_Applegarth

1) The first question is hard to formulate an answer to but I tend to look at it from this point; a “begotten” son of a human being is obviously another human being. Taken in that context, a “begotten” son of God therefore, would in-fact be God. Jesus is God by his very nature. God, is eternal, He wasn't created, He is the alpha and the omega. That being true, Jesus himself should also be eternal and He is, so He also takes on the very nature of God. 2) Yes, John does make distinctions he asserts that Jesus is unique, one-of-a-kind, He is the Monogenēs, the One-of-a Kind, eternal Son of God. Jesus, like God has existed forever and is God in every way except that He became human. Jesus, like His Father is eternal and perfect, but he became human so that he could enter into our world to be crucified for the salvation of all mankind. 3) Here’s another tough answer but the answer has to be that there clearly is only one God. The three “entities” of the trinity are all God but they are individual entities of God. Any action taken by any member of the trinity is the action of God Himself.

1) Jesus' humanity is one of the greatest historical and biblical events to ever occur. He came to us as flesh and blood so that He could completely identify Himself with the human race. His “becoming flesh” served to tie earth to heaven and was God's greatest disclosure of Himself to man. In Jesus was everything that God wanted to communicate to mankind. 2) John said “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” Without His “becoming flesh” we wouldn’t have an advocate who understands our human weaknesses and temptations and can sympathize with those weaknesses. Jesus opened a direct line, through prayer, to God. It was His death and resurrection that delivered the grace with which we can come confidently before His throne when our earthly lives end and our heavenly lives begin. 3) His grace has brought me through the hardest times of my life. Every time I found my back against the wall, even though I know full well that I didn't deserve his help, He saw my pain and answered my prayers. It wasn’t an overnight transformation but He never gave up on me and , I’ll NEVER give up on Him. 4) I’m a Vietnam veteran who suffered from PTSD. It was His truth that brought me from seeking relief in the world to seeking heavenly relief through His love and His grace. He brought me from a lost life of drugs and alcohol to a point where I’m now actively serving my church in His ministry and loving every moment of it.

To “receive” Jesus means to recognize and accept His authority. 2) To “believe in” Jesus is to turn your life over to Him entirely and to trust in Him unconditionally and without reservation. 3) "He gave the right to become children of God" 4) Without the new birth we can't claim "authority" to be called God's children

John (the Baptizer) was sent to bear witness to the coming of Jesus, he was to testify to the light, not to be the light. John preached “repent; the kingdom of heaven is near”. Our sin is the reason for darkness in our souls. John said that there would be a Light that would come and that he was sent as a witness to call attention to it. Christ Jesus is the true Light and it’s His Spirit and grace that lights our path to salvation. I believe my purpose for being here is to seek God’s truth and to help others do the same. When we live in sin our souls are dim and out of focus but as we grow closer to God all things will eventually be revealed through the light of His grace. I want everyone to know that His Spirit and His Light is within reach and all we have to do is seek it out. How am I doing with that? Some days are good, others not so much but I always try to put forth the effort to touch one person every day. John was beheaded and although I don’t currently face that end, I do feel persecution at times but that’s small potatoes; Jesus, John the Baptist, Stephen and a whole host of others gave their all. My hope is that for every 20 people that I witness to I can reach just one. Of course the goal would be to reach them all but one soul won for Christ is a major victory.

Yes, Jesus is fully God … When John states that Jesus IS the Word he’s saying that Jesus in the flesh is the very Expression of God Himself, and that Jesus IS God himself … The other Gospels begin with the birth of Jesus; John begins with “In the beginning…” John’s ministry states very clearly that all things were made by Him and through Him, created things exist simply because He wills it to be so. Man is the highest form of creation and John defines the relationship of man to the Word which has been with us from the beginning of time.