John 1:1-18
The true Light has stepped into our darkness,
and anyone who receives Him can know God as Father.
Introduction:
Most of us carry a jumble of ideas about God: some from family, some from church, some from pain. Is He distant? Easily disappointed? Soft and sentimental? Hard to please? John doesn’t begin his Gospel with revisiting a manger scene, but with recalling the opening words of Genesis. He takes us back to the very beginning and says,” If you want to know what God is really like, look at Jesus.” The tragedy is that many don’t “get” Him and don’t receive Him. The joy is that those who do receive Him become God’s children, and Jesus Himself becomes their clearest picture of the Father’s heart.
Starting Out:
1. When you’ve felt confused about God (what He’s doing, what He’s like), what tends to go on inside you? Fear? Numbness? Anger? How do you usually respond in those seasons?
Read John 1:1–5:
2. What do these verses tell us about who Jesus is before He ever appears in Bethlehem?
3. Think about your own confusion: how might it change things to know that even when you don’t fully “get” Jesus, the darkness doesn’t get Him at all – and it will never overcome Him?
Read John 1:6–13:
4. What are the three different responses to Jesus, and how would you put each of those in your own words?
5. What might it look like to “not receive” Jesus: not just intellectually, but in everyday life?
6. What might it look like to “receive” Him, even while you still have questions?
Read John 1:14–15:
7. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” can be translated “tabernacled among us;” God moved into our neighborhood. What does this tell you about what God is like?
8. When you hear “glory,” what do you tend to imagine?
9. How might Jesus – His character, His compassion, His courage – reshape what you think “the glory of God” actually looks like?
Read John 1:16–18:
10. How does John describe the relationship between “the law given through Moses” and “grace and truth” through Jesus Christ?
11. If Jesus is the one who “explains” God, how does that help when your experiences or assumptions paint a different picture of what God is like?
Taking it Home:
12. Where are you currently most confused about God—His timing, His silence, His commands, His kindness? In that specific area, what might it look like this week to **receive** Jesus (welcome Him, trust Him) even before you fully understand?
Other Scriptures to engage with this week:
Exodus 33:18–23;34:5–7 • Colossians 1:15–20 • Psalm 36:5–9 • Hebrews 1:1–3 • John 14:1–11.