The Gospel Preached Through the Son

In the JST, one of the words that is a central focus to John 1 is gospel. The opening verse reads this way: “In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.” John further explained, “In him was the gospel, and the gospel was the life, and the life was the light of men”(v4). This suggests that the Savior preached to us even from the beginning, when we were yet spirit children in the councils of heaven before the earth was created. The Savior, the Firstborn in the spirit, declared to us the plan of the Father and helped us to accept that plan whereby we could come to earth and progress to become like unto Him. Surely in that premortal realm the Savior exhorted us all to accept the gospel, the good news of the plan of redemption whereby we could come to mortality, progress, and ultimately return back to God in a glorified state. And it was in that premortal state that the Savior “received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:17). We can have perfect faith in Him now because He was chosen from the beginning and given all power needed to execute the plan of His Father and save all those who believe on His name. John also added that John the Baptist “came into the world for a witness, to bear witness of the light, to bear record of the gospel through the Son, unto all, that through him men might believe” (v7). The gospel, the plan of the Father, was preached through the Son from the beginning and came through the Son in mortality to bring us back to Him.

                A second word that is prominent in the powerful testimony of John 1 about the Savior is light. Jesus is “the light of men” and that “light shineth in the world, and the world perceiveth it not” (v4-5). John the Baptist came to “bear witness of the light…. He was not the light, but came to bear witness of that light, which was the true light, which lighteth every man who cometh into the world; even the Son of God” (v7-10). Even though the light of Christ is given to every man who comes into the world, the world at large did not understand that light when it came in the form of a man, even Jesus Christ who was God among them. He testified then and now, “I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” He is “the light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:2, 9). The Savior in this chapter invited the disciples of Jesus, when they asked where He dwelt, “Come and see” (v39). At face value He was telling them to see or discover where He dwelt and what He did. Perhaps at a deeper level this is an invitation for all of us to see by His light that He has given to all men, to see the glory “of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (v14). He wants us to come and see not only what He does but also to see the way back to the Father through Him. John wrote, “And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for except it is through him no man can be saved” (v19). Perhaps ultimately His invitation to the disciples to “Come and see” was a hope that they would come and see God, the Father, through the light that He would give them. In this chapter Philip repeated those words to Nathanael: “Come and see.” So it is interesting that at the end of His ministry that same Philip requested of Jesus, “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” Jesus replied, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?” (John 14:8-10). In the end the mission of the Savior, the light of the world, is to help us see the Father so that we can, through the grace and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, return in glory to Him.