A Stroll Through John
A Love Story Revealed
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In our fallen world system, run by fallen sinful humans, competition and climbing the “ladder of success” is the honored and accepted path in life. However, in God’s kingdom and in His economy, assignment is the path to success. God calls, equips, and leads each born-again individual in a unique path from this life to the next according to the terms of His unconditional covenant that Jesus referred to as the New Covenant in His blood (see Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24). We are called to first accept His offer of salvation by believing on Jesus and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior. This is absolutely free, it requires only acceptance and belief. However, once one has received Jesus as Lord and Savior, and been born-again of His Spirit, God requires obedience. Not obedience to the Law of the Old Testament, but obedience to the law of love and devotion. Jesus said plainly and without reservation that "If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
We need to understand that this obedience is not an exchange system, but rather the natural reaction to genuine love. The Holy Trinity lives in complete harmony and submission, not because of competition, fear, or requirement, but because genuine love reacts to the object of love in that manner. That is the way Jesus wants the marriage relationship to work. It doesn’t seem to react that way in all cases yet, but it continues to be a lofty goal to reach toward. I don’t believe that Jesus would command us to do something that is impossible. Consequently, we need to work toward and have as our goal, to first display this love Jesus speaks about in our walk with Jesus, next in our walk with our spouse, and then in our walk with our fellow Christians who are also on this journey with Christ. After all, Jesus placed such emphasis on our love relationships that He declared, “(b)y this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35 emphasis added).
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About the Book
John was one of three disciples considered the inner circle of Jesus ministry and also referred to the one that Jesus loved. He had a special relationship with Jesus and he wrote his entire account of Jesus’ life and ministry to show “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). He loved Jesus with all his heart and understood love and wrote about love. The love of God toward humankind and he was determined to show that love in such a way that as many people as possible could experience that love for themselves. Therefore, this book is about explaining John’s understanding of the love of God towards His people.
About the Author
Jim Wick grew up in church and learned to read by reading the Bible. He began his ministry at the age of 23 by planting a church in Montana and later moved to Oregon where he pastored for a few years before going to college to prepare for further ministry. While earning his Ph.D. he was hired to teach at a four-year Bible college where he taught for many years. After leaving there he went to the Philippines where he served as a missionary for 11 years and planted and developed a Bible School that continues to thrive. After moving back to Oregon with his wife and two teenage children, he felt to continue his ministry by writing from his many years of studying and teaching the Bible.