Unveiling the Threefold Purpose of John's Gospel

Why I Always Recommend Starting with the Gospel of John

Whenever someone asks me, "I want to start reading the Bible, but where do I start?" I always send them to the Gospel of John.

And the reason? It's actually contained right in John's own explanation for writing his gospel. In this post, I want to share with you why John wrote his gospel—and the answer might surprise you.

Watch the Video HERE: Why Did John Write His Gospel - His Threefold Purpose

John's Purpose: Found at the End

The answer to why John wrote his gospel isn't found in the beginning of his book, but at the very end. John 20:30-31 says:

"Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."

Everything John wrote throughout his gospel was to accomplish this very purpose. There are three things he wanted his readers to believe, and I want to walk through each of them.

1. That You Would Believe Jesus Is Messiah

All of Israel was eagerly anticipating the coming of Messiah—their liberating savior king. The problem was that they had decided they wanted a militant Messiah who would deliver them from the oppressive power of the Romans occupying their land.

When Jesus of Nazareth appeared on the scene around age 30 and declared, "Repent and believe the gospel, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand," he was essentially announcing that Messiah had arrived. However, his mission was to accomplish something completely different than what they expected.

Many did receive him as Messiah, as Christ, but not all. Why? Because Jesus came to deliver the people from a greater enemy than Roman occupation, Babylonian occupation, Syrian occupation, or Persian occupation. He came to deliver them from sin and the penalty of sin.

Jesus came as the liberating savior king who is Messiah, and John makes it crystal clear: I want to show you that Jesus is the one who will set you free from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and eventually the presence of sin.

2. That You Would Believe Jesus Is the Son of God

This is critically important. "Son of God" is a title—a title that declares Jesus is the only begotten of the Father, that he comes from the Father, that he displays the Father, that he is the exact representation of the Father's nature. The Son of God doesn't mean he was born in any shape or form. It's a term of authority meant to convey that he does the work of God.

To understand this better, we need to think about how the Hebrew audience would have heard "son of God."

I have seven kids, and in my American context, my three sons will most likely not do the same work I do. That's just our culture. But in Jewish culture, the son would do the work of the father 95-99% of the time. If the father was a farmer, the son would be a farmer. If the father was a blacksmith, the son would be a blacksmith. If the father was a merchant, the son would be a merchant.

If the father is God, the son is God.

To declare that Jesus, who is Messiah, is Son of God is a declaration that he does the work of his Father. And the only one who can do the work of God is God himself. This is exactly why the Jews wanted to stone him for taking that title upon himself—because he was saying, "I am God, thus I do the work of God."

Why This Matters: We Need God as Our Savior

This is vital because if our savior is not God, then he can't save anyone.

We as humans have accumulated so much sin that another individual, even if they lived a perfect life, cannot pay for the sins of another. They would only earn their own life. But God is of infinite worth, and our sins dive to infinite depths. We need an infinite savior to save us from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and eventually the presence of sin.

The only individual who has enough worth to pay for the vast number of sins of the people who draw near to the Father through the Son has to be God, because God is the only one of such worth. God is the only one who can truly, genuinely save humanity from their sin.

But Jesus Wasn't Just God—He Was Fully Man

We also need a savior who is born from the lineage of King David. That was God's promise from the seed of Abraham, and God is always faithful to bring about his promises. Our savior needed to be God, and he needed to be man, because man sinned and man must pay the penalty of sin.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. God had to pay the price, and the humanity of Jesus had to live the life to die a death that only the God-man could die—underneath the wrath of God for the sin of the world. Sin was placed upon his brow, and he bore the full wrath of God for three hours on the cross to abolish sin and death, making it so that we can draw near to the Father through the mediator, who is the Son.

We also need a savior who is high priest, as Hebrews 5:9 says, because the high priest is the one who makes atonement on behalf of sinners.

3. That By Believing You Would Have Life in His Name

John clearly records his gospel for these three things: that you would believe that Jesus of Nazareth is Messiah, that you would believe that Jesus of Nazareth is equally Son of God and Son of Man, and that through believing you would have life in his name—life, and as he says in John chapter 10, abundant life.

Here's what we need to understand: everyone outside of Christ abides in death. That's where we live. That's the realm in which mankind exists. Messiah came to liberate us from the snares of death and bring us out of Adam, out of death, and into life—into Christ, who is himself eternal life, as John records in his epistle.

When we're taken out of Adam, we are placed into Christ by God himself. We are immersed in Christ, and we have life according to the character of Christ.

What Does "Life in His Name" Mean?

Someone once tried to correct me after I was preaching: "Listen, you don't say the name Jesus enough."

I asked, "What are you talking about? Jesus wasn't even his real name. Yeshua would have been how he was referred to."

What is the name that we are to have life in? The name in scripture is almost always a reference to the person and work of the individual. When you read of the names of God in the Old Testament—which is a wonderful study—you're looking at the character of God revealed behind the name. El Shaddai, God Almighty, has a root in "shad," the Hebrew reference to the breast—God Almighty who lovingly supplies the physical needs of his people.

God's character is wrapped up in his name, and it's the same thing for Christ. So that by believing we would have life in his name—it's not just life in the English name of Jesus. It is life in his character as he revealed himself when he walked the earth, as recorded in the Gospel of John (and Matthew and Mark and Luke).

The Threefold Purpose

The purpose of John's writing is threefold: that we would know that Jesus is Messiah, that we would know that he's the Son of God, and that by believing we would have life according to the character of God, according to the character of Christ.

He didn't come to destroy the world the first time, but to offer up life to the world. We have the merciful hands of Jesus consistently reaching out in kindness, calling sinners to repentance and faith in his name. And those who call upon that character, that name that says, "I am willing to save to the uttermost all who call upon my name, all who earnestly seek me, all who are poor in spirit"—like the hymn "Rock of Ages" says: "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling."

For all of those, according to the mighty and wonderful character of Christ, he gives us life. We are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. For those who are earnestly saying, "I have nothing, but Messiah has everything—deliver me from this body of death," we can say thanks be to God, who in Christ has taken us out of Adam, out of death, and placed us into Christ who is eternal life.

We may have life not for a short period of time only to die again, but life for all of eternity.

My Recommendation to You

John wrote his gospel with a threefold purpose, and I hope you see that now: that you would believe that Jesus is Messiah, that you would believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that by believing you would have life in his name. A beautiful threefold purpose.

This is why I always send inquirers about the life of Christ to the Gospel of John first. I encourage them: read it over and over and over again. Don't move on. Don't be tempted to move on until you understand these three things and you genuinely have life in his name.

Do you have life in Christ—abundant life? Or are you still abiding in death? Do you have friends who are abiding in death? Take time to go through the Gospel of John with them. Always come back to John, because there is so much beauty in it.

At Immersed Disciple, we seek to teach the scriptures in a way that magnifies Christ and gives you a hunger to read God's word on your own. If you're interested in diving deeper, I give away my weekly commentary notes for free in exchange for your email at immersedisciple.com.