Jan 3
In the final session of Passion 2022, Louie addresses two foundational questions: Who are we? And why are we here? As we come to understand that God is the author and creator of our lives and that we are written into His story rather than our own, we can answer these questions of identity and purpose through Jesus.
Scripture References
14.Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15.He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.16.He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17.and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:18.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,19.
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
4:19
Isaiah 61:1,2 (see Septuagint); Isaiah 58:6
20.Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21.He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”22.All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
1.Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2.To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 4:15. in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.1:2 Some manuscripts Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3.We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4.because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5.the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6.that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7.You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,1:7 Or slave who is a faithful minister of Christ on our1:7 Some manuscripts your behalf, 8.and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9.For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,1:9 Or all spiritual wisdom and understanding 10.so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11.being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12.and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you1:12 Some manuscripts us to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13.For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14.in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15.The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16.For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17.He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18.And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19.For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20.and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21.Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of1:21 Or minds, as shown by your evil behavior. 22.But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23.if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul’s Labor for the Church
24.Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25.I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26.the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27.To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28.He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29.To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
21.When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22.and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The Word Became Flesh
1.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2.He was with God in the beginning. 3.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4.In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome1:5 Or understood it.
6.There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7.He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8.He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9.The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10.He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11.He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12.Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13.children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14.The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15.(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) 16.Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17.For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18.No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and1:18 Some manuscripts but the only Son, who is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
19.Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews (hoi Ioudaioi) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19. in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20.He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21.They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22.Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23.John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”1:23 Isaiah 40:3
24.Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25.questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26.“I baptize with1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice) water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27.He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28.This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John Testifies About Jesus
29.The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30.This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31.I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32.Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33.And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34.I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”1:34 See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God.
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35.The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36.When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37.When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38.Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39.
“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40.Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41.The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42.And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter1:42 Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock.).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43.The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44.Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45.Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46.“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47.When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48.“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49.Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50.Jesus said, “You believe1:50 Or Do you believe…? because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51.He then added, “Very truly I tell you,1:51 The Greek is plural. you1:51 The Greek is plural. will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’1:51 Gen. 28:12 the Son of Man.”
Louie Giglio
Louie Giglio is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, comprised of Passion Conferences, Passion City Church, Passion Publishing and sixstepsrecords, and the founder of Passion Institute.