6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
Now the apostle John began to show that a sin-blinded world could not even recognize its own Creator because of its negative volition toward Him. However, the Holy Spirit makes it clear that the Word enlightens every man in the world with the truth (1:6-13).
Verse 6 begins two brief narrative sections. These narratives show that timeless truth anchors in human history.
All three synoptic gospels record the ministry of John the Baptist. They present him as the forerunner of the Messiah. John emphasized his function.
6 There was [became or came] a man sent from God,
The Holy Spirit introduced John the Baptist’s coming suddenly, as an awesome historical moment in history. He came on this stage of time with a transitional purpose of moving from pre-messianic to messianic times. God sent him on his mission for this purpose. He was specially commissioned for this purpose.
There is a contrast between Christ and John. John “became,” he did not exist constantly in the past like the Word. The word “was” here means to come to be. The idea is that John came on the scene not having existed before. Jesus existed constantly in the past, but John became. He suddenly came on the scene at a moment designed by God to formally announce the Messiah.
whose name was John.
This is John the Baptizer.
PRINCIPLE:
God commissions people for ministry.
APPLICATION:
It is a wonderful thing to realize that God has a reason for each of us to be on planet earth. It is no mistake that we are here at this time and in this place. God saw us from eternity doing something for Him.
