John writes with the intention that his readers "may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name." He tells us who Christ is and what he did for us.

Jesus, as you will read from John, is the Son of God. "Son of God" does not mean a distinct being or entity from God, but one of the three persons in the Trinity-- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You will read in the opening chapter of John that "the Word was God," and identifies the Word as the creator of all things. Soon after John identifies to Jesus as the Word by saying "the Word became flesh and lived among us."

Later on, in chapter 8, Jesus will say "before Abraham came into existence, I AM." The reason "I AM" is in capital letters is because He is referring to the name that God gave to himself in Exodus 3:14-- "I AM WHO I AM." Jesus was claiming to be God Himself-- The I AM. The men he was talking to immediately recognized this, so they tried to kill him for blasphemy right then and there.

Later on still, John describes how Christ took on brutal punishment for sins on behalf of all believers. This is punishment rightly given to us, but, God, in His mercy, extended grace to us by taking the judgement on Himself, in the form of Jesus. This is something that Paul will later expand upon in the book of Ephesians.

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