THE WORD BECAME FLESH

“In the beginning was the Word.” (John 1:1)

The words “in the beginning” take us to the beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) The baby Mary held was connected to the dawn of time. He saw the first ray of sunlight and heard the first crash of a wave. The baby was born, but the Word never was.

“All things were made through Him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6 NCV) Not by Him, but through Him. Jesus didn’t fashion the world out of raw material He found. He created all things out of nothing.

Jesus: the Genesis Word, “the firstborn over all creation.” (Colossians 1:15) He is the “one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.” (1 Corinthians 8:6 NLT)

And then, what no theologian conceived, what no rabbi dared to dream, God did. “The Word became flesh.” (John 1:14)… The Word of God entered the world with the cry of a baby.

-- Max Lucado in “God’s Story Your Story”


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OH, COME, LET US ADORE HIM

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” says St. John in the prologue to his gospel (1:1). And what a mighty Word He is! Words communicate important information. In person Jesus came to reveal the true God to mankind: a God who is kind, wise, omnipotent, and who loves people.

When Satan outs himself, when he and his demons take possession of a human being, they abuse and destroy. Jesus’ humble presence in His little manger is a foretaste of His humility on the cross, the mighty work through which God’s wrath was diverted from us onto Himself, and through which God’s favor was diverted from Him onto us. By faith we can experience this amazing swap -- you give Christ all your sins and He gives you the Father’s forgiveness.

What can we say in response to this but glory be to God in the highest! What can we do but worship Him. Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

-- Adapted from “An Advent Playlist: Hymn-Based Devotions”


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CONTINUING IN JESUS’ WORD - Part 2 of 2

"If you continue in My word you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31:32)

Continuing in Jesus’ word is… costly. It costs us our pride, for we have to yield to Jesus’ better judgment. It costs us our self-determination, because we must follow Jesus’ word wherever it leads. It may cost us our reputation, because Jesus’ word is neither the reigning popular philosophy nor the philosophy of being popular. It will, in short, cost us everything that binds us to our fallen selves.

But -- and what a contrast it is -- in becoming His disciples we will be made free -- free from error, free from false values, free to be fully as we were intended to be, fully human, fully God’s creation, fashioned in His own image, fallen (to be sure) but redeemed, restored to reflect again the glory of His goodness, truth and love (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). As we continue in God’s Word, this is God’s promise to us.

-- James W. Sire in “Scripture Twisting”

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CONTINUING IN JESUS’ WORD - Part 1 of 2

"If you continue in My word,” said Jesus to those who after a long struggle had finally begun to accept His teaching, “you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31:32) If there is a single key to being responsible readers of God’s Word, this challenge by Jesus is it. Jesus would have us immerse ourselves in His revelation, continuing daily to seek His perspective on life, His approach to the human condition.

But continuing in Jesus’ word means more than simply reading and rereading. It means obeying.

-- James W. Sire in “Scripture Twisting”


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