“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the Darkness cannot extinguish it.” John 1:1-5.
Please read this passage of Scripture again and again. It is the most relevant, powerful and contemporary statement about God that you will read today or indeed, any day. Choosing to call Jesus the Word which in the Hebrew scriptures is a term used for God, John boldly announces that the Word existed before the world was created, and that he was with God, and was God and that God created everything through him. This was his starting point and throughout the Gospel he intends to prove that it is the truth. Jesus has come! God is with us! He has saved his people from their sins and John invites us to put our feet where Jesus put his. His life on earth was remarkable and his death and resurrection opened a new door for those who believe in him. But we must not hurry over John’s description of Jesus; “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God and the Word was God.”
Could there ever be a more expressive or accurate description of the one who came to be the light in the darkness, the friend of the outcast, the healer of the sick, the deliverer of the demon possessed and the Saviour of humankind in a world tht he created. He is the one God has exalted to the highest place in heaven where he reigns over all creation. He is supreme over all rulers and powers on earth and in heaven and he is the head of his body, the Church. The world that rejected him then, still rejects him now, even with the evidence of his resurrection from the dead, and two thousand years of demonstrating his love, power and relevance in the lives of billions of people. The darkness into which he came as the light, still envelops the hearts and minds of people, trapping them in fear and unbelief out of which frequently comes unbelievable selfishness, greed, hatred, injustice and violence.
Todays followers of Christ make up the Church, the called out ones, redeemed by Christ, adopted by the Father and indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are his body on earth. He is the head, and we are the body-parts, charged with being reflectors of Christ who is full of unfailing love and faithfulness and whose light the darkness will never extinguish.
Our mission in this book is to walk with Jesus, with the eyes, ears and hearts of the disciples, called to follow him, filled with a hunger for every word he speaks and a thirst for every drop of living water he shares with us. We will listen with new understanding to his stories, his teachings, his promises and his commandments. We will observe his power, embrace his humility, and receive his unconditional love and forgiveness. We will leave our fear behind and choose to walk in the light.
And throughout the journey we will not lose sight of the amazing truth that the ‘Word was in the beginning with God and was indeed God.’ Just as he spoke the universe into being, so he is speaking life into a dark world through the Word who became human.
The above is an excerpt from Graeme’s latest book - That They All May Be One | As You And I Are One
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