And the word IS God…
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. John Steinbeck.
I intended to begin my study of John yesterday, but awoke with such a cold all I could do was make it to Sunday School to teach the lesson and then straight back home to sleep, perchance to awaken whole. Didn’t happen, so here we are on Monday, beginning our reading.
John 1:1 begins powerfully: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
If you were raised in church, what is your first memory of Jesus? Songs telling us Jesus loves me this is know and Jesus loves the little children? The baby in the manger? A man with a sheep draped upon his shoulders and children gathered at his feet? My memories incorporated all of above, and certainly, these images and memories are a part of who Jesus is. But to get the whole picture, we must read the book of John prayerfully and carefully.
Do you see what this first verse is saying? The Word (Jesus) was with God at the very beginning. Through Jesus all things were made and in Him was life and that life became the light of man. Light=life. The babe in the manger was not where Jesus began–not at all. Jesus was with God, our father, before the creation of the world, and though He made the world, once He came into the world, the world did not recognize Him.
As a mother, I believe that somehow, if I had been separated from Jonathan at birth we could still recognize each other if reunited years later. He would know my heartbeat, I would know his face. One would think the world would have recognized its creator, yet scripture clearly says it did not.
As a child, I firmly believed if I had walked when Jesus walked I would have known Him. I would have sensed He was God, I would have been uplifted by his words and empowered by His spirit. I would have been drawn to Him as He suffered the little children to come unto Him.
As an adult settling into the latter years of my life, I still believe I would have known Him, because I know Him now in spirit and in truth. I know that He is indeed light and life to all who know Him and accept Him. I know that the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit still sets the captives free. I know He is my redeemer and my redeemer still lives.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, when He could have chosen to remain in Heaven, at the right hand of God the Father, He came to this earth to redeem and restore and to fulfill the law given through Moses, and to become grace personified. We may not have seen God, but through Jesus we can know God.
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Seeking Holiness 