At Christmas, many people set up a nativity (manger scene) as a reminder that Christmas is about Jesus, the Son of God, coming to earth as a baby.
Jesus came to save us and make a way for us to come back into a right relationship with God, by dying on the cross to take the punishment for all our sin. That is the good news of the Gospel.
This week will focus on Jesus as the Living Word of God who became a human being. The first chapter of the Gospel of John explains who Jesus is.
John was a fisherman who was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He was an eyewitness of the things Jesus did and said. There was another John, called John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus’ coming. We will read through verses from the first chapter of the Gospel of John and see who the passage says Jesus is.
John 1:1-2 – 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
The Word refers to Jesus. We know that because it says that the Word was both with God and is God. The beginning was the point in time at which God created the material world. Because Jesus is eternal, he was already in existence at the beginning of creation.
Words reveal our thoughts. Jesus is the Word because he reveals the mind of God. He is the expression of God’s thoughts and makes the reality of who God is visible and real to people. Jesus has always existed since he is God. He was in existence before creation.
John 1:3 – 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Because Jesus is God he is the creator of all things. Nothing would exist without him. The truth that Jesus is the creator means he is the author and ruler over all creation. He is lord over all that exists. He watches over and takes care of what he has made. Because he is our creator, he has both the understanding and the right to tell us how we should live our lives. We belong to him.
John 1:4 – 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Life is hard to define but easy to describe. Anything that is alive grows and matures. It changes and reproduces itself. People can’t make anything come alive. Life is an essence that only God can put into a material being.
There are two realities to human life: physical and spiritual. Physical life is the life of the body in the created, material world. Spiritual life is the part of life that has no material substance. It is related to man’s relationship to God and the eternal aspect of his being.
There is no physical or spiritual life apart from Jesus. He is the source of life itself. Water is essential for life and every living thing is made up mostly of water, which reminds us that life is found only in and through Jesus.
Light is also difficult to define. It is the absence of darkness. Light enables us to both see and live. The ability to see and understand who God is comes through Jesus and is given to all who seek him.
John 1:5 – 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Men live in darkness because they don’t look to God for understanding. They want to live their own way and do their own thing. They don’t want to submit to God’s authority. They think they can do what’s right on their own, they don’t think they need a Savior and can’t understand who Jesus is.
John 1:10-13 – 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The world did not recognize Jesus which means people couldn’t see him for who he is. They only saw him as a man, not as the Son of God and their savior.
When we believe in Jesus we recognize him for who he is and see our need for his forgiveness. We understand all that he has done for us.
Through believing in Jesus we come into a relationship with God. We are made right and can enter his eternal kingdom and dwell with him in heaven. We become new creatures, spiritually born children of God.
We were originally created in the image of God and have an eternal nature. Sin separates us from God. Christ overcomes our sin and enables us to be reconciled to God. Reconcile means to bring back into right relationship. Jesus is our Savior. If we want to do what we want and remain in our sin we won’t recognize who Jesus is and our need for him.
The cross and the tomb are the symbols of what Jesus came to do for us and show he is our Savior. On the cross, he paid the penalty for our sins so that we can be right with God. The tomb was empty because Jesus rose from the dead, demonstrating that he is God and can overcome death.
John 1:14 – 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Flesh is the muscle and skin that make up a material being. Since flesh is physical it has a beginning (birth) and an end (death). Flesh is finite; it is not infinite. Flesh is temporal, not eternal.
God, the infinite, spiritual and eternal being became a man, a finite, physical and temporal being. The one who created all things became part of his creation.
Jesus did this so we could gaze upon the glory of God, see into the spiritual realm, understand truth and have a relationship with him.
Because we are physical beings, it is hard for us to understand who God is. It is easier for us to relate to other people. Jesus came as a man to show us the nature of God, testify to the truth and pay the penalty for our sin, so that we might be able to enter God’s presence.
Jesus’ nature is both grace and truth. Grace is the unmerited favor God shows to us. It consists of his love, mercy and forgiveness. Truth is the reality of what things are and how they work. Truth encompasses everything that is real.
God’s truth revealed through the Bible shows us how much we need his grace. Jesus lived out God’s truth and demonstrated his grace.
- Thought Question: Why did the Word become flesh? What does the Word becoming flesh reveal about God? Why does God love all people, even those who reject him?
- Prayer: Thank Jesus for coming to earth to reveal the fullness of the glory of God and for dying for your sins so you could be reconciled (brought back into a right relationship) with God. Pray that your eyes would be open so that you would fully see the light of Jesus and know him more. Thank God that it is his nature to love and that he desires for all people to come to him through Jesus.
- This Week’s Memory Verse: John 1:14 Who is Jesus?
Jesus is the Living Word who came to earth to reveal God’s glory.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.