Meditation 3 December 7, 2009
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(John 8:1-11) This story opens up with a woman caught in the act of adultery. Thrown to the ground a man demands, ‘She must be stoned, it is the law”. Then he looks at Jesus and says, “What do you say?” For he wanted to trick Jesus so they could accuse Him. Although they were seemingly smart, they were very blind to the wisdom of God. Meekly, Jesus begins to write in the dirt, stands, and then replies, “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” Returning to write in the dirt, was he waiting for a reply? Imagining what must have been going through their minds I picture the woman bracing her self to be stoned. I picture these thoughts going through her mind. “Who is this man? What did He mean by His question? Is he defending me? Why would He bother, I am guilty of this I am certain. I deserve to be stoned. Here I am my sins bare for all to see. Left alone no one to stand for me, I will surely die.” Jesus probes into her thoughts, “Woman who has accused you? Where are they, show me one? Has no one condemned you?” Baffled I see her looking around replying still stunned “No sir”. Jesus takes on His role as savior and says, “Go and leave your sinful ways.” Wow, what must it have felt like to be at the point of dying for your sins and then to have God give you a second chance? Playing it over in her head I picture her trying to make sense of it. There she was lying there covered with the disgust of immorality, the scent of sin potent on her being; her accuser lording over her holding an unforgiving glare. He was determined to have her blood. An angry mob surrounded her on every side each holding her death sentence in hand, a large boulder’s stone. Their faces each littered with anger, and judgment it would not be long now. She knew she would very soon be dead. All were waiting for one thing, the voice of their leader saying, “You shall die”; the stones would be hurled and another sinner would be cast down to hell’s fire forever. Only one factor remained a factor that had nothing to do with her. The leader’s thoughts, “Let us see if we can catch another who seems to think himself wise, what would he say of this? Would he dare to say she should not be put to death?” So the men of the city grab and drag who through the streets, her body is already being tattered as they treat her with disdain. Then they cast her down again surrounding her, and then they begin to dialogue with this strange man. She watches His finger as He writes something in the sand, as He stands she sees His feet once more and then he writes more in the sand. Finally he speaks to her, her face buried in the dirt she moves to look at Him. He has given her a second chance, instantly she knows, “He is God, Son of the Father.” Under the surface I believe she was dancing if it weren’t for the shaking of her body she probably would have danced. Creator of heaven and earth just forgave her sins and let her go free. Death had been written on her forehead, yet He wrote forgiven on her heart. Jesus thank you for your mercy, your forgiveness and compassion which none deserves but is given to all.
(Luke 7:36-50) Jesus is reclining with Simon a Pharisee whom had invited Jesus for dinner. A woman enters, this was no ordinary woman this woman consumed by sin; her sins were many and she was cast out by most because of them. When this woman entered the room she immediately came and kissed Messiah’s feet, she washed His feet with tears and anointed them with alabaster perfume. Peering into this scene, I put myself into the place of the woman. What must it have felt like, going into a house you knew you were unwelcome in but wanting to worship the Lord? She heard that He was there she must have thought, “If only I may see this man, wash His feet, letting Jesus know that I love Him. What else could matter, my life is but a vapor and the fragrance is foul in the air; but if I can kiss His feet I will be satisfied. For Jesus is Lord!” Oh to have been the one who could kiss the feet of Jesus, who could wash His feet with the tears of my eyes, to dry them with my hair. A woman’s hair was considered to be her dignity, yet she used it to wash His feet. Why was she crying? Was she crying because she knew how distasteful her life was in the sight of perfection itself, was it the condemnation of the people around her, or was it simply that she loved the man whose feet she kissed? I see her crying and I realize that it was the latter, she saw Jesus who wouldn’t cry, and like Jesus said in the parable she loved Him more because she had been forgiven more. The Pharisee didn’t love Jesus that way he was even offended by Jesus letting her touch him; the poor man lacked understanding of the reality taking place. The moment the woman entered the room Jesus forgave her sins, in her heart I believe she felt the change sin cannot stand in the presence of God. Jesus knew who she was and why she came, He favored her and let her do what was appropriate to do to the Son of God. After she had washed His feet, she poured out perfume over His them I believe this too has a hidden meaning. The fragrance of her life was so foul, yet so sweet was the fragrance of the perfume. Humbly she came before Him, she kissed His feet out of respect and adoration, her tears stained with repentance wet His feet, what little dignity she had was in her hair and even that she used to dry them, was that enough by all means no. No, she must fragrance them with a costly perfume one that smells delightful one that would please her Lord. “God” she asked in her heart, “Would you accept my humble gift?” I believe that was what Jesus was looking at when he said to the Pharisee, “She has been forgiven much because she loved much. My daughter your sins are forgiven.” He made it very clear to the ones gathered there that what she had done was right and she was not to be despised for what she had done but commended for it. She had done right and her fragrance was pleasing to the Lord, now she could go and live her life to serve Him and follow the path of righteousness and of love for her Savior. God let me wash Your feet, let me lower myself and sacrifice my dignity to worship you with all that I am and let the fragrance of my life be pleasing to You.
the WORD made FLESH, MED #10 December 7, 2009
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I have never realized how truly brilliant John 1 is, both as an literary allegory of the word being a living and breathing person, and as a factual statement of who Christ is; God. I am sad that I am just beginning to understand the importance of meditation, but yet again I am experiencing revelation of God’s love for me and for that I am thankful. The following are my thoughts and reflections as I read the book of John chapter one.
The beauty of this passage really struck me in a new way as I read it again and again, especially the first five verses. The words hold an incredible power, it’s a proclamation of who Christ is, written beautifully, the imagery of light and dark and the thought of something that was never created overwhelms my senses. I don’t think there is any other way to write and to put into words the reality of who God is to the perspective of His creation, being that scripture is God breathed, how else can God explain how unlike us He is, His glory and majesty are boundless. I love how this passage reads, it goes from the truly undiscoverable profound realities of existence to the reality of this God loving humans and coming to earth as one and giving us His saving grace.
Verse 10 and 17 are interesting to me because it is the truth, but also it encompasses the Israelite history and there tendency to reject God despite His kindness and devotion. God has always remained faithful to His covenant and has been with them only now He is in the flesh, human, they always wanted a king, a human tangible authority figure, now he walks among them. Verse 16 states how God has poured out grace and mercy again and again on His people and His Son is a primary example of His devotion and love. Now he is here on earth but is still unknown, rejected by His chosen people, how awful would it be to create something you loved and offer it to be with you forever, only to have it tell you that it has no idea who you truly are. On the other hand, there is the hope in verse 12 for those who choose Christ, that can become children of God and be with Him forever.
I love verse 14, the Word became flesh (human) and lived among us on earth, how awesome and good is a God who loves us this much, he is full of unfailing love and mercy, I can’t grasp this fully. God became human, not a little part human, fully human, He ate and slept and felt pain like the rest of us. We see the glory of our maker through another human, it’s the foundation of what we believe, this is how glorious God is because He came to us to save us and call us to himself.
This passage is unrelenting in it’s proclamation of God’s truth and glory and verse 18 doesn’t let up. It speaks of Christ’s purpose, to show who the Father is, that we might be with the Father as we believe Christ and take hold of His saving grace, re-birthed as the children of God. In God’s kindness he has given us the opportunity to die to our sinful beginning with Adam and become like Christ who is like the second Adam though far greater obviously. We are made new creations because of the love and grace of God.
Moving on to John the Baptist, it must have been a little funny but mostly disturbing having the religious figures asking if you were the messiah knowing full well that Jesus was far greater then himself but also that these very man were suppose to know the scripture backwards and forwards. It is also interesting how John says that he isn’t even worthy to be Jesus’ slave, in contrast, we are sons and daughters of God through Christ, so both are true. I also envy John, what would it be like to have God tell you how to identify the man who you’ve lived your entire life for, and then see the dove land on Jesus and to know that this man created you and existed before creation, that He is the lamb of God, the glorious one.
As the passage shifts to Jesus’ first disciples the mood seems to change as well because instead of profound truths of God we see very normal men seemingly randomly chosen and react to Jesus’ calling, and for the most part it’s comical to me. For example, how Simon is renamed Peter, how Jesus asks them rather flippantly to make a very serious decision, and that all it took to get Nathanael was to tell him you saw him under a fig tree. Lastly, what also seemed funny to me at first was when Nathanael asks if anything good can come out of Nazareth, being that it was a very poor and dirty city. However, this reminds me of a principle of God that I recently read from the book “The Heavenly Man”, in which brother Yun says that the seed is a good analogy of how God forms us because of how seeds grow, the seed has to get through a lot of dirt, mud, and possibly manure before it starts to bear fruit. Likewise, this truth was no different for God’s Son, after all He came from very poor and lowly background.
In Conclusion, I’ve found that John 17:5-8 corresponds well with this passage because it literally confirms the reality of Christ and the gift that Jesus was to us. God gave us to Jesus, we are His, and as we believe in His word we want to belong to Him. I also am strongly impacted by the scriptures ability to absolutely overwhelm me with truth and power, you cannot read it once and just suddenly understand who Jesus is. Lastly, I really like how studying this chapter has set up for a proper mindset for Christmas. Christ came as a human child, in all His glory and majesty, He came because He loved us first and because His grace and mercy know no end.
Meditation 10: The Word Made Flesh December 7, 2009
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12/07/09
It was the beginning and there was Jesus, as God, with God. Yes, God, the creator of all things. Nothing was made that wasn’t through Jesus, the Word. All living and nonliving was created by Him. And God came to the earth in the flesh that He made. His Son, Christ, came to earth. God truly loves us. God, the almighty, contained himself in the flesh in which He created in the first place..
From the beginning God has been and will be the light. He defeats darkness. John states that from the beginning, darkness has not (and can not) overcome the light of the world. Jesus defeats Satan. What a prophesy!
John was sent to bear witness of Jesus. John was not the light, but the forerunner. The true light, the creator of the world, that was here before all things was coming, but the world did not know Him. Wow. God came in the flesh, unknown to all. He came as a baby, helpless and human. He made His name known, but His people still did not accept Him. Those who did accept Him, are children of God. They are not of flesh, but of God.
God could have so easily just sent His wrath upon us. He could have wiped away the evil in one second. But He has grace on us. He loves us! He wants us all to join Him in everlasting life.
God could have descended with clouds, gleaming for all to see with fire. He could have made His name known from the beginning. God gave us free will. We decide to believe or not believe. He did make His name known. His glory shown before us, but still some did not accept Him. Still, He was successful. One man from 2000 years ago is still known. He is worshiped and loved. Although no one has ever seen God, Jesus sits at His side. The Son knows His Father. Jesus one man, made Him known throughout the world.
Why is the world so cynical? We question everything. We doubt everything. Even seeing we sometimes don’t believe. The priests were doubtful with John. Questioning to bring Him down and be sure he is not who other’s think he is. God had to have been with John. He answered so wisely, it should have been an answer clear enough for them to believe Christ was coming. John was their warning, the forerunner. This was just a small taste of the doubt and persecution that would come against Jesus.
The next day John saw Jesus. He knew Jesus was the son of God because the Spirit rested upon Jesus. I wonder how that appeared. The Spirit resting on Him like a dove. What does that look like? In the passage it seems like it was all a calm setting, like, “Oh look there is the Son of God…” I bet John was a lot more excited than it appears in the passage. John knew that this day would come, but this was THE day! All that John was living for, came in full circle as he saw Jesus that moment.
John proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God as Jesus walked by and two of John’s disciples left John and followed Jesus. Jesus was God so did He know from the beginning who He was? Did He one day just realize? I mean He was a child at one point… Anyway, He expected those men to follow HIm. At this time, these men hadn’t even seen Jesus perform miracles or do anything. They just believed John. Holy Spirit must have played a big part in their faith. These men followed Jesus and became His disciples. One of the disciples told his brother, Simon, that they had found the Messiah (What a declaration!), and he came too. Jesus immediately changed Simon’s name to Peter. I wonder what the significance of that was? Just a symbol of His new walk with Jesus (literally)? I would be so honored to have Jesus change my name. I wonder if Simon was honored or if he was still kind of skeptical about the whole situation? Once he learned more and more about Jesus, I am sure the more honored he felt. Just to be a chosen disciple would be an honor. But these men had much faith.
Jesus went on to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him follow me and he followed. Was there more to it than that? Or did Jesus just simply say, “Follow me” and they just dropped their life to follow Jesus? Faith and courage played a big role in this. Holy Spirit played a big role in this!
Philip told Nathaniel. His first reaction was not quite as Philip’s. Nathaniel doubted, but came anyway. Because Jesus said He had seen Nathaniel was under the fig tree, Nathaniel believed. That is funny. Even Jesus was like, you believe because I saw you under the fig tree? You are easily convinced…. I’m coming back to the Holy Spirit answer. Definitely gave faith to these men. Jesus continued that they would see greater things, heavens opening up and angels! What a great quote to start the story of Jesus.
John was a deep writer. This chapter completely blows my mind. I could meditate for days on the first verse alone. To understand I definitely need some guidance for above! Thank You Jesus for the understanding I do have, but I ask for more. Thank You for loving us! Thank You for coming to the world in flesh. Thank You for saving me, that I might live forever with You!
The Word Made Flesh December 7, 2009
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John 1 starts talking about how the Word has always been here among us. I believe the Word is not only the word of God but I believe the Word is also Jesus in the flesh as a human being. From the beginning of time God has been with us. He knew us even before we were born. The Lord says in Jer. 1:5 ” I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.” “I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” I believe the also knew the plans and purposes He had for our lives before we were born. In Jer. 29:11 the Lord says, “For I know the plans I have for you.” “They are plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.”
This passage of scripture also talks about how the Word (Jesus) has been with God even before He created the world and us. He has always existed even before the creation of time. God created the world and everything in it. He gave life and breath to every living thing He made. Gen 2:7 says, then God formed the man from the dust of the ground. he breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils and the man became a living person.
One thing that keeps coming to mind when thinking about the Word made flesh is how Jesus first came to earth as a baby. Jesus left His heavenly home where there was no saddness, pain, or suffering. He left His home in Heaven to come to this earth and be born, just as we were born, into this world to save us from our sins. This neweborn baby, Jesus, would feel pain, sorrow, and suffering just like we do. The Word, Jesus, became flesh so that we could be saved through Him. He left His glorious throne in Heaven and was born in a stable and was laid in a manger. (Luke 1:31-35) (Luke 2 :6-20) This little baby would bring joy and salvation to the world and to those who recieve Him would be saved through His precious blood shed for us on the cross. (John 3:16) He did this because of His amazing unfailing love for us. This was the only way we could be saved from our sins and our shame. The only way was for God to send His one and only Son, in the flesh, into this world to give His blood as a ransom for the whole world. Through Him many would come and be saved. (Romans 3: 21-26) Not only did Jesus come to die for our many sins but He died so that we could have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. He made a way through His violent death on the cross for us to be with Him and have relationship with Him. (John 19:1-36) Not only did He die for us but God raised Him up from the dead and He ascended up to Heaven and is now sitting adt God’s right hand praying and interceeding for us. (John 20:1-9) (Acts 1:6-11)
I think it’s so amazing how Jesus came into this world. He feels what we feel because He became flesh, human, just like we are. His love is so much greater than any other human being can give to us. His love for us is so great that it’s hard for us to understand but the cool thing is that He desires us to know His love in a deep way and we can Him this way because He gave us His Holy Spirit. Eph. 3:18-19) This isd a way the Lord has been revealing His love to me this past week! He is so good!
God sent Jesus into this dark world to be a light and a witness about God and His kingdom in Heaven so that many might repent and be saved. Before God sent Jesus He sent a man named John the Baptist to prepare the way and prepare peoples’ hearts for when Jesus comes. (John 1:15) (Isaiah 62:11-12) In John 1 it talks about how Jesus came into this world, the world He created, and lived among the very ones that He created before the creation of timeto love Him and be with Him. I just feel like it must have been so hurtful to Jesus when His own people rejected Him and served other “gods” (idols) and wouldn’t accept Him. Jesus loves all of His creation so much even those that don’t love Him back and long for them to be saved. That’s the very reason why Jesus came into this world He created so He could save us through His death on the cross and John testified about this very thing. (John 1:29-30) It’s so amazing how much Jesus loves us. He is so faithful to us even when we areen’t faithful to Him. He has so much grace for us.
The scriptures say that no one has seen God, so while Jesus was on this earth he showed God’s character and love through His ministry. Since Jesus is God and He is one with His Father in Heaven He only spoke and did what His Father told Him to speak and do. In this way He was able to share and testify to us that we that He is the only way, the truth, and the Life. There is no other way into the kingdom of Heaven but through the Father and our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Someday we will see God in all His glory when Jesus returns to Jerusalem, to this earth, and reigns with us forever! (Rev. 22:12) What an awsome day that will be!
When I read the passage that talks about Jesus’ first disciples I get the feeling that the disciples desired to follow Jesus because they great things about Him and so when they saw Jesus they immediatly followed Him. It says in this passage of scripture that they stayed with Jesus all day. (John 1:38-39) There is just something about Jesus and being in His prescence that makes you want to be with Him. Not only do we like being with Him but He loves to be with us. (John 17:24) I can see why the disciples wanted to stay with Jesus all day. His love is so intoxicating and beautiful. When you’re in His presence you don’t want Him to leave. The good news is that He never us or forsakes us. We are never alone. I can imagine the disciples just sitting there with Jesus listening intently to every word He said. I’m sure they had a lot of questions for Jesus as well. I’m guessing that this was just one of the many good days they had with Jesus. I can imagine having a day with Jesus. That would be wonderful! Just me and Jesus hanging out together; walking, talking, maybe dancing a little, eating together, and just hanging out. I can imagine that would be a very good day probably the best day of my life! Jesus is so fun. He is a glad God, slow to anger and full of love towards us. ( Psalm 103:8)
If Jesus wouldn’t have come into this world and become flesh for us we would have been in big trouble! We were all condemned to die because of our many sins but God in His great love and mercy for us sent Jesus to come into this world and die for us and save us from our many sins. What an amazing God we serve!
Meditation 10: The Word Made Flesh December 7, 2009
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The first words in the book of Saint John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The name “Word” is a faultless name to describe Jesus. The Greek word used here is “logos”, meaning the expression of thought. Jesus perfectly expressed the thoughts of the Father and was manifest in a physical form so all the world could read them. The Lord says in Hebrews 1:3, that Jesus is “the brightness of his gory, and the express image of his person”. In fact, further on in Hebrews we see that God the Father says that Jesus is God (1:8). It is also fitting for Jesus to be called the Word of God because his physical body was produced by God’s spoken Word.
We have Jesus to thank for all things that are created, “All things were made by him”. Jesus is so creative; he is the author of creativity! How mind-boggling is that? He even created our minds in a way that we could be moved to worship Him because of his greatness! Also, Jesus was not created; he is God and already existed in the beginning (v. 2). It could be understandable for an ignorant mind to think that the first time Jesus every existed was at the incarnation. The Son of God is uncreated, however, the name “Jesus” was given to him at the incarnation.
In verse twelve we see that whosoever receives Jesus and believe on his name, to them he gives the power to become the sons of God; who are born of God (v.13). Jesus is the Great Redeemer. He redeems his people from this fallen world, and brings them back into right standing with God the Father.
God tells us that we all have received the fullness of Jesus (v.16), speaking to those who are called his sons and daughters. This is an awesome statement. Jesus has the fullness of the Godhead in him (Col. 2:9) and in verse sixteen we see “of his fullness have all we received”. This means that we have the fullness of God in us. That is so astounding! In Colossians 2:10 we read that we are complete in him. And Philemon verse six says, “the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus”. As we discover who we are in Jesus and recognize all the power that is within us, our faith becomes effective. And we all know that we need to be effective!
No man has ever seen God at any time according to verse eighteen. But Jesus Christ, who is in the Father has declared him to us. We now have a way to know God! Thank you Jesus! I love how we can know God and at the same time never be able to know him fully. The Revelation of John is filled with evidence of this. For eternity we will be getting our minds blown with revelations of God!
The Jews asked John the Baptist who he was. They were thoroughly befuddled; some were thinking he was the Messiah, others the prophet Elijah. Straightway he denied their assumptions, and he made it clear that he was not Christ by proclaiming to them this profoundly intricate announcement: “I am not the Christ.” After they heard this, the priests and Levites, whom the Jews sent, asked him, “Who are you then? So we may give an answer to them that sent us. What do you have to say for yourself?” And what is John’s response? Nothing other than, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’”. John the Baptist was preparing people for the coming of the Lord Jesus. A commonly heard statement at the International House of Prayer is such: “If the Lord needed to prepare people for his fist coming, beloved, how much more will he need to prepare people for his return?” Thank you Lord, for calling us forth to proclaim your return.
Jesus, in verse forty-two beholds Simon. Jesus looks at Simon, having never met him until that time, and tells him, “Thou art Simon the son of Jona”. And in the same sentence tells Simon that he shall be called Cephas, which means by interpretation, A Stone. This is totally awesome. We have a God “who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” (Rom. 4:17) Simon surely had not a clue that when Jesus told him he was to be called Cephas, or A Stone, that Jesus forever changed the course of his life.
Jesus probably had a fun time blowing Nathanael’s mind. We read that Nathanael was skeptical, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” I love Philip’s response, “Come and see”. Philip knew the goodness of Jesus. He had tasted and seen that the Lord is good! As Philip and Nathanael approached Jesus, he saw them coming to him, and said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathanael was totally dumbfounded as to how Jesus knew him. (This is an example of the demonstration of the power of God, “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). And how blessed are we that we get to operate in this power today!) Jesus continues to boggle Nathanael’s mind by saying to him, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” Nathanael’s only response was to worship him, professing that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel. I testify in agreement with all God’s children that nothing compares to encountering Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Amen.
The Word made Flesh December 7, 2009
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In the beginning was the Word
Jesus, like God, is eternal. He has no starting point, no beginning to His existence, He just was. In the beginning, He was there. Jesus did not just start to exist at the incarnation, He was there for eternity past, and will be for eternity future.
Using the phrase “the Word” is also significant. Just like we all must use words to communicate to each other what is in our heads, Jesus is that word to us. When God wanted to show us His true nature, and His character, He sent Jesus to “speak it out” to us, so that we could understand Him more.
And the Word was with God
Jesus was with God. Although They’re the same, They’re separate. This is not a new concept, They were separate from the very beginning. But were still together.
And the Word was God
Jesus is God. Although They’re separate, They’re the same. They were the same person from the very beginning. But were still separate.
Through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that has been made
Jesus was the creator. Through Him all things were created. God didn’t create Jesus, all things were created through Him.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men
Jesus came to earth as a human being. He had life, in the fact that He lived here as a human, but also because He is the giver of all life. Only through Jesus do we have life today (He sustains all things), but also only through Him do we have eternal life. He came to bring life to us all, the light of His glory.
He is the light of men, He shines brighter and more pure than anything else. He also gives us life, and through that promise, we have light. That promise of light is our hope, our light.
The light shines into the darkness, but the darkness has not understood (or overcome) it
This is the first place where it speaks in the present tense. Everything else is in the past. But then the light shines. Jesus didn’t only shine when He was on earth. He shone then, and He shines now. Jesus shines into the darkness, revealing and exposing the darkness, while purifying and transforming it into light.
But the darkness has not understood it. When Jesus came to earth He was very misunderstood. The darkness of the earth did not understand Him. In our weak, broken, darkened state, we couldn’t comprehend such marvelous light. They were so lost in their darkness that even when they were face to face with true, pure light, they missed it.
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world
Jesus is the only true light. Before this sentence it says that John was not the light, only a witness to the light, but others thought that it was him. Even though sometimes we think people are a “light”, or something special, to be looked at and held high, they are not the true light. Jesus is the only true light and He alone gives light to every man who accepts it. And He was coming into the world!
He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
When Jesus came into the earth, He came into that which He had created. Not only did the world not recognize Him as their creator, they completely went against Him. Instead of showing Him all honor and praise, as they should have, they completely rejected Him, and went as far as killing Him in a horrendous death.
This shows how completely humble Jesus is. We would think that if He created the world, then came into it, He would show His superiority and make sure everyone knew He made it. I’m sure that’s what we all would have done. But instead, He kept it mostly hidden, and didn’t glorify Himself at all. He just loved the people and let them choose to reject Him.
The Word Made Flesh December 7, 2009
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Katerina Vojtechova
Meditation assignment 10
The Word made Flesh
December 3, 2009
John 1
The Word mentioned in the first chapter of John is Jesus. Jesus was in the beginning. He is uncreated. He always was. Nobody made the Trinity and the Trinity didn’t evolve from anything. They were since the beginning. Jesus is the uncreated God. He was in the beginning when there was nothing else. He was with God and He was God, He belongs to the Trinity, God three in one, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Everything was made through Him. God chose to make everything through the Word. He spoke things into being through Jesus. Nothing that there is appeared or evolved by itself. He created everything, not just Earth. He created all the other galaxies and all the other things that we don’t even know about.
Jesus is life. God created us and breathed life into us. When sin entered the world we died, but Jesus came to give us that life back. This life in Jesus is the light of men. When sin entered the world, darkness entered the world. Jesus is light that shines through the darkness. The darkness cannot comprehend or overcome this light. The word comprehend is katalambano in Greek and it means to take eagerly, to seize, to posses, attain, find, or take. No devil or demon, nothing on heaven or Earth, can over overcome this light. Nothing and nobody can ever seize or posses or take this light. This light is our light and no one can take it from us or keep it away from us.
Then came a man, John, who came to bear a witness. John was sent by God and his job was to bear a witness of that light, Jesus. John was a miracle baby. Elizabeth and Zacharias were old and Elizabeth was barren and past the years of childhood. When Zacharias was in the temple, serving the Lord, he had an encounter with the Lord’s angel and was told of John’s coming. John’s destiny was to prepare the way of the Lord. He was born to be a witness of Jesus and His coming. He was called for this from his mother’s womb and from childhood he lived a nazarite lifestyle. However John was not this light. There were people who thought that John was the Messiah, but John was just a forerunner. He came to bear witness of Jesus so that all might believe in Jesus and be saved. This Light, Jesus, which John was the witness of, is the true Light and it enlightens everyone.
Jesus came down to the world, in which He created everything, but the world did not know Him. Jesus came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. Jesus made Himself into flesh and came down. He love us so much, that He took on our flesh, the same form as of His creation, and came down to be with us so that we may be saved. How humbling is that! The Creator took the form of His creation! He came down to walk in His creation, made Himself flesh, and the world did not know Him and His own did not receive Him. What that must have been like?! Jesus was walking in the midst of everything that He gave life too and what did we do? We did not recognize Him, we hated Him, we beat Him, we mocked Him, we spit on Him, we kicked Him out, we did not believe Him, and we killed Him! And He still died for us after all these things! He endured all out ignorance and offense and died to save us. What kind of a creator do we have? What kind of a God do we serve that would have so much compassion on His creation? Oh how He loves us!!!
Jesus came to save us from hell. Many did not receive Him but there are also many who do receive Him. Those who receive Him, by believing in His name, become the children of God. Believing is not a one time thing, but a continuous thing. His name is not just the name Jesus but also who He was, what He did, and what He came for. We by ourselves cannot believe in Jesus. It is only by the grace of God that we can believe in Jesus, but we do have a free will. When we believe in Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God. We become a part of God’s family! When you adopt someone, you can never give them up. Once you adopt someone it’s forever and you can’t disown them. Anyone can become a child of God if they believe in Jesus. Your bloodlines don’t matter. You don’t have to be a direct descendant of Abraham. This doesn’t come along by flesh and blood; it’s not a physical birth into the family of God but a spiritual birth. Jesus became flesh, bound Himself to us, and let us see His glory.
Jesus came and gave us grace. We enter into the family of God by grace. We are saved by grace. Before Jesus we had to live by the law that God has given us to live by. When Jesus came things changed. We still need to do the things that God commanded us, but we aren’t under the law anymore. If we were under the law, we would all go to hell. The penalty of sin is death. In the Old Testament, offerings had to be made for sin. The very first offering that was made as atonement for sin was made in the garden when animals were killed to clothe Adam and Eve’s nakedness. Since then people had to make blood atonements for their sins. When Jesus came He was the ultimate sacrifice. His blood is the ultimate atonement. We no longer have to live under the law, but now we live under the blood of Jesus. No one has seen the Father accept Jesus. The only way we know the Father is through Jesus because Jesus does only what He sees the Father do and Jesus, through His life, declares the name of the Father and that is how we know the Father.
Meditation #10- The Word Made Flesh December 7, 2009
Posted by michaelreneau in 10 Meditation: The Word Made Flesh.add a comment
Meditation #10
John 1- “The Word Made Flesh”
“ In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and The Word was God” (John 1),“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). Where do you even begin with the uncreated God? Yahweh, the Father, and Jesus, the Son, are there at creation, measuring out the depths of the sea and where the waves will stop. Every tree was placed by a divine creation, and every animal set into motion by the hand of the Almighty. The Universe in its’ darkness and every star and planet were spoken by the mouth of God and came into existence. The breath of God filled the lungs of Adam with life that was, but dust of the earth. Creation isn’t something that just happens, it is spoken. The voice of God, is the Glory of God.
The Psalmist David says “My heart is steadfast, I will sing and give praise even with my glory”. When we, on Earth, are filled with the power of God on the inside, the only thing that can express the glory is the tongue. Another virtue of the tongue is to bring the Revelation of God it’s the divine utterance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. After we have an encounter or a hunger on the inside, the only thing that can rightly express it is the glory. So if we are but a vapor today, here, and tomorrow forgotten, let us think about for a moment Yahweh in Heaven with His Son Jesus. Can you even begin to imagine the story line that unfolds in Heaven; the energy of the Almighty speaking into existence all of creation?
Hollywood writes some pretty heart-warming and touching stories. However the ones that always touch me the most are those that are real life stories, because it is life that brings light into the world. Without life there is no Jesus, and without Jesus there is no light in the World, but only darkness. From the beginning John said we have seen with our eyes and heard with our ears touched with our hands the Word of life. It is there, in the garden, that we find the glory of God resting on His creation, Adam and Eve. The manifest presence of God is there; the glory and the communion. I believe Adam ate with God. Why not? God can show up and sit with His creation and eat any time He likes. God visited Abraham and Sarah, along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They sit and have bread together, but it wasn’t a daily thing for them. I’m sure it was for Adam though and it will be again, for all us who are faithful until the end; to commune with the Father forever and ever. In the Garden we have a dilemma though, and even in the midst of that separation between God and man. The Almighty has a divine plan to restore all things back to the garden. It will come through the seed of men, like Abraham and David. However, there is a promise of a seed of a man named Jesus.
You see, we have a Holy history- the Word of God from Genesis all the way to the Revelations of Jesus Christ. In the Word of life we find a chosen people, a royal priesthood. There are lives that are set apart for the glory of God. In these pages are men and women who shake nations and change the course of History forever. Here are lives of prophets filled with the glory and light of God. It doesn’t stop with the prophets though, because there is one greater, the promised one, Jesus Christ. All of history has waited for this moment to come, when Jesus steps out of heaven and descends on mankind. He comes as a man of no reputation, as a bondservant coming in the likeness of men. Jesus is the Word. He was in the beginning with God and when he steps down, life happens. Light comes and breaks into darkness, but the darkness doesn’t even understand the light of God. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
John writes in 1 John 1 the life was manifested and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you, that eternal life which was with the Father, has been manifested to us. The life John shared with Jesus was one of life, because Jesus shared all things with the twelve that he shared with the Father. John was the beloved not because he had the looks, but because he had a gaze in his eyes, and the only thing that would justify that gaze was Jesus. The God-man, Jesus, made himself of no reputation, but He set his heart to do the will of the Father. John knows Jesus probably better than anyone in the word of God. However, when he is confronted by the resurrected Christ and he falls like a dead man, it says in the book of Revelations of Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus was here on Earth, he humbled himself to become like a man. He came in the flesh and dwelt among us. O how we need to know Jesus and the glory he shares with the Father. You can’t get away from John 17 when you are talking about the manifest presence of God. Jesus said: “The hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify You”. He goes on to say, “glorify me together, with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was”. How do you wrap your hands around those powerful words of Jesus in John 17? Jesus is the Word and the Word became flesh. Jesus told the Father, “the glory which you have given Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as You and I are one”. This is life, for us to dwell with Jesus in a total heart given abandonment. Letting all the other lovers in this life fade away into the darkness, so we can have more of Jesus; to be filled with the glory everyday and to be filled with the light and life of Jesus. John prayed that our joy may be full. Our joy is full in the fellowship of the Father and of the Son, and the glory that they share. Jesus wants you and I to be filled with the glory of the knowledge of Him. To become like the ones before us that shake nations and change history with fire upon our tongues. The word becomes flesh in us as well. So, we can glorify Jesus and the Father, as lampstands, burning in a lost land. Praise you Jesus! You are WORTHY of ALL the PRAISE, of ALL the GLORY, and of ALL the HONOR!
The Word Made Flesh December 7, 2009
Posted by lesleybell in 10 Meditation: The Word Made Flesh.add a comment
The Eternal One, uncreated God became a man, that I might be seated with Him, in the virtue of His being. He put on my flesh, that I might be robed with His righteousness. His blood spoke a better word over this murderous heart. Standing free and clean, He is enough for me. No other way, and no greater love. In this He loved me: He became sin for me. He is worthy. Lay down all your crowns man, the Lamb was slain that you may enter in. You may glory only in this- that you may know Him: the Word made flesh.
Only the Divine Fullness could reconcile me, only His blood could make peace. Though I was estranged, hostile toward Him, he has restored me irreproachably. Whoever finds Him finds life and draws forth and obtains favor from the Lord.
The One Who created the heavens and earth came as a babe, and in His face we see the light, the out-raying, the very radiance of the divine. He propels the universe by the mighty word of His power. We called evil good and good evil, put darkness for light and light for darkness, and therefore did not recognize You. Slain by our hand, You offered Yourself. But You shined on in the darkness, death had no hold on the Life and Light of men.
It pleased the Father that all the divine fullness, (divine perfection, powers and attributes) should dwell in Him permanently. And it pleased the Father to make known how great for me are the riches of the glory of this Mystery- Christ. To Him I belong, His breath my life. Out of His fullness I have received grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift. “How precious is Your steadfast Love, O God…I relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause me to drink of the stream of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do I see light” (Ps. 36:7-9). “If you had only known and had recognized God’s gift and Who this is that is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked Him instead and He would have given you living water…the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) continually within him unto eternal life.” Jesus is the Father’s gift to us.
You are the Power and Wisdom of God, existing from the beginning; telling me the things which You have seen and learned at Your Father’s side. A master and director of the work, You were daily His delight, rejoicing before Him always (Prov. 8, Jn. 8:37-38).
“In the beginning God…”(Gen. 1:1). “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1). In the beginning the Word created the heavens and the earth. He was the Child born, the Son given; and still, no less Mighty God, Everlasting Father. “In the last of these days He has spoken to us in the person of a Son… by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order]… He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power” (Heb. 1:2-3).
“When He prepared the heavens, I was there. When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men” (Prov. 8:27-31).
Jesus was the Father’s delight, and Jesus’ delight was in me! “Father I desire that they also whom You have entrusted to Me [as Your gift to Me] may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (Jn. 17:24).
There’s no higher thought, no greater love, no more beautiful reality than Christ. Let me look into You. To get lost in Your love; to know the length, width, depth and height is my keeping.
John 1 the Word made flesh December 7, 2009
Posted by Chris Joseph in 10 Meditation: The Word Made Flesh.add a comment
John 1
This chapter is one that I can meditate on for months and still not come even close to comprehending the fullness of what it means. To think that the Word was in the beginning with God, but became flesh, blows my mind. Jesus was the Word of God. At the same time He was with God, and also He was God. What in the world?
Verses 1-5
Well to be honest I don’t even know where to begin with verse one. I can’t comprehend that God spoke, and what He spoke was actually Himself. That the very words of God are actually Him. But that sort of makes sense in that what we say is actually revealing of who we are, so what God says and speaks actually reveals Who He is.
Then verse 2 makes a lot more sense. “He was in t beginning with God.” The very person of God spoken forth had to be with Him in the beginning because that is Who He is. There is no way that the Word couldn’t have been in the beginning with God since God is always the same, Who He declares Himself to be must have been with Him always. God’s Word is unchanging just as He is unchanging, so the Word had to be with Him in the beginning.
Verse 3. Since God upholds everything, and created everything through the words of His mouth, then everything must have come through the Word. We exist because God spoke and from His mouth comes the Word of Life. We are because He is. We have life because He is Life and has chosen to share that life with us.
Verses 4-5. We have existence because God gave us Life. We live to because He has spoken. But He hasn’t hidden the truth from us. He sent Jesus as the Light to declare the truth about who He is and also the truth about why we are here. Why we were created. We were made to bask in His Light, and bring glory to His name. We were made to come close to His Light and be struck in awe of all that He is.
But even when Jesus came to earth and blazed a trail of glory declaring who the Father is, the world could not comprehend it. So instead of seeking out Who Jesus is, the darkness of man tried to kill Him instead. But He was too strong for death and was not held down by darkness, but the Light of God overcame death.
Verse 10. Jesus created the world. He was the Word spoken that made all that is into being. Then when He came to the world, He was not recognized. The very creation of His hands did not believe Who He said that He was. He walked on the earth and for most of His life, He was overlooked and ignored. If He was talked about it was probably negatively since everyone believed that He was conceived out of wedlock.
He walked among the people that for thousands of years had been calling for Him to come, and then when He finally did show up they completely rejected Him. He was not recognized for Who He was, and they actually killed Him because they did not want to believe that their God would come the way He did.
Jesus is the Word of God. He was in the beginning with God. He actually spoke and created the heavens and the earth. He spoke and created the plants and animals. He spoke and the sun, moon and stars were made. He spoke and life was. Then He made man with His hands. He breathed His very breath into us. The eternal Word of God breathed on us and gave us life.
Then He came to earth and we rejected Him. We hung Him on a cross until He was dead. We wanted no part of Him. The god we wanted was one that we made. We wanted a god that conformed to our image and our thoughts, instead of receiving the God that we have to conform to. We especially don’t want a God that comes to earth with humility and meekness.
But if we do receive Him there is hope. To all that receive Him, He will give the right to become children of God. If we believe in Him, if we receive the truth of Who God is, then we are adopted into His family. We are no longer orphans and headed for death, but we are brought into Life. We have the Light in us and the Truth will lead us.
We are reborn. We no longer have the separation of sin, but we are spiritually reborn and have access to know the true God. The One who spoke and created all that there is. The One that was before the beginning of time. Think on that for a little while and see how quickly your head explodes.
But we cannot be made His children by our own will. It is not because we do anything special or deserving that God takes us into His family. It is through His own will and desire to have us that we are His. If He did not want us, then Jesus never would have come. If He did not want us, then we never would have been created. If He did not want us then we would be in death right now, and there would be absolutely no way for us to enter into the knowledge of Him.
But He does want us. He desires that we would be close to Him. He wants us to know Who He is, so He sent His very Word to earth to declare the wonders of His name to us. He sent His Word to dwell with us and declare His gory to us. He showed us the fullness of His glory. He kept nothing hidden from us when Jesus was on the earth. We have, through the expression of Jesus a very real way to gaze upon the glory of God and be utterly amazed. We, who have never seen God, can now look at Jesus and see the expression of God. We don’t have to wonder what He is like; He fully declared Himself and all of His glory.
Holy Spirit open my eyes that I might see the fullness of Your glory. Help me to know and comprehend the awesomeness of my God. Give me deeper revelation of the beauty of the Father, through the life of Jesus.
