Christ, the Eternal Word

Friday, December 06, 2013        Christ, the Eternal Word

John 1: 1-18

The Gospel of John presents the words and actions of Jesus, and includes an interpretative meaning or theological significance of all that Jesus did and said. John is very clear about why he wrote the gospel: “that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name” (John 20:30).

John’s Gospel is almost evenly divided. The first eleven chapters include a series of six signs, that are written so “that you may continue to believe.” Chapters 12 - 21 present Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem, concluding in the seventh sign; the crucifixion and resurrection of The Messiah.

John begins his gospel with the same words the writer of the Book of Genesis used: “In the beginning.” John then describes the creative energy that God used to form the universe, as God’s Word. For John, Word is not just words like we read in a book or hear a person speak. Word is the very essence of God. John tells us Jesus is God’s Word. He then concludes this opening passage by telling us that Jesus is God, and that Jesus has revealed God to us. John has us jumping into the deep end of the theological pool in the very first passage. Having recently read Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, I wonder if Paul was inspired by this opening passage of John for his eloquent prose on the supremacy of Christ. (See Colossians 1:15-20)

The crowning achievement of the creation story in Genesis is God’s creation of humankind. As John opens his Gospel, he tells us God’s crowning achievement continues to be His care and love for His people. John writes that when we believe in Jesus, we are given the right to become children of God. We are reborn with a birth that comes from God. “From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another” (John 1:16).

We have received grace upon grace! Yes and Amen.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.