In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
- John 1:1; John 1:14
John’s account has been called “the gospel from above.” Where the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) begin from an earthly perspective – the birth of Jesus in a Middle-Eastern stable; John begins with a view from heaven. Jesus, the Word who has always been… who spoke and creation leapt into existence… Jesus, the life-giver... the light of the world… steps in to time and space. Emmanuel, meaning “God with us,” has come.
God got personal.
Religion can be personal. Often it is not. The major religions of the world teach of god or gods. The three great theistic religions teach of an all-powerful god. But there is a divergence. The Bible alone speaks of this all-powerful God as a personal God. More than that, he is an intimate God. He is Emmanuel, God with us; the Word become flesh.
And the result of incarnation? Life and light. Later in John’s writing we will come across these words of Jesus: “I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly,” (John 10:10).
Emmanuel desires intimacy with us today. He desires to give us life and light by which to live it. I write this confidently, not because I can speak for God, but because he has made it plain in scripture. We can be confident of God’s great desire for intimacy with us because “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
God, “Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God.”
― Jim Elliot
― Jim Elliot
For now...
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