God, the Word visits us (John 1)

God, the Word visits us (John 1)

Several accounts of the coming and work of Christ.

Two gospels tell us more precisely about the coming of Jesus.

Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus descending from Abraham. (Jesus perfectly man)

Luke, meanwhile, tells us about the prophetic announcements of the coming of John the Baptist, then of Jesus. It states that Jesus was begotten by the Holy Spirit.

Mark does not really report the birth of Christ, but presents John the Baptist and immediately Jesus baptized entering the ministry.

In John, it is spoken of the Word. Jesus, God from all eternity.

Yes, the Word designates Jesus Christ, Jesus, the expression of God from all eternity and even more visible and legible with his coming at Christmas.

Christ expresses the divine thought and also The Person of God, itself accessible to man.

John 1 :1-14

The Word was God
By the Word All Things Were Made (Creation Aspect and Plan of Salvation)
The Word is life and light for men
The Word not known and not received
The Word received transforming man.
The Word was God :

The Father affirmed the divinity of Jesus:

During the announcement of his birth by the angel to Mary his mother:

Luke 1:35 “Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I know no man? 35 The angel answered him, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. This is why the holy child who will be born from you will be called Son of God. »

At his baptism:

Mark 1:11 “ And a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son, in you I have put all my affection. »

During transformation:

Luke 9:35 “And out of the cloud came a voice saying, ‘This is my beloved Son: listen to him!’

Jesus also repeatedly affirmed his divinity:

In John 10:30: I and the Father are one!

John 14 : He who has seen me has seen the Father..

By his mastery of the laws of nature: (During the storm)

Mark 4:41 “Who then is this, whom even the wind and the sea obey? »

Paul will also report this aspect in his letter to the Hebrews 1 : 8-12:

But he said to the Son: Your throne, O God, is eternal; The scepter of your reign is a scepter of equity;

9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you With the oil of joy above your equals.

10 And again: You, Lord, in the beginning established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands;

11 They will perish, but you remain; They will all age like a garment,

12 You will roll them up like a cloak and they will be changed; But you, you remain the same, And your years will never end.

Jesus was God. God alone receive our worship. “It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and only he shall serve him. Luke 4 :8.

Now, Jesus was worshiped as God. Let us recall the account of the healing of the ten lepers: “One of them, when he realized that he was cured, retraced his steps, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet, face down, and thanked him. Now, he was a Samaritan. » Luke 17:15

Or a leper on his healing: “And he said: I believe, Lord. And he bowed down to him. John 9:38 _

We can also note this adoration during the appearance of Christ in the Old Testament:

Joshua prostrates himself before the conquest of Jericho:

“I am the captain of the host of the Lord, I come now.” Joshua fell on his face, worshiped, and said, “What says my lord to his servant?” 15 The captain of the host of the Lord said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” Joshua 5:15

Or on other occasions. Here we see the consistency of the Scriptures.

Jesus is God, contrary to what some sects may assert.

By the Word All Things Were Made (Creation Aspect and Plan of Salvation)
Jesus by whom all things were made:

The Bible also says so:

Colossians 1 :16-17 “For in him (Jesus Christ) all things were created which are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, thrones, dignities, dominions, authorities. All was created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and all things subsist in him. »

Jesus is the present, from the beginning of creation. Here is what it is written: “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” Genesis 1.

The LORD God said, Behold, the man has become as one of us, to the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3

Or :

The plan of salvation planned by God from all eternity:

“God has called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but according to his own purpose, and according to the grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time everlasting…” 1 Timothy 1 : 9

so that the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places may know today through the Church the infinitely varied wisdom of God,

11 according to the eternal purpose which he brought to pass through Jesus Christ our Lord,

12 in whom we have, through faith in him, freedom to approach God with confidence.

Ephesians 3

No improvisation of God , neither in creation nor in the plan of salvation. Everything is beyond us, beyond our intelligence, our very definite and finite appreciation.

Furthermore Jesus dominates the laws of creation, life and death…

The Word is life and light for men
Jesus life.

In the word of God, death is considered an enemy.

He annihilates death forever; The Lord GOD wipes away the tears from all faces, He removes from all the earth the reproach of His people; For the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25 :8

4 I will redeem them from the power of Hades, I will deliver them from death. O death, where is your plague? Hades, where is your destruction? But repentance hides from my sight! Hosea 13:14

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Corinthians 15:56

God does not desire death, he did not want it, it came to judge sin. Death allows us not to live forever in a world of sin…

An inspirational quote from Billy Graham: “One day you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t believe a word of it. I will be more alive then than I am now. I just changed my address. I will then be in the presence of the Lord.”

But why could he affirm this, he had only one message : “I have a message: Jesus Christ came, he died on a cross, he rose again and he asked us to repent of our sins and to receive him by faith as Lord and Saviour, and if we do so, we will have all our sins forgiven.”

jesus source of life

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For it is by believing with the heart that one comes to righteousness, and it is by confessing with the mouth that one comes to salvation, as the scripture says:

11 Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. Romans 10

Jesus came to give life to lost and lost man, eternal life in the presence of God. Let us therefore live as Christians in this perspective of eternity…

Jesus source of light. He gives us this light, this possibility to live in light and not to live in darkness. The man in darkness will experience violence…jealousy or even…immodity, (This disposition (of someone) to behave or act in a way that sexual morality condemns.) impurity, dissolution, (Depravity of morals) idolatry, sorcery, enmities, quarrels, jealousies, animosities, disputes, divisions, sects, envy, drunkenness, excesses of table, and similar things. Galatians 5:20

But on the contrary to live with the feelings that inhabit Jesus Christ: gentleness, humility … and the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, benignity, fidelity , 23 meekness, temperance; the law is not against these things. 24 Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22

Jesus source of healing:

Read in His word for today:

We all have scars! Doctor Will Willimon said: “I have a friend who spent his childhood in an orphanage. When he was just a child, his mother took him there, left him standing under a big tree, told him she would come back that afternoon to look for him, but she never came back. Never. Today, he is a middle-aged man. One day we had arranged to meet for lunch together and I arrived a little late. I found him in an incredible state of nervous tension: he was walking up and down the sidewalk, sweating profusely, obviously very upset. A little later he confided to me: “I can’t help it; I get all worked up when one of my friends arrives late, because my mother made me wait a long time, and never came back.” He was an adult but his soul bore deep scars. You too undoubtedly have scars, some clearly visible, others invisible, others which appear with age. The risen Christ has scars that prove His love for you. If you don’t know Him yet, or if, like Thomas, you’re not sure you want to believe, He will show you His scars, “that you may believe…and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20. 31 ).

The Word not known and not received

Many refuse the work of Christ, certainly recognize that he is a special man, a historical figure, but do not recognize him as the Word, as God who has come among us.

Some people think that God does not exist, the Bible says it besides, but gives a particular name to these people, fool: “The fool says in his heart: There is no God! They corrupted themselves, they committed abominable iniquities; There is none who do good. 2 (53:3) God, from the height of heaven, looks upon the children of men, To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks God. » Psalm 53

And yet, these same people turn to other beliefs to make their daily life possible, to apprehend death and their desire for eternity… This is not new, man wanted to hide his nudity, his fear and his distress by leaves, but God himself intervened by offering him clothes of skins. (illustration if necessary of the sacrifice of Jesus)

This non-welcoming of the person of Jesus results in a life of darkness for man, no rest for his soul…

In Romans 3 :12/13/15, it is stated: “No one is understanding, no one seeks God; All are astray, all are perverted; … Their throat is an open sepulchre; They use their tongues to deceive; They have asp poison under their lips; …They are light-footed to shed blood; Destruction and misfortune are on their way; They do not know the way to peace; »

Isn’t that what we still live today?

A French army officer speaking of the Russo-Ukrainian war said: The man knows that one day he will die, it is the final fate of everyone. but the man always finds a way to allow the approach of this deadline!

Man does not control life, however he wants to have power over the beginning of life and even over the end of life, over the exit door. He is, however, powerless to give satisfactory answers.

God is there, God gave a way to enter into a new life, Jesus is there. Centuries before his coming, God announced the arrival in his time of the Savior! Who has faith in Jesus?

Song: Let’s sing the story of Emmanuel

The Word received transforming man.
Christ received, accepted in a life, is not simply spent eternity in the presence of God, it is also a new passport, a new inheritance: that of son of God.

What does that mean ? not only that we won’t spend eternity in hell, but in the presence of God, but we benefit from a new identity. By accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for my sin, God gives me the gift of being born of God. He recalls this in the letter to the Ephesians:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

5 we who were dead in our trespasses made us alive with Christ (it is by grace that you are saved);

6 he raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 to show in the ages to come the infinite riches of his grace through his lovingkindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith. And it’s not from you, it’s God’s gift. 9 Not by works, lest any man boast. Ephesians 2 :9

A new life is opening up to us, a spiritual life, a life in communion with the Father. Jesus is the son of God, we are by adoption. So now we have this opportunity to be in contact with the Father, what does this change in my life?

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7 : “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So by their fruits you will know them. 21 Those who say to me: Lord, Lord! not all will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. »

Through Jesus, we can know God, have a real relationship with God. Let us know how to enter into the works that God wants for us: “Since we are working with God, we strongly encourage you not to accept God’s grace without results. 2 Corinthians 6 :1

“Being a Christian is more than just instant conversion; it is a daily process by which we become more and more like Christ. » Billy Graham

It is said that Jesus was meek and humble in heart. What does that mean :

gentle = lovable, affectionate, loving, peaceful

humble = modest, who shows modesty

What is a humble person? a person who shows great respect for others, who puts himself on the other’s level.

We are asked to have the feelings that were in Jesus. “Let us have in us the sentiments that were in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2

Jesus asks us to have his feelings, with regard to the lost world, with regard to our brothers and sisters… as He had with regard to his disciples.

It is not an option, but an imperative request from God, to resemble Jesus Christ.

But what are these feelings?

Humility, a spirit of service, nothing glittering (Jesus looked like a simple man, Jesus was born humbly, in a stable.

After the stable, he knew the cross… who dreams of such a destiny? The barn, we want to, start in humility, ok, but end on a cross, in rejection, suffering and humiliation… But that’s not the end! let’s not forget: Stephen saw it: “But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, and looking up to heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. » Acts 7:55

And in Hebrews 3 , it says, “Jesus is seated at the right hand of the divine majesty in the highest”.

Jesus accomplished everything on the cross and we have nothing to add to it, but let us know how to reflect His presence and glorify Him in our lives.

What about me? Let me have the feelings that were in Jesus! May our lives speak with a gesture, with a look, with a word… That we can show by the grace of God that we are truly born men and women of God…

A final quote from Billy Graham: “We are the bibles the world reads, we are the creeds (confessions of faith) the world needs, we are the sermons (the messages) the world listens to. »