Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Advent Day 24: Revelation


Advent Day 24: Revelation

"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." John 1:18


Today we reach the end of John's prologue and with it great news. Jesus came to earth and lived among us to show us God; to fully make known - reveal - who God is.

Jesus is the very image of God:
"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:15-17
"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus himself said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." John 14:9.

John says, "Jesus has made him known". The Greek word used here is exegeomai which means to declare by making plain; to tell the meaning of something, especially to make it known fully. From this word comes the English word exegesis, meaning interpretation or explanation. It holds the meaning of interpreting a text based solely on what it says. This is exactly what Jesus does. He exegetes God for us - He makes Him fully known. He is Divine revelation. Jesus is "the full and complete revelation of the invisible God. To know Jesus is to know God." Bob Utley

Thou art the everlasting Word,

  The Father’s only Son,

God manifestly seen and heard,
  And heav’n’s beloved One:
Divine, O Son of God, art Thou,
In Thee God’s fulness find we now.
Thou Art the Everlasting Word, Hymn by Josiah Condor, 1789-1855


Thank you for following along with Advent Words. My prayer and hope is that slowing down for the past 24 days of Advent and slowly going through John's prologue has been a time of refreshing. That it has served to help us all focus on the true meaning of Christmas. 
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
Merry Christmas! 

Monday, December 23, 2019

Advent Day 23: Son


Advent Words Day 23: Son

"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." John 1:18

The One and Only, the Son, the Word, Jesus Christ. He is the center of John's prologue and John's gospel. He is the Good News!

Isaiah prophesied the arrival of a great Son:
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."Isaiah 9:6-7
The Angel Gabriel proclaimed to Mary she would give birth to the Son of God:
"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." Luke 1:31-35
The disciples testified to the Son of God, the Messiah:
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven." Matthew 16:13-17
Paul declared Him Son of Man and Son of God:
"The gospel of God the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 1:1-4
God declared the Son his plan for salvation:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." John 3:16-17
The Son expresses God's love:
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." 1 John 4:9-15

The Son is life:
"We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."  1 John 5:9-13
"So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God"
Jesus is the Son of God ~ 
The miracle of Christmas. 





Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Advent Day 22: Truth


Advent Words Day 22: Truth

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.: John 1:17

This is the first time in John's prologue that the name of Jesus has been used. Until this point He has been referred to as the Word. In this verse John will contrast the old with the new, Moses with Jesus, the law with grace and truth.

Grace and truth were present in the Old Testament, but they are fully realized in Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said,
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17

"You diligently study the Scriptures (the Law) because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me." John 5:39

As we saw earlier in John 1:10-11, the world did not recognize who Jesus was. Even those who had the Law and the Prophets that pointed to the Messiah, did not recognize and receive Him. But grace and truth would reveal Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. The Greek word used for truth here is aletheia. It's literal meaning is "that which contains nothing hidden"; nothing is concealed, it is that which is seen or expressed as it really is.
"When grace comes, so does God’s revelation of spiritual truth, and we begin to see things as they are." Kent Hughes

Commentator James Montgomery Boice sums up this passage and its meaning:

"The contrast is between the law with all its regulations and the new era of salvation by grace through faith apart from the works of the law that has come with Jesus Christ. It is a great contrast. Under the law, God demands righteousness from people; under grace, He gives it to people. Under law, righteousness is based on Moses and good works; under grace, it is based on Christ and Christ’s character. Under law, blessings accompany obedience; under grace, God bestows his blessings as a free gift. The law is powerless to secure righteousness and life for a sinful race. Grace came in its fullness with Christ’s death and resurrection to make sinners righteous before God."
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.





Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Advent Day 21: Blessing


Advent Words Day 21: Blessing


"From the fullness of his grace we have all received  one blessing after another." John 1:16-18

Other translations of this verse say that we have received "grace upon grace" (ESV) - abundant, sufficient grace. This is our greatest blessing!

Christ can supply grace upon grace because He is full of grace and truth (1:14). Look at Websters 1828 Dictionary definition of grace:
"The unmerited love and favor of God which is the spring and source of all benefits men receive from Him, including especially His assistance given man for his regeneration or sanctification. (Grace is) a virtue from God influencing man, renewing his heart and restraining him from sin."

God's grace is unmerited - unearned. As we saw in John 1:12, we do nothing to earn it, we receive His gift of salvation through His Son, and with it the blessings of grace.


"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more." Romans 5:17-20
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" Romans 8:32
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ...to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us." Ephesians 1:3, 6-8
We are blessed beyond measure!





Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Friday, December 20, 2019

Advent Day 20: Fullness


Advent Words Day 20: Fullness

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." John 1:16

We saw yesterday in John 1:14 that Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth. In today's verse we find that we are blessed in every way by Christ's fullness. What is Christ's fullness?

The Greek word for fullness is pleroma. It means to fill to the full measure, abundance, filled to completeness. Paul shows us Christ's fullness in his letters to the Colossians and the Ephesians. Paul tells us that "God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell" in the Son (Colossians 1:19). He goes on, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). The totality of all that God is, his attributes and power, is found in Jesus Christ.
"In Christ, we find the full expression of God's love." ~Brian Chilton
The ultimate expression of God's love for mankind is grace. Grace comes to us through Christ. Paul prays for believers to experience the love of Christ and thus to also experience the fullness of God: 
  "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

John Piper says, "This love is the grace and truth that fills the Son of God and pours out on us." In Christ, we too are filled with the fullness of God because Christ is in us.

"And God placed all things under his (Christ) feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." Ephesians 1:22-23


He gave us spiritual gifts "to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:12-13


"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and in Christ you have been brought to fullness." Colossians 2:9-10

From the fullness of His grace, we too are blessed with the fullness of God.






Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Advent Day 19: Grace


Advent Words Day 19: Grace


"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

In the Incarnation, Jesus made God visible to us. In the Incarnation, God made grace available to us.

" Because of the grace of Jesus we have been enriched in every way. The experience of knowing Jesus fulfills our hearts and lives completely. In Him, we lack nothing. In this season of want, as we await His coming, we remember that our lives are rich with grace because of Christ, who did come, who lived among the people, who lives among us still. He makes His home in the hearts of those who love Him, however imperfectly we may live that out. We lack nothing because in Christ we have everything. His truth and glory revealed to us not only in Advent, but in the every day moments of our lives, remind us that it is He who sustains us as we wait for His return." 
~Kris Camealy, Come, Lord Jesus.
Jesus, the Word, came from the Father full of - abounding in - grace and truth. This is  Good News! Pastor Ray Pritchard explains the use of the words of grace and truth together in this verse"

"These two words explain why Jesus came to the earth. They go to the very heart of the gospel. Because he was full of grace, he died for you and me while we were yet sinners. Because he was full of truth, he was able to pay for our sins completely. He forgives the sinner because he bore the sin himself. Here is truly good news for people like us. Because he is Grace-full, you can come just as you are. Because he is truth-full, you can come in complete confidence that he will keep his promises. When he promises a complete pardon for your sins, he means it. Do you need a trustworthy Savior? Fear not. Jesus is full of truth. Do you need a forgiving Lord? Come to him for he is full of grace."
The Word came full of grace and truth.







Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Advent Day 18: Glory


Advent Words Day 18: Glory


"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

In the incarnation - God becoming human and dwelling among us - God made it possible that through the Word, Jesus, we would be able to see His glory. Colossians tells us that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). Hebrews tells us "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being..." (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus reveals God's glory. 

The word glory is used in the Bible to denote the visible manifestation of God's presence. It is the sum of all His attributes and perfection. In the Old Testament God's glory dwelt in the tabernacle. In the New Testament God's glory dwells among His people embodied in the person of Jesus. His presence is always with us. He is the glory of God!

At His birth the angels sang,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,  and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, Glory to God evermore
Good news, great joy for all
Melody breaks through the silence
Christ, the Savior is born!
Jesus, the love song of God!
Christ Tomlin - Midnight Clear (Love Song) 



Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there.