WORD From The Woods
John 1:1-5
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Happy New Year! It’s that time of year again, when people feel compelled to make all sorts of resolutions and set goals to achieve during the next year. This can be a really good thing to do. We all need to grow and change, wether it’s a health issue we want to resolve, a bad habit or character flaw, or even some kind of blatant besetting sin that we’ve struggled with for our entire life, it’s good to be introspective and desire to make changes in our lives for the better. The problem with most of these resolutions and goals we set is that, they are usually very self-motivated, and self-centered. And we all know how utterly weak and prone to failure we really are! The beginning of a new year is always a good time to evaluate as it’s a kind of new beginning for us as we look ahead and think about the next 12 months. The reason I choose this text of scripture in John 1 this week, is because the apostle John had some really awesome things to say about beginnings. Beginnings are important because they set the stage for what follows next. When we set goals at the beginning of things, we reveal our intent and purpose for whatever we’re about to do. God revealed something through John when the Holy Spirit moved his hand to write these words. In fact, John was actually just paralleling the beginning of the entire bible. The first few verses of John are a parallel of the first few verses of Genesis.
Genesis 1:1-4
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”
There is a lot to learn from the passages. One of the most important things we learn from John is that the “Word,” referring to Jesus Christ Himself, is fully God and has eternally existed as a person of the one triune God, and was present at the beginning of the universe as we know it. John teaches us that there is not one thing in all creation that wasn’t made without Christ! Our pastor preached one of the greatest sermons I have ever heard today on Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” John MacArthur said “everything that could be said about everything that exists, is said in that one verse,” These passages that we’re looking at this week, are so important for us to study when we’re thinking about the beginning of this new year. They are about the beginning of all things and set the stage for the rest of scripture and really, every area of life! I say all this, because it’s vital for us as we make resolutions and plans for the next year, that we make sure Christ is central in all of it. The Christ we claim to serve as “CHRISTians,” the Christ we just celebrated last week on CHRISTmas, is the Christ of creation, the eternal God who brought everything that has been made into existence by the awesome power of His word! It’s vital that He is central and preeminent in our lives. We cannot change ourselves for the better on our own. We must bow to His will and authority in our life, if we want to see true and lasting change. Let Christ be your beginning for this new year, let Him reveal Himself to you though the scriptures, let Him set the stage for the next 12 months and beyond to the rest of your life!
God Bless, have a great week, and Happy New Year! -Terry-
John 1:1-5
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Happy New Year! It’s that time of year again, when people feel compelled to make all sorts of resolutions and set goals to achieve during the next year. This can be a really good thing to do. We all need to grow and change, wether it’s a health issue we want to resolve, a bad habit or character flaw, or even some kind of blatant besetting sin that we’ve struggled with for our entire life, it’s good to be introspective and desire to make changes in our lives for the better. The problem with most of these resolutions and goals we set is that, they are usually very self-motivated, and self-centered. And we all know how utterly weak and prone to failure we really are! The beginning of a new year is always a good time to evaluate as it’s a kind of new beginning for us as we look ahead and think about the next 12 months. The reason I choose this text of scripture in John 1 this week, is because the apostle John had some really awesome things to say about beginnings. Beginnings are important because they set the stage for what follows next. When we set goals at the beginning of things, we reveal our intent and purpose for whatever we’re about to do. God revealed something through John when the Holy Spirit moved his hand to write these words. In fact, John was actually just paralleling the beginning of the entire bible. The first few verses of John are a parallel of the first few verses of Genesis.
Genesis 1:1-4
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”
There is a lot to learn from the passages. One of the most important things we learn from John is that the “Word,” referring to Jesus Christ Himself, is fully God and has eternally existed as a person of the one triune God, and was present at the beginning of the universe as we know it. John teaches us that there is not one thing in all creation that wasn’t made without Christ! Our pastor preached one of the greatest sermons I have ever heard today on Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” John MacArthur said “everything that could be said about everything that exists, is said in that one verse,” These passages that we’re looking at this week, are so important for us to study when we’re thinking about the beginning of this new year. They are about the beginning of all things and set the stage for the rest of scripture and really, every area of life! I say all this, because it’s vital for us as we make resolutions and plans for the next year, that we make sure Christ is central in all of it. The Christ we claim to serve as “CHRISTians,” the Christ we just celebrated last week on CHRISTmas, is the Christ of creation, the eternal God who brought everything that has been made into existence by the awesome power of His word! It’s vital that He is central and preeminent in our lives. We cannot change ourselves for the better on our own. We must bow to His will and authority in our life, if we want to see true and lasting change. Let Christ be your beginning for this new year, let Him reveal Himself to you though the scriptures, let Him set the stage for the next 12 months and beyond to the rest of your life!
God Bless, have a great week, and Happy New Year! -Terry-