WORD From The Woods
John 1:1-18 (ESV)
“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. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me. ’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known”
As Christians, we talk a lot about following Jesus Christ. The word “Christian” literally means “Christ-follower.” I think that even if we’ve studied the bible and followed Christ for a long time, it’s easy to get a wrong impression of who Jesus Christ is from our culture. We are led to believe that Jesus was just a soft-handed, meek and mild, quiet, gentle, super nice guy. Jesus certainly was kind and gentle, but He was also tough and loud when He needed to be. The problem with the “world’s view” of Jesus is that it looks at Him as just a really good man that lived 2000 years ago and did some incredible miracles. Even as true Christians, we often fail to recognize that this Jesus we claim to follow, was and still is 100% divine as the second person of the Triune God. The Trinity, one God revealed in three distinct persons, is something that we can’t fully comprehend as finite human beings, but it’s the reality none the less. John, is his gospel account tells us that Jesus Christ has existed for all eternity and that He was right there with the Father when God spoke this limitless universe into existence! As loggers, we are blessed to work out in God’s good creation every day, and we see first hand how awesome it really is! As you think about this passage from John, realize that this Jesus not only created the universe and all that is in it, but He also came down into this broken, sinful, rebellious world to live among us and willingly lay down His life in our place so that we could have redemption and become children of God. This is the Jesus that we are called to follow and have a relationship with. No other religion on earth claims to have a god like our God. When we look at Jesus the way John did, it should transform our faith and inspire us in a whole new way to truly follow Him!
God Bless, and have a great week! -Terry Mann-
John 1:1-18 (ESV)
“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. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me. ’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known”
As Christians, we talk a lot about following Jesus Christ. The word “Christian” literally means “Christ-follower.” I think that even if we’ve studied the bible and followed Christ for a long time, it’s easy to get a wrong impression of who Jesus Christ is from our culture. We are led to believe that Jesus was just a soft-handed, meek and mild, quiet, gentle, super nice guy. Jesus certainly was kind and gentle, but He was also tough and loud when He needed to be. The problem with the “world’s view” of Jesus is that it looks at Him as just a really good man that lived 2000 years ago and did some incredible miracles. Even as true Christians, we often fail to recognize that this Jesus we claim to follow, was and still is 100% divine as the second person of the Triune God. The Trinity, one God revealed in three distinct persons, is something that we can’t fully comprehend as finite human beings, but it’s the reality none the less. John, is his gospel account tells us that Jesus Christ has existed for all eternity and that He was right there with the Father when God spoke this limitless universe into existence! As loggers, we are blessed to work out in God’s good creation every day, and we see first hand how awesome it really is! As you think about this passage from John, realize that this Jesus not only created the universe and all that is in it, but He also came down into this broken, sinful, rebellious world to live among us and willingly lay down His life in our place so that we could have redemption and become children of God. This is the Jesus that we are called to follow and have a relationship with. No other religion on earth claims to have a god like our God. When we look at Jesus the way John did, it should transform our faith and inspire us in a whole new way to truly follow Him!
God Bless, and have a great week! -Terry Mann-