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John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 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 testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 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 testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 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.

By: The Venerable Michael J. McKinnon

Light and Life have come in Jesus Christ:

[John 1:1] “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “In the beginning,” that is before God brought forth the created order, before time itself, before anything that was made, was made, the Word of God was present with His Father. He is of eternity (without beginning and without ending). He was present in the beginning, before all time and all worlds. He was not given life, but is Himself life. He is eternal with the Father and the Spirit. “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread out the earth — Who was with me?” (Isaiah 44:24). He is, as the Scriptures say, “the Author of Life”. He is, “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made” (Nicene Creed). Therefore, as we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world, we celebrate the coming of our God to save us; we celebrate the coming of the Author of Life. Jesus Christ is, “Emmanuel – God with us!” To know Jesus is to know God in the flesh.

[John 1:3-4] “[A]ll things were made through him [the Word of God], and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In Jesus, the Word made flesh, is life, that life which sets fallen man free from sin and darkness and overthrows the kingdom of death. He has brought a new Kingdom, and of His Kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:33). His is an eternal Kingdom, a Kingdom of light and life for all who trust in Him and are then delivered from death by the power of His life. There is no life apart from Him, for all things were created through Him and for Him. “[F]or in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). Thus, we who have turned from God and who have introduced sin and its consequence death into the created order must return to God the Father through Christ. It was Christ who gave us life, and it is Christ who redeems us from sin and death. But why should we trust God and turn from what we know?

It is the Word of God that formed us in the womb, who named us and wrote our names in His heart, who has kept us safe, who has called us and sanctified us for His purposes: “For thou, O Lord, art my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon thee I have leaned from my birth; thou art he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of thee” (Psalm 71:5-6). “For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb…Thine eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13 & 16). “The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name” (Isaiah 49:1b). “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…” (Jeremiah 1:4b-5). It is also the Word of God who bring us to be with Him at the end of this present chapter in our life, “And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). We can trust Him, for He has been with us in every moment of our existence and desires that we may live with Him forever. This is why He has come. Open your heart to the gift of God in the coming of His Son Jesus Christ. Let His light expel the darkness and let His life deliver you from death. For death is no longer the final word in this world. The Word of God is now the final Word in this world and His is the Word and Life and salvation for all who believe in Him.

“But to all who received him, who believed in His name, he gave power 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, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (John 1:12-14).