Our scripture this week is 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.
John 1:1-5
Genesis tells us that everything that exists was created by God’s Word. In John’s Gospel passage for today we read that “through Him all things were made” and “in Him was life”. We need to take a moment to realize that the baby Jesus we celebrate at Christmas and the risen Christ we adore at Easter are the same “light of all mankind”, The Word, and the reason we exist at all.
“The Word was with God and the Word was God” sounds like a paradox, but it is our human attempt to understand how God the Father and Jesus the Son relate to each other and to us. God created everything, including us, out of love. It was His desire that we be free to choose our own path, but it was also His desire that we choose Him.
Jesus came to be with us as a human to let us see what true humanity is and to show what we were intended to be – God’s beloved children, connected to Him and each other. God loves us so much that He was willing to endure the pain and suffering of the broken world we have made of His creation. If we accept the truth Christ brings us and acknowledge our heritage in Him, we are promised that we can live eternally with Him.
Loving Lord, we bear the responsibility for the mess we make of our lives and Your world. Help us to see our mistakes and to accept Your forgiveness, to move forward in the new year and the new life You offer us. Amen.