The Bridge Sunday 3 January 2021

Heavenly Father,

As we start this new year with hope for a better future keep us in mind of all that you have done for us in Jesus our Saviour and Lord who came as your Word to a darkened world. Help us to reflect the light of your love to all around us and by your Holy Spirit empower us to be the people you want us to be. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

John 1 verse 1 – 14

The apostle John starts his gospel by explaining who Jesus was and is, the promised Messiah, the Anointed One who became a human being to reconcile people to God. To enable them to become spiritual children of God.

John calls Jesus the “Word” or in Greek “Logos” a concept that can be understood several ways but taken from Greek philosophy it is to be understood in a more expansive way than we comprehend from our word “Word”.

It starts with an Idea or Concept

Then a spoken Communication or Word

Which in turn incites an Action or Response.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

So God communicates with mankind through Jesus who not only taught his disciples and the crowds who gathered around him about God, and his heavenly kingdom, but actively relieved their suffering in his healing ministry. Jesus, in response to God, and in an amazing act of self- sacrifice went to the cross on our behalf so that our sins could be forgiven.

1:  In the beginning was the Word

Our thoughts are immediately drawn to Genesis chapter one which starts “In the beginning God” and is followed by the creation of the universe on the spoken instruction of God who pre-existed his creation. Indeed there never was a time when he did not exist and he does not depend on his creation for anything.  John is stating that Jesus as God’s Logos was always in existence the same as his Heavenly Father.

and the Word was with God.

Jesus shared God’s eternal existence but although he had a separate identity and purpose he was with God in terms of substance and character in the same mystical way that when Jesus became a man he was “God with us” he took on our humanity and experienced all the trials and temptations, the ups and downs of human life yet remained divine and free from sin.

and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Here we have the deep mystery of the Trinity. The Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit, one God being revealed to us as three persons united and undivided in love, grace and mercy yet, when dealing with humanity, three functions. Put simply:

The Father, the greatest authority over the whole of creation. The source of al life.

The Son, Jesus Christ sent by his Father as his “Logos” to become the Saviour of the world.

The Holy Spirit, God working in and through people to present Jesus to the world.

Being part of the Godhead the Logos was always with the Father.

3:  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John now states that Jesus was the agency through which God created the universe. If we return to Genesis chapter 1 it tells us :

 “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”  

We can reasonably conclude that creation was undertaken by God in trinity Father, Son and Spirit. Furthermore all things were made from nothing, there was nothing in existence before God decided to create the universe. Some people have put forward the theory that God created the world from some pre-existing formless stuff. John does away with that theory by his second statement that everything from bacteria to black holes were part of God’s work through the Logos.

4:  In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5:  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The Logos not only created inanimate things but he gave the world living things in profusion. The diversity of flora and fauna is absolutely amazing and we marvel at the documentaries that reveal for us the full nature of the planet where we live and which God created through the Logos. (Even David Attenborough has now stated that the world is in perfect balance, he hasn’t quite admitted that is was created by a perfect God).

For mankind Jesus brought eternal life and the light of God’s love was revealed through him. He came to a darkened world, people with closed hearts and minds and the majority of people rejected him.

6:  There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7:  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8:  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

John the Baptist had a huge impact on the Jews, calling them to repentance and a return to faith in God. However John dispels any misunderstanding about where John the Baptist fits into the order of things. He was sent to announce the coming Messiah, Jesus, and witness to his true identity.

9:  The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

10:  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. 11:  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

12:  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– 13:  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Light in scripture was a symbol of God’s presence, his purity, love and grace and therefore John was writing that in effect it was God himself who was entering the world in the form of his Son Jesus the Messiah. It was a theme that Jesus himself used. In John 8 v 12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

The tragic thing was that the world that he had created and the nation that he had adopted and cherished did not recognise him or accept him. But, wonderfully, to all those who came to him, believed and put their faith in him he made it possible for them to be born again spiritually into a new, eternal life as children of God and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. This offer of eternal life stands true today for those who will accept Jesus as their Saviour and Lord!

14:  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John sums up: Jesus the Word of God became a man in every sense of the word, grew up as part of a normal family but at the same time lived a life without sin. At the appropriate time he started his ministry of teaching and healing and ultimately, although innocent, died a terrible death. On the third day he rose again, appeared to his disciples and in their presence returned to his Father in heaven. After witnessing all this John was able truly to say that he had “seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”.

A Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for Jesus, your Word to us in his life, death and resurrection, and your written word to help us know you and our Saviour Jesus Christ. As we commence this new year fill us with your Holy Spirit again and inspire us to live in obedience to your call. In the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord Amen.


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