Wednesday- Week 4

The Word Made Flesh

Ecce Homo ('Behold the Man')-1871

by Antonio Ciseri

John 1:1-14

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

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

9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. 11 He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. 12Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14The 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.

When does ‘in the beginning’ reference?

[Before creation (Genesis 1:1).]

Who was responsible for the creation of the heavens and the earth? (Read Colossians 1:15-18 and Hebrews 1:1-3)

[Jesus, Who is God.]

In verse 4, what does John say Jesus is?

[Life and the Light of mankind (2 Corinthians 4:6).]

What does verse 5 tell us about light and darkness? [Read John 3:19]

[Darkness cannot overcome Light.]

Who sent John the Baptist?

[God.]

What was John’s mission?

[To tell everyone about the Light. (see Wednesday-Week 3 devo).]

In verse 10, how did the world react to the Light?

[They did not recognize Him. Romans 1:20 states that what can be known of God is evident in His creation--- yet His creation still did not recognize Him.]

How did ‘His own’ treat Him? And who were ‘His own’?

[They did not receive Him. God’s chosen people- Israel, did not recognize their Saviour as prophesied by the prophets (Isaiah 53:2-12, Micah 5:2, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Daniel 9:24-27).]

What blessing did He give to those who believe in Him?

[They can become the children of God.]

Verse 12 tells us three things about salvation: who can become a child of God, how to become a child of God and the benefit to those who become a child of God.

Who can become a child of God?

[Anyone --all who receive Him (Revelation 7:9).]

How to become a child of God?

[Believe in Him (Romans 10:9).]

To what benefit?

[We get to be the adopted children of God, no longer spiritual orphans (Galatians 4:4-7).]

What does verse 13 mean by ‘children born not of natural descent’?

[We enter His family through a new birth—not physical, but spiritual. John 3:3-5]

Verse 14 identifies the ‘Word’ as being Who?

[Jesus!]

According to verse 14, what did the Word do?

[He became flesh and came to earth for us. Immanuel means ‘God with us’—God with flesh on.]

In verse 14, it refers to Jesus’ glory. Read John 17:5. What does this tell us about His glory and His relationship with the Father?

[He always had glory (before time), He shared it with the Father. And John states in verse 14 that He revealed some of it while on earth. Obviously, He concealed His full glory (Philippians 2:5-8), though He did on occasion allow some of His glory to show (Matthew 17:1-5).]

Close in Prayer

In Miracles, C.S. Lewis says, "No philosophical theory which I have yet come across is a radical improvement on the words of Genesis, that 'In the beginning God made Heaven and Earth'."

It is a radical statement-- that there is a First Cause of all that exists, and that He is the Word made flesh, come to an 'enemy-occupied world in human form,'* only to be rejected by His creation, nailed to a cross to die for their sins. Which do you find more radical-- that He created everything or that He died for the sins of the world?

Pray that you would have the power to understand how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is His love for you.

*From The Case for Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Make a Joyful Sound!

Choose a song from Advent Songs for Week 4 or choose your own.

#FirstCause #CSLewis #WordMadeFlesh