John 1:1-5,14 (NET) says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it…. Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.”
As I reflect on the season of Christmas, I am reminded of the reality that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, the Logos. He was with the Father in the beginning, and by Him as the Word, all of creation was spoken into being, and so it was. Many people think of the Word of God as just a book, but it is much more than that; Jesus Christ is the Word of God manifested in the flesh.
Revelation 19:12-13 (NET) says, “His eyes are like a fiery flame, and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God.”
Again, we see that Jesus is the Word of God. As Christians, we live knowing that the moment we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit begins a work in us. The old things have passed away, and all things are new in our lives. We go from living with lost identity as a result of the fall of humankind to now being found in Christ, forgiven, redeemed, and declared righteous before God. All of this is possible by the complete work of Jesus Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection. He is alive today and always!
Romans 12:1-2 (MSG) says, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, developing well-formed maturity in you.”
As believers, we fix our eyes on meditating upon the Word of God. As we do, we begin to change. We can set our minds on worldly things, or we can set our minds on the things of God and begin to change for His glory. The more our minds are set on Him, the more Christ-likeness flows through us for God’s glory.
We must live knowing that, as believers, the best present of all lives inside of us: that is Christ in us, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 (TLB) says, “He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased him to tell it to those who love him and live for him, and the riches and glory of his plan are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.”
Let us live in the reality of being found in Christ, letting His glory and light shine through us to all people we encounter every day.
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