Advent Day 2: The Word

- "In the beginning" takes us back to Genesis 1:1. The Word was in the beginning because He's God the Creator.
- "The Word was with God and the Word was God"--this suggests equality and association with God, confirming the deity of Jesus Christ.
- In Hebrew Scripture,

• the Word was an Agent of creation: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth." (Psalm 33:6),

• the source of God's message to His people through the prophets: "The Word of the Lord that came to Hosea ...When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, 'Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.'" (Hosea 1:1a, 2)
• God's law/His standard of holiness: "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11)

- In Greek philosophy, the Word (Logos) was the principle of reason that governed the world, or the thought in the mind, while in Hebrew thought, the Word was another expression for God. Jesus is God's Expression of Himself to mankind. Jesus is God's Message to mankind. The Word is the Son of God, Who became incarnate in order to reveal God fully!
- John used the Word to describe Jesus, the Creator of the universe, the Ultimate Revelation of God, the Living Picture of God's holiness, the One in Whom "all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). 
- John showed Jesus as fully God and fully human. Although Jesus took upon Himself full humanity and lived as a man on earth, He never ceased to be the eternal God Who has always existed, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the Source of eternal life.
- Since we are created beings, we have no basis for pride whatsoever. We exist only because God made us and we have gifts only because God has given them to us. With God we are special, unique, valuable, and treasured; apart from God, we are nothing.
- Jesus Christ is the Creator of life and His life brings light to mankind. The Word communicates light (the knowledge and wisdom of God) to us. In His light, we see ourselves as we truly are (sinners in need of a Savior). When we follow Jesus, the Light of the world, we can avoid stumbling blindly in darkness and falling into sin and destruction. He lights the path ahead of us so that we can see how to live. He also removes the darkness of sin from our lives. May the light of Christ always shine brightly in our lives and thus make us shine in this world of darkness! "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." (Ephesians 5:8-11)