Suggested Date: December 9th
John opens his Gospel with the same first words in Genesis: “In the beginning…” In Genesis, what follows is the account of God’s creation of all that is seen and unseen. John, however, tells us about the biggest event in human history: the coming of the Word of God. This baby born to Mary was not a mere human: He was God.
Scripture: John 1:1-5, 1:14
In 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. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 The 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.
digging deeper
1. Why is Immanuel such a good name for Jesus?
2.Who is the “Word” in this passage?
3. Why is Jesus described as the “Word”?
4. From verses 1 through 5, what is true of the Word? Who is this referring to?
5. From verse 14, what did the Word come and do?
6. Why do you think it matters that Jesus actually became a man, not just appeared to do so?
wrap-up
Jesus Christ, the timeless, limitless son of God humbled Himself, stepped into time, and took on all of the limitations that come with having a body. God became man. Jesus knows what it feels like to grow weary, to hunger and thirst, to be alone, betrayed, mistreated, and disrespected. The first in-the-beginning story involving the first two people went wrong because they faced temptation and then chose to do what they thought best instead of obeying God. But Jesus, Who is Himself the Creator, reset the whole system. He lived the perfect human life in our place, and then offered His perfect life as the sacrifice to pay the price we owed for our very imperfect human lives. God among us, the Word made flesh, is very, very good news!
respond in worship
“Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright...”
respond in prayer
Take some time to pray for those in need this season. Ask God to show you people who are in need and how you might be able to help.