Sunday, September 7, 1997 In Your Absence:
In this week's lesson, which came from John 1, we learned about the uniqueness of Jesus and about the validity of His claims. Through the ages and even at the present time, many have and still do proclaim that Jesus was only a great Teacher, a great Person, a great Healer, and a Worker of miracles. He was all of these things, but He was and is so much more. In the opening verses of this chapter, the Apostle John indicated that something else already existed with God at the time of Creation. The dualist would say that that something was either a type of pre-existing matter from which God could fashion the world or that it was an evil force which was already in existence to oppose God. These types of critics deny the creation-from-nothing teaching (called "creation ex nihilo") which is maintained by the Bible. They do not accept the simplistic belief that God or anyone else could have created this universe simply by speaking it into existence. However, our God could, and He did! According to John, the something or Someone else, Who existed before our universe was created, was Jesus, and for the record, the Holy Spirit was there, too.
In the first verse of this Gospel, the Apostle John identified Jesus as the Word. He then equated the Word, Jesus, to God. Thus, from this verse, we know several important truths. First, we know that Jesus existed before He was born in a Bethlehem stable. Second, because John called Him the Word, we know that He was and is a living manifestation of the written Word of God. To me, that means that reading the Bible is like spending precious time listening to our Lord as He shares with us some of His marvelous truths. Third and most important, John has taught us in this opening verse that Jesus is God, not that He was a god but that He is God! Verse Three tells us that Jesus created all things. Scientists present their theories which boldly (and foolishly) try to replace Christ as Creator, but their theories cannot and do not stand up to close scrutiny. May we never be bothered or intellectually challenged by those who would have us deny the work of our Lord during Creation. The smartest people in this world are those who know and have accepted Jesus as Lord, not those who can seemingly work magic with their fancy equations.
Because Jesus is our Creator, He knows everything about us. He knows the will for our life, and if we desire, He will reveal that will to us. He knows the needs of our heart, and if we will allow Him, He will meet those needs by giving us a knowledge of Himself. He knows the Father, and if we so desire, He will reveal the Father to us. The greatest joy in this life, and the only joy which will last for all our life, is that which comes from knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Many in this world would try to turn us and our loved ones from the simplicity of the Gospel, but always remember that God's Gospel is His plan for us and His gift of love to us. If we turn from Him, then we will be turning from our Creator and from the One Who loves us and died for us. If you have never made the decision to accept Him, then please do so today. If you have, then encourage those about you to do the same.
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
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