During this LEARNING TO HEAR series I’m taking a different approach to these devotionals. I want to us work harder at searching the scriptures for ourselves. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ method below to help us with this. It’s well worth the hard work involved!
TODAY’S TEXT
“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.” (John 1:14)
I’ve included my reflections on today’s text below. However, I encourage you to pray and spend time reflecting (writing can be helpful) using the 5 questions below before reading my thoughts.
i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?
ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?
iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?
iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?
v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.
MY REFLECTIONS
1. †GOSPEL
In love, Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came and dwelt among us - He became a man in order to die for us.
He has given us grace and truth. In Jesus we have ‘grace’ - the gift of salvation to the undeserving. In Jesus we have ‘truth’ - We know God in a new, fuller, and growing way.
If we’ve received Jesus, He continues to dwell in us and among us. The God of all comfort dwells among us. He is ‘Emanuel which means God with us’ (Matthew 1:23).
2. UP
As the ‘Word’ Jesus is the eternal God (See 1:1-2). As the Word, Jesus reveals what God is like to us. The term ‘Word’ refers to Genesis 1 where we read of God speaking creation into being; Jesus was co-creator of all things with the Father and the Spirit. We read elsewhere,
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17)
This text implies the double-nature of Jesus. He was, and remains, fully man and fully God.
His becoming flesh teaches us that God knows by experience what it is to be human. He can empathise with our weaknesses and temptations. He knows what it is like to be physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually exhausted.
3. IN
Jesus loved us and so left glory and laid aside majesty to become a man and die for us. His love remains the same today.
He ‘made his dwelling among us’ and He continues to want to dwell in our lives. He remains ‘Emmanuel (which means God with us)’ (Matt. 1:23). Jesus has promised,
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)
Comments