The Word

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

As I thought of this passage of scripture today, I was taken by the completeness of it. Everything we were in need of, creation, life, hope…were all summed up in this announcement from John found in the opening of his Gospel. So what I want to do today is embellish upon this passage and cause us to consider the complexities of its depth and reach of its completeness.

In the beginning was the Word, and guess what, the Word will be there at the end as well. One of the amazing truths of scripture found here is that God is, has always been and will always be. We know that this reference to “the Word,” spoken of here, is, in fact, speaking about Jesus Christ. He was with God from the beginning; all things were made through Him. In Him is life and light, and the light shines in our dark lives.

These seven ideas contained in this passage give us a complete life and work of the person of Christ. Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer and Conqueror--these form the basis of everything Jesus is doing. No wonder John writes that in verse 9, “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” After all the darkness, now the light has shown and Christ is come.

It is complete in that Jesus was Creator and ends with Him being the Conqueror which nothing can overcome. It is complete in that He provides everything we need to live; life in Him is provided. Light and life, hope and forgiveness--all these are found in Him because He created everything that is.

I love the phrase from time to time said in our churches, “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.” It was in His goodness that He created us and gave us everything we needed, and it is in His goodness that He sustains us and provides for us living faith. It is in His goodness that He will bring us to Himself at the end so that nothing will overcome that which He has created.

In the beginning was the Word; always has been, still is and always will be. Thanks be to God.

Blessing, Rip

Come

Luke 19:5-6 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.

Perhaps this is one of the better known and best loved short stories in all of scripture. Who among us growing up in Sunday school has not sung the song relating to this story of Zacchaeus, the wee little man? And yet, this story has amazing power in its teaching about giving up everything and following Jesus. That really is the purpose of the story, you know--not that Jesus was going to his house but that Jesus was calling him to change his life.

Change his life it did. If you follow the story, you will see that Zacchaeus made a radical life change which started that very moment with his Jesus encounter. He gave back things he had wrongly taken; he restored over and above what he had stolen and he gave half of everything to the poor. Significant for sure! However, I think the greatest thing he did was after this first encounter. Jesus said it this way, “Today salvation has come to your house.”

What was the core change in Zacchaeus? Was it how he handled money or power? No, I think it was how he lived from that moment on. For many of us, it’s easy to make a declaration of change at the moment of encountering Jesus, but the proof is in how we finish the course set before us. Quick change rarely finds its completion in lasting and significant things. It is only in sustained living the Jesus Walk that we sill find at the end of the journey the life of fulfillment and joy that we were seeking.

This radical call from Jesus to Zacchaeus is the same call to each of us. “Come down; I’m coming to your house today.” It’s the same call each and every day in the life of a Christ follower. The way you choose each day is directly related to your joy and obedience in following the life Christ has planned for you.

Zacchaeus could have ignored this call from Jesus. He could have said, “Not me, not now.” Yet he came down and the passage tells us, “welcomed Him gladly.” Salvation came to Zacchaeus because he responded and in so doing, his life was changed.

Jesus calls each of us to come, follow, and receive.

Blessings, Rip