John 1: 1-13

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." John 1: 1-5

I turn to this passage often to remind me just how big our God is - how awesome, and all-encompassing, and indescribable. I learned a while back that John started his gospel with "In the beginning" on purpose to tie in with the "In the beginning" of Genesis 1:1. He wanted people (especially his own people, the Jews) to know that yes, he really meant that Jesus was THAT God. The I AM, (YWVH), the thrice Holy and indescribable one whose Name should not even be pronounced.

The original Greek for Word is Logos. LOGOS means "something said, including the thought, by implication a topic or subject of discourse, also reasoning." So in the beginning of all things, Jesus was that which was said (God spoke all of creation into existence), the subject, and all the thought and reasoning behind it. Well. That about sums it up. Case closed, let's go home.

So, that guy that John the Baptist baptized, who worked as a carpenter for a while, then went around teaching about God and performing miracles - yeah, you're looking at, talking to, eating with God Who Was In The Beginning who was also the thought and reasoning behind everything that was created. Wow.

John the Baptist was sent by God to testify about the light, that is, Jesus. The Greek for light meant to shine, or make manifest (also fire.) In the Old Testament, God manifested himself as a pillar of fire to go before the Jews as he led them out of bondage in Egypt. Jesus is that holy fire burning in the bush that Moses saw.

And yet, John tells us, the world did not recognize Him. How far we have fallen from the Garden of Eden, when God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. You light a match in a dark room, it's pretty obvious. Even more so, a bonfire or a forest fire. Yet they (and we) miss the HOLY fire, the biggest one of all - even walking among us.

Despite this, God makes his amazing offer:
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

Even though we are so blind as to miss this blazing bonfire that is God before us, He still wants us back as his children.