The Book of John_Day 1
What if God was one of us?
Read – John 1
Jesus was with God when the world was created. He left heaven and entered the earth the way we did — through childbirth. Jesus was human, and He was an ordinary man. God sent John to announce Jesus’ arrival on earth.
The book of John records John’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry. In the beginning, we would expect to see a star, a manger, cattle, angels singing, wise men, and the like. But in the sweeping introduction to John, John doesn’t tell of Jesus’ story but ours.
“Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3).
Jesus is the initiator of everything. The universe, our lives, our salvation—all were created and thought of by Jesus. As if that wasn’t enough, in the most surprising move of all, John says Jesus entered into His creation, becoming a living, breathing human and walking among us. Don’t miss this: Jesus became flesh and moved into the neighborhood He created. He went to school and got hungry. He grew up and got a job. He had a real-life, human experience.
Why would He do such a thing? John sets out to answer this question for us. At a wedding, in a late-night debate, beside the drinking fountain, at the local hospital, with a downtrodden woman, at the funeral of a friend and in other situations — John shows us who God is. All along, Jesus risks us misunderstanding Him in order that He might initiate a relationship with us. He doesn’t initiate a relationship with us because we are worth it — He initiates a relationship with us to give us a life worth living. In light of all that Jesus has done, how should we live in response?
