WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
John 1:1–5 NIV
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 all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
CONSIDER
Welcome to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John. While the scope of the gospel is as vast as eternity, the agenda of the gospel, from the first word to the last, is singular. It is to reveal this all-consuming reality: God is Jesus.
Do we realize just how astonishing this is? Can we fathom what we are actually saying?
God is Jesus.
We are saying that a human being—a real, living, breathing human being is the Creator of all that is, the very God of heaven and earth. Pick someone out of a crowd today. Take a good look at them, and try to grasp the reality that a person, just like the person you are looking at, could possibly be almighty God.
God is Jesus.
It seems reasonable to posit an invisible, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent deity and call this being God. It seems reasonable to posit an invisible Spirit who is distinct from and yet indivisibly one with God. It seems patently unreasonable, even absurd, to posit that a visible, approachable, flesh-and-blood human being could possibly be the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God of the cosmos. And yet the Bible couldn’t be more emphatically clear on this point.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
God is Jesus.
As the Nicene Creed, the consensus faith of the church at all times and in all places, has it:
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
God is Jesus.
It’s one thing to make the claim that Jesus is God. It strikes me as of another order to say God is Jesus. The gospel of John, as well as the other three eyewitness accounts, does not set out to convince or prove that Jesus is God as though we were the jury who would render a verdict. No, we are the ones on trial. The gospel of John purposes to reveal the single most important truth in the history of history—the only truth with the power to save us: God is Jesus.
And did you know the prologue to John 1 is actually a hymn. In the earliest days they sang these words. And speaking of hymns, today in lieu of singing a hymn from our hymnal, Chris Tomlin is going to lead us in a new-old hymn he has recently written for the church.
PRAY
Abba Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the mercy of sending your Son. Forgive us for sitting in judgment on him. As we open the pages on this gospel, open the eyes of our hearts to perceive this revelation of all revelation: God is Jesus. It is in his name that we pray, amen.
JOURNAL
Do you sense the change in order of magnitude between saying Jesus is God and saying God is Jesus? Why is that? Of course, we believe God is Father and God is Holy Spirit. So why is it so critical to grapple with the implications that God is Jesus? What would it mean to approach the gospel of John, not as those seeking proofs, but as those who are hungering for divine revelation?
SING
Today, we will sing “First Hymn” with our friend Chris Tomlin.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas.
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6 Responses
Jesus the Godman
From the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. (John 1:1) Then the Word became flesh and gathered people around Him. His name is Jesus. He taught them. He trained them. He loved them. He led them. (John 1:14) Those people beheld His glory and spread His story, not just in words but in how they lived their lives.
Jesus the Godman is the true light that gives light to everyone. (John 1:9) He invites whosoever will to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23) yet multitudes reject His light. Many others just honor Him with their lips but keep their heart far away from Him. (Matthew 15:8-9) However all who truly receive Him, surrender their heart to Him, and rely on Him as their living Lord and their God (John 20:28) become children of God supernaturally born again. (John 1:12-13 & 3:3-7)
If you will let Jesus, the Godman, continually align your will with His will you will know Him as your Lord and Master. Then you will experience His glorious presence like never before!
Followers of the Godman should want the people they disagree with to be healed, encouraged, and transformed by Christ’s joyous presence and peace. (Luke 6:28) They should radiate His light. (Matthew 5:14) They shouldn’t use power or politics to try to defeat or humiliate people. (Zechariah 4:6) They should win them over by God’s love. (Matthew 5:44)
Through all that’s going on around us, we Christ-followers need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2) Our hearts need to be constantly aflame with passionate love for and obedience to the Godman. (2 Timothy 1:6) We need to always demonstrate (1 Corinthians 2:4) the reality of Christ’s presence and love in all we say and do.
Nations are discipled by the power and presence of the risen Jesus being demonstrated in and through followers of the Godman — Christians who love not their lives unto death (Revelation 12:11) and demonstrate compassionate love for their enemies. Disciples aren’t made by politics.
In the final hours before His crucifixion, Jesus, the Godman, chose tenderness at a supper table not triumph from a conquering throne. He chose foot washing not enemy squashing. He calls us to do the same.
Followers of the Godman are supposed to be a supernaturally functioning family led by God the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, contemporary church is much closer to being a formal restaurant than it is to being a family. It serves up a meal of words, (called a sermon) collects money, and then sends everybody out into this lonely, mental health crisis world and hopes that they make it on their own until next Sunday morning.
Thanks for your comments/commentary …. they/it have/has help me in my understanding of being a Christian.
God had John written for people like me. As a new Christian then, I needed someone to reveal to me what Jesus was trying to tell me in the other gospels. That they are One. The Gospel of John is one of my favorites. Sometimes, mother had to tell me three times before it sunk in, but after three Gospels of Jesus, John said it right up front. Gary, you are no longer dull. Thank you Lord, what a wonderful gift.
Wow that was an awesome song! Thank you
Chris Tomlin for bringing first hymn back for us
to enjoy. I really liked it, it spoke to me. Thank
JD for having Chris on Wake Up for today.
Steve Simms,
Thank you brother for your anointed insights into God’s Holy Word and your encouragement in regards how-as disciples- we are to respond to tthe written Word and the Living word-Jesus- given by God the Father and empowered by His Holy Spirit. I always love to read your commentary.
Steve Simms,
Thank you brother for your anointed insights into God’s Holy Word and your encouragement in regards how-as disciples- we are to respond to tthe written Word and the Living word-Jesus- given by God the Father and empowered by His Holy Spirit. I always love to read your commentary.