Pastor Ash Dotson
I love this intro to John’s Gospel … “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word nothing came into being.” We know that the “Word” is Jesus, but I wonder, can we be even more blessed as we take a deeper look.
As we think of those things that most Christians celebrate and contemplate during advent season; well, they too were there in the beginning. Love, Hope, Peace, and Joy are brought to us through Christ Jesus and proceed from the dance of the Trinity. As the Trinity dances on with the circle dance of love, hope emanates outward drawing all of humankind to the Love where we discover Peace and Joy.
God is love and love comes from God (1 John 4:7-7). So we can say that, “In the beginning was the Love, and the Love was with God, and the Love was God. The Love was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Love, and without the Love nothing came into being.” Let that penetrate you … bathe in it for a time. It seems to me that Love is first and foremost. In other words, God’s love envelops or carries the Word (Jesus) within, and is the foundation of all of creation!
We read in 1 John 4:12 (my paraphrase), “God lives in us, so God’s love is made complete when we love one another!” You see, this is where the mystery takes place; this is where our faith turns into something tangible! God’s Word is made complete and God’s Wisdom is made complete when we love one another! We become an active part of creation (co-creators) when we love one another! Another realization we come to as we read, “Everything came into being though Love…,” is that means you were created through and with great Love! Pretty cool!
So let’s look at Hope. What if we substitute Hope for Word? “In the beginning was the Hope, and the Hope was with God, and the Hope was God. The Hope was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Hope, and without the Hope nothing came into being.” Again, please bathe in that for a moment. You see, You were created with divine Hope and that Hope is yours! Hope is the divine driving energy of humankind. It is instilled within us from the beginning, it is our encouragement to others … “Don’t lose hope!”
We can do much the same with peace and joy. I encourage you to substitute these words in place of the “Word.” We are created with and through peace … Peace is something that emanates from love.”
And I love the sound of the above verse using Joy in place of the “Word.” Isn’t it good to know You are created with and through divine Joy! Merry Christmas to and from Oasis UMC.