In the Beginning
Have you ever approached a group of people who were mid-conversation, and someone was telling a really interesting or important story? Typically when this happens, someone from the group will either stop and give you a quick version of what was just said, or casually remark that they will tell you the whole story later. It’s really difficult to fully grasp the whole picture, because you only know half the story.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
During Advent, a season that anticipates the arrival of Jesus Christ, a number of scriptures are incorporated into various sermons or teachings. Many Old Testament prophecies point to the promised Messiah, and accounts of Jesus’ earthly arrival are found in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Through these scriptures, we know that a promised Savior is foretold, and that Jesus, our Savior, is born of a virgin in Bethlehem. But one question that might linger in the back of a non-believer’s mind who sees our nativities and hears our Christmas songs is: “Why? Who is this Jesus, and why do we need Him?”
As Christians, we are called to share the Gospel: the good news that Jesus Christ arrived here on earth, lived a perfect and sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of the world, resurrected and ascended to the right hand of God the Father so those who repent and put their faith in Him will have eternal life.
We must first know who Jesus is and why we need the Messiah to help us understand the significance of studying his earthly arrival as our Lord and Savior. John 1:1-5 (ESV) tells us: “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.”
John 1 shows us that Jesus is the Word and points back to the very beginning of mankind’s story, where we learn more about this darkness and why we need a Savior. We follow the Creation story from the beginning to Genesis 1:26a (ESV) with the creation of man: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness….’”
As we progress through the scriptures, we learn about the fall of man–the first sin–and the separation from God that occurred. Genesis 3:22-24 (ESV) says, “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—’ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Mankind has needed a savior since that first dark moment of disobedience in the garden of Eden, but God has provided a bridge through Jesus Christ. John 1:14 (ESV) points to the earthly birth of Jesus: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Finally, as we look to John 1:17 (ESV), we come full circle in understanding the “why” and the “who” of the Advent season: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
There’s one more Advent that ties into the Gospel: the second coming of Christ. Revelation 22 paints a beautiful picture of the restoration believers will someday see. Jesus points to himself in verse 13 (ESV): “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’” Jesus Christ is coming again soon! Will you be ready?
-written by Amber Harvey