Jesus didn't just come to be with you, but to be made like you in every way.
John 1:9-14 (NIV)
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 19: The Two Natures of Christ
We believe that by being thus conceived
the person of the Son has been inseparably united
and joined together
with human nature,
in such a way that there are not two Sons of God,
nor two persons,
but two natures united in a single person,
with each nature retaining its own distinct properties.
Thus his divine nature has always remained uncreated,
without beginning of days or end of life,
filling heaven and earth.
His human nature has not lost its properties
but continues to have those of a creature—
it has a beginning of days;
it is of a finite nature
and retains all that belongs to a real body.
And even though he,
by his resurrection,
gave it immortality,
that nonetheless did not change
the reality of his human nature;
for our salvation and resurrection
depend also on the reality of his body.
But these two natures
are so united together in one person
that they are not even separated by his death.
So then,
what he committed to his Father when he died
was a real human spirit which left his body.
But meanwhile his divine nature remained
united with his human nature
even when he was lying in the grave;
and his deity never ceased to be in him,
just as it was in him when he was a little child,
though for a while it did not show itself as such.
These are the reasons why we confess him
to be true God and true man—
true God in order to conquer death
by his power,
and true man that he might die for us
in the weakness of his flesh.
Summary
Jesus is described in this passage as the true light and the Word, the latter being the description John used to open this gospel. John’s wording regarding Jesus speaks to the nature of who he is. Jesus is the true light who was coming into the world.
Throughout the Gospel of John, the language of “truth” or “true” is used to distinguish something as heavenly and everlasting. This combined with the mention of how the light was “coming into the world” - as opposed to being created in the world - helps to identify Jesus as the Son, the second person of the Trinity.
The Gospel of John opens with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This eternal Word, the Son, was there in the beginning, became flesh, and dwelt among us. What John is attesting to with these descriptions of Jesus is God becoming man. In the incarnation God did not merely take on a human form, but as John states “the Word became flesh." Jesus took on more than just skin & muscle; He took on our very nature.
Dig Deeper
We have returned to this opening chapter from the Gospel of John repeatedly throughout this year. There is a good reason for this, since John speaks directly to matters covered by the Belgic Confession, particularly as to who and what Jesus is.
This week we are going to focus on the importance of Jesus having both a divine and human nature. Jesus is both fully God and fully human, which is a distinction that carries eternal significance.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has given us the right to become His children;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will walk in the true light that gives light to everyone;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Romans 15
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