JEWELS FOR THE SOUL

John 1:14

“And the Word was made flesh, dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Jesus, the word of God, was sent to earth as a baby to live as a man. He grew from a baby in the womb of a virgin named Mary. “And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS“. Luke 1:31. And He died without sin upon a cross as the sinless Savior. The term word is used in different ways in the Bible. In the New Testament, there are two Greek words translated “word”, rhema and logos. They have slightly different meanings. Rhema usually means “a spoken word”. For example example, in Luke 1:38, when the angel told Mary that she would be the mother of God’s Son, Mary replied, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word (rhema)” Jewels of Nuggets “(the Word is spoken)”

Logos, however, has a broader, more philosophical meaning. this is the translation used in John 1. It usually implies a total message, and is used mostly in reference to God’s message to mankind. For example, Luke 4:32 says that, when Jesus taught the people, “they were amazed not merely by the particular words Jesus chose but by His total message.

“The Word” (Logos) in John 1 is referring to Jesus. Jesus is the total Message – everything that God wants to communicate to man. The first chapter of John gives us a glimpse inside the Father/Son relationship before Jesus came to earth in human form. He pre-existed with the Father (verse 1), He was involved in the creation of everything (verse 3), and He is the “light of all mankind” (verse4). The Word (Jesus) is the full embodiment of all that God is (Colossians 1:19; 2:9, John 14:9). But God the Father is spirit. He is invisible to the human eye. The message of love and redemption that God spoke through the prophets had gone unheeded for centuries (Ezekiel 22:26; Matthew 23:37). People found it easy to disregard the message of an invisible God, and continue in their sins and rebellion. (God is Spirit) he, who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. That is why when God called Moses up on the mountain top to give the Ten Commandments to him for the people, and how the tabernacle was to be used, and also the alter of incense, they got restless, along, and afraid, thinking Moses had brought them all the way from Egypt to let them die in the wildness, so with their weak minds they wanted a god that they could see. So they begged Aaron to to make them a golden calf, made from silver, gold, and jewelry, a god that they could see. “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus chapter 30-32). “And Aaron said unto them, break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me”. “And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. “Jewels of Nuggets” how quickly they forgot. God had been good to them. He delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, from slavery. With a strong hand and many plagues did Jehovah God deliver the Israelites out of Egypt from bondage. How quickly they forgot what God had done for them. And I recognize, the people of God in this day and time, are the same way. How quickly do we forget what God has done for us, how far He has brought us. How he has kept and protected them, It seems like his blessing, his graces and mercies are all forgotten in time as life journey keep turning.

So the word became flesh, took on human form, and came to dwell among us. (Matthew 1:23; Roman 8:3, Phillippians 2:5-11).

The Greeks used the word logos to refer to one’s “mind,” “reason,” or “wisdom.” John used this Greek concept to communicate the fact that Jesus, who is the Second Person of the Trinity, is the self-expression of God to the world. In the Old Testament, the word of God brought the universe into existence(Psalm 33:6) and saved the needy sinner(Psalm 107:20. In John Gospel, chapter 1, he is appealing to both Jew and Gentile to receive the eternal Christ.

Jesus told a parable(example) in Luke 20:9-16 to explain why the Word had to become flesh. He said “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent one a third time, and they wounded him and threw him out. “Jewels of Nuggets” The Word became flesh and dwells in the heart of mankind. Jesus want man to bear fruits, because at harvest time He come to collect fruits of: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” God sent his servant the prophets to man with his commandments and they did not hear them, nor did they listen to them and soon they beat them, killed them and threw them out. I seem to recognize that the people of God are the same way today, they don’t listen to God’s servant the prophets. I perceive that they hear the Word but it is far from entering into their hearts to obey and to live accordingly as thus says God’s Holy Word. The conditions of world situations and crisis, from personal crisis, health crisis, economic crisis and the ability to love and get alone with each other in a respectful way and by doing so bringing harmony and solution to world problems, reveal a lack of accepting the Word of God. Therefore it is perceived that the prophets who bring the Word of God saying “what thus says the Lord” is being killed and thrown out.

“Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. “This is the heir”, they said. “let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others”. “Jewels of Nuggets” the inheritance was forfeit to all people (God’s) plan. The plea to the people of God is don’t kill and throw out your inheritance.

In this parable of story, Jesus was reminding the Jewish leaders that they had rejected the prophets and were now rejecting the Son, Jesus Christ. The Logos, the Word of God, was now going to be offered to everyone, not just the Jews anymore, but also a way for the Gentiles to be saved was now possible.(John 10:16; Galatians 2:28; Colossians 3:11). Because the Word became flesh, we ALL have a high priest who is able to empathize with our weaknesses, one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet He did not sin(Hebrews 4:15)

God’s plan for salvation were for the whole world to be saved. Jesus died on the Cross for all mankind.

Well this is another “Jewels of Nuggets for the Soul Blog”. Praise, Praise, Praise God!!!