Living

God Spoke

Scriptures: Hebrews 1:1-3 ; John 1:1-18
by Jacob Abshire on December 3, 2015

It’s better to give than to receive.

My folks taught me that early on. I hear it even today as other parents speak with their children. It is better to give than receive. Christmas, however, is better celebrated when we learn to receive, not what we find under the tree or passed around from a friend, but what the Lord gave us — the Word of God.

Were you expecting Jesus? Good. He is what I mean.

God gave His Son to be born by a virgin and to be killed by a people and to be raised again by His Father. He is what we call the Living Word. John described Him as the Word. He existed in the beginning with God and was God (Jn. 1:1-2). And, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). Historically, “no one has ever seen God” but God “has made him known” in Jesus, the Word of God (Jn. 1:18).

This is an astounding reality to think about. It is also somewhat of an abstract. The writer of Hebrews carried a similar idea emphasizing Jesus as God’s self-disclosure. When opening his letter to the Hebrews, he said:

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son … He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”

Hebrew 1:1-3

Critical to the text are these two words: “God spoke.” Not to insult your intelligence, but God spoke. He uttered words in some way, or as the text says, “in many ways” and “at many times.” Did you know that unless God spoke we would be left to our own imaginations? Unless God speaks, we can know nothing about Him. Have you ever sat on that awhile?

In God’s gracious love, He sovereignly decided to not leave us on our own, but to speak to us. He did so “long ago” through the prophets. But “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.”

Had God not spoken, I would be … fill in the blank. Desperate. Doomed. Dangerously sinful. For no reason in us, however, God spoke. The question is, have we listened? What is our response? When God speaks by His Son do we believe? Do we trust? Do we worship? Or, do we pretend that He hasn’t said a word at all. Think about it. How do you receive the Word of God?

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