Advent Day 01: The Word

Today, we begin by lighting the Green Candle. The Green Candle represents life and all that Father God created in Christ, Good and Whole.

John 1:1–5
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 He was in the beginning with God. 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (ESV)

Advent is the season when we celebrate the birth of The Word – Jesus. The weeks of Advent lead to Christmas, the day we celebrate our Savior’s birth. Over the next 25 days, we will be reading portions of the Scriptures – the Bible – which outline the Story that leads us to and focuses us on Jesus.

All the Scriptures, in one way or another, are the Story of Jesus. Jesus Himself said,

“You search the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they speak about Me.”(John 5:39)

From the first page to the last, The Scriptures point us to Jesus.

As we begin to follow the story that leads us to the birth of Jesus, we don’t begin in Genesis 1:1, the first words of the Bible. We begin with the passage from the Gospel of John above that tells us about important truths before anything was created.

John begins by telling us, The Word was with God and He was God. But who is this Word? When speaking of The Word, John does not say “it” was with God and was God, but HE was with God and was God. As John’s Gospel unfolds, he makes it clear that he is talking about Jesus.

Before anything else was created, Jesus was The Son who was God and who was with God. Advent is the celebration of the One True God becoming human. We celebrate The Word becoming human to lead us to true life.

John also tells us that all things were made through Him. Everything that now exists, was made through The Word, Jesus. In Colossians 1, the Apostle Paul affirms this saying,

“For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him.”(Colossians 1:16 HCSB)

John tells us In Him – the Word, Jesus – was life and that life was light. Life and light. These are two major themes that tell us what Jesus came to give us. As we trace the Story of Jesus through the Scriptures, we will see it is the story of THE Word coming to us, becoming human so that we might share in His light and life.

Finally, John tells us the Light of the Word shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. As we follow the story that leads us to Jesus, there will be darkness: evil, sin, and death. But this darkness cannot overcome the Light of Jesus’ Life. The Word – The Son, Jesus – brings us life and a light that no darkness can defeat.

For this reason, the Story of Jesus is a true story of HOPE.

*This year, we have a downloadable pdf with the complete readings. You can get it HERE.