John’s Story of Time Before Time

“In the beginning the Word already existed.   The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.   God created everything through Him,  and nothing was created except through Him.   The Word gave life to everything that was created,  and His life brought light to everyone.   The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.  John 1:1-5 (NLT)

I used to work the night shift.  I came home exhausted every morning.  I would fall into bed and go right to sleep—that deep, exhausted kind of sleep.  Three hours later my eyes would POP open and in my sleepy disorientation, I would frantically try to figure out the day and time.  Initially upon waking, I felt like I had been asleep for days.  Once I figured out what day it was, that I had not overslept, but had three or four more hours left to sleep, I rested in that drifty, floaty kind of delightful sleep.

Give Me a Minute

Humans like time.  Think about it for a moment.  Clocks, calendars, planners and schedules surround you.  Phones are now timepieces.  Your computer can alert you to appointments and important deadlines.  You celebrate time marking special occasions: births, marriage, various accomplishments.  At some turning point, you lament time when you realize there is more behind than ahead.  Humans are bound by time.

Horror Vacui:  Nature Abhors a Vacuum

Humans don’t like nothing.  Yes, that is the sentence I meant to write. Human beings don’t fully understand “nothing.”  We have symbols to show us what nothing is.  Think about it.  “1” represents one thing.  What does “0” represent?   You start counting at one because zero is nothing, but you need a symbol for nothing.  Zero, a something, is needed for us to understand nothing.

Even when you admit you are doing “nothing,” you are doing something.

I imagine you are confused, annoyed or uncomfortable at this point.  Nothing is a difficult something to think about.

Timeless Nothingness

You’re used to hearing the Christmas story that is recorded by Luke and Matthew.  Those versions include all the things you associate with Christmas: Mary, Joseph, the manger, the Wiseman, angels and shepherds.  Above is John’s version of the Christmas story.  It begins before time.  It begins when the only thing in existence was God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  John’s story begins when there was NO THING in existence.  Wrap your finite, bound by time and space mind around that.

Meet Jesus:  Word and Light

John’s story takes you into the realm no human can comprehend and introduces you to the person of Jesus.  Jesus IS something!

• Jesus is eternal.
• Jesus is God.
• Jesus is the Divine Spark that initiated all things.
• Jesus is the Light that illuminates the Father.
• Jesus is the Word of God.
• Jesus offers finite, impotent humanity a glimpse at the infinite, all-powerful God.

If this list confuses or intimates you, remember, this is the Jesus who found joy in His suffering to redeem you.  He’s worth getting to know.  He wants to know you so desperately, He became like you, so He could lead you to the Father.

Father, You are more than my mind can comprehend.  That makes Your love for me even more amazing.  Thank you for Your Son.