The Word, who would ever believe that the Word could or would have so much power. I’m not talking about the words that we write on paper or the words that come out of our mouths. I’m talking about the Word John refers to, Jesus the Messiah.
Think back to Genesis. God created everything with just a word. He said, “Let there be light,” and there it was. He spoke the words so that the waters above and below would be separated and they were. We call it the sky. God spoke the word and it happened. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning.
Jesus, the Word, came into our lives and lived among us as Life, a Life that blazed with Light to illuminate our world and cast out the darkness. The darkness couldn’t defeat the Light.
Friends, this is the good news. My task as your pastor is not to tell you what we all must do in order to merit salvation, but to announce publicly what God has already done, and that’s it. There is nothing more to do. No advice on how to get people to like you, no advice on how to get God to like you, no advice on how to win friends and influence people, no possibility thinking to be taught, no jumping up and down, no miracle cures for lunacy on the part of preachers is required, no membership roles to join, no offerings to make, no rituals to follow, none of it, nothing, nada. I am to just tell what God has done. No ifs. NO buts, no you only have to, none of those lies. "All that is needful has been done in what He ordains." The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (PastorSamP, DesperatePreacher.com).
Remember the words of Paul to the Ephesians read this morning and reflect on what they mean for us today, “Long before he laid the foundations of the earth, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ.”
Paul reminds us of the good news in that through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the altar of the Cross we have all been set free…not just barely free, Abundantly free! God had a long-range plan put together, a plan that included you and me. And it all happened the split second the Word came into our world as a human being.
We all received some mighty fine gifts from our friends and families this Christmas but the greatest gift for all the world is in Christ Jesus. It’s only through the Messiah that we can discover who we are and what we are living for. Once we have heard this truth and believed it then we are truly freed from our sins. As Petersen wrote it in the Message, “…signed, sealed, and delivered in the Holy Spirit…the first installment on what’s coming…we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.”
Friends, there is power in the Word. If we believe and have faith in the Word then whatever Jesus asks us to do is entirely possible. Do you believe it?
There is power in the Word. There is Life in the Word. There is Light in the Word. Trust in the Word and He will set you free. He will free you from the sin that is holding all of us back from being everything God created us to be.
