The Word was with God in the Beginning

Worship - knowing the Logos and being speechless before Him, in complete awe

Identity - seeking this in Jesus and not in a myriad of brands

Community - as the Triune God has this, we too are offered the possibility of loving each other in fullness and submission

Mission - bringing people into the light, viewing them not as adversaries but just in darkness and misunderstanding

We were not only made by God, but for Him. Humanity and the world were created through his Word as a gift.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." - John 1:1-5

I like John's prologue and approach, reaching the furthest back to explain this man who was our Messiah and Lord. It is not possible to completely comprehend this trinitarian God, but in these few verses we can at least get a sense of what it may mean. Jesus did not just walk this earth, suffer death and raise from the grave for us. He is God and existed in the very beginning. He is the creator of all things, the reconciler for all things, the wholeness that our hearts crave and the brilliant light of truth and love that combats darkness. Somehow, the Father, Son, and Spirit are one in unity, yet three in personality. I wish I could wrap my head around such an irrationality, this transcendent God of ours. He is so distinct from us and cannot be confined to our knowledge of physics and logic. I love how John starts out his account with the bold truth of Jesus as God.

When I listened to Brian talk about one's identity being found in substitutes for God, in brands of many kinds, all hopelessly inadequate and incomplete, I thought about how I'm struggling to find out whom I really am in Christ. It's a temptation to replace the intimacy of knowing Jesus with an endless array of consumeristic products, with a bunch of empty things that mean absolutely nothing. I've gotten over the attachment to material objects, thank the Lord, but there are other ways of diverting one's attention from the discovery of who they are in the body of Christ. It is true that we form clicks and clubs around similar interests (I like his Mac example) and let certain things of this world or ideologies of our society shape who we are. There is this battle between light and darkness; Jesus is the active force shining into that void of nothingness. He's been misunderstood and misrepresented. People don't know who they are because they don't know who made them. They are oblivious to the reality that they are, in fact, a gift from our Father to his Son Jesus. Imagine knowing the full extent of that truth. Your life, from the moment of conception in the womb, was the beginning of a treasure to be loved by the Creator God, three in one. I guess sometimes I forget how precious we are to Jesus. He's patient and kind with us because he loves us. He wants to know us and be known by us. This passage reiterates the essence and origin of life in the person of Jesus. We all want to live, grow, learn, excel, be loved and devote ourselves to something. God is who we were made for, who we will always be searching for, following after until that transforming moment comes.

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side." - Psalm 3:5-6

"How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him.......Many are asking, 'Who can show us any good?' Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound." - Psalm 4:2-3, 6-7

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" - Psalm 8:3-4