Day 275
The Trinity is special because it means God is not a single power: Father, Son, and Spirit are one God in perfect love, so the love we receive comes before He made us. In John 1, only two of the Persons are named, God the Father and God the Son; the Spirit is not yet identified. The Word is the Son who becomes flesh. The Spirit will bear witness to Him and is sent by Him. The One who creates, gives life, and is rejected is the same One who becomes man. The Spirit’s role in the Gospel comes later. The Spirit will be introduced at Jesus’ baptism because we must first understand who the Word is. The Spirit has a distinct role and is not to be confused with the One who becomes flesh. The Spirit’s job is to bear witness to the One who did become flesh, to remain on Him, and to continue His presence after He returns to the Father. The Spirit is reserved for the moment in the story when His role begins.
Welcome to the New Testament. If you just finished the Old Testament, thank you for staying with the story all the way through. Between Malachi and Matthew there were about 400 years of silence. There were no new prophets, no fresh page, yet God was not gone. He was getting the world ready. Empires rose and fell, the people waited, and then the quiet broke with a baby, a messenger, and good news. You are not starting a different God. You are opening the next chapter of the same promise.
We read John 1:1-3 on day two of the Old Testament because it fits so well with creation. As a reminder, “In the beginning was the Word (the reason), and the Word was God (Jesus). Jesus was with God from Creation. There is a personal relationship where both are in view. God is the Word, and the Word already existed when creation began. There is one God with two distinct Persons; the Word became flesh (Jesus). The Word was with God and was God and then became flesh. Some scholars like to replace the word “Word” in John 1:1-3 with “Jesus.” Try this and go back to re-read the sentence.
The life that is in Jesus lights humanity. Darkness (unbelief, death, and opposition) cannot extinguish it. Verse 6 describes a man who was sent from God to point to the light (Jesus). That Man is not the light; he is John the Baptist. This points to the Word as not being just another prophet. The same Word who made the world now enters it. Those who receive Him and believe become children of God. Like God dwelt in the old tabernacles, He became flesh to dwell among us. The light the world rejected is now visible in Jesus.
Psalm 106- There are only a few psalms left sprinkled into the scripture. Psalm 106 tells the whole story to the next generation. There are a few similar psalms. Psalm 78 walks through the history and would be considered the best at recapping the Old Testament. Psalm 105 is the same story with a focus on God keeping His promise and bringing Abraham’s lineage to the Promised Land. Psalm 136 is a shorter version from the Creation to Exodus to the land, and Psalm 106 is the same story with a focus on Israel’s sin, even out to exile. It is the darkest and most honest of these recap psalms.
This psalm covers Israel’s history of rebellion and God’s mercy as the people plead for forgiveness of their sins and deliverance. “Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord?” No one can. They confess their history, not just recite it, but as a confession to ask for God’s favor again. The psalm covers the time from exile in Egypt to the wilderness, to when they grew jealous of Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16), and when they made the golden calf idol. The psalm continued with how the Israelites refused the Promised Land, yoked themselves to Baal, and how Phinehas had to intervene (Numbers 25). The people had angered God at the waters of Meribah; they refused to destroy the Canaanites, and so God gave them over to the nations. Yet in spite of it all, God gave them mercy, and He remembered His covenant. They know they have failed, but God is righteous to judge and is always faithful. They believed that since He brought them out of Egypt, He could bring them out of exile.
Today's Discussion question:
Why is it important not to mix up the One who becomes flesh with the Spirit who stays on Him?
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