Bible Society of South Africa
Hennie Symington

A journey of the soul – Day 15

What if ...?

Bible text(s)

John 1

The Word of Life

1In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. 4The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to humanity.

John 1:1-4GNBOpen in Bible reader

John 1

14The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.

John 1

17God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

What if the Word remained the word only? We could have written it in a book, declared it holy and left it on the shelf to gather dust.

The Word, however, did the unimaginable! The Word became flesh – took on human form in the truest sense of the word to demonstrate God’s unending love. Why? Because we did not get the message through all the ages. There were so many messages. God created a garden filled with splendour where man could dwell in perfect harmony with his Creator, but we did not get the message. Then God sent a flood to warn us of his displeasure. He gave laws to show us how to live, but we still did not get the message. He sent prophets by the dozens to explain God’s message, but that did not work either. Then, God came in person. He loved this stubborn, crazy mixed up world so much that he became human, and dwelled in our homes and the dusty streets of our towns.

Surely, now they would understand when they can see and touch God, and see how he lived when he was among us. How he healed the sick and the broken-hearted. How he laughed and cried; how he healed and taught us to pray. And how he gave himself to be sacrificed: “This is my body, broken for you …”.

Then, the Word returned to where he came from to prepare a place for us. At the same time, he sent his Spirit to guide and remind us of God’s presence, and his eternal love for us.

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