This is a devotional written for the celebration of God becoming flesh using mostly (about 99%) God's Word.
Blessings to all, and hoping you too will continue to celebrate Christ's first coming and look forward to His second!
The Word Became Flesh
(1)In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
(2)He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
(3)Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
(4) Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
(5)For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
(6)For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.
(7)Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?
(8)God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.
(9)For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
(10)The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
(11) You are indeed angry, for we have sinned— In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing .And all our righteousness are like filthy rags; And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You.
(12)For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(13)Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
(14) And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city ofNazareth , into Judea, to the city of David , which is called Bethlehem
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of
(15)And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
(16)He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(17)He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
(18) He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
(19)The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
(20)[He was in the form of God, and]*did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(21)God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
(22)God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
(23) For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(24)…as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(25)For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Bible References
Christ: The Eternal God
1. John 1:1-5
2. Colossians 1:15-17
Creation of Man
3. Gen 1:26-27
The Fall
4. Gen 3:1-6
Sin and God’s Anger
5. Romans 3:23
6. Eccl. 7:20
7. Proverbs 20:9
8. Psalm 7:11
9. Romans 1:18
10. Rev. 21:8
11. Isaiah 64:5b-7a
The Birth of Christ
12. Isaiah 9:6
13. Luke 1:26-35
14. Luke 2:1-7
15. John 1:14
Life, Rejection, and Exaltation of Christ
16. John 1:10-11
17. Isaiah 53:3
18. Isaiah 53:7
19. Mark 10:45
20. Philippians 2:6-11
21. Hebrews 1:1-4
God’s Grace through His Son
22. Ephesians 2:4-5a
23. Romans 5:6-8
24. John 1:12-13
25. John 3:16
No comments:
Post a Comment