Saturday, December 27, 2008
Third Christmas Day
Revelation 19:13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
HE SHALL BE CALLED: WORD
While many of the names we find for Jesus were given to Him long before He was born, there are also some that are given in the New Testament. One of these is the name "Word" which is used exclusively by the apostle John.
In the opening verses of his Gospel John writes: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). He makes it very clear that Jesus is the Word when he continues "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" (John 1:14). What could such a name mean?
The Word is the means by which God accomplishes everything. It was through His Word that the world was created. "By the word of God the heavens were of old" (2 Peter 3:5). It is through His Word that He brings salvation to a human race that is lost in sin. "My Word . . . shall not return to Me void" (Isaiah 55:11) the LORD says.
It is through Jesus, the Word made flesh, that our salvation has been accomplished! Hallelujah!
The Word becomes incarnate and yet remains on high,
And cherubim sing anthems to shepherds from the sky.
Repeat the hymn again:
"To God on high be glory and peace on earth to men!"
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 76:2)
