Life-spark: A great life makes God plain as day. (John 1:15-23)
John the Baptist was causing quite a stir in Israel. Throngs were going to hear him speak and be baptized by him. It’s nice when people think highly of you. Don’t you agree? We like to be liked.
But John wasn’t hyping himself. He was pointing to someone eternal who was about to show up on the scene: “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. (John 1:15, NIV)
The priests and Levites sent messengers to ask John who he was. He responded by saying who he was not. “I am not the Christ.” (John 1:20b, NIV) I guess part of knowing who you are is knowing who you aren’t. Like the guy who said, “There are two things I know. The first thing is, I know there is a God. The second thing is, I know that I am not Him.”
John, who was a hot item in his culture at this time, said he wasn’t the Messiah, he wasn’t Elijah, he wasn’t the prophet, he wasn’t the main attraction. He was, he said, a harbinger, a herald, a messenger announcing the upcoming arrival of someone greater. “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.” (John 1:23, NIV) Here is one great thing about discovering God in Christ: The more I discover about who He is, the more I discover about who I am.
So John the Baptist understood that his mission was to point to another person, “the Christ.” And Jesus Christ came to show us who God is:
“No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.” (John 1:18, MSG)
I love that! No one has to been in the dark about God. Jesus Christ makes Him as plain as day. God is ultimate aliveness. Jesus has DNA of unstoppable aliveness. He is visible (“the light”) and audible (“the word”) aliveness. Plain as day.
Life-action: What is one thing about God that Jesus makes as plain as day to you? Write it down on a piece of paper think about it three times today.