Dear Disciple,
(John 1:1-18)
What a marvel your Master is! As you read the words of the apostle John, you must surely be struck by the awe-inspiring things He wrote about His Master and Friend. He was the Word, the life, the light, the creative power of God through whom all things were created, the one-of-a-kind Son of God who came to us full of grace and truth. Through Him people can know life, have light, and become legitimate and true children of God.
How extraordinary a set of claims to make about anyone! Yet John purposefully and passionately wrote these things about the man with whom he had walked lake shores, deserts, and city streets. He had heard this man speak life-changing words, watched Him perform outrageous miracles, and been with Him when he laughed, wept, slept, and ate. He knew this Jesus. Still, he no doubt suspected that there was much that remained unknown and undiscovered about Him. What a privilege John had to be “the disciple whom Jesus loved”!
Remember, Disciple, that you, too, are privileged to know this Jesus. Like John, you have been called by the Master to follow and know Him. You are sharing life with Him, too, albeit in a different way than John did those first few years. Don’t forget that for decades before he wrote these words down in his Gospel account, our brother John had to live with Jesus as you do – through the Holy Spirit, the Word, and the Church Body. After Jesus ascended to return bodily to the Father, John and the others were given a new way of living with and following Jesus. This is the way given to you today: a life of faith-filled allegiance and obedience to the unseen but present Lord.
Have you received “grace upon grace” (v. 16) out of His fullness, Disciple? Has the Father been made known to you by the beloved Son? Have you been born of God? Have you received the light that only He, the true light, can give? Oh, what a reality to dwell on today! What a privileged one you are!
Whatever your circumstances are today and whatever your feelings about them, please take time to meditate upon what you have received through this man whom you have come to love, trust, and serve. Consider carefully how full He has made your life and how extravagantly He has blessed it. This in no way means that your difficulties are any less real or that your suffering is some illusion. Just as the One who was with God and was God came to us and met rejection with all of its accompanying pain, so you will know heartache as His disciple. Yet nothing that you face needs to overshadow the unrelenting goodness of what you have and who you are in Jesus! The One who was rejected by so many was also lovingly received by others who would love Him more than their lives. The One whom the many despised was the very One who was in closest relationship with the Father and was loved by Him.
Your life is a marvel, Disciple, because you’ve entered into life with the Marvelous One. You’re honored because you belong to the One who is most to be honored. You are exalted because you have entrusted yourself humbly to the One is most highly exalted. May your heart be filled with the joy and boldness of these truths as you worship, work, and play today in the kingdom of our Father.
Marveling with you,
Ryan
