John

December 23|Christmas 2021 Series

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. John 1:4

TODAY’S MESSAGE

The gospel of John is attributed to one of Jesus’s closest disciples, John of Zebedee. This account of Jesus’s life is uniquely different from the other three. In John’s gospel, Jesus walks by, and John the Baptist says, “Look, the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). Upon hearing this, John (the disciple) begins to follow Jesus. Following Jesus radically reshapes John’s identity. Throughout his gospel, he refers to himself by the term “the one whom Jesus loved.”

John presents Jesus as the God of life. Jesus is the word from which all life flows and was there from the beginning. True life is only available through him, both now and in eternity. The way of the world offers only disappointment and destruction, but Jesus offers a full life. It’s the life God created us to live. It’s a life achieved by remaining in Jesus.

John’s account of Jesus helps us see we find true life only in God. While it can be fun to get and give presents at Christmas, the happiness presents bring is only fleeting. And that’s not a bad thing. God created us for happiness. But true joy, a full life, is only found through Jesus.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Find a place to write out John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Write it on a notecard, sticky note or your phone lock screen. Put it somewhere you will see it. Use it as a reminder of the life Jesus offers.