The
Gospel of John, 1:1-18
tr.
Adam Bittleston
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In
the very beginning was the Word,
And
the Word was with God,
And
the Word was God.
He
was with God in the very beginning.
All
things came into being through Him,
And
without Him came into being nothing
That
has come into being.
In
him was Life,
And
the Life was the Light of mankind.
The
Light sines in the Darkness,
And
the Darkness did not grasp it.
There
came to be a man, sent from God,
His
name Ioannes.
He
came for testimony,
That
he should testify of the Light,
That
all might have faith through him.
He
was not the Light,
But
came to testify of the Light.
For
the Light that in truth endures,
That
illumines every man,
Was
coming into the World.
He
was in the World,
And
the World came into being through Him
Yet
the World did not know Him.
He
came to the separate,
Yet
the separate men did not receive Him.
But
those who received Him—
To
them He gave full power
To
become children of God,
Those
who have faith in His name.
They
have their being
Not
from the bloodsteams,
Not
from the will of the flesh,
Not
from the will of a man,
But
from God.
And
the Word became flesh,
And
made his dwelling among us,
And
we saw His glory,
Glory
of one born from the Father alone,
With
abundance of grace and truth.
Ioannes
testified of Him, proclaiming,
That
is He of whom I said:
He
Who comes after me
Takes
His place above me
Because
He was before me.
From
the abundance of His Being
We
have all received
Grace
upon grace.
The
Law was given through Moses;
Grace
and truth came into being
Through
Jesus Christ.
God
no-one has beheld ever;
The
son Who is born of Him alone
And
Who has His Being
At
the Father’s breast,
Has
come to lead our seeing.
New Year’s Day
January 1, 2007
John 1: 1-18
 |
| Sulamith Wulfing |
While in the midst of the
Twelve Days and Nights of the Christmas season, we are celebrating the birth of
the New Year. We may have the feeling that we are not yet ready – why can’t all
these holidays distribute themselves a bit more evenly? It is because they are
not just arbitrary markers on calendar squares; they are actual spiritual
places where certain real events occur. Living systems are not methodical. If
we observe life closely, we can notice that the new always begins to announce
itself, not at the end of the old, but in the middle. For example, a child’s
adult teeth begin to erupt when the child is still very young, although the
processes of both teething and adulthood won’t be completed for many years.
Nevertheless, God starts with the end in mind.
And so in the midst of the
true celebration of the Christmas season, as we move from the simplicity of the
shepherds toward the maturity of kings, a New Year begins for us. It begins
under the twelve-fold star of Him who is Himself the author of all beginnings
and goals. We are all on our way to becoming what God intended us to be. His
Word from the future echoes in our soul’s ear: Become…. “For I am the Alpha and the Omega, the very
beginning and the ultimate purpose of the world…. See, I make all things new! [1]
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