Christianity Oasis Forum

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APRIL 25
Friday

FEARFUL FISH

READ:
John 1:6-14
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Managing a saltwater aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor nitrate levels and ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enzymes. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal.

You would think my fish would be grateful. Not so. When my shadow loomed above the tank to feed them, they dove for cover into the the nearest shell. I was too large for them; my actions incomprehensible. They did not know that my acts were merciful. To change their perceptions would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and "speak" to them in a language they could understand, which was impossible for me to do.

According to the Scriptures, God, the creator of the universe, did something that seems impossible. He came to earth in human form as a baby. "The world was made through Him," says John, "and the world did not know Him" (John 1:10). So God, who created matter, took shape within it, as a playwright might become a character within his own play. God wrote a story, using real characters, on the pages of real history. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (v.14). __Philip Yancey

````````````````````All praise to Thee, eternal Lord,````````````````````
`````````````````clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;````````````````````
```````````````````Choosing a manger for a throne,`````````````````````
````````````While worlds on worlds are Thine alone. __Luther`````````````
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God entered human history
to offer us the gift of eternal life.

******************************Today's Bible Reading __ John 1:6-14**********************************

6 There was a man sent
from God, whose name was
Jon. 7 This man came for a
witness, to bear witness of
the Light, that all through
him might believe. 8 He was
not that Light, but was sent
to bear witness of that
Light. 9 That was the true
Light which gives light to
every man coming into the
world.

10 He was in the world,
and the world was made
through Him, and the world
did not know Him. 11 He
came to His own, and His
own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of
God, to those who believe
in His name: 13 who were
born, not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God.

14 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.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

As the "messenger" (Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1; Mark 1:2-3), John the
Baptist's ministry was to introduce Jesus to the world and "to bear
witness of the Light" (John 1:7). John presented Jesus as the Logos,
the self-existent, preexistent, omnipotent, eternal, Creator God who
spoke everything into existence, giving light and life to his creation
(vv.4-5). He also presented Jesus as God incarnate (vv.9-14). Jesus
added humanity to His deity, becoming one Person with two
natures__perfectly human and yet perfectly diving (Phil. 2:6-8). He
came to give "light to every man" so that we don't need to live in
sins' darkness (John 1:9) and to give new life to those who believe so
that we can live as God's children (vv.12-13).