In the Beginning: Jesus

The Bible is the story of God redeeming fallen humanity by grace through the sending of His Son Jesus.

The main character through all the Bible is Jesus. The Old Testament is looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. The New Testament is looking at the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, and then Jesus working through His body, the church.

From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, Jesus is the focus.

I want to walk through the Bible and show how in each book Jesus is pictured.

Genesis 1:3

And God said, “Let there be light.”

God brings light into darkness. That is a recurring theme throughout the Bible and it all begins here.

God creates by His spoken word.

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that was made.

Jesus is the Word of God. Creation was done by the Word of God.

The first thing that was created was light.

John 8:12

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus is the Light of the World. God shows us at the very beginning of creation that light is necessary for real life and that light is found in Jesus.

Paul writes to the church at Corinth about what God’s has done in their lives through shining His light into their lives.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Jesus as our Light gives us knowledge and understanding of the presence God in our lives. He extols the Father in our lives.

Light represents the glory or presence of God and the salvation that God provides for us. This is all expressed in the person of Jesus.

Jesus is the exact representation of God, and He revealed God to a world sitting in spiritual darkness. Those who trust in Jesus are brought from the darkness of sin and the guilt of that sin into God’s light. In the light of Jesus there is joy, peace, and hope forever.

In the end, there will be no more darkness. The light of God’s glory will shine brightly in God’s eternal kingdom.

Revelation 21:23

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

In Matthew 5:14 Jesus says that we as His followers are the light of the world. Jesus as the Light of the World shines through us as the Holy Spirit fills us.

Philippians 2:14-16a

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.

We as followers of Jesus are the light of the world. We as people of the light are to shine as stars in the night sky. We do that by living our lives by the power of God’s Spirit based on the truth of the Word of God.

From the very beginning God the Father knew that is was only through His light that we as His human creation would be able to live. Knowing that truth, God sent us the Light of the World, His Son, Jesus.

Jesus warns us in John 9 of the dangers of not walking in God’s light.

John 9:4-5

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

We can only do the works of God in the light of His presence.

We can only do the works of God as we stay connected with the Light of the World, Jesus.

In the Light as Jesus is in the Light, Raising the Roof

And Removing the Walls,

Joe