John 1:1-5 (Easy-to-Read) #verseOfReflection
1 Before the world began, the Word was there.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was there with God in the beginning.
3 Everything was made through him, and nothing was made without him.
4 In him there was life, and that life was a light for the people of the world.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not defeated it.
These 3 words used in the introduction describe several attributes of God. Although there are way too many attributes to name, these tend to sum up succinctly who God is and what he does. When I say "sum up", I mean give a brief overview at best. Before I go further though, let's jump into a little background as to why this particular topic is of interest or how it came about.
As I was reading a book (can't remember which one), possibly on culture making it had hit me as to how often in the past year or so I had been referring to God as "Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer". Whether it was in prayer, devotion, or plain old reflection, these titles seemed to weigh heavy in accordance with my usage. As I was in the process of writing down whatever would come to me during the time of reading several books I happened to make this note:
Creator
Redeemer
Sustainer
---> One
For most people this may seem to be inconspicuous until one looks more closely. CRS One is similar in nature to KRS-One, an individual known to be partly responsible for the rise of Hip-Hop, most notably seeing it as a way of life (i.e. Beyond symbolism and product marketing). His reasoning stems from what we've talked about in some instances and will do more of later, but basically when you live, think, breathe, a particular way of life, you become that way of life. So much so that in his arena the person would become Hip Hop. Hip Hop owes a great debt to KRS-One and many (founders/others) who urge us to stick to the roots and function of it. The connection for the purposes of this entry however, end here.
SN: Knowing what advent means gives a new twist to the word "advent-ure".
People often have trouble with understanding how God could be 3 persons in one, or if there truly are three distinct people. As the Bible spells out for us on numerous occasions, God has and continues to be all of these and more. In fact, in many schools of thought "god/God" is considered as such.
A creator doesn't simply create once and then stop. In order to be a redeemer it takes an awfully tremendous sacrifice, if we're talking about the "sins of the world". Lastly, but certainly not least, in order to sustain, there has to be a continuous source of energy and supply of substance. Examples of how God has done this in "Bible times" can most notably be found in the Book of Psalms. There are detailed stories of how one comes to understand who God is, what he does, and why he does it.
For those of us who believe in God, whether we prescribe to Christian perspectives or not, I challenge you to think of how God has acted in this way, even specifically regarding your life. How has he created in your life (possibly after you thought everything was dead)? Did he redeem you in a way which suggests that you could not have done this for yourself? And how about where you get your strength and motivation from to continue on after all these years despite the obstacles you have faced?
In God we find many qualities, attributes, and understandings yet unknown, seen, or heard. Who/how has he been to you?
Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer; One. There's no need for an other (another).
Sumthn2Ponder (s2p):
- Who is God to you?
