Believe and Speak—God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten , not made.

                                 Colossians 1:15-17               Hebrews 1:3

                                                           Isaiah 9:2

John 1:1-5

1 John 1:1-5

John 1:9, 14

John 8:12

James 1:17

1 John 5:20

2 Corinthians 4:13

As I was researching this part of the Nicene Creed, I seriously considered saying "Just read the book of John, then we'll talk".  👀  The gospels each tell the story of Jesus from a different angle. Matthew's focus is Jesus as King; Mark's is Jesus as servant; Luke's is Jesus as man; and John's is Jesus as God.  As I've said before, it's hard to whittle down all of the verses to a manageable list!  

Colossians 1:15-17 and Hebrews 1:3 both talk about the superiority of Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God, the image of God, the exact imprint of His nature.    When Phillip, the disciple, said "Show us the Father, and it will be enough."  Jesus answered "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father ." (My paraphrase of John 14:9) Isaiah 9:2 is part of the beautiful "For to us a child is born" verses so popular at Christmas--the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  John 1:1-5, 1 John 1:1-5, John 1:9, John 8:12 all identify Jesus as the great Light shining in the darkness; the good and perfect gift from above, coming down from the Father of lights.  Jesus is true God from true God, come to give us understanding, so we may look at Him and know God.  The Word, capital W because it's Jesus, was with God and was God from the beginning.   Yet He also  proceeded from the mouth of God as flesh and lived among us, so that in Him we see the glory of God through the Son, full of grace and truth.  

Have you ever been given the silent treatment?  Or have you given it?  That first word after no conversation is key.  It will either hurt or heal.   Between the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament (which chronologically would be Luke and John), silence.   There had been no prophet to say "Thus says the LORD", no message from God to the people.  But the first word after this Holy silent treatment is Jesus!   The Word was the only script from the beginning, with no need for a rewrite.  He was in the beginning with God and He was God.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The first Word was redemption and restoration.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  He is the true God and He is eternal life.  Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, we also believe and so we also speak.