Fully God and Fully Man

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

— Hebrews 4:14–15

 

Before there was a world, before there were planets, before there was light, before there was matter, there was Jesus. Coequal, coeternal, and coexistent with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus was with God—and He was God. John 1:1–2 tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."

We cannot pinpoint the moment in time when there was the beginning, because John was going back in time to eternity past. He was going back further than our minds can imagine.

From Resisting to Resting

And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

— Genesis 32:28

 

Jacob, the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham, was a conniver. He just couldn't wait on God's timing. On the day that Jacob and his twin brother Esau were born, Esau came first, with Jacob holding on to his brother's foot. That is how Jacob earned his name, which means "heel-catcher."

When they were older, Jacob not only convinced Esau to sell him his birthright for some stew, but he also tricked their father into giving him the blessing that was intended for Esau. Esau wanted to kill him, so Jacob went into exile and ended up working for a guy he really deserved: Laban, who was as much of a conniver as Jacob was.