John 1:1-8

John 1:1-8
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 

  Nothing that exists has come into existence without Jesus Christ -- and we know from Scripture that Jesus Christ is a God who pursues the lost, who seeks with patience and passion.  Jesus Christ doesn't give up on individuals or consider situations a lost cause.
  With that background, we see how the darkness will not prevail over the light.  The all-knowing & all-powerful God will not give up, even when death closes its icy grip around the Lord of Life -- this becomes an opportunity to see how life can prevail over death, how goodness will triumph over evil, how God wins in the end.  When hopelessness and despair seem to reign, God is still at work, still pursuing his path to victory, still working in the hearts and minds of his beloved creations to call us forward into a future of abundant life, urging us to turn from the things that enslave us and drive us to despair, to violence, to hatred.
  God doesn't give up, and the light will prevail no matter how pressing the darkness seems, and the disciples of the living God are called to emulate God, to be bearers of light into the world, so that all the world may know that evil and hatred are futile positions that will be destroyed in the final victory of Christ.  When we gather around the eternal throne, there will be no place for violence, and so we are called to live a life that points to grace and to peace, working to spread the Good News of the Kingdom and the message of life and hope that is in Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.