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Today's reading
December 9, 2025
John 1:1-2; Job 38:7; Luke 2:14
There are some concepts that are impossible for man to grasp. We have precedents that help us conceptualize certain things like unconditional love, or time and eternity, but what is nothing? As people, we find ourselves in a material world. Even the smallest space we could inhabit is teeming with things we can see and things we cannot.
Nothing is the absence of everything.
No atoms.
No photons.
No bacteria.
No microscopic parts.
Nothing means there are no supplies with which to work, no reference material to consult, no instructions to hear.
But in this deafening void, something — Someone — existed.
John frames it this way:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
John 1:1–2 (NKJV)
If everything we can see and know exists on a piece of paper, He is the Author holding the pen. He is removed from the two-dimensional reality of the paper, yet every detail flows from His imagination; every letter is willed and executed by His hand. It is in this eternal space that God begins exercising His power to create.
Out of nothing, God brings together heavenly beings — dazzling in appearance and power. He gives them roles, purpose and order in their ranks. But God wasn’t done.
He begins to speak.
At His voice, He summons atoms from empty shelves, searing them together to create elements and compounds that in an instant twist and intertwine to form a material world.
Light bursts forth dividing darkness.
Water is shaped and rounded.
God’s words scrawl a horizon and ignite the fire of the earth’s core.
Mountains rise from the depths of the earth, and rivers carve canyons and lakes.
Trees drink sunlight and yawn toward heaven.
A symphony of majestic creativity unfolds before the angels of heaven. As they watch each movement of creation perfectly manipulated by God’s Maestro voice, they are engulfed in the glory of the Creator.
In Job chapter 38, God gives us a glimpse of the angels’ reaction in heaven:
“When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”
Job 38:7 (NKJV)
The angels burst out in song, giving voice to the first act of worship in earth’s existence. Creation came alive to the soundtrack of Heaven.
But the stunning reality is this:
the first song the universe ever heard wasn’t sung on earth.
It wasn’t sung by humans.
It wasn’t even sung in a temple.
It was sung by angels — erupting in praise as God carved the cosmos out of nothing.
They were the first to see the awe of God and it filled them with worship. This is the first, but not the last time the angels were given a preview of the power and plan of God.
Those same angels manifested in the sky over Bethlehem’s fields and were given the privilege of announcing the birth of the Son of God. At his appearing before a human had uttered a single word, the angels shattered the silent night with heavenly worship, singing,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:14 (NKJV)
This time, their praise is not for what God has already done;
it is for what the Son of God has now begun to do.
The Word who authored the universe—
the One who stepped through nothing and turned it into everything—
has arrived.
The angels’ song is Heaven’s invitation for humanity to join the chorus,
because hope has come.
The One whose voice filled the universe
has come near enough to be held.
The Warrior-Child in the manger has defeated the darkness
of death and sin
and will lead us in the way of peace.
The Author of all things is now writing Himself into the story—
carefully filling the pages of our lives
for our good and His glory.
So we join the heavens and sing:
God is powerful.
God has come near.
And because of Him, we have hope.