1 The Word was very God before creation came; in the beginning was the Word and Jesus is his name. That Word which some deny and others make a joke: he is the Word whom we adore, the Word the Father spoke. 2 The love we owe to him above all things on earth will be the greater, since as man he seemed so little worth. The more his name is scorned and unbelievers jest, so much the brighter shines his truth, the Godhead manifest. 3 What some revile as lies, impossible, malign, he plainly shows is possible, most certain, and divine; and on the cross, his shame, his utter nothingness, is that which overcomes the world and all the world shall bless.