December 13, 2024
The birth of Christ was like no other man. It was not the natural entrance of one who would become an important historical figure. This was different altogether. As we come to remember and celebrate the entrance of Christ (which is a vitally important thing to do), it is easy to bend to the temptation to treat it humanistically. Satan would like nothing more than to denigrate it to Claus and commercialism. To divert our attention from the glory of Christ.
But the disciple Jesus loved will not let us do that. His words in the opening chapter of the gospel of John overwhelm us (if we will pause and gaze there) with statements about Christ’s birth that take our breath away in John 1:14-18. They pull us back from the world’s distortions of Christmas, helping us to sing like the angels and bow like the shepherds.
The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (Vs. 14).
It was the ultimate condescension. The Son laying aside His God-powers temporarily and leaving the halls of heaven to inhabit a human body. The greatest work had to be done, and this was the way it had to be accomplished. And now, God was literally with us in flesh and blood.
And we saw His glory (Vs. 14).
No more did we just read about Him. We saw Him in flesh and blood. His mother, Mary, birthed and fed and clothed Him. John leaned on His breast. Mary washed his feet.
John describes this majesty, this glory, this essence of God in two ways: It was the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and this glory was full of two complementary elements … complete grace and complete truth.
For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. (Vs. 16-17).
Not only did we see His glory, but we received everything we needed from the entrance of His glory. His fullness brought us the fullness of God. His grace lifted the burden of the Law and gave us full grace so we could fulfill the Law (a return to how God made us). The entrance of the One who is truth brought us full truth.
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (Vs. 18)
And now, this one who is God and is from God and has always been with the Father comes to help us see and know God. At the close of His life, He would say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). We have no second-hand explanations. We saw God in the person of Christ. Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. Do you want to KNOW God personally? Then come to Jesus!
O come, let us ADORE HIM!
February 20, 2025
If you have questions about how real, how present, how personal and intimate the Lord is, then just read six words of travelogue in Luke’s journal as he traveled with Paul.
February 18, 2025
I have known many people who have had great joy and power in the midst of great suffering. It is humbling that the slightest inconveniences deter many of us from following God. We have not gotten to the bottom—settled the issue. Most often, we live for our comfort, reputation, or gain. When any of those goals are touched, we are troubled and discontent.
February 17, 2025
The repentant who finds God gains everything. “He who has God and everything else,” said C.S. Lewis, “has no more than he who has God alone.”
