Advent24 - Day 13
Friday – December 13
Read: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5)
Reflect
The Glory of God
by Jason Churchill
Back in the book of Exodus Moses asks the Lord, “Please show me your glory.” The Lord responds, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” (Ex 33:18-23)
God then places Moses in the cleft of a rock and passes by, and after He has passed by Moses can look and see God's back. I think this has been a desire of man since the very beginning, to see the glory of God. Ever since the fall, when Adam sinned and we were separated from God, the desire, the yearning has been to have God show himself to us. What does this have to do with Christmas? Everything!
We have many times heard of the miraculous events recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We’ve heard of the announcement of the angel to the virgin Mary, that she will give birth to a son. We’ve heard of the star that appeared in the East. We’ve read how the heavens split apart to reveal a myriad of angels proclaiming to some shepherds the birth of this child.
Yet the gospel of John begins not with events leading to the birth of a person, but with the person Himself. In v.14 he tells us about this person, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. Here we see the Christmas message from a different angle. It’s reminiscent of Isaiah’s prophecy, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” In Matthew, Mark, and Luke we see the “child being born,” in John we see the “son being given.”
John begins his book with the words, “In the beginning”. He takes us all the way back to the very first words of Scripture to tell us about who this “son” is. There, in Genesis, we read “In the beginning God” (Gen 1:1). Here we read “In the beginning was the Word”. The Word? What? Who? Let’s keep reading. “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”
John takes us all the way back, back before the manger, before the crossing of the Red Sea, before the flood, before the foundations of the earth. And there we see the Word, Jesus Christ, God the Son, in the beginning. As the Scriptures declare, one “whose origins are from everlasting!” (Micah 5:2)
John continues, “All things were made by Him and without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Just as in Genesis when the everlasting God spoke and the world sprang into existence, the universe in all its array with its billions upon billions of stars and planets, its limitless galaxies all came into being from the voice of this great and awesome God, John declares that this Word, this son is the One who did this! The manger in which he lay was made from the wood that he created. The mother which was to give birth to this child is the creation of this child.
John further says, “In Him was life.” This son is where all life comes from. The very life and being of all that exists arises from the Word. He upholds and sustains all that is. And it is this life, found in the Word that was “the light of men.”
The Word which John has been describing, the eternal Son of God, the creator of the universe, the one in whom life resides “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only!” The eternal became temporal, the infinite took on the finite. The creator of man became a man himself and took on the form of a servant. This is the child of the manger, the Son who was given: Jesus.
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”, says Paul in Col 1:19. Don’t miss the weight of those words. Paul uses a double emphasis in the words, “all the fullness”. That is, all that God is was in Jesus.
Jesus said, “When you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father”. (John 14:9)
The impeccable righteousness of God is displayed in Jesus Christ. The incomparable holiness of God exhibited in Jesus Christ. The incandescent love of God is manifested Jesus Christ. The undiminished refulgent glory of God shines brightly in Christ Jesus. He “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”. (Heb 1:3)
God had said to Moses, “No one may see my face and live”. But He graciously hid Moses in the cleft of a rock and passed by so that Moses could see and live. And at Christmas, in the nativity, the resplendent glory of God, the ineffable majesty of the Most High was “hidden” in the cleft of the flesh of Jesus Christ, so that we may all see the glory, “the face of God” and live. This one, the one true God became flesh, and dwelt among us. It is in seeing the character and the actions of Jesus that we have seen the glory of God.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:6)
Respond
Have you ever really tried to ponder this astounding truth? The Lord God of hosts, the infinite, all-powerful, limitless God becoming a man? The creator of the massive world on which we live, the powerful sun (which a million of our earths could fit into) that heats our world from 93million miles away, and a billion, billion suns like it, this One coming as a helpless little baby. You talk about miracle of miracles! Come and behold Him!
Rejoice
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!
Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings:
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Read: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5)
Reflect
The Glory of God
by Jason Churchill
Back in the book of Exodus Moses asks the Lord, “Please show me your glory.” The Lord responds, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” (Ex 33:18-23)
God then places Moses in the cleft of a rock and passes by, and after He has passed by Moses can look and see God's back. I think this has been a desire of man since the very beginning, to see the glory of God. Ever since the fall, when Adam sinned and we were separated from God, the desire, the yearning has been to have God show himself to us. What does this have to do with Christmas? Everything!
We have many times heard of the miraculous events recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We’ve heard of the announcement of the angel to the virgin Mary, that she will give birth to a son. We’ve heard of the star that appeared in the East. We’ve read how the heavens split apart to reveal a myriad of angels proclaiming to some shepherds the birth of this child.
Yet the gospel of John begins not with events leading to the birth of a person, but with the person Himself. In v.14 he tells us about this person, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. Here we see the Christmas message from a different angle. It’s reminiscent of Isaiah’s prophecy, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” In Matthew, Mark, and Luke we see the “child being born,” in John we see the “son being given.”
John begins his book with the words, “In the beginning”. He takes us all the way back to the very first words of Scripture to tell us about who this “son” is. There, in Genesis, we read “In the beginning God” (Gen 1:1). Here we read “In the beginning was the Word”. The Word? What? Who? Let’s keep reading. “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”
John takes us all the way back, back before the manger, before the crossing of the Red Sea, before the flood, before the foundations of the earth. And there we see the Word, Jesus Christ, God the Son, in the beginning. As the Scriptures declare, one “whose origins are from everlasting!” (Micah 5:2)
John continues, “All things were made by Him and without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Just as in Genesis when the everlasting God spoke and the world sprang into existence, the universe in all its array with its billions upon billions of stars and planets, its limitless galaxies all came into being from the voice of this great and awesome God, John declares that this Word, this son is the One who did this! The manger in which he lay was made from the wood that he created. The mother which was to give birth to this child is the creation of this child.
John further says, “In Him was life.” This son is where all life comes from. The very life and being of all that exists arises from the Word. He upholds and sustains all that is. And it is this life, found in the Word that was “the light of men.”
The Word which John has been describing, the eternal Son of God, the creator of the universe, the one in whom life resides “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only!” The eternal became temporal, the infinite took on the finite. The creator of man became a man himself and took on the form of a servant. This is the child of the manger, the Son who was given: Jesus.
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”, says Paul in Col 1:19. Don’t miss the weight of those words. Paul uses a double emphasis in the words, “all the fullness”. That is, all that God is was in Jesus.
Jesus said, “When you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father”. (John 14:9)
The impeccable righteousness of God is displayed in Jesus Christ. The incomparable holiness of God exhibited in Jesus Christ. The incandescent love of God is manifested Jesus Christ. The undiminished refulgent glory of God shines brightly in Christ Jesus. He “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being”. (Heb 1:3)
God had said to Moses, “No one may see my face and live”. But He graciously hid Moses in the cleft of a rock and passed by so that Moses could see and live. And at Christmas, in the nativity, the resplendent glory of God, the ineffable majesty of the Most High was “hidden” in the cleft of the flesh of Jesus Christ, so that we may all see the glory, “the face of God” and live. This one, the one true God became flesh, and dwelt among us. It is in seeing the character and the actions of Jesus that we have seen the glory of God.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:6)
Respond
Have you ever really tried to ponder this astounding truth? The Lord God of hosts, the infinite, all-powerful, limitless God becoming a man? The creator of the massive world on which we live, the powerful sun (which a million of our earths could fit into) that heats our world from 93million miles away, and a billion, billion suns like it, this One coming as a helpless little baby. You talk about miracle of miracles! Come and behold Him!
Rejoice
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!
Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings:
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
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