The Coming of Jesus
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 NIV
The tinsel and lights are appearing on lawns and in windows in my dark world. Trees are tied hostage on car rooftops, soon to be released in some hopeful home. Songs of good cheer sprinkle the airwaves. Wasn’t it March just last week? Is it December already? In this season of fear and separation will we celebrate the birth of a God-Man some of us call the Christ, the Messiah? Will we really think of the time God came to town as Immanuel, ‘God with Us’?
Come with me for just a moment to the words of a man named John. He wrote the story of a man named Jesus, but he didn't start with a star-filled night or a young girl birthing her son under the open skies of Bethlehem. Instead, he mimicked the words of Genesis; "In the beginning…" and spoke his name as something as holy as God's own Word with a capital W. His words bounce with joy from life to light filling darkness…
“The true light that gives light… was coming into the world.” John 1:9
At the beginning of his story, John the disciple introduces us to another man named John (the Baptist) who was sent from God as a witness. Then, without a pause, he introduces us to the true Light; in these opening lines of John’s story this Light is un-named but we in the know recognize him as Jesus. Unrecognized by his own people, he offered adoption into his tribe and into his world to everyone. Literally, everyone. It is a story you must read slowly… you must try to slow down John’s excitement as he shares with us the life and the light shining into our darkness. (John 1:1-18)
This newly arrived man of light offered adoption on behalf of his Father. He offered adoption as a child of God. Born of Spirit. No need to worry about pedigree or qualifications. No need to look at heritage or identity. Jesus arrived speaking the words of Spirit. Speaking of a new thing.
And here in the beginning of John's words, we can find all we need to know:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
And there you have it. Let those words sink into your soul. If you travel on deeper into this same story you will find the verse most often pulled out from the conversation to come between this man of light named Jesus and the lawyer Nicodemus from the Supreme Court of Judaism; it is more familiar and describes the reason for this earthly visit. It starts like this:
“For God so loved the world that He gave…”. (John 3:16)
But here, early on, John the disciple, whom Jesus loved, describes the Son that God sent – this one who lived among men for a short time. He described him as glory beyond comprehension who came from a loving Father. A man unlike any other, filled with overflowing grace and truth.
These three words are enough. Glory. Grace. Truth. These three things are almost incomprehensible. What does God’s glory look like? What does full of grace feel like? What is truth in a world that barters that absolute in exchange for comfort?
God’s unique only Son came to broken men and women in a form that wore skin like them – yet there was something so unlike them that they couldn’t put their finger on. They occasionally got a glimpse of something beyond their world of flesh and blood and bones – something in the distance that floated just out of reach – something that looked like invisible Spirit, invisible God.
Could this man Jesus be what God was like? Full of Glory? Full of Grace? Full of Truth?
Today, this is more than enough for me to think about. Is God glorious? Is God full of grace? Is God truth in a world He created that cannot see or understand truth? We are told He loved this world so very much that He sent One to show us His Glory, His Grace, His Truth. From Father to Son to us.
Today, may these small reminders of tinsel and tree and twinkling light remind me of the greater Light shining in this world of darkness. May these small and temporary things remind me of God sending His Word, His Light, His Glory, His Grace, His Truth - all wrapped up in His Son.
Jesus Chris Tomlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeNsdTYgigw