The Word Became Flesh

The Word Became Flesh
 

John 1:1-5, 14 say,

In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word [Jesus] was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God.

He [Jesus] was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him [Jesus], and without Him [Jesus] nothing was made that was made.

4 In Him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men.

5  And the light [Jesus] shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

14 And the Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His [Jesus] glory, the glory [Jesus] as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

After the disobedient act of Adam and Eve, our merciful Heavenly Father furnished a remedy for man's sinful condition.  God placed that remedy in His Son, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead--the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to the earth in human form.  Galatians 4:4-5 tells us, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

It was through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection that He provided the redemption necessary for man to once again enjoy the father/child relationship.  The kind of relationship that mankind had with Almighty God before Adam's sin.  There was, however, one added stipulation.  Every person, upon reaching the age of accountability (which may be a different chronological age for each individual), who is given the opportunity to do so, must make a choice between having God as his spiritual Father by accepting Jesus as Saviour or having Satan as his spiritual head by rejecting Jesus.

Acts 4:12 says,

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Jesus speaking of Himself said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."  From these two scriptures alone, one can see that Jesus is God's way for man to be saved and become spiritually alive again.

In Jesus, we have passed from death into life.  Jesus said in John 5:24, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."  Normally, the cycle is to go from life to death.  What is Jesus talking about in this verse?  Every person who comes into this world inherits Adam's nature.  That nature is a spiritually dead nature that is why the Bible says "from death into life." 

Notice the phrase "But has passed from death into life."  Has is a past-tense word, showing that an action has already taken place.  This means that the moment a person confesses Jesus as Saviour and Lord, he or she immediately becomes the possessor of eternal life, passing from death into everlasting life.

Notice also, "And shall not come into judgment."  To me, it is the most wonderful thing in the world to know that since I have accepted Christ as my personal Saviour and Lord, I will not have to come into God's judgment to determine whether I am spiritually alive or spiritually dead, or whether I am saved or lost.

Neither water baptism, church membership, confirmation nor anything else can bring a man into a state of salvation.  It is only receiving Jesus as Saviour that can bring man out of death into life.   Everything Jesus did from the cross to the grave, He did on our behalf as our substitute.  When He died we died; when He arose from the dead, we arose from the dead; and when He defeated Satan in his own domain, we defeated Satan.

Jesus the Son of Man bought back for mankind everlasting redemption and salvation, and He made it possible for us to be overcomers in every situation of life.  

I 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.  John 1:14

There are perhaps no two more powerful words than the words "I know."

I know what you are going through.

I know what it is like.

I know how you are feeling.

I know.

We all long to hear those words, do we not? We all long to believe that there is someone, anyone, who knows what it is like - who knows what we are going through. When you find that certain someone who does know what it is like, does it not seem to change everything?

Some two thousand years ago, in a sleepy town in Judea, God did something revolutionary. Rather than offering a voice of concern to a weary world, God did something beyond what anyone could have ever dreamed or imagined.

In Jesus, the Word, the Voice, comes to dwell among us.

In the incarnation, we celebrate the reality that God knows and cares enough about people that He chose to dwell among us in a very physical and present sort of way. The unseen God of Israelite history was now the seen God. The invisible made visible.

We are told in the Scriptures that in Jesus "we saw the glory of the one and only." In other words, Jesus was putting God on display. You want to see what God is like? You want to see how to live in harmony with the Creator? Look at Jesus. He is the way and the truth and the life.

In the incarnation is found a large message from God to you and me: I know.

I know what you are going through.

I know what it is like.

I know how you are feeling.

I know.

So wherever you find yourself this day, no matter what circumstances you may find yourself in, know that there is a God who knows. Feeling alone? He knows. Feeling overwhelmed? He knows. Feeling as if you just cannot go on? He knows. Feeling like there is no one who understands? He knows. He has been there too. In Jesus, He knows.

He knows. He knows. He knows. - Amen