In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that
life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
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 1:1-5, 14, NIV
98 words
Years
ago I met and had a conversation with one of my favorite authors. It’s as if I
already knew him from his books and articles, which I had quoted many times. I
admired his courage to ask the hard questions, even when he didn’t know
where they would lead.
As
it turned out, this author was all I expected and more. I found him to be humble
and personable and genuinely caring. Then I introduced him to a crowd of about
a thousand, eager to hear him speak.
The
Word of the Old Testament had already taught us that God is perfectly just and
merciful, righteous and holy, faithful and unfailing, slow to anger and
abounding in love. In the Hebrew scriptures we learned what God hates and what
God loves. We discovered the holiness this holy God desires from us. We meet a God
who would rather bless than curse, forgive than punish, restore than destroy.
In
Jesus we meet the Word in person. “The one and only Son” is the fullest expression
of God. In him we see God’s glory face to face. He is all we expected and more.
E.
Stanley Jones, the renowned Methodist missionary a century ago, said that John
1:14 was perhaps the most important verse in the Bible. He wrote an entire
book, The
Word Became Flesh, with 364 devotionals based on that one verse.
In
the Old Testament God’s presence was made known to the Israelites, veiled in a
dense cloud at the sacred tent called the Tabernacle. Now, God’s presence is made known to us in the unveiled tent of flesh
in the person of Jesus.
And
we have found him to be “full of grace and truth” (NIV), “full of unfailing
love and faithfulness” (NLT). And the good news is that God is like Jesus.
I
welcome your comments below.
Next
post: December 29, 2023, “The Gospel of Costly Grace” from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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2 comments:
Love the post, but your last comment "...God is like Jesus..." threw me a bit. Since Jesus is fully human and fully Divine, begotten of God, God from God, true God from True God would be like comparing the 3 persons of the trinity as separate "Like" God. But in our trinitarian faith, there is only One God in 3 persons of the trinity.
You are right, Linda. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. Jesus not only revealed himself as the eternal Son; he also revealed the character of the Triune God.
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