THE WORD OF GOD BECAME FLESH
OR
THE COMING OF GRACE AND TRUTH
SUNDAY JAN. 14, 2018
Scripture To Consider:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John [the Baptist] bore witness of Him [Jesus the Word] and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, “He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He [Jesus] was before me.”’ And of His fullness we have received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son [Jesus], who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” John 1.14-18
Something To Consider:
The Word of God became flesh. The Word of God that was in the beginning with God and was God became flesh. The Word of God became flesh and blood by being born into the human race as a baby in the little obscure town of Bethlehem. He voluntarily chose to make His dwelling place among the human race. The writer of Hebrews, speaking of Jesus, sheds some much needed light on one reason why Jesus, the Word of God came to dwell and live among the inhabitants of planet earth.
Hebrews 4.14-16 states, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest [spiritual leader] who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The Word of God, Jesus the Son of God, became humanly acquainted with our sorrows and with our successes, in that the Word of God became flesh.
Yes, the Word of God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul writing in Galatians 4.4-7 revealed; “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 [and daughters]. And because you are sons [and daughters], God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying ‘Abba Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son [and daughter], and if a son [or a daughter], then an heir of God through Christ.” How glorious that we no longer are forced to live our lives in and under the bondage of sin and spiritual death! How glorious it is to be free to become a born again son or daughter of Almighty God through Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished in His obedience to His Father!
Something Else To Consider:
In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son Jesus unto the earth as the Light of the world. In the not so distant future, God will once again send forth His Son Jesus and yet not as a babe in a borrowed manger, and not as a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but as a conquering King of kings and Lord of lords. When Jesus returns, when He is again sent a second time to the earth by His Father, will we be ready? Will we be prepared? Will we have understood the warnings of Jesus concerning the times and end time events surrounding His second coming?
Concerning that precise end time timing, Jesus declared in advance in Matthew 24.29-31; “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes [people] of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man [Jesus] coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He [Jesus] will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect [present tense true believers] from the four winds [four corners of the earth], from one end of heaven to the other.” Will we be ready? Will our loved ones be ready?
John the apostle wrote, “And the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His [Jesus’] glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John and the other disciples, leaders in training, eventually recognized Jesus’ glory. In time they recognized His glory as the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. They also eventually embraced Jesus and took full advantage of His great grace and availed themselves of His truth at every opportunity.
How can we as leaders in training, as true believers, beginning or continuing our journey to Jesus, not consider taking full advantage of the grace and truth of Jesus Christ that is made available to us in the Word of God? We must above all things, recognize or behold the great glory of Jesus Christ while we still can. For we are not promised another day, another week, or another year!
Have we also recognized Christ’s glory to the point that the disciples, every man among them were willing to suffer for their holding fast to their faith in Jesus? Many were persecuted even unto death. Many were ostracized from main stream society. They were all forced to survive against tremendous and often harmful opposition for becoming and remaining present tense believers in Jesus. What will be our decision when a similar kind of violence and in your face opposition comes to Christians living in America?
Will we hold fast our confession in Jesus Christ? Will we endure to the end in order to be gathered together with other faithful believers living upon planet earth when Christ comes? Will we endure to the end to meet every true believer from every generation since the beginning? Will we be found coming boldly to the throne of God’s great grace that is sufficient for all our earthly needs?
Something More To Consider:
The Old Testament law had been given by God through a man named Moses. Moses, like John the Baptist, was a leader called by God to give the nation of Israel the Word of God. The apostle Paul in Colossians 2.17, regarding the requirements of the law, declared that the law was a shadow or a type of things to come, but the substance or fulfillment was Jesus Christ. Jesus faithfully revealed and portrayed the glory of God and the grace and truth of God, by laying down His own life in total obedience to His Father’s will and predestined plan for His life. Therefore, for the joy of offering salvation to the human race, the Word of God became flesh, full of grace and full of truth.
Paul also proclaimed in verses 13-14 of Colossians chapter 2; “And you [present tense 21st century believer], being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He [Jesus] has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you [and me] all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Therefore, Jesus’ personal invitation to each of us to be forgiven of our personal sin is still nailed upon the cross of our hearts that we have been instructed to carry.
For some taking up the blood stained cross of Christ and denying oneself creates a most difficult personal dilemma. And yet the moment we do, we become heirs of the kingdom of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, according to the Word of God. How could anyone turn down such a gift as is offered to all? How could some, how could many, choose to remain in total opposition to all that is good and godly after receiving a personal invitation to enter the kingdom of God as a new creature in Christ? And yet many if not most will remain in bondage to their sins.
A Few Final Words:
The divine plan of God required the flesh and blood sacrifice of His own Son for the age old sin of the human race! In the fullness of time the Word of God became flesh, with all its frailties, with all its temptations, and yet without sin. And He came and died that we might live with Him eternally. But we must behold His glory, His grace, and His truth within the Word of God, if we expect to become heirs of the kingdom and joint heirs with Jesus Christ!
Therefore, which will it be, the law given through Moses that cannot save us from our sin and accumulated over time iniquity? Or will we choose God’s glory, God’s grace, and God’s truth which can only come through Jesus Christ, the Word of God come in the flesh? Our views of Christ’s glory, His grace, and His truth, are but beginning and will forever be on the advance. Choose wisely!
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, may we behold the glory and experience the grace of Your Son in the brilliance and beauty of the Word of God. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 