Page Three: “The Word Became Flesh” 12/30/2012
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Yes, we have His spoken word as His communication. But in Jesus we have God’s physical and literal communication to humanity. Jesus perfectly revealed to the world just exactly what God the Father was like.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” There are four wonderful things that John says about the Word. He was in the beginning. He was with God. He was God. And the fourth is found in the fourteenth verse of this same chapter. He, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us…” (14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Of all the aspects of the Christmas story, this is certainly the greatest. The very One Who created the mountains, the stars, the clouds, and the sea; every organic and inorganic thing; He was with His Father in the beginning, has now taken on human flesh in the incarnation. In Jesus Christ we see Perfect God and Perfect man revealed. The all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise God took on flesh. When the Bible uses the term “flesh” here, it simply refers to humanity. The only way we could quote “see” God is by God becoming a human being. We see Jesus, a Perfect human being; we see Jesus as God in the flesh; we see Jesus as the sinless becoming the lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. Now let me say something to you about this term “flesh.” Isaiah 40:6 “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field… the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” And here’s a word from the Apostle Peter. I Peter 1:24 “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (25) But the Word of the LORD endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.” And the theology in John says “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” There are some who say that God dwells in all human beings. But, if that’s the case, why does the Bible say “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”? |
The reason is simple. Up until the time when the virgin brought forth her firstborn son and laid Him in a manger, God had never inhabited flesh. And, though invisible and though every-present, He did not dwell among us. But now He has and now He does.
What the Bible presents is that He became one of us. We were the aliens from Heaven’s viewpoint and God entered into humanity by taking on human flesh, frail as it is. And flesh, as we read in Isaiah and in I Peter is like the grass that dies, withers, and fades and is then blown away. Flesh is what you and I are made of. And inherent in our flesh is the potential that one day our spirits will leave these mortal bodies and our flesh will become stone cold. We’ll be transported to a crypt and then as time goes by all that will be left of us will be our bones. Folks, when Jesus became a human being, He was made just like you and me. He looked like us. He lived like us. He ate, drank, and slept just like us. He woke up at sunrise and He got tired from working hard in the sun. I imagine He swam in the Mediterranean Sea. I imagine He climbed trees as a boy. I imagine He learned to crawl and to speak and to run and to read and to carry on conversations with his neighbors. We even have a story of Jesus being taken to the Temple in Jerusalem when He was twelve years old. And while He was there, He carried on quite a conversation with the Jewish scribes and priests. No doubt the priests were amazed at His knowledge of life and truth and the Bible. Yet, there was one primary reason why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And that is this. Jesus, the Lamb of God, came into this world to die as a Substitute for you and me. Jesus became a Sacrifice for your sin and mine. You see, God could not die as the invisible God. He could die, though, if He became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came here with one main purpose for His life. He came here to provide Eternal Security to those who would believe on Him. Now, practically speaking, how does this basic, the incarnation, make a difference to you personally? |