by Rev. Lowell Avery, PPL board member
And the Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Father’s only-begotten, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Who can know how many sermons, tracts, pamphlets, treatises and even books have been produced based on that one sentence from the Spirit of God? And the vast majority of them probably came from preachers, scholars, and writers more wise and erudite than I. So you probably will not find anything novel in the few paragraphs to come, but I hope I can persuade you to ponder anew just the opening and closing phrases:
“And the Word became flesh...full of grace and truth.”
And having done so, may God take you one step further in the transformation of your eternal life.
When “the Word became flesh” God said and demonstrated something powerful about Himself; by taking on our human limitations Jesus made it clear that God is not arrogant. The first eighteen verses of John’s Gospel show that “the Word” is the Spirit’s way of introducing Jesus to John’s audience, and John boldly declares, “the Word was God” (John 1.1). So when “the Word became flesh”, the “Lord of glory”, in one instant, became a hidden, utterly dependent human zygote in the womb of a young Galilean peasant woman. No one else has ever so humbled himself.
When “the Word became flesh” God also restated and demonstrated something powerful about us; by taking on our human identity Jesus made it clear that we are significant to God. The Holy Spirit had already expressed that truth when He inspired these words: “Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness,” (Genesis 1.26a, NABRE). Jesus became the manifestation of that amazing truth.
When “the Word became flesh” God also said and demonstrated something powerful about our value and His love for us; Jesus took on our human identity so that He would be able to die for our human sins (Hebrews 9.27f), because of His love for us (Romans 5.8).
As those who work and pray to protect human life, let us prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus with Him as our example: treating others, even those who oppose us, with humility, regarding them as significant to God and therefore also to us, and loving them as Christ loved us – “while we were yet sinners.” By doing so, may God continue to demonstrate His grace and truth through those who have become children of God through faith in Jesus.
Happy Advent and Merry Christmas.
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