December 1, 2024
Series Overview: In this series, we will be diving into specific verses etched over 2000 years ago inside of the Christmas story and allowing those verse to come alive in us today. Our heartfelt prayer is these verses would speak to, challenge, encourage and bring supernatural comfort, joy and strength to your heart and home, in Jesus Name!
JOHN 1:14 NIV
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.
The beginning-less, omnipotent creator of the universe took on a human nature without the loss of His deity, so that Jesus, the adopted Son of Joseph of Nazareth, was both fully divine and fully human. The Incarnation is the universe-sundering, history-altering, life-transforming, paradigm-shattering event of history. —Tim Keller [Hidden Christmas]
JOHN 1:1-3,14 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. …14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
The doctrine of the Incarnation: Jesus, the Eternal God came to us so we would know Him and follow Him.
Jesus is eternal.
JOHN 1:1 NIV
In the beginning was the Word…
COLOSSIANS 1:17 AMP
And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]
JOHN 17:5 NIV
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
EPHESIANS 1:4-5 NIV
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
Eternal [definition] last or existing forever without end or beginning.
Jesus is God.
JOHN 1:1 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
ISAIAH 9:6 ESV
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus came to us.
JOHN 1:14 NIV
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment. God became a man. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened and placed the most precious one in a human womb. The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became pierce-able. He, who was larger than the universe, became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.
He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter.
The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty. No silk, no ivory, and no hype. No party and no hoopla. Were it not for the shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of star-gazers, there would have been no gifts.Angels watched as Mary changed God’s diaper. The universe watched with wonder as The Almighty learned to walk. Children played in the street with him. Jesus may have had pimples. He may have been tone-deaf. It could be that his knees were bony. One thing’s for sure: He was, while completely divine, completely human.
For thirty-three years, he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak and He grew weary. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached. To think of Jesus in such a light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable.
It’s much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.
He’s easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable.But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out. —Max Lucado [God Came Near]
Jesus came to us so we would know Him and follow Him.
JOHN 1:14 NIV
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.
COLOSSIANS 1:27 NLT
For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
Closing thought…
Be encouraged to use today’s message as an invitation to pursue a life that lives out the message you just received. We also invite you to (if you already haven’t) invite Christ and His forgiveness over your life, giving you eternity with Him. We sincerely pray today’s talk has blessed you and becomes your experienced reality!
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