The Incarnation
Originally delivered December 24
Joh 1:1 NASB In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
From the very dawn of time, the Father planned it this way.
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The Word - the message of the unimaginable God - existed when
time did not.
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That Word was with God from before the beginning - from eternity
to eternity.
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The Word was God.
How? Who can say. It is the character of God the Father that He
must bring His love to His children; as His character is eternal, so the Word
is eternal. Nor can the Word be apart from the Father; indeed, God is
One, so the Word is one with God.
It sounds so philosophical, as John writes it. But the Father has a
plan to make it clear and plain to His children: the Word became flesh,
and dwelt among us.
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Think of it: the very essence of God in human flesh.
To meet Him is to meet the Father, for they are One.
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His disciples record his life; in particular they record the fact
that they saw Him in the glory He has with the Father. Their eyes saw
this salvation.
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He is the only One - the unique, only begotten Son of God.
At Christmas we see His humanity in the manger and His divinity in the angel
chorus. It is a pleasant scene; it's a rare human being who does not love
the sight of a baby. But just as the Word was from the beginning, so the
plan of God was also. This baby grows to be a man, a man with a
purpose: He is the Lamb of God. We see His humanity in the garden;
his divinity on the Cross. That sacrifice was planned before time was;
its beginnings were in a manger at Bethlehem; its ending on the Cross.
Remember that; the baby in the manger came for a purpose - that you and I might
be redeemed.
