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 ~ John 1:14.
Preamble:
Glory to God in the highest! The spirit of the Yuletide is very much evident all around us. It behoves us, therefore, tocontemplate the glory of the Lord’s incarnation, its radiance in the face of Jesus Christ, and its all-time significance to all humanity worldwide.
Whenever we think of the Christmas story, we always remember that unusual event that occurred in Bethlehem Judaea over 2000 years ago (Matthew 2:1-23). That’s absolutely remarkable!
Indeed, it’s worthy of high note that angels heralded the event, and actually sang to rejoice with men on that occasion (Luke 2:1-20). Even stars trekked to announce the Saviour’s birth and to give direction to the holy location where it happened.
However, the quintessential note is that Jesus Christ, who is the heart of the story, actually preceded Bethlehem. He’s the eternal King of the most sacred honour, who denied Himself the glories of heaven to seek and to save us (Luke 19:10).
We will certainly meet Him closer in this discourse, but at this point we would like to define some terms, viz, “behold” and “glory”.
To behold means “to see”, “to gaze or give a closer attention to”, “to contemplate”, “to look at intensely, thoroughly and thoughtfully”. That is pretty straightforward, but the other word, glory, is not exactly so.
The word, glory, does not lend itself to any easy definition because it manifests itself in different dimensions to different people. Particularly so, defining the glory of God is like an impossible task. God is in a class by Himself. He has infinite perfections, infinite greatness and infinite worth.
Notwithstanding, the original connotations of the word, “glory”includes: “brightness”, “clearness”, and “effulgence of splendour”. Glory conveys the idea of a physical manifestation of the state of high dignity, preeminence or majesty. It also signifies honor, renown, reverence, adoration, and worship, and it describes that which is worthy of confidence and trust.
Meanwhile, the Apostle Paul hints that glory comes in “weights” (2Corinthians 4:17). Everything carries varying “weights” of glory: sun, moon, stars, and houses, certificates, words, etcetera(1Corinthians 15:41). Succinctly, glory speaks to the true significance, nature or attribute of a thing.
Flowing from these above, we can safely summarize that God’s glory reflects His weight, His indescribable power and His unfathomable majesty. It describes the form in which He manifests His presence to His people. Jonathan Edwards said, “the glory of God is the weight of all that He is to us".
Happily, as children of God, we’re enabled to behold His glory. When John the beloved said, “we beheld His glory,”he was actually giving an eyewitness account of his personal encounter with Jesus (1John 1:1). Remember the majestic incident of Christ’s transfiguration (Matthew 17:2).
John Piper rightly noted that the Lord’s glory is “the going public of His holiness”. Nevertheless, the dimensions of the Lord’s glory in our individual experiences depend largely on how much time, attention, devotion and earnestness we are ready to spend in His presence to “behold” His glory.
To be sure, whenever we rightly behold His glory, there will be something to see, learn and have!
What Do We See When We Behold The Lord’s Glory?
The mystery that John unraveled in John 1:14 was that we can now see the glory of God in Jesus Christ! Paul also corroborated this in his second letter to the Corinthians when he said we can behold the glory of God “in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Corinthians 4:6).
Undoubtedly, Jesus Christ is the absolute revelation of God in human form (John 1:14)! In the divine glory, we see the beauty of Christ for Whom He is! The totality of God's glory is found in Him (Colossians 2:9).
What Do We Learn When We Behold the Lord’s Glory?
The first thing that strikes us most vividly when we contemplate the Lord’s glory is the depth of God's love for us (John 3:16).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). That takes us back to the creation story: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
We can see here the eternal nature of Jesus Christ! He has always been and will always be. Jesus Himself is God: “…the Word was God”. Through Him all things were made.
Jesus, the Word, is the very message of God to humanity. He is the Light that spoke light into being (Genesis 1:3; Matthew 5:14). His glory is the authority and power that dispel darkness. Albeit, with all His majesty and excellency, He condescended, became man, and moved to our neighborhood to dwell with us!
Jesus' humility is nonpareil, and His incarnation a grand miracle of love (Philippians 2:5-11)! C.S. Lewis wrote: “He who is beyond all space and time, the uncreated, eternal God came into nature, into human nature, descended into his own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with him”. What a matchless love indeed!
The most incredible dimension of this love is the fact that this King of glory now dwells in God’s children (Colossians 1:27). Thus, we must be “God-inside conscious”, and our manifest joy of Christmas must inclose the reality that the headquarters of the universe is inside us.
Furthermore, beholding the Lord’s gloryreveals the true character of God: "We beheld his glory ….. full of grace and truth". The nature and the character of God are fully displayed in the person of Jesus Christ (John 14:6-7, 30; 2Corinthians 5:21).
Again, carefully beholding the Lord’s glory reveals His marvelous grace! Moses earnestly desired to see God’s glory. Thereafter, the Lord passed by him and proclaimed His grace, faithfulness and mercy (Exodus 34:1-6).
In this same manner, the abounding love of God, His grace and goodness are revealed to humanity in the face of Jesus Christ today.
What Do We Have When We Behold the Lord’s Glory?
Transformation is the first present we receive in the Lord’s presence. Beholding God's glory transforms people into His image, and it grows them to be more like Jesus (2Corinthians 3:18; 5:17). In addition, those who crave to behold God's glory enjoy His goodness (Exodus 33:18-21).
Moses prayed, "Show me your glory."And the Lord answered, "I will make all of my goodness to pass before thee…"God’s glory is most articulated in His goodness that human beings enjoy today (James 1:17).
Most significantly, those who behold the Lord’s glory, and receive Him by faith, enjoy His gift of salvation (John 1:12).Whereas sin separated man from God, grace has now appeared to qualify us for a sweet fellowship with Him (Titus 2:11-14).
Where grace and truth meet, there you meet Jesus. There’s nothing more grace-filled, and nothing more truth-filled than the good news that the Saviour was born, and He’s even here with us!
Meanwhile, the Lord’s glory can only be spiritually discerned (1Corinthians 2:14). Whenever we do, we enjoy the beauties of His matchless love, tenderness, wisdom, purity, holiness, spirituality, meekness, power, riches and majesty.
Beloved, the Christmas story isn't about what we can do to get to God, but about what God has done to get to us, tabernacle with us, make His glory known to us and draw us closer to Himself. His love is lofty, rich, andwonderful. You won’t miss it this season, in Jesus name. Happy Sunday!
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Archbishop Taiwo Akinola,
Rhema Christian Church,
Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
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