Immortal Invisible Immanuel

And the LORD replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and you are my friend.”

Then Moses had one more request. “Please let me see your glorious presence,” he said.

The LORD replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, ‘the LORD,’ to you. I will show kindness to anyone I choose, and I will show mercy to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:1-2, 12-20 NLT)

The LORD is beyond anything we can experience. He is the only immortal, invisible, eternal King of all things. He deserves our worship because he is holy and morally pure.

Downsizing

Jesus “made himself nothing.” He “humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6) God became one of us. He became touchable and approachable. Consider these thoughts with me.

• The One who is beyond all time and space downsized to the confines of a human womb for nine months.

• The One who created the cosmos from nothing with just a word – became a helpless baby that had to be fed, nursed and burped.

• The One who has immediate recall of all knowledge, understanding and wisdom – had to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic.

He became nothing. He became nothing so that we could become something. The Bible says, “He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) C. S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, wrote, “The Son of God became a [human] to enable humans to become the sons of God.” (Hymns for the Family of God #167) The Bible says the same thing. “Although the world was made through him, the world didn’t recognize him when he came. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan — this rebirth comes from God. (John 1:10, 12-13 NLT)

Jesus says, “Give me all of your sin. I’ll give you all of my righteousness. And we’ll call it even.” One man summarizes this in three short sentences. “He came to our place. He took our place. And he invites us back to his place.”

God Most High

God is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:15-16 NRSV)

The truth is: God is beyond all the positions of power and authority. He cannot be defined or confined by any other person’s plans or purposes. God is the Creator of all other persons. God is the only immortal, invisible, eternal King of all things.

The Present of Presence

The greatest gift a parent can give a child is the present of presence. That is what kids crave. Too many parents think throwing expensive gifts under the Christmas tree will make up for not being around the rest of the year. In our hearts, we all know better than that. A brand new video game is fun. Playing that game with mom and dad is priceless.