IN THE FLESH
John 1:14
Sometimes when someone surprises a person they haven't seen in a while they exclaim, "Wow, I can't believe it! Here you are, in the flesh." They may have kept in contact in other ways but now they are standing right there in front of you. That's what happened that first Christmas. If that phrase existed then some people may have said, "Wow, I can't believe it. Here you are, in the flesh." Let's look at the wonder of God coming down to us in the flesh.
1) The exchange.
The days before Christmas are busy but the days after Christmas are busy too. That's when people head back to the stores to exchange their gifts for something they really want. Jesus made an exchange too. John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
"The Word became flesh". In vs. one, it says that in the beginning was the Word and that the Word was with God and the Word was God. And here in vs. 14 we see that the Word became flesh and lived among the human population. This shows that Jesus existed before becoming a human.
He is part of the triune God-Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three separate persons but all equally God. When Jesus was praying in John 17 he asked the Father to restore him to the glory he had before the creation of the world. So Jesus made an exchange. He exchanged his glorified state and put on human flesh with human limitations and human frailties.
Phil. 2:6-8, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Jesus left heaven as the Creator and became among the created. He left as the Master of the universe to become a fragile baby. Heb. 2 says Jesus shared in our humanity and became like us in every way. When he exchanged his glory for humanity it showed that he was willing to experience human pain, he was willing to subject himself to physical limitations and deal with human emotions as well as struggle with human temptations. In this exchange Jesus allowed himself to become uncomfortable. He endured disgrace and humiliation. Why make this incredible exchange? Because he loves us and he wants us to be saved.
"Made his dwelling among us". It seems strange that Jesus would be willing to exchange the pristine glory of heaven for the ugliness of earth. Don’t get me wrong, Earth is a beautiful place but compared to heaven it must look like a dump. But that shows how much God wanted to be close to us and have a relationship with us.
In the temple, once a year, a Priest was chosen to represent the people and go into the Most Holy Place where God's presence was. For one day, God "dwelt among his people". But with the coming of Jesus, God dwelt among his people every day. And instead of only a select few having access to God, now anyone could be in the presence of God.
John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God, but God, the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” Jesus, God’s one and only Son, came so that God would be made known to us. The untouchable God made himself a touchable person.
Col. 1:15 says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Now there wouldn’t be this obscure relationship with God. Now there would be the opportunity for people to have a tangible relationship with God in the person of Jesus. God so loved the world that he wanted there to be a closeness the world had not experienced since before the fall of Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve walked with God. They had a personal relationship with him. All that was lost once sin entered in. Now, with Jesus here, people would once again be face to face with God and have a personal relationship with him. It wouldn’t be as perfect as Adam and Eve’s, but it would be intimate nonetheless.
People wouldn’t have to experience God from a distance but now it could be up close and personal; they could talk with him in person. Before, people had the word of God spoken through the Prophets. But now the Word became flesh and people could see and hear from him directly.
It’s like a pen pal. You spend years writing back and forth and then the time comes for you to be able to see each other face to face. He leaves where he was to come and be with you. It's exciting when you get to meet and spend time with the one you knew only through letters. Jesus left the glory of heaven to come be Immanuel-God with us. He made the ultimate exchange because he loved us and wanted a close, intimate relationship with us.
"We have seen his glory". John is referring to the transfiguration. Matt. 17:1-5, "After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
This showed that Jesus was more than human. He presented himself in all his glory for the disciples to see and have further proof of his deity and preexistence. As a witness, he now testifies to this fact for the benefit of others so they would understand and be convinced too.
Peter did the same thing. 2nd Pet. 1:16-18, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain."
Peter wanted people to be convinced that Jesus was not an ordinary human. He was human, yes, but he was also God. He had a glory that no one else had; he had a majesty that no one else had.
Col. 2:9, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." Jesus was the fullness of Deity, which meant he was a holy and divine being and therefore was worthy to be praised and worshiped, just as the Father was worthy to be praised and worshiped.
Jesus told his disciples in John 14:9 that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father. He wasn't saying that he and the Father were the same person. When Jesus prayed he wasn't praying to himself. Jesus meant that there is no difference in their thoughts or actions. They have different identities but are identical in their character. To see one was to see the other.
"Full of grace and truth". Jesus came to extend grace, like he did for the woman caught in adultery. "Neither do I condemn you", he told her. The religious leaders were all about the law and punishment. But Jesus brought the grace aspect to the forefront. He didn't break the law but he portrayed what was missing from the people's view-the true essence of God's love, mercy and grace. Paul said in 1st Tim. 1:15 that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus came to show the people that God wasn't all about consequences for sin, he was about forgiveness for sins.
Jesus was full of grace and truth. He spoke only the truth. He said things that were unconventional and he taught differently than the religious leaders were, but everything Jesus taught was true. Whenever the religious leaders tried to trap him they were silenced and trapped themselves when Jesus turned it around on them.
No one could ever catch him in a lie or a contradiction. He spoke truth, he lived truth; he was truth. He said in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father but through him. Jesus is the only way to be saved. Most people don't believe that; they think there are other ways one can be made right with God. But the truth is, the only way we can be saved is by trusting in what Jesus did on the cross to pay for our sins.
Oswald Chambers: “Thousands of people in this world profess to be happy without God. But if we could be truly happy and moral without Jesus then why did he come?” The birth of Christ brought hope into the world. Whatever there was to hope in before Jesus was insufficient.
There was no hope in being able to fulfill the requirements of God’s law. In fact, the law revealed the hopelessness of man because an imperfect person was not going to be able to keep a perfect law. The law was in place to show mankind its need for a perfect savior to come and do for them what they couldn’t do for themselves.
Eph. 2:12-13, “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”
Once we were separated from God because of our sin but now, through the sacrifice of Christ, we have been reconciled with God. So, because hope entered the world, we have hope.
Monte Smith-Imagine a World Without Hope. “If you can imagine a world without hope, you have just imagined a world without Jesus. He lived His life and taught many things that promised us hope. The reason we have hope is because of Him. He came into this world as a baby to give us hope. He died on a cross and it seemed that all hope was gone and that the world really would be a world without hope. But then He rose from the dead and now we have hope.”
Jesus came so that we would experience the greatest gift, the blessing of having God with us. He came so that we could experience his glory. He came so that we could know his grace and truth. He came to offer his life so that we could receive the greatest gift of all-eternal life. We needed Jesus; we couldn’t save ourselves.
But having a need doesn’t necessarily constitute an action to meet that need. Knowing there are starving children in the world doesn’t automatically result in me helping to feed them. Something else has to be there besides awareness-love. And true love is displayed in action-not just desire. I can have the desire to help but never act on it.
In Jesus’ birth we see the result of the Father’s active love and compassion for the world. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. The Father let go of his Son, knowing he would be subjected to mistreatment and abuse. Jesus so loved the world that he was willing to go to the cross so we wouldn’t perish.
Jesus came to show us what perfect, sacrificial love looks like. He made the ultimate exchange so we can exchange spiritual death for spiritual life. John 5:24, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." Through Jesus we can make the ultimate exchange.
2) The presence of Jesus.
That's great that Jesus came and lived with people but that was 2,000 years ago. We don't have that luxury today. Do you ever envy the people who got to be around Jesus? wouldn't it be great to have him here, in the flesh, to be able to talk with and listen to and get a hug from? Well, we don't have that blessing, but that doesn't mean we have to go without the presence of Jesus.
We may not have Jesus with us in a physical way but we do have him with us in a spiritual way. Acts 2:38 says that when we repent and are baptized we will have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. That is a privilege the people in Jesus' day didn't have.
Though it would've been great to see, hear and touch Jesus, he dealt with human limitations so that meant he couldn't be everywhere at once. Now, through the Holy Spirit, he can be with every believer, everywhere, at the same time. Before, people had to travel to see him, sometimes great distances. They had to push through the crowd to try to get to him. They had to wait to see him. They rarely had a one on one audience with him.
But now, we don't have to travel to get to Jesus, we don't have to wait to be with Jesus and we get to have his undivided attention anytime we need it. What a blessing! And it's not meant for us to keep to ourselves; we're supposed to display it for others. 1st John 4:12, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
Jesus' first coming was when he left the glory of heaven and came to earth to be born of Mary on that first Christmas. But Jesus makes a return visit, so to speak, when we are born again. The Spirit comes and takes up residence in us. People did not have the benefit of seeing God face to face and then Jesus came as the perfect image of God.
But, when Jesus went back to heaven, the world was left without the physical presence of God. But when we have the spiritual presence of God in us, people now have the ability to see Jesus through us. We are his representatives. What a privilege it is to have the Holy Spirit living inside us-teaching us, guiding us, encouraging us, correcting us-loving us.
But we can lose sight of that sometimes. At Christmastime Jesus can get lost in the shuffle. We get caught up in buying the presents and lose sight of having the presence of Jesus. Having the presence of Jesus is infinitely more valuable than all the presents of the world.
