Theme: He pitched His tent among us
Text: Psalm 147:12-20; Eph. 1:3-6, 15-18; John 1:1-18
Every beginning is a time of great expectations and we all have expectations for the year 2004 on this first Sunday of the year. Although our expectations for the year are important God’s expectations for the year are definitely more important. God’s expectation for humanity has since the sin of Adam and Eve always been to restore fallen mankind so that they could fulfil His divine Will and purpose. In the dictionary, ‘to restore’ means ‘to bring back to a former or original condition.’ When something is restored in the Scriptures, however, it is always increased, multiplied or improved so that its latter state is significantly better than its original state. When, for example, God restored Job after the terrible trials he endured, He gave him twice what he had lost and blessed him more in his latter days than in the beginning. The beginning of man’s restoration began as soon as Adam sinned. It began when Adam and Eve, created in God’s own image and likeness, decided to control their own lives and do things their own way. They therefore became separated from God, their life source. As man tried the work of his own hands to make coverings for his nakedness, God provided clothing made from animal skin. This clearly revealed God’s plan of redemption and restoration for fallen man. That first sacrifice, providing clothing, pointed toward the ultimate sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus Christ Himself. It was for our redemption and restoration that the Word became flesh - that He left His home in glory and pitched His tent among us.
Jesus became a man to experience human nature and to reveal God to humanity. Adam and Eve had an intimate relationship with God when they reflected His image and likeness but sin marred God’s image and likeness in man. This gave them a false idea of who God is and therefore made fellowship with Him impossible. The right opinion or revelation of God was crucial for the restoration of men and women as this is necessary if we are to have a relationship with Him. To restore fellowship with God Christ revealed God’s true nature. As is the case in every relationship He revealed His name, His family and His work. His name is “the Word”. Before every word is spoken it is preceded by a thought so the “Word” really means thought expressed in speech, a Spoken thought. This is what the Word came to do on earth. He came to put into words God’s thoughts towards men and women. Who could put God’s thought into words if not God himself? Only Christ could do this because He had always existed as the Son of God with the Father in heaven.
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through various ways. He used the prophets; He used angels, burning bushes, a giant fish and signs in the heavens. On one occasion He even used a donkey. Today He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father sent His only Son into the world to bridge the communication gap that separated us from Him in order that the relationship which sin had destroyed might be restored. In order to have a relationship both parties need to know each other. God knows us but unfortunately we cannot know Him because of sin. Sin keeps separates us from God and without spending enough time with Him we will not be able to know Him intimately. In spite of the devastating effects of sin God went to great lengths to restore us so that we can fellowship with Him but we often fail to avail ourselves of His provision. According to the author of Hebrews Jesus Christ became our sacrifice ‘for by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified’. Perfected and forever speak of a sacrifice that comprehends every human need and its effects extend throughout time and into eternity. God became one of us to be able to speak to us in a way that we could understand. He came to reveal God so that our relationship with Him could be restored. This is enough reason for us to value all He has to say and treat Him with every respect and reverence. Enough reason for us to spend time with Him and make every effort to understand what He is saying to us about how we should live.
Jesus Christ, “the Word” became flesh not only to reveal God to us but also to reveal how God intended man to live. Man was created to live a life of physical and spiritual wholeness. Jesus Christ was able to live this life because He was constantly in contact with His Father and ‘the ruler of this world had nothing in Him’. This kept Him from sin and although Jesus was tempted in all ways as we were yet He did not sin. The result was that He enjoyed physical and spiritual wholeness. The only time Christ was afflicted both physically and spiritually was when He took our sins and infirmities upon Himself to pay the penalty for our sin. God’s desire for us is physical and spiritual wholeness and ‘Jesus came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly’.
Jesus’ life demonstrates how God intended our life to be like. He did not give up on us when we sinned but came in the flesh to restore us and so fulfil His divine Will. God has done everything possible for us to be able to live this life. He wants us to reveal His glory by living His life. He wants us to be people of character who are honest and upright and tell the truth and show undeserved kindness for others. When we live this life we will experience God’s restoration and manifest His power, authority and character. We are to live here on earth with heaven inside of us. We are to make an impact on our communities and we can only make a difference when we manifest the life of Christ. But we often fail to avail ourselves of God’s provisions. The Word lived among us. ‘He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.’ By welcoming and receiving Christ and by believing that He is God we enter a new life and experience God’s restoration. The Word became flesh because God wants us to restore us so that we could live lives that please Him. We are to follow His example and wherever we are or whatever we do we are to be concerned about pleasing God and not ourselves or our friends.
Jesus pitched His tent among us to restore man so that men and women could fulfil God’s divine purpose. By disobeying God man sinned and come under the judgement of a righteous God. God gave man His righteous requirements in the Law because man was not prepared to listen to Him. The only way to escape judgement was to fulfil the Law. But God knowing the limits of the Law instituted a system of animal sacrifices to atone for their sins and the Law served as a schoolteacher to point to the ultimate deliverance through the shed blood of Christ, the only One who could fulfil the requirements of the Law. Jesus Christ fulfilled the requirements of the Law. The Scriptures declare that He was tempted in all ways as we were yet did not sin. By becoming the perfect sacrifice Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law on our behalf and made it possible for us to have the righteousness of God by being obedient to Him.
We cannot talk about Jesus pitching His tent among us without relating it to the tabernacle in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament only the Jewish High Priest was allowed into the presence of God. God’s presence and power was manifested in the tabernacle over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. The only problem was that the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the most holy place and no one except the High Priest was allowed to enter into the presence of the Ark. He was allowed only once a year to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed animal on the mercy seat. The Ark contained three items, the manna, and the tablets of the Ten Commandments and the rod of Aaron that budded. These items pointed to Jesus Christ, the bread of life who kept the Law and had life in Him. Because of the failings of man blood had to be sprinkled on the mercy seat so that man is not slain by the righteous requirements of God but experience the mercy of God. Christ came to reveal to us God’s righteous requirements and pay the penalty for our transgression of those requirements. When Christ shed His Blood the way was opened for unholy man to come before the presence of a righteous God. The restored life is the life of Christ and we can only live this life when we believe in Christ and in what He has done for us. It is this belief that affects our eternal destiny. We need His life in us - a life that is complete and abundant – a life that has overcome death, a life that only Christ can give. When we really believe in Christ we will also trust Him to fulfil His promises that give purpose and meaning to life by restoring our fellowship with God.
Christ pitched His tent among us to meet our greatest needs. Christ became like us, so that we could be restored and become like Him. When Jesus came to live among us He demonstrated the scope of God’s restoration. Sinners were forgiven, the sick were healed, the blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame walked and those who had given up hope were comforted and restored. Christ came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly. He came to restore our souls, to replace spiritual death with spiritual life so that God’s purpose for man could be fulfilled. He has restored the Father-child relationship that was broken by Adam’s disobedience so that all who believe in Him are brought back into the household of God and are conformed to His image. We are to display the kind of love Jesus demonstrated and be the means of the release of God’s power. The tabernacle in the Old Testament was symbolic of the tabernacle not made with hands in the hearts of human beings. The new tabernacle perfected our relationship with God in our hearts through Jesus Christ, because God now dwells in our hearts. God has fulfilled His promise of restoration. What we need to do to be restored is to repent – to turn to God and allow Him to cleanse and restore. Our restoration can begin today. Let us come to Jesus Christ and be restored for this is His will for us. He wants to “restore our souls” and He wants us “to prosper and be in health even as our souls prospers”. Amen!
