“ 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
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God made Man in His image .... a living soul, powered by the Life, and Spirit, of God that is in him.
This created being, was gifted with a material body, with which he could experience his Creator and His Creation! The amazing wonder of this act is heightened when we consider that He had a plan to glorify us way beyond the magic of this life itself!
These bodies were to be temporary, because Sin and Satan,and the heavenly host, were to be taught a profound lesson. He is higher and more righteous than ALL creation... man would fall, and death would rule. Yet, His plan from eternity past has been to glorify us with an eternal body , so that , we may be in fellowship with Him forever!
God Himself now deigns to put on our human flesh in order to settle our debts.
This has broader implications than are first evident.
First, note the compatibility.
There was no “organ rejection” when God put on biology. Fallen Angels cohabited with men to produce mutant giants ... but Yeshuah was no mutant! The One whose image we are in microcosm, emptied Himself of all His divine attributes and breathed Himself into the womb of a young girl in Palestine! He is Spirit, we are spirits in a body... we are very much alike...
The serpent told the truth... “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and —— ye shall be as gods —-, knowing good and evil. “ - Gen 3:5. Confirmed by our Lord —
“Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, I said, —Ye are gods—-? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, —and the scripture cannot be broken—-; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?’ “ - John 10:34-10:36.
Man reached out and took the knowledge of Good and Evil in defiance of God’s will, but it was always God’s will and plan to make them like Him, including this knowledge. The fact that the first humans realized that being naked is NOT GOOD, after eating the fruit, ( confirmed by God Himself making clothes for them later) was proof that they had taken that step of becoming like God, but unfortunately started to obey evil instead of good.
Second, note that Yeshua was fully a normal human baby!
We just got done talking about how man became like God, now try to wrap your brain around God becoming like Man!
Conceived, carried to term, and brought into the world in a little inn in Bethlehem. He grew up as a normal human, in a poor family, ate, drank, went to the bathroom, shared a house with brothers and sisters, cousins and family. Vulnerable to injury, and not given any preferential treatment, but His life preserved from the attacks of human agents of the enemy by ordinary means - running away!
It is highly interesting to note the proxy wars being waged in the spiritual realm - Wise men see a star that Satan, Herod and his army, and the religious rulers in Bethlehem are blind to! Shepherds find the child but Pharisees sleep on , blissfully unaware! Even Satan in the wilderness temptation of Christ... seems unsure that this Human could be God incarnate.... “if you are the Son of God” he asks twice, before offering up the planet if this man will worship him, only to be sent away with his ears ringing with the roar of scripture!!! The dark powers have NO CLUE as to the way God is operating!
Lastly, so what DOES God in the flesh look like?
Answer ——- A human Full of GRACE & TRUTH!
Those are the two attributes that characterized the Christ, and should be our ideal to strive for in our daily lives.
In our series on the gifts of the Spirit, we have pointed out that He is the Spirit of Truth. All Prophecy is an utterance of truth ( wisdom, knowledge, future events, the Gospel ! ) The Words Christ spoke .. are Spirit and Life ... He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Walking in truth is very hard for us fallen, lies come so easily to our lips, and are so, so - convenient - but we must put away all lies from our mouth and hearts! You will soon realize how easy and freeing it is!
The only way we can do that is by the Grace He supplies! Having put on our feeble flesh, having felt the tug to disobey, feeling our fleshly appetites and weaknesses.... He took on all that so He could better communicate with US, face to face, mano-a-mano! He experienced all our human issues... to show us that God is Love, His Grace and mercy are boundless, and His arms are stretched out to a rebellious and stiff-necked humanity!
More than that , He now INDWELLS us, helping us, conforming us to His image even more, till we see Him face to face!
We are told - “ Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” - 1 John 3:2-3
Let Grace and Truth be the twin stars that guide your actions this Christmas season. Let your conversation be pure. Meditate on the goodness of God, sing songs and give praise to Him who loved us before we existed, and chose us to glorify eternally per His sovereign goodness and mercy!
We kneel in awe before the Almighty God, whose ways are past searching out, whose thoughts are higher than the heavens - yet who loves to -Tabernacle- with His people, live in their midst, working all things for good to those who love Him - humbly, not raising His voice, not by might, not by power, but with the gentle touch of the Spirit!
Hallelujah!!!