Among Us!

Among Us!

John 1:14 KJV

[14] 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.

At the very start, the Word was not man. The Word is God; the One by whom the earth and the heavens were made. In fact, the Bible says that without the Word, nothing was made that was made. The Bible also adds that in Him was Life, which is the Light of all men. Man is not able to comprehend the Word without the right help, as sin had now become man's greatest problem. If sin could not be dealt with, man would have been lost forever, and the penalty for uncovered sin would have been truly fatal, as made quite clear in the Word. However, God, in His infinite mercy,  thought it best to provide a way of escape for man, so he could be reconciled to God. Other options could have been considered, but none was found sufficient for this purpose. What was the value behind daily, weekly or yearly sacrifices, which could only provide temporary cover, but could not forgive sin? This is the reason why the Word of God, which is the person of Jesus, had to come in human form, so He could be the perfect example of a sacrifice that God would accept, as that final and perfect solution for sin. 

So, what did we get? The Word of God, by which the world was made, became the very source by which men of the world are saved. He became like the very ones He came to save; His glory is such that no mortal man can stand, withstand, or limit. If He had come in all His glory, no man could touch Him, not to talk of putting Him to death. However, He left all that glory in heaven, so He could be the perfect sacrifice for sin, and the author of eternal salvation for all men. He came down as man, dwelt amongst us as man, ate and drank with us as man, and also died in that same human form, so we could know that even in that our human form, we have hope. He lived above sin, giving us the same hope that as we depend on Him, we also have the same power to live above sin. He is with and in us, as long as we surrender our lives to Him. He has risen now, and His glory is fully restored. All who belong to Him see His glory. Do not forget: only those who surrender to Him recognise His glory, and can look forward to enjoying the benefits of His presence. 

You do not expect a God who you do not surrender to, to then turn around and release the full blessings of His presence on you. If I will see His glory, it starts with total surrender at the foot of the cross. The cross is the place of final strife with the devil over my soul, and as Jesus has risen, He has won the victory and offers that same victory to us: who are called by His name. The critical question then is: Are you for Him? Am I? Does He know me as His own? Am I paying lip service to the Word, or is He truly at the centre of all I am and do? He is full of grace and truth; He freely bestows these on all who come to Him. Just a warning though: just as He is full of grace and truth, so is He capable of judgement when grace expires. A time is coming when all we see now will be destroyed by fire, and ALL men will stand for judgement. While His grace is in place, take full advantage. At the end of God's grace is eternal life. At the other end of a rejection of this grace is eternal damnation. As always, the choice is mine to make, but the consequences of my choice are eternal. God's time of favour is here.