Come and Behold Him
“And the Word became 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.”
Hello Bride of Christ,
God is so gracious He is always trying to become more tangible to us. When man messed up in the garden and created this chasm between man and God, breaching our relationship with Him, He instituted the law. Paul writes in Galatians, “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of the mediator.” (Galatians 3:19) Clearer still Paul in his letter to Timothy writes, “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners,” (1 Timothy 1:9). The law was God’s tangible way to show a man on their own efforts they will always miss the mark. Man will always sin. But thank God, He did not stop there! The law wasn’t tangible enough to open our eyes to how to access Him. The law as Paul said was added until the Seed should come.
John, a disciple of Jesus, penned it this way, “And the Word became 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) “The Word,” the very spoken word of God that was with God in the beginning, as John notes in verse 1 of his gospel writing, the Word that was God, the Word by which all things were made through and without the Word nothing was made that was made, came to live among us. Paul writes it this way in Colossian “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.” (Colossians 1:15-19) Or as the prophet Isaiah prophesied and Matthew the disciple penned, “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
This tangible state of being is so miraculous even well-known preachers like, Charles Spurgeon try to comprehend it by stating it this way, “Think of it! The Infinite an infant, the ancient of days a child, the Ever Blessed a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief! The idea is original, astounding, divine. Oh, that this blending of the two natures should ever have taken place!”
Jesus, God made visible put-on flesh and lived among us, becoming the tangible God-Man! John’s four-word nativity scene “The Word became flesh” is the tangible representation of God that brings people all over this earth together during this season.
For what purpose?
To adore.
Sara Hagerty in her book Adore states, “Adoration is a mysterious exchange between flesh and the living God.”
Adoration takes place in the heart of man and invites us into the presence of the living God. As we pause to adore, we create space to simply speak with God and bring our raw vulnerability before God allowing emotional integrity to take place.
John in his gospel wrote, “And the Word became 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) Giving us insight into his adoration experience, he states “We beheld,” we looked intensely upon Jesus. When John and the other disciples looked at Jesus intensely they noticed His relationship with the living God. They noticed His free gift of grace. Grace is when God gives us something good even when we do not deserve it. They noticed saving grace (Ephesians 2:8), sanctifying grace (John 1:16), and sustaining grace (2 Corinthians 12:9). John also noted they noticed the truth. Alethia, meaning not concealed. They noticed God not concealed by looking at Jesus. Factuality, reality, faithfulness, and reliability was noticed when Jesus was beheld.
The law gave us access to the truth that we will never be without sin, but it lacked grace. Only Jesus comes with both grace and truth. The proper balance to give us access to the Father. When we adore Him, Jesus, we too have the John and disciple experience and become what we behold. We receive grace and truth.
Beholding leads to adoration.
When the shepherds beheld Jesus their adoration is described as, “Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” (Luke 2:20) The shepherds beheld him as a babe and responded with adoration of praise.
When the Magi beheld the Child it is written, “they fell down and worshiped Him.” (Matthew 2:11). The Magi beheld Him as a young child and responded with adoration of worship.
When John the Baptist beheld Jesus he exclaimed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) John the Baptist beheld Jesus as an adult man and responded with adoration of recognizing grace and truth.
In culture, we see adoration displayed in taking off one shoes because the ground is said to be holy, or we kiss the hand of royalty or laying ourselves prostrate before an image or statue.
So I ask, how will we adore Him?
How will we adore the one who emptied Himself taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of man (Phil 2:7)?
How will we adore God incarnate living and dwelling among us creating this union between God and man?
How will we adore Jesus who has created the tangible opportunity for man to behold the divine?
Jesus, although fully man, this babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, nonetheless divine! The Word of God that became flesh and dwelt among us that we may behold His glory, the Glory of the only begotten son of God the Father, full of grace and truth!
Bride of Christ, may we choose to pause this season and behold Jesus, let Him entrance our hearts to the point of adoration, for He came as a babe, died and rose as a man, and is coming back to make all things new. John who penned about Jesus becoming flesh, also penned this futuristic statement, “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3) See, the same invitation is available to us today as was with the shepherds many years ago who were invited by the angels to go and behold the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. The same invitation that was given by Jesus, Himself, as He encountered His disciples for the first time and stated, “Come and see” is available right now! Jesus invites you today and through this season come!
So come let us behold Him and build a testimony of adoration until all things are made new!
