December 4
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 (NIV)
God is with us. An amazing and almost shocking claim. The Creator of the universe, the transcendent and wholly other God, the Holy One of Israel, the pure and perfect Sovereign over all creation, condescended to become a creature, to become one of us. Many religions say that their gods come to earth and visit mortals, sometimes to bring them something they need, like fire, and sometimes to punish. The biblical story is different. The Word, the Son of God, became a creature, not just for a visit to earth, but a creature forever, without surrendering any of His deity.
God created the universe out of nothing; there was nothing except God, eternally triune, in perfect love and unity. God spoke and the universe was created. God called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Tragically, the world God created didn’t remain good for long. Moses recorded the story of rebellion and disobedience in the Garden (Genesis 3). The man and woman, created to care for the world God had made, listened to the serpent, ate of the tree from which God had forbidden them to eat, and introduced sin—which brought death—into this good creation. In His judgment of these rebels, God declared that their end would be death, “for dust you are and to dust you will return” (3:19).
But the good news is that God’s plan does not end with death. God’s plan is full of life, not death; good, not evil; and light, not darkness. Throughout the Scriptures, this plan becomes clearer and clearer; the plan includes the Incarnation and the promise, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5).
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He made several promises to His disciples. Among them, He promised to return: “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). He promised in the meantime the presence of the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (14:16–17). Although we have not seen the risen Jesus, we experience His presence in the Spirit while we wait for our Savior to return. “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).