You might have heard about the day an art teacher gave her young students an assignment to paint any subject of their choice. As she circuited the room looking at the students’ work, she came to Billy who was working very intently.
“What is your picture about?” she asked. “I’m painting a picture of God,” he responded. “Well, Billy, I appreciate your effort, but nobody knows what God looks like.” “They will when my picture is done!” he confidently replied.
You have to admire the kid’s spunk, but the teacher was right – no one has seen God. To experience that surely would be the ultimate mind-blowing experience. How could our finite minds begin to absorb the sight of the infinite God who created not only the earth and everything in it, but also the entire universe?
Chapter 33 of the book of Exodus gives an account of Moses speaking with the Lord, overwhelmed by the responsibility for leading a huge, headstrong throng of Israelites. During this amazing conversation, Moses makes a bold, presumptuous, request: “Now show me Your glory.” God’s response is, in effect, “Moses, you have no idea what you’re asking.” He states, “you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live” (Exodus 33:12-23).
The Lord did place Moses in the cleft of a large rock and allowed him to catch a brief glimpse of Himself from the back. Even that was enough to make Moses’ face glow with the “shekinah glory” of God. When he went down Mount Sinai from receiving the Ten Commandments and returned to the Israelites, they insisted that he cover his face because it was too bright to behold.
What does this have to do with Christmas, just days away? It’s simple: In the birth of Jesus Christ, God took on human form, becoming “visible” to those with whom He lived and encountered. As John 1:14 declares, “And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us….”
We find this truth expressed in a different way in Hebrews 1:2-3, “In these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son…and He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature….” In His incarnation as Jesus, the Lord doesn’t show us everything there is to know about Himself – our brains couldn’t begin to contain His totality – but He reveals everything we need to know about Him.
Joseph and Mary, a puzzled but obedient couple, had made the arduous journey from nondescript Nazareth to an equally unremarkable Bethlehem, where Jesus would be born. They both had received appearances by an angel who declared they had been chosen for the singular honor of becoming the earthly parents for the Son of God.
To Joseph the angel announced, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).
Mary, a virgin, heard a similar declaration: “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…” (Luke 1:30-32). Not quite what the betrothed couple had been expecting, but in faith they did what God’s messenger had told them.
Prior to that initial Christmas day, humankind had a problem. A big one, called SIN. Sin means not only disobeying and rebelling against God, but also creating a separation from God we could not fix. Jesus became the one and only solution to that universal human problem. As John the Baptist would state years later as Christ was about to begin His earthly ministry, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Jesus, God in the flesh, came not only to teach and show us what God is like – His character, love, compassion and humility, but also to die on a cross to pay the penalty for sin. Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus was resurrected to declare His victory over sin and death, and pave the way for everyone who trusted in Him to become “born again” (John 3:3) and “new creations [in Him]” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Radio commentator Paul Harvey used to tell the story of a man who had declined to attend the local church’s Christmas Eve service with his family. Instead, he had planned to spend a quiet evening reading by the fire. However, a persistent rapping at a window got his attention. A flock of birds was flying into the window, seeing the light and seeking refuge from the cold.
Finally, the man went outside and opened the door to his barn, thinking the birds would realize they could find sanctuary there. But they never understood what he was trying to get them to do. With no alternative, the man concluded the only way he could help the birds and guide them into the barn would have been to become a bird himself.
At that moment the church bells tolled. He realized that was exactly what God had done for us – in the person of Jesus Christ – becoming like us in every way, “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
This Christmas our task is not to attempt, like the little boy, to capture the image of God with paper and paint. Instead, we’re to accept the greatest Christmas gift ever: “Yet to all who have received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). And once we have done so, we have the privilege of communicating His truth to others. Merry Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment