John 1
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.2He existed in the beginning with God.3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,[a] and his life brought light to everyone.5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.[b]
A few years ago I was watching a post game press conference. The winning team's quarterback was being interviewed while wearing a shirt that read “Know Jesus, Know Peace”. As I watched I thought this guy is awesome for glorifying Jesus during his post game presser. Also bonus points for the clever use of the homophone Know and no. Of course, the meaning of the shirt is incredibly deep and poignant. The phrase has stuck with me for at least a couple years…
Knowing Jesus offers a powerful source of eternal peace that surpasses all understanding. No Jesus, or the absence of His presence, is where chaos and disorder begins. This is why it’s so great that we have a holiday built into our culture once a year where we stop to remind ourselves of Jesus' birth. God’s entrance into the world. The moment where every person could now have access to Him and His peace-giving-presence, to know God and see Him for who He really is. Christmas is the day where we remember and focus on Immanuel (God with us).
There will never be a more clarifying moment of time in human history until the second coming of Christ. Never before has so many questions about God our Creator ever been answered then the night Jesus was born. Especially at this time in ancient Israel. It had been 400 years since the last major prophet walked the earth, and the only reference point people had to connect with God was oral tradition, or the retelling of Hebrew history co-mingled with the backwards teachings of the Pharisee and religious leaders. Thus, most people did not know God and most certainly could not imagine what He was like.
Until of course the birth of Jesus and the 33 years He walked the earth. From the birth of Jesus until His crucifixion we could and can now see the perfect image of God the Father, our Creator and Eternal Sustainer. We know how to connect and relate to Him. We can learn His character, His perfect nature, and because of the perfect life of Jesus we can see what moves His heart. Through Jesus, we even have glimpses of God the Father’s personality. We begin to comprehend the emotions God harbors towards us, His people. The birth and life of Jesus changes everything about how we know and see God.
This is important because while tradition, historical text, and experience about God are important, they can never bring clarity like encountering Him and seeing Him through His Word. The Word became flesh, so now I can know God without doubt or any confusion. And because I know God, I know peace. I can stand faithfully upon Him because He is not like me. Rather, I am created to be like Him. God not being like me, brings great peace to me in my fallen condition. He is not critical like me. He is not lacking in confidence. He does easily change His mind about me. He is not emotionally distressed by the daily pressure and trials of this life. He is not like us. This is good and brings us great peace.
God comes in the form of a human to show us what is possible for the life of a person fully yielded to the Father. We can be very grateful that we are not God, but that God has made Himself known to us. As we daily gaze upon Him and invite His Spirit into our lives through Word and worship, He delivers and transforms us. His life consumes ours. The image of Jesus deconstructs any false ideas about God we may have held previously. It’s a glorious process called sanctification that started when the Light of the World (Jesus) was born in Bethlehem. His light is now evident to any who would search for it. I can have peace that as I focus upon Him, I am becoming more whole and complete in Him.
Merry Christmas.
Love,
Pastor John
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