The Everyday Gospel Christmas DevotionalSample

Jesus is the glory of God in the flesh.

Luella and I split our time between Philadelphia and Southern California because we have children and grandchildren on both coasts. When we are on the West Coast, we see gorgeous sunsets. One evening, as we were leaving our son’s house, I was stopped in my tracks by a sunset of incredible glory. The beauty painted across the heavens captivated me. I stood silent, enthralled by this natural display. I wanted to capture the moment, so I got out my phone and started taking pictures, but all I got was disappointment. None of my pictures came close to capturing the glory that I was taking in. Soon the sunset glory began to shift and fade, and before long it was gone. For a brief moment, God had poured glory down on us. What we saw that night was a brief, fading reminder of his eternal glory. Reigning over heaven and earth is a God of indescribable glory. He graces us with glimpses of his glory so that we will be in awe of his presence and offer him the worship of our hearts.

We find a glory display in the beginning of the Gospel of John that is infinitely brighter and more beautiful than any sunset. John captures in words a moment in history when God displayed his glory like never before. Words pile upon words as John records God’s stunning glory on earth, for human eyes to see:

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known." (John 1:14–18)

God has come to earth in the person of Jesus. Like the presence of God in the Old Testament tabernacle, Jesus pitches his tent with us, so we might see his glory. He is the grace of God in the flesh. He is truth. He is the final fulfillment of all the Old Testament’s redemptive promises. Just as the Law of Moses reveals God’s character and his righteous requirements, so Jesus reveals to us the magnitude of his mercy. The Son of God has come to earth because God wants to be known by us.

All of history had been marching to this moment. A sin-broken world had been longing for this one to come. Fully man and fully God, Jesus would do what we could never do for ourselves: make a way, in his life and death, for us to be recognized by God. Stop today for a moment and take in the glory.

Prayer:

O majestic Lord, how great is your glory, and the glory of your Son! What wonder that he would take on human flesh to dwell among sinners. What glorious revelation of your character and righteous requirements in his perfect life and sacrificial death. May I never lose a sense of wonder and awe at the gospel of your Son. He is my only comfort, my only hope. I ask this in his name, amen.