Word 10: Glory
The Angels
Angels play a significant role in the Christmas story as God’s
messengers to his people.
An angel of the Lord came to Zechariah in the temple declaring
a child would be born to him in his old age who would be the one promised by
the prophets to be the messenger who would prepare the way ahead of the Messiah,
giving the people the knowledge of His salvation. (Luke 1:5-25)
An angel of the Lord came to Mary, a virgin, telling her
that she would be with child and that child would be the Son of the Most High,
who would sit on throne of David and his kingdom would never end. (Luke
1:26-38)
An angel of the Lord came to the shepherds in the fields on
the night of Jesus’ birth bringing them the good news that the Savior had been
born, using them to spread this good news. (Luke 2:8-18)
Throughout the story the angels are the ones God uses to
declare the significance of Jesus’ birth. They pointed others to the event that
was to come and on the night of His birth they brought the good news singing of
God’s glorious event.
“Suddenly a
great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in
the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his
favor rests.””
Luke 2:13-14
Angels declare God’s
glory. The word glory is used in the Bible to express the visible manifestation of
God's presence. It is the sum of all His attributes and perfection. In the Old
Testament God's glory dwelt in the tabernacle. In the New Testament God's glory
dwells among His people embodied in the person of Jesus – God made visible. His
presence is always with us. He is the glory of God!
In the incarnation -
God becoming human and dwelling among us - God made it possible that through
the Word, Jesus, we would be able to see His glory.
"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
The book of Colossians
tells us that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians
1:15). The writer of Hebrews tells us,
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his
Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also
he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact
representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful
word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus reveals God's
glory. Jesus is God’s glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment