Advent Day 17: Incarnation

Advent Words Day 17: Incarnation

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." John 1:14a

The Word became flesh ~ the Incarnation. This is the great mystery and wonder and truth of Christmas. God took on human form and lived among us, and thus became fully like us. He understands us. The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that the incarnation  means that Jesus is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15), because He was tempted in every way He is able to  "help those who are being tempted" (Hebrews 2:18). Jesus was fully human. 

Yet He was also fully divine, fully God. We saw in the beginning of John that "In the beginning was the Word" - Jesus. The Word existed before time. He was with God. He was distinct from God, yet He was fully God. 

In His humanity He does not give up His divinity. Paul tells us in Philippians that Jesus willingly laid it aside and submitted humbly to becoming a man. In this He submitted to the Father's will. 

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

    by taking the very nature of a servant,

    being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:5-11

The Word became flesh and lived among us ~ He was fully human and fully God. He was the fulfillment of the promise of Immanuel ~ God with us! This is the wonder of Christmas!

Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Advent Day 16:Gift

Advent Words Day 16: Gift

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human descent or a husband's will, but born of God. " John 1:12-13

It's great to spend multiple days in one verse because we get the full range and magnitude of its meaning. John has been describing the greatest gift ever - the gift of adoption into God's family, the privilege of becoming His children. He describes in clear and understandable terms here how it is we become children of God.

1. Receive -  We must accept the gift God is giving us through His Son Jesus Christ. 

2. Believe -  The way in which we receive this gift is through faith, belief.

3. Name - What we believe in is the wonderful, powerful name of Jesus Christ, through whom the forgiveness of sins and eternal life are found by those who seek Him.

4. Gave - Through believing in who Christ is and what He has done for us God gives us the right - the privilege - to be His children.

5. Gift - The gift is to become God's children, to receive a new life, a second chance of life in abundance in His kingdom.

We are all born in the image of God but we are not all His children. As the rest of today's passage explains, children of God do not become His children by natural or human descent. We are not His children because our parents were or because we may have been born into a nation that is Christian. We are not even His children because we grew up in a church. Scripture is very clear that we must each repent, believe in Jesus Christ and experience a spiritual birth - a re-birth. Read how Jesus himself explained it to Nicodemus:

"Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." John 3:3-6

Throughout the New Testament this new birth into God's family is emphasized:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:14-17

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." 1 John 3:1

Through our salvation in Christ we become children of God - the greatest gift ever!

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7

As the days advance through Advent toward Christmas pause and thank God for His greatest gift - salvation through His Son. And then I encourage you, if you have not received this gift, pray and do so today. You will experience Christmas and life in a new way! If you have received this gift, then share it with others. It's a gift too great to keep to ourselves!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Advent Day 15: Name

Advent Words Day 15: Name

"...To those who believed in His name..."  John 1:12

At the end of the book of Luke, the resurrected Jesus appears to His disciples. Luke 24:45-48 says,

"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

The Good News of repentance and forgiveness of sins is bundled up as a beautiful gift in the precious name of Jesus. The Apostle John tells us in our verse today that in believing in His name we find acceptance and are given the right to become children of God. We will look in depth at that gift tomorrow. Today we will focus on "the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9).

In ancient Israel in Hebrew thought, a name represented who one was, their character and nature. Of the phrase "in his name" W.E. Vine says, "His name expresses His attributes, character and acting." Thus, the name of the Lord expresses everything He is and all that He does. So, to believe in His name means you are believing in everything about who He is and what He has done. And to believe in someone means you place your trust fully in who He is. 

"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9:10

One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is found in Exodus chapters 33 through 34. There God describes His name; who He is, His character and nature:

"And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence." Exodus 33:17-19

"Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin."  Exodus 34:5-7

God's name will express who He is repeatedly with the words found in Exodus 34:6-7 throughout the Old Testament. And in the New Testament the name of Jesus will do the same.

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:31

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." John 14:13-14

"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26

"And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." 1 John 3:23

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,    
to the glory of God the Father." 
Philippians 2:9-11

Praise the name of Jesus!

Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Advent Day 14: Believe

Advent Words Day 14: Believe

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12

Today I am re-posting my post for this word last year. Last year I used this passage combined with John 3:16-17 and had a bit of revelation as I studied these passages together. So, rather than reinventing the wheel, here is my post on believe from 2018:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." John 1:12-13

As I was reading these passages for our word today, I noticed a pattern. 
In the first passage we see:

God loved.

God gave. 

God sent.

God saved.

In the second passage we see this:

We receive.

We believe.

We become.

Our word today is an important word in the Bible, and no more so than in the Gospel of John. John uses the word believe 98 times in his gospel, that is more times than in the other gospels combined and more than double its use in any other New Testament book. At the end of the book John stated his purpose for writing it this way:

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:31

John's whole message in his book is about showing us the proof that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was sent to the world by the Father, and that salvation comes through Him to those who believe in Him. But why is belief in Jesus so important to John? Let's dig into the answer to this questions using our passages for today and the pattern I mentioned above.

Let's first look at what these passages tell us about God. First we see God's heart, "For God so loved the world...". Love is both God's motivation for His plan of salvation and His demonstration of it. He loved, so He gave. He gave, and in giving He showed His love. What did He give? A gift that was a great sacrifice for Him. He gave us His Son, His one and only Son. He sent His Son into the world so that we would no longer be condemned to perish, but would instead be saved by His sacrifice. When we think of gifts this Christmas, we need to remember the greatest gift ever given. The gift God so graciously and lovingly provided through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:9-10

The pattern above also shows that  we play a part in this, as seen in the second passage, John 1:12. God gives us salvation freely by grace, but He doesn't force it on us. God is interested in covenant relationships. We enter into that covenant by receiving the gift of salvation He offers us through His Son. We receive that gift by believing in Jesus' name. Why is this so important? Because, as John will point out throughout his gospel, the name the Father has given Jesus is Son. God freely gives us the gift of His Son, but He calls on us to respond and receive that gift by believing that Jesus is who He says He is, the One who saves. In receiving and believing we then  become children of God. We are adopted into His family. The added gift is we also become sisters and brothers with those who also receive and believe!

Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there. 

Advent Day 13: Receive

Advent Words Day 13: Receive

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12

This verse is such a wonderful contrast to yesterday's verses. Yesterday we saw how God's own people did not receive the gift of His Son. Yet, thankfully, that's not the end of the story! As commentator Bob Utley says, today's verse "shows humanity's part in salvation. Humans must respond to God's offer of grace in Christ."

To receive Him is to believe in His name. We have to receive -accept- the gift of salvation God offers us through His Son.

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:9-13

"And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe." 1 Thessalonians 2:13

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

We will continue to explore the great news in this verse in the days ahead.

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

2 Corinthians 9:15

Join me in responding creatively to the Advent Words in John's prologue. You can share your creative response on Instagram using #adventwords2019 or join the Words Challenge Facebook Group and share your creative response there.