At Home Among Us
At Home Among Us
Reading: John 1:1-14
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:14 NLT)
The Bible gives us the story of God’s relationship with his people, and there’s a lot of detail in the Old Testament about people’s access to God. God met with individuals under special circumstances—individuals like Adam and Eve, like Abraham and his descendants, like Moses.
Then as God chose a people for himself, a way was devised for God to be present on a more or less permanent basis with his people. They built a special tent where God could meet them. But only certain people could have access to that tent and even then, God remained separated from them by a curtain. When they settled in Canaan, they eventually build a temple, a permanent “residence for God” in their city, but God remained separated from his people by a curtain.
Then Jesus was born and the curtain was removed! He lived in humble circumstances, in out-of-the-way places, and worked with his hands just as his people did. Those who chose to follow him walked with him, ate with him, laughed and joked with him, and watched him live a human life. Jesus’ favorite name for himself was “The Son of Man.” The Human One. God in the flesh. God with us!
The Word became human. The Word, the eternal Son of God, humbled himself, bound himself to a body of flesh with human wants and needs, human temptations and stresses, human joys and pain, human successes and failures, and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. This is the humility of God! His example, his love, his serving, his speaking, his actions, his faithfulness is God saying, “This is how God lives as one of you!”
Everything that Jesus taught us about life and living says, “Now that you’re reborn into my family, as my child, this is how you live as a child of God, Because this is how God lives as a Son of Man!”
Prayer:
Thank you for showing us how God lives among people. It seems like you have a lot to do in us to show us how your children are to live among people. Help us get it right!