Seeing God's Glory in the Face of Jesus Christ

Behold The Christ Has Come – The Gathering Church in Peterborough

If you have your Bibles, we're going to open them to John chapter 1, and we'll be reading verses one to fourteen. We're going to land on verse fourteen this evening.
The title of this evening's message is , "The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ."

Christmas is upon us. Christmas is one of my favorite parts of the year. I love Christmas; I love everything about Christmas. I love the music in November. I love the cookies, I love the presents. I love spending time with my family. I love the Christmas tree. The traditions. I love the Nativity scene. and most of all, remembering that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

We generally think of Christmas, we think of the Nativity scene. But today I want us to think of a little different picture provided for us by the Apostle John in his gospel.

"The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory; the glory as of the only Son from the father, full of grace and truth".

The first thing I want to show us tonight, I want all of us to see from this glorious text is that God became a man.

"And the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us".
Who is the Word? Well, from the preceding verses, it tells us, "The Word was with God" and in the beginning, the Word was God. In the beginning all things were made through Him. There is nothing made that was made without Him. It says that in Him is Life, and He is the Light and this darkness cannot overcome Him. You see that He provides new birth and makes men children of God. We get to verse 14. This Word becomes flesh and we know this is the prologue of John, and he will go on to say that this Word is actually Jesus Christ. And that's why the Book is written that we would know that He is the Son of God and by believing, we would have eternal life.

So the agent of creation became a human being. God becomes a human being. God became a man. In becoming a man, I want us to see that God shared in our environment and also in our experiences. Not only did He choose to be born, but He chose to be born into a poor family. He chose to be born to Mary, is mother - a young girl who got pregnant and told everyone God was the father. He will be considered a illegitimate child by society. He was born in a manger. Jesus had a mother. He had brothers. He had sisters. He had cousins. He worked a job; He worked with His hands. He had a trade. He experienced pain and betrayal, sadness, He experienced poverty and slander. He experienced false accusations, isolation, and He experienced loneliness.

He lived with us, experiencing loss, stress, busyness, tiredness; He experienced the failing of the body, with no promise of our daily bread. No place to rest his head, no physical security. He was even rejected by His own family. His own family did not believe in Him. He was scorned by the rulers, and He was rejected by His disciples. And He died a criminal's death alone.
As a theologian, Jarnold McLeod helpfully says, "Jesus saved us from alongside of us." So He experienced our environment. He experienced our experiences. As one who has shared in our experiences, we know that He can synthesize with us. Where are you this Christmas season? Stressed, despairing, sad, grieved, lonely - where are you at this Christmas season?
Hebrews tells us that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. But one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, so we may receive grace and mercy to help in time of need. This should stop us right there, and give us awe and wonder and praise of this glorious God who became a man. There is no god like our God.

Many in history have claimed to be a god, who has tried to be a god. But there is no God who has become a human- No god but our God! What kind of god becomes a man? What kind of God leaves His throne and comes to what seems a hopelessly broken condition? To come down and to subject Himself, to stoop so low and to enter our broken, sinful world? It's one thing to know that someone has power and yet it's a far cry to know that that person loves you, and that person knows you, and this is how far love is willing to go. God became a man, and in becoming a man, God shared in our environment and our experiences. In becoming a man, Jesus did not cease to be God, but He added to His divine nature, humanity. So it's important to know that He is truly and perfectly God. And that He is truly and perfectly man. That Jesus is one person with two natures: one divine nature and one human nature. It is most important to know that God had to be both, that Jesus had to be both God and Jesus had to be both man.

He needed to be an in order to act as representative for mankind and to act as substitute in man's place. Because mankind sinned against God, it was man who needed to be punished for his rebellion. Therefore, if He was not a man, His substitute for sin would not be sufficient for justice. However, if He was just a man, His sacrifice and His obedience would not be sufficient for a multitude. It would only be sufficient for Himself.

He needed to be God because forgiveness always comes with a cost to the one who is offended. Alex mentioned this last week about a ransom. That God is the offended party and offering forgiveness means that the person who has been offended must absorb the offence instead of retaliating. That's the nature of forgiveness. So if I borrow money from Alex, two hundred bucks, I owe him two hundred bucks. He's given me that money and so I have a debt to him that needs to be paid. But if Alex is gracious with me, and he says to me "Don't worry about it, you don't need to pay me back”. That costs someone something. That costs Alex something. It costs him two hundred bucks to forgive me.

Alex is now at a loss. Someone has to pay. So in order for there to be forgiveness, it is not enough that a man should die, it's not enough that a debt has to be paid, it has to be God who pays it. It has to be God who pays the debt. It must be Him who takes the hit that is the nature of forgiveness. Not only did God provide the Substitute, but God became the Substitute. This is how far love is willing to go. That in becoming a man we’ve seen that God had shared in our environment and in our experiences. In becoming a man, Jesus did not cease to be God but He added to His divinity by becoming a man, and in becoming a man, we see that God is present with His people.

"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

The word dwelt can be translated properly as "tabernacled" or "pitched a tent". Well you guys remember the story of Israel, the Israel in the Old Testament. This is recalling Israel's time in the wilderness, Exodus 40 where the presence of God was localized in first, the Tabernacle, in a tent, and later on in Israel's history, in the Temple. And so when the construction of the Tabernacle was complete, a cloud, which is symbolic for the presence of God, settled in and on top of the Tent showing that God was dwelling with His people. God was in the midst of His people. As God was in the midst of His people, Israel in the time of the wilderness, in the days of Moses, His presence is now localized in the person of Jesus Christ in a more intimate and a more personal way. Not in a tent, nor in a Temple, but in a person. His presence is in Christ, the true meeting place of God. Our sacrifices, our relationship, our justification can only happen.
In becoming a man, God is not only present with His people but what else is it saying? In becoming a man, in Christ, God is made known. And we have seen His glory, the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. If you are familiar with the Old Testament, this is also an illusion to the time of the Tabernacle in Exodus 40. The completion of the Tabernacle results in God filling the Temple with His glory. What does the Bible mean by glory? I want to read from Exodus 34. We've talked about this, Alex has done good teaching on this, but I'm going to give just a little review.

Exodus 34: 5 - 7

5 The Lord descended in a cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of the Lord.
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.

We see that in this text that the glory of God both consists of His Name, who He is, and what He does. That consists of God's nature and God's character, who He is and what He does. Moses wanted to see His glory and he said to the Lord, "Show me your glory". And the Lord showed him his Name, and the Lord showed him His ways, and showed him His nature and character. He sees the glimpse of God's back. Do you remember the story? The Lord passes by and he sees, the Lord allows him to see His back. But the disciples got to see Him face to face. The disciples got to see Him in a more personal, a more intimate way. Where Moses could only see a glimpse, the disciples got to see Him and touch Him and look upon Him, They got to touch Him with their hands, see Him with their eyes. God is known in the face of Jesus Christ. So what Jesus does, and what Jesus says is what God the Father says and what God the Father does. So when we see that God the Father goes and says -- when Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven", praise God who forgives sins. When we see that it is Jesus who heals the blind and gives them sight, it is God who heals the blind. When we see that it's Jesus who hangs out with prostitutes and tax collectors, we see that it is not only Jesus, but it is God who hangs out with sinners.

After the exile, there is no recording that the Lord ever fills the Temple again. We see it in the Tabernacle, we see it in the Temple, and then the Temple is rebuilt after the exiles and there is no time in the Bible where it says that the Lord's glory fills the Temple again. It no longer is localized in a Temple or in a place but God's glory is now present in the person of Jesus Christ. I want you to see what else it says here.

How is He made known in Christ? "We have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth."

John's rendering of the Old Testament word pair, “steadfast love and faithfulness”. Grace and Truth, a term used in the Old testament in reference to God's covenant with His people. We just saw just a minute ago used in the same part God reveals His glory to Moses. His steadfast love and faithfulness. The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

In the Bible, the purpose of God covenanting himself with His people is so that He will make Himself known. The purpose is to make Himself known, is to reveal Himself. Human beings, we've seen in the Old Testament, cannot and will not demonstrate covenant love and faithfulness. Unless they’re given a new heart, unless the Lord does something that they cannot do for themselves. We see that God is forgiving, the Lord, the Lord, gracious, forgiving. "Merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. How is it that the Lord can forgive sins, and yet will not let sin go unpunished? My Old Testament professor said that this is the cliffhanger that puts you at the edge of your seat for 2000 years. We see in the Old Testament that God is holy and just, and that He will not let sin go unpunished. Yet, He is forgiving and merciful. His glory is seen in His covenant love and not in a cosmic event in which the Jews hoped and expected.

If you know anything about the book of John, as the book of John unfolds that Jesus' glory revealed in these signs that He does. There are seven signs which points to His glory. Each sign shows something about himself and reveals His glory. As you go through the Book, this glory is revealed by the signs. But these signs will point in climax in a final sign, the sign of His death and of His resurrection. John 7:39 , John 12:16, where Jesus establishes a new covenant. So God's character shines through in His covenantal faithfulness, which finds its expression in sending His own Son into the world to die for sinners.

So Jesus is born - the reason Jesus is born is so that He might die, so that He might rise again. His whole life from His birth was only moving forward to the cross-, and to the resurrection. The purpose of the Incarnation was for the crucifixion and for the resurrection. So Jesus hangs on a tree, to suffer in our place and for our sins, showing that sin will not go unpunished. It will not go unpunished, and that God will forgive. He absorbs the wrath to Himself so that we might be forgiven, and that His justice might be satisfied, He surely is the true gift of Christmas. You've heard me say it before, and I will say it for as long as I can speak in the time of Christmas. But the true gift of Christmas is not clothes and fine wrappings placed under a beautiful lit-up tree, the true gift of Christmas is stripped naked, and He is crucified to a tree.

By His wounds we are healed. By His death we are made alive because He experienced the darkness of our sin as rebels. We are brought into the light of salvation as children. The Incarnation ought to fill us with awe, some wonder and humility as we see God the Father sending not just a messenger, not just a prophet, not even an angel, but His one and only son showing that the loving Father is really like. So in our world, God gives us His best. What an amazing hope!! What an amazing thing to celebrate. As we go and as we celebrate Christmas this year, as we gather with our families, with our friends wherever we might find ourselves,. we want to believe in Jesus Christ, believe that he is the One who makes the Father known. We can look to Jesus and Oh, the Father, we have known Him.

We can be generous with our time, with our finances, in response to all that God has done for us in Christ. We can adore, we can treasure Jesus. We can adore and treasure Him. And see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In a few moments we're going to have bread and juice, and this bread will represent His body, His life in the flesh. It is in His body, which Jesus obeyed perfectly. It is in His body that Jesus is perfectly righteous. As Jesus being God made Flesh, the perfect Son of God, He was the only one qualified to be a mediator, who is both in good standing with the Father, and who represents us as Mediator between God and man. He dies in our place, suffers in our place, He obeys in our place, He merits our place, He is so faithful in our place and He's steadfast in our place. You'll see that the juice represents His blood. He's the True Lamb of God of the New covenant.

Through the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. It is through the shedding of His blood that there is adoption into His family, And as family, we are invited by Him to come and to have communion with him at His table. That the only one deserving of sacrifice from man becomes a sacrifice for man. As we take the bread and the juice, as we taste it, as we feed upon it, as we feel it with our senses, taste it, we know that it is a reality, and we are reminded and assured that Christ's salvation is more real than the bread and the juice that we have. This is how far love is willing to go. That God in His graciousness has become a man. But He has subjected Himself to our hopeless condition that He came to experience our environment.
As a faithful high priest that He knows all of our experiences. That God, as both man and God that He died in our place for our sins, showing that the Cross of Christ both showed His love and His mercy and also his justice. That as we come, let us taste the bread, let us taste the wine; let us remember as we go out this week, as we have our Christmas celebrations, as we go out to do Christmas shopping, as we spend time with those that we love, let us remember, as we look to the tree on Christmas morning, as we open our gifts on Christmas morning, that the gift of Christmas is not found under it. It is found nailed to it. That the gift of Christmas is not opened up on Christmas morning. But the true gift of Christmas is opened at Easter. So let us come, let us commune with our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Gathering | A Church in Peterborough | Trent University | Fleming College