Just received an interesting news item from Israel.  As you might remember, a few weeks ago I shared with you that Israeli Prime Minister Olmert had struck a deal with PA President Abbas in which nearly 300 Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons upon the condition of their signing an agreement not to take up arms against Israel.  Yesterday, the radical element with Fatah, the party Abbas is from, said that they would no longer honor the agreement and would take up their terrorist ways against Israel.  President Abbas, after hearing the news, then said that Prime Minister Olmert should honor his agreement and release even more prisoners.  And you wonder why there can be no peace in the Middle East.  How can you successfully negotiate with someone who is always changing the rules?  [PS:  Some of you may want to get a first hand look at Israel - the Promised Land.  Marlys and I will be leading a tour back to Israel in April 2009.  It is the trip of a lifetime.  Why not consider joining us as we celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary.]

Ah, now for some precious time in the Word.  We have been proceeding slowly through the opening verses of the Gospel of John because I deem them to be among the most important verses in the Bible.  Perhaps no other portion of Scripture so clearly defines the deity of Christ.  And, this week I want to share the most important verse in that section, at least in my estimation.  John 1:14 reads: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  Let's look at three powerful truths John shares with us.

First, God became a man - "The Word became flesh."  We know this as the doctrine of the incarnation.  Now I don't know about you, but I have a difficult time wrapping my arms around this concept of the incarnation.  The Creator became part of His creation.  The Omnipotent became as helpless as an infant.  The Omniscient God had to go to school.  The One upon whom the entire world depends for its existence, was Himself dependent upon His parents.  Paul's description of the incarnation to the Philippians rivals this passage.  I would encourage you to read Philippians 2:5-11.  How many people today do not subscribe to the necessity of the incarnation.  For them, Jesus was merely a good man...a good teacher...a moral prophet.  But, my friends, do not miss what John is saying here: The Word (God Himself) became flesh...God became a man.  This concept is foundational to my Christian beliefs.  If Jesus Christ is not God of very God...then our salvation is placed upon a faulty premise.

Second, God dwelt among us - "The Word...made his dwelling among us."  I love the Greek word used here.  It means "to tabernacle" or "to pitch one's tent."  It is a word that draws us back into the early pages of the Old Testament where God's presence is found to dwell within the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting during those years Israel wandered in the Wilderness.  It was through Jesus Christ that God met man.  As a sidebar: the tabernacle was never intended to be a permanent meeting place between God and man.  Moses also talked about the time when a permanent location would be selected, and we know that happened when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem.  So, John is saying to us that the coming of Jesus - the coming of God incarnate - would be for a short period of time.  Therefore, as we read through John's Gospel, we will want to focus upon the completion of that reason for which God would make this temporary visit.

Third, John describes for us what the Word shared with us.  He first mentions His glory.  Now the Apostle John uses this word "glory" 41 times in his gospel.  Let me ask you: What event in Christ's life revealed His glory?  Many of you would say - His transfiguration, which is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke...but not in John.  Isn't that amazing!  Did John just fail to mention that event in this gospel?  After all, he himself was an eyewitness to that remarkable event.  But I think John is digging even more deeply here...perhaps aware of something that the other disciples missed.  John was aware that in everything Jesus did and in everything Jesus said, John witnessed the glory of God (John 2:11; John 11:4; John 17:22).  Now what did this glory look like?  According to John, real glory is seen in lowly service.  Leon Morris, that great John scholar, wrote: "When something must be done and someone so great and high that need not do it nonetheless leaves his exalted place and does the lowly thing, that is glory indeed."

Secondly, John mentions God's grace.  The Word depicts something completely undeserved and unmerited; something that could never have been earned or won or achieved or attained for ourselves.  We did not deserve the Word coming.  It was an act of pure love on the part of God.  In Christ we find a dynamic grace...a grace that meets our every need.  Friends, you know the feeling of spending more time in the Word and finding that it becomes more precious to you; of spending more time in prayer and finding that Jesus becomes more real to you.  That is the essence of a dynamic grace.

Finally, John mentions God's truth.  To state it simply: Jesus did not come to talk about God, but to show us what God is like. 

Wow!  What a powerful verse!  One could spend hours just soaking in its richness!  Friends, spend time this week just daily reflecting upon John 1:14.  In fact, this is a great verse to commit to memory.  It will do your soul good!

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Love talked about is easily turned aside, but love demonstrated is irresistible.  (Stanley Mooneyham)