The Word Became Flesh (John 1:9-14)

The Word Became Flesh (John 1:9-14)

       
Who is Jesus Christ?
Jesus Christ is the Word of God that became flesh two thousand years ago.
John saw Jesus as the Word that became flesh. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and the Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John begins his Gospel with the phrase "in the beginning." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John in 1John 1:1 also testifies Jesus as "the Word of life" that was from the beginning.
He continues: "The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us."

The Word that was God in the beginning became flesh and came down to the earth. Paul in Philippians 2:6-8 says: "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form."
Jesus became flesh to be like human beings and to save them.

There was a bishop of Lyon named Irenaeus. He meditated on the meaning of Jesus' coming in flesh. And he came to a conclusion:
    "... the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself."
(preface to Book 5 of Against Heresies)
When Irenaeus found the amazing truth of Jesus' incarnation and Christians in Lyon learned this truth of Jesus' incarnation from Irenaeus, they could persevere the severe persecution by the Roman government and all heretic temptations.
After all, Irenaeus was martyred to keep his faith in truth of Jesus' incarnation.

There appeared a famous theologian, Athanasius, one hundred years after Irenaeus. Athanasius wrote a book on Jesus' incarnation. He developed Irenaeus' thought of Jesus' incarnation one step further.
And Athanasius concludes: "Jesus' coming to us in flesh is to make us become gods." (Athanasius, de incar. 54,3).
Jesus' coming to us make us become sons and daughters of God.

Jesus Christ gave up the equality with God wore the lowliness of men.
God became a man.
In Irenaeus' word, "He, the Word of God became what we are. like one of us."
When we believe in Him, according to Irenaeus, we may become what He is Himself.
We were very lowly persons. We could not have any hope in this world. We were "by nature objects of wrath."
But when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior in our hearts and in our lives, we were promised to become like Him.
That is, Jesus' coming to us changed our status from the lowliness to the highness.
Paul in Ephesians 2:4-6 testifies: "But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions --it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Jesus came down to this earth to dwell among us.
Why did he want to dwell among us?
He wanted to show His people the love and glory of God that they had not recognized when God did not become flesh.

John continues: "We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and the Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Jesus came to us to show the glory, the grace, and the truth of God.
As John continues to testify in verse 16, "from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
Jesus' coming to us in flesh is the most amazing grace of God.

The fullness of Christ is directly connected with the fullness of us(v. 16). As Jesus is full of grace, we may be full of grace. Jesus' fullness of grace and truth becomes our fullness of grace and truth, when we accept Him as our personal Savior.
That is, Jesus' coming to us in flesh is to make us full of grace.
Thus, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:9: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

Two thousand years ago when Jesus came and "was in world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."
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 decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

In the season of Christmas, what should we do?
Buying a Christmas tree, exchanging gifts, and sending cards to friends are not the most important ones.
We should first receive Jesus Christ in our hearts, in our families, and in our Church truly. We should yield ourselves to Jesus Christ so that he may become the Master of our lives.
Let us rejoice in Christ Jesus who had come to us in flesh and is still active in our hearts! A-men.