of the Lord to Abraham  (Genesis 18:1), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:25) or Joshua (Joshua 5:14).   He took the shape of human likeness but never entered a human body to live as we live.   In Moses’ day the spirit rested on them (Numbers 11:25-29). Not "in them" but "on" them.   Christmas changed all that.   I love the words of Charles Wesley in his hymn, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”.   The line goes like this, “Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the virgin’s womb: Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate deity, Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.”
The miracle of Christmas was that God dwelt in human flesh. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.   After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3) and the impact of Christmas is that He can dwell in us.   Paul talks of Christ dwelling in us as the hope of glory.   To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
If we want to live out the first Christmas we need to have Jesus living in us so that others will see the same things that others saw in Jesus. As we celebrate Christmas this year let Jesus shine through you.




In Christ's service and yours,
Pastor Bruce
 

Seeing the Unseen

 It's all about Jesus!   No matter what the secularists do about the celebration of Christmas for us who love Jesus, it is all about Him, period.   But what about us who know that it is about Him?   Who do we think He is, anyway?
How could that be? That was exactly what Mary wanted to know as well.   This was more than the mind can comprehend.   Three gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) tell the story of how Jesus revealed that in human flesh was also the Son of God.   Just after His death on the cross before the resurrection the centurion (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39) declares that "He must be the Son of God and innocent" (Luke 23:47),   The way He died and lived demonstrated that this one is different than any other in history.   He forgave, healed, cared for others even in face of His own needs and spoke on behalf of God. There was something about this man that set Him apart from all others.   He had a different spirit in Him than others.
The other Gospel (John) tells the story from the other side of the story. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…   And from His fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace… grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.   No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. (John 1:14-18)    Jesus declared as the “I Am” convinced others that God could dwell in the body of a man.    The eternal God put into human flesh grace and truth.  He revealed forgiveness and wisdom and justice and mercy perfectly combined.
 A marvelous thing happened the first Christmas.   The Unseen God became visible for the first time in human flesh. There had been visits from God into human history but never had God dressed himself in human flesh before. He may have appeared as the Angel

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