A Personal Message for You

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, NKJV).

At Christmastime, we remember the great and glorious, solemn and rapturous moment when God took on flesh. We know that John the Beloved was sharing, through this verse, his awe over the incarnation. However, do you understand why he referred to Jesus as the Word?

The writer of Hebrews gives us vital insight into this question: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2a, NKJV).

Words are vessels of communication. The Babe lying in a manger was God’s customized Word to us. He was Daddy’s intimate communication with us; a breathtaking personal message from His heart to ours, wrapped both in swaddling clothes and in human context.

No one has ever looked on God the Father and lived; but, in becoming one of us, Jesus the Word “has made Him known” (John 1:18, ESV).

Through the incarnation, Abba spoke to us. He came in so close we could feel Him breathe, and He said, “I long for you to know Me – so here I am, right here. I want you to touch Me. I want you to handle Me with your own hands. I want you to behold Me. Listen intently to the tender tones of My voice as I speak right to your heart. Gaze on Me; feel the gentle touch of My hands; soak up My healing glory. Experience My welcoming body language drawing you in; drink in the warmth of My delighted smile when I see you; watch the infinite depths of kindness in My eyes. Come, get personally acquainted with who I AM!”

Have you ever wondered why the Christmas prophecy says, “For unto us a Child is born… and His name will be called… Everlasting Father”? (Isa. 9:6, NKJV) If Isaiah was prophesying Jesus’ birth, why didn’t he say, “…and His name will be called Everlasting Son?”

It’s because Holy Spirit was revealing that Jesus was going to come to us to show us the Father. He was going to take on a human body so He could be God with skin for us. God that we could touch. God that we could understand. God in our world. God on our level. As the same Hebrews passage goes on to explain, “The Son reflects the glory of God and shows exactly what God is like” (Heb. 1:3, NCV).

The Word of the Father became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is God’s personal message to our hearts – a boisterously joyful, thunderous message. In fact, never before in all of history has there been a message of perfect love trumpeted so piercingly… as the Word that came that silent, holy night in Bethlehem.

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What do you sense the Father speaking to you, personally, about Himself, this Christmas season?