The WORD Became Flesh

     “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”^[1]

     The Word, as a double-edged sword,^[2] pierced eternity, “Let there be light...”^[3]

     Thus began the infinite perfection of the eternal, triune God’s design. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had planned and would now bring it to pass. Six days creating something out of nothing, one day of rest, and then the unthinkable. God’s humans chose to disobey His command. Sin and death entered,^[4] and the whole of creation groaned.^[5] A cloud of darkness enveloped the people of earth like a shroud.^[6] Sin had doomed man to death. Would they eventually cease to exist? Was there a way for man to be saved?

     God was not surprised by man’s sin. He is all-knowing. His plan had many facets, and in time, all would be revealed.

     Years passed. God spoke to one man in each generation. His Holy Spirit moved upon this chosen, so they penned God’s Word with meticulous care, perfect and infallible.^[7] Yet mankind continued in vain thoughts, and their foolish hearts darkened.^[8] Wickedness reigned. Only one family of eight, out of thousands upon thousands, remained pure, wholly dedicated to the Almighty. And God’s Holy Spirit grieved.

     All, but these eight, perished in the necessary worldwide flood, and from them, the Lord repopulated the earth. God’s Word endured, increasing with His promise to never destroy the planet again with a flood.^[9] In opposition and vice, man’s sin nature persisted. At the tower of Babel, God confounded their languages. Family members separated seeking others of like speech. With this, God stirred the gene pool and two generations later, in Peleg’s generation, He divided the earth into continents.^[10] Where people had desired to stay together to make a name for themselves,^[11] they were now scattered over the face of the whole earth reproducing their sinful ways.

     Only Shem, one of the original eight, and his descendants remained devoted to the Lord God of creation. Decades later, God had grown one line of Shem’s family into a million, and out of them, He chose one man to lead. In a series of miraculous events, God brought these million out of Egyptian slavery and into a land He had promised. More of His plan unfolded.

     But as fickle and sinful humans go, these would forget God and His miracles. They would discard His Word and turn to false gods. Due to their sin, through ups and downs, they suffered drought, famine, sword, and dispersion, even though God used His mouthpieces, the prophets, to pen, speak, and sometimes shout His Holy Word.

     Across centuries of withering grass and fading flowers, the Word of God stood eternal in the heavens and true, everlasting, and unchangeable on earth.^[12] Still, God had not fully revealed His plan. And although His Living and Infallible Word stated these mysteries, human eyes were not opened to complete understanding.

     Since God’s Word must be fulfilled and His plan must come to fruition, He brought His chosen people back to His Promised Land. With the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament, complete, God waited. After four hundred years, He broke His silence by sending the angel, Gabriel, to speak to an elderly priest. Six months later, Gabriel spoke the Word of God to a teenage, virgin girl, named Mary.[13] And more of His plan was revealed.

     Mary would miraculously become pregnant. She would conceive in her womb…bring forth a Son, and…call His name Jesus.^[14] “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” Gabriel continued, “and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”^[15]

     In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of [this] woman.^[16]

     Jesus, Immanuel, Holy One, Son of God, are names by which we know Him. But He has another, more revealing name, The Word of God.^[17] This Word, who was and is God, became flesh for us. It’s His birth we celebrate at Christmas. Fully God, fully Man, He knew no sin. Only a sinless human could pay sin’s penalty to save humanity. Jesus, God, the Son, was manifested to us so He could die on a cross for our sin, conquer death, and destroy the works of the devil.^[18] This was God’s plan all along.^[19]

The Word became flesh for you!

     If you haven’t already, will you choose to turn from your sin and accept His precious Gift this Christmas? It’s free.^[20] It will cost you nothing, because, it cost Him everything.

Have a Merry and very Blessed Christmas.

---

[1] John 1:1

[2] Hebrews 4:12

[3] Genesis 1:3

[4] Romans 5:12

[5] Romans 8:22

[6] Isaiah 25:7

[7] II Peter 1:21

[8] Romans 1:21

[9] Genesis 9:11

[10] Genesis 10:25; I Chronicles 1:19

[11] Genesis 11:4

[12] Isaiah 40:8

[13] Luke 1:5-38

[14] Luke 1:31

[15] Luke 1:35

[16] Galatians 4:4

[17] Revelation 19:13

[18] I John 3:5-8

[19] I Peter 1:18-20

[20] Romans 6:23