Dwell: The Word Became Flesh
For Meditation
There are two central miracles on which the entire veracity of the Christian faith stands: the Incarnation of Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus. The Incarnation is the truth that Jesus Christ is both fully man and fully God, God born among us as a fellow human in order to accomplish our salvation. The Resurrection is the truth that Jesus rose physically from the dead in order to save us from sin, death and hell forever. In some ways, however, the Incarnation is the true lynchpin of our faith, for if it were somehow demonstrated that Jesus Christ was not indeed fully God, not only would the resurrection be meaningless but the entire revelation of God as Holy Trinity would fall apart. It’s not exaggeration to say that everything hangs on the truth of the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.
For that reason we’re going to spend 5 weeks meditating on this incredible truth. We’ll do that through the lens of a single verse: John 1:14. “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.” Like the layers of an onion, this single verse contains so many layers of meaning and content that we can spend at least a month exploring its depths. This week we’ll look at the phrase “the Word became flesh” and introduce some of these great themes that we’ll be looking at together in the coming month.
We’ll also celebrate the Lord’s Supper together this Sunday, so prepare your hearts to feast on grace.
In preparation for this Sunday, I encourage you to read and meditate John 1:1-18 and ask the Holy Spirit to help you experience the wonder of the Incarnation more deeply than ever before.
Our weekly worship guide can be downloaded here.
John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
