When Glory Meets My Suffering: The Glory of Advent - Selected Scripture Verses
Pastor Dennis Bone
12/24/12
WHEN GLORY MEETS MY SUFFERING:
THE GLORY OF ADVENT 12-24-12
The apostle John describes the birth of Jesus this way in his gospel: “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.”
When the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds announcing Jesus’ birth, the glory of the Lord shone around them because they had been in the presence of Christ. Christmas is about a baby born in a manger in Bethlehem, which is where the angels sent the shepherds and this is exactly what they found – Joseph and Mary, with their baby lying in a manger. Yet what the saw was much more than that, they saw the glory of God wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
Glory is defined as the essence of God’s character, and is manifest or revealed through God’s acts of love and power. The word glory means “weightiness” and points out the significance and eternal importance and magnitude of who God is – His value and His worth as our Creator – and this weightiness or glory is beyond our human or finite ability to fully comprehend or appreciate.
The miracle and majesty of Christmas is that God has revealed His glory to us in person by becoming a man. He came to dwell with us and to live among us, so that we could experience the glory of His presence and receive the glory of His salvation that Jesus came to achieve for sinful people like us. The incarnation is the ultimate act of God’s love and power, as God becomes a man in order to save sinful men and women. His glory is not compromised, but in His Son Jesus it is manifest in a different way; it’s manifest through humility and suffering.
It’s in the birth of Christ that God’s glory truly meets our suffering, in that Jesus Himself takes on our human flesh; and experiences our suffering; and He does this willingly and He does it in love, so that we as human beings – finite and sinful human beings – can through divine grace experience God’s glory.
The glory of Advent is that Christ comes to us full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ gives up the glory of heaven, where He had dwelt from eternity past with His Father, in order to bring us this glory. He comes full of grace with the intent of giving us a gift that we don’t deserve. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is that although He was rich – He is the very image of God, who created all things and who was with God from the beginning – yet for our sakes He became poor. He left His heavenly dwelling for a time, so that we through His poverty and His sacrifice for us might become rich.
This is why God became man, and Jesus Christ is born: to take upon Himself our humanity and the poverty of our sin; so that we could receive the riches of His glory. This is the good news of Christmas: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners; and it’s in the gospel that we still see the glory of God revealed today. The apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 that when we proclaim the gospel as Christians and as the church, we are proclaiming the light of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For it is God Himself who said in the beginning, “Let light shine out of darkness” who now gives us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Jesus comes to be this divine light to the world. He is the light who came to shine in the darkness of sin through His virgin birth; and He is the light who challenged the darkness of sin in His perfect life; and He is the light who defeated the darkness of sin in His sacrificial death; and He is the light who fully overcame and conquered the darkness of sin in His resurrection.
Moses asked God to show him His glory. God told him that He could see and experience the goodness of His presence; and that God would have mercy and compassion on those whom He wanted to show mercy and compassion, but He told Moses that no one can see my face and live. The glory of God was veiled to God’s Old Testament people both as a protection and as a promise, for at just the right time God would show His face to mankind, and we would see His glory, the glory of His unique Son, and when you see His face you will not die you will live.
You see this is the message of Christmas; this is the glory of Advent. In Jesus Christ God has shown us His glory; and when you see Jesus Christ by faith, and trust in the work of salvation He came to do for sinners, you too will know and experience the glory of His mercy; the peace of His forgiveness; and the never ending joy of eternal life that only God Himself can give.
We thank God for glory of His Son and the wonderful gift of salvation He came to bring to us.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC
Pastor Dennis Bone
12/24/12
WHEN GLORY MEETS MY SUFFERING:
THE GLORY OF ADVENT 12-24-12
The apostle John describes the birth of Jesus this way in his gospel: “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.”
When the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds announcing Jesus’ birth, the glory of the Lord shone around them because they had been in the presence of Christ. Christmas is about a baby born in a manger in Bethlehem, which is where the angels sent the shepherds and this is exactly what they found – Joseph and Mary, with their baby lying in a manger. Yet what the saw was much more than that, they saw the glory of God wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
Glory is defined as the essence of God’s character, and is manifest or revealed through God’s acts of love and power. The word glory means “weightiness” and points out the significance and eternal importance and magnitude of who God is – His value and His worth as our Creator – and this weightiness or glory is beyond our human or finite ability to fully comprehend or appreciate.
The miracle and majesty of Christmas is that God has revealed His glory to us in person by becoming a man. He came to dwell with us and to live among us, so that we could experience the glory of His presence and receive the glory of His salvation that Jesus came to achieve for sinful people like us. The incarnation is the ultimate act of God’s love and power, as God becomes a man in order to save sinful men and women. His glory is not compromised, but in His Son Jesus it is manifest in a different way; it’s manifest through humility and suffering.
It’s in the birth of Christ that God’s glory truly meets our suffering, in that Jesus Himself takes on our human flesh; and experiences our suffering; and He does this willingly and He does it in love, so that we as human beings – finite and sinful human beings – can through divine grace experience God’s glory.
The glory of Advent is that Christ comes to us full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ gives up the glory of heaven, where He had dwelt from eternity past with His Father, in order to bring us this glory. He comes full of grace with the intent of giving us a gift that we don’t deserve. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is that although He was rich – He is the very image of God, who created all things and who was with God from the beginning – yet for our sakes He became poor. He left His heavenly dwelling for a time, so that we through His poverty and His sacrifice for us might become rich.
This is why God became man, and Jesus Christ is born: to take upon Himself our humanity and the poverty of our sin; so that we could receive the riches of His glory. This is the good news of Christmas: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners; and it’s in the gospel that we still see the glory of God revealed today. The apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 that when we proclaim the gospel as Christians and as the church, we are proclaiming the light of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For it is God Himself who said in the beginning, “Let light shine out of darkness” who now gives us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Jesus comes to be this divine light to the world. He is the light who came to shine in the darkness of sin through His virgin birth; and He is the light who challenged the darkness of sin in His perfect life; and He is the light who defeated the darkness of sin in His sacrificial death; and He is the light who fully overcame and conquered the darkness of sin in His resurrection.
Moses asked God to show him His glory. God told him that He could see and experience the goodness of His presence; and that God would have mercy and compassion on those whom He wanted to show mercy and compassion, but He told Moses that no one can see my face and live. The glory of God was veiled to God’s Old Testament people both as a protection and as a promise, for at just the right time God would show His face to mankind, and we would see His glory, the glory of His unique Son, and when you see His face you will not die you will live.
You see this is the message of Christmas; this is the glory of Advent. In Jesus Christ God has shown us His glory; and when you see Jesus Christ by faith, and trust in the work of salvation He came to do for sinners, you too will know and experience the glory of His mercy; the peace of His forgiveness; and the never ending joy of eternal life that only God Himself can give.
We thank God for glory of His Son and the wonderful gift of salvation He came to bring to us.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC
