Christmas: The Word Made Flesh

December 17, 2019

 “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is translated, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

The essence of Christmas can be described by the word “incarnation.”  The biblical word ‘carne’ is the Greek word for ‘flesh.” When we consider the Christmas that was, we find ourselves face to face with the incarnation – the miracle that God decided to make human flesh His official residence for 33 years. We date time from the first Christmas because human flesh became God’s address when Christ was born in Bethlehem.

Asked who Jesus is, a little boy answered, “God with skin on.” That’s good theology! One of the names of Jesus is “Emmanuel,” which means God with us.

The Bible also frequently uses the word flesh to mean “human nature, unaided by God.” God knew that our human nature desperately needed supernatural aid. The essence of incarnation demonstrates the reality that we need God to do something for us that we cannot possibly do for ourselves. On that first Christmas Eve God intersected human history with what we might call “The Great Intervention,” that we may experience salvation.

If you carefully read the first chapter of Luke, you will discover that God told a priest what He was going to do and the priest did not believe Him. God responded by shutting the priest’s mouth.  Zacharias had the greatest sermon to preach, but lost the opportunity because unbelief shut his mouth…

“Oh Holy Child of Bethlehem descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today…” (Phillips Brooks, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”)

Dick Woodward, A Christmas Prescription

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Seeking Jesus

December 10, 2016

“…Wise men came saying, “Where is he?” (Matthew 2: 1, 2)

Christmas cards tell us that wise men still seek Him. Wise men still find Him. Wise men still worship Him and give gifts to Him. We can add this observation: wise men (and women) still ask the question: “Where is He?”

If we want to know where Jesus is today, we should look where the Love is. Paul writes that He is a specific quality of love. (1Corinthians 13:4-7)  If we tap into that quality of love we will find ourselves connecting with God, and discover that God is connecting with us. (1 John 4:16)

The great Christmas word,“incarnation,” literally means “in flesh.” (John 1:14)  The Bible tells us that incarnation also means relocation. God wants to express the quality of love God is where people are hurting. If we will intentionally place ourselves where people are hurting, as we become conduits of God’s love that addresses their pain we will discover where God is and where we want to be for the rest of our lives.

We must also look where the Light is.  Then, we can deliberately place ourselves where others live in spiritual darkness and ask God to pass the Light of Christ through us to address their darkness.

And we should look where the Life is. The Apostle John writes that God has given us a quality of life God labels “eternal life.” (1John 5: 11, 12) We can experience this quality of life ourselves, and we can become conduits of that Life for others.

We can go, or God may place us with the hurting, those living in darkness, and those suffering from a low quality of life. As we become God’s conduits, that’s when we discover by experience where Jesus is.

Dick Woodward, 13 December 2011

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God Loves You!!

January 29, 2016

“…and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”   (John 17:23)

I learned from studying psychology that we are all a great network of needs.  From the Bible I learned that God is love. His Son, Jesus, was ‘God with skin on.’  Love was the most mesmerizing dynamic of His life on this earth.  The people who met Jesus were loved as they had never been loved before.

We are also designed to be ‘God with skin on.’  The Holy Spirit can be described as Love Incarnate: the love of God with skin on, yours and mine. Love is the primary fruit of the Spirit and evidence of the Spirit’s residence in us.  When people are filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit, they are always conduits of the love of Christ.

We should all ask God to make us conduits of His love. We should also ask to experience the love of God. In two places Jesus tells us to ask, seek and knock continuously with perseverance.  (Luke 11:9-13; Matthew 7:7-11)  Jesus described knowing God at a deeper level when He gave us this teaching.  When that happens we will not only be conduits of God’s love, we will know that God loves us by experiencing His love in our hearts.

Do you know and believe that God loves you?  Many people don’t feel worthy of being loved by anybody – not even God.  When someone says, “I love you,” a negative tape begins to play that says, “No, you don’t.  If you really knew me you wouldn’t!”

The two beautiful Gospel words mercy and grace declare that God does not love us if and when we are worthy, because He loves us even while we are sinners.  (Romans 5:6-10)

Jesus prayed that those who make up the Church would live in such a way that this world of hurting people will know and believe God loves them as much as He loves His only begotten Son.  If you do not know that God loves you, then we who are part of the Church have failed you. God does love you!

…Because by the grace and mercy of God, I know that He loves me.

Dick Woodward, from Happiness That Doesn’t Make Good Sense

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The Christmas That Was

December 11, 2015

“Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is translated, God with us.”   (Matthew 1:23)

The essence of the Christmas that was can be described by the word “incarnation.”  The biblical word ‘carne’ is the Greek word for ‘flesh.” When we consider the Christmas that was, we find ourselves face to face with the incarnation – the miracle that God decided to make human flesh His official residence for 33 years.  We date time from the first Christmas because human flesh became God’s address when Christ was born in Bethlehem.

Asked who Jesus is, a little boy answered, “God with skin on.” That’s good theology!  When Jesus was born, one of His names was “Emmanuel,” which means God with us.

The Bible also frequently uses the word flesh to mean ‘human nature, unaided by God.’  God knew that our human nature desperately needed supernatural aid.  The essence of ‘incarnation‘ when applied to the Christmas that was, demonstrates the reality that we needed God to do something for us that we could not possibly do for ourselves.  On that first Christmas Eve God intersected human history with what we might call “The Great Intervention,” that we might experience salvation.

If you carefully read the first chapter of Luke, you will discover that God told a priest what He was going to do and the priest did not believe Him.  God responded by shutting the priest’s mouth.  Zacharias had the greatest sermon to preach, but lost the opportunity because unbelief shut his mouth.

God told some wise men what He was doing.  Those wise men asked the question, “Where is He?” They traveled far searching for Him until they found Him.  When they found Him, they worshiped Him and gave gifts to Him.

Dick Woodward, A Christmas Prescription

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A Christmas Prescription

December 4, 2015

“But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.  (Luke 2:19)

The holidays are the most family-oriented weeks of the year.  Yet for many – those who have no family, singles, widows and widowers, the divorced among us, and those with painful and negative family experiences – the holidays can be the most difficult time of the year.  As a pastor, every year I had parishioners who asked me in early November to pray for them to make it through the holidays.  The hard reality is that lonely, depressed, and anxious people are lonelier, more depressed, and more anxious during the “season to be jolly” than at any other time of the year.

At the same time, the last four weeks of the year are filled with joy and happiness for millions of people and their families.  Whether the holiday season is your favorite time or your most difficult time of the year, I want to share a Christmas prescription that can bring the true meaning of Christmas to your holidays and to every day of your new year.

Try to block out the advertising blitz of the commercial Christmas we have today. Carefully read the Christmas scriptures in the first two chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and then read the first 18 verses of the Gospel of John.

God told a devout peasant girl what He was going to do.  Mary believed God, but she asked Him questions and pondered these things in her heart.

Dick Woodward, A Christmas Prescription

Editor’s Note: During December, the blog posting elf would like to share one of Papa’s booklets, A Christmas Prescription, bit by bit with you. Be blessed this month as we ‘ponder’ the Christmas that was, the Christmas that shall be, and the Christmas that is…

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Conduits of God

December 13, 2011

“… Wise men came saying, “Where is he?” (Matthew 2: 1, 2)

 The Christmas cards tell us that wise men still seek Him.  Wise men still find Him.  Wise men still worship Him and give gifts to Him.  We can add this observation: wise men still ask the question, “Where is He?”

If we want to know where He is today we should look where the Love is.  Paul writes that He is a specific quality of love (1Corinthians 13: 4-7).  If we will tap into that quality of love we will find ourselves connecting with God and discover that God is connecting with us (1 John 4: 16).

The great Christmas word is “incarnation” (“in flesh” John 1:14). The Bible tells us that incarnation also means relocation. God wants to express the quality of love He is where people are hurting.  If we will intentionally place ourselves where people are hurting, as we become conduits of His love that address their pain we will discover where He is and where we want to be for the rest of our life.

We must also look where the Light is.  We can deliberately place ourselves where the spiritual darkness is and ask God to pass His light through us and address their darkness.

And we should look where the Life is.  The Apostle John writes that God has given us a quality of life he labels “eternal life” (1John 5: 11, 12).  We can experience this quality of life ourselves and we can become conduits of that Life for others.

We can go or God may place us where the hurting, the darkness and the low quality of life are.  Then we can be conduits of God.  That’s when we discover by experience where He is.

 

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