November 27th, 2022
John 1:14 (ESV)And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
“the Word became flesh”
“and dwelt among us”.
Matthew 1:23 “behold the virgin, shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us”.
Exodus 25:8 (ESV) And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
Exodus 25:21-22 (ESV) And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony(the 10 Commandments) that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
Exodus 33:9 (ESV) When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. Again we’re told in Exodus 40:34 (ESV) Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Not the earth but the Tabernacle.)
John 1:14 “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
“dwelt” verb literally means “to pitch a tent”. It means “to erect a tabernacle”.
“the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”
The Word, Jesus of Nazareth is the true, ultimate embodiment of the glory of God, the complete and perfect manifestation of God’s presence among His people.
Everything that we read about in the story of the Old Testament about the Tabernacle and the Temple was little more than a for-glow, an anticipatory flicker of the brilliant, majestic flame of God’s glory that is now embodied in the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.
The “cleansing of the Temple shouldn’t be called the cleansing of the temple but the judgment of the temple.
John 2:18-22 (ESV) So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
On one level, he is referring to the physical temple. It is going to be destroyed in judgment, but I’m gonna raise up in its place a new temple, the church, the people of my spiritual body. On another level, He is talking about himself.
The point is that the Tabernacle of the Old Covenant and the later Temple that was built was a foreshadowing of the glory of Christ.
If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we, this corporate body among many corporate bodies throughout the world, we the church, are the body of Christ, we too are the temple of God in which he is pleased to dwell.
Ephesians 2:21-22 Ephesians 2:20-22 (ESV) …Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The whole structure Paul is talking about is us
1 Peter 2:5 (ESV) you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Corinthians 3:16-17 (ESV) Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. And then, the capstone 2 Corinthians 6:16b 2 Corinthians 6:16 (ESV) For we are the temple of the living God;
Matthew 1:23 (ESV) 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
John 1:14 (ESV)And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God , and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”
Colossians 2:9 “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Colossians 1:17 “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
When Jesus entered this world, stepping out of eternity into time, he could not empty himself of his Deity.
He did not come to behave as God. He came to show us how God would act through a man or woman, to show us men and women as God intended them to be. He came to show us that the secret of man or woman’s life is complete dependence upon an indwelling God.
Forgiveness
Ephesians 2:4-9 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
What we need to live for Him
2 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV) His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Strength
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV) But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Ephesians 3:16–19 (ESV) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Victory
Romans 8:35,7 (NLT) Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (ESV) When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hope
Colossians 1:27 (ESV) To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
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