Let's turn in our scriptures
to John's Gospel and we have before us one of the most remarkable
verses in all the scriptures. In verse 14 Our God says, And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The immediate context of course
is that He came to a world, in verse 5, The world as a light shining
in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. He came
to his own, the people of Israel, in verse 11, and his own received
him not. The world, verse 10, knew him
not, even though he created this world and revealed himself as
the creator of this world. The world knew him not. His own
people received him not. And then it says, but as many
as received him, which is an active reception of him, to them
gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And now this
glorious verse that I trust the Lord will open to us a little
this morning that we will see what a remarkable words our God
writes and what remarkable words he writes with such extraordinary
simplicity. One of my prayers is that I would
try and endeavour and the Lord might grant that we would just
simply We would see how glorious these words are. And the word
was made flesh and dwelt amongst and we beheld his glory. I just
want to look at the first part of that verse today and Lord
willing we'll look at the second part about beholding the glory
of God. Norm spoke so well about that
out of Moses' great call on Mount Sinai, show us your glory. Show
us your glory. This is the cry of someone who's
received grace from God. So our verse begins, which is
interesting, isn't it? It begins, and. And. And so in
a way it links it all back to the very beginning because now
John is talking about the Word. He's talking about the Word. The Word. In verse 1 is the word
that is eternally existing. Our Lord Jesus Christ had an
existence, had a being before there was a beginning. What on
earth that was other than the fact that the triune God lived
in glorious communion and fellowship and in need of absolutely nothing. In the beginning was the word.
And the Word was with God. The Word was eternally communing
with God. He was in union with God. He
was near to God. It means face to face. As Zechariah
says, He's my fellow. And it has the essence of something
that is not It speaks of someone, these three, in their union with
one another, in the delight of the company they had with each
other before the world was, is with God, with God in the beginning. I love how Proverbs describes
the Lord Jesus Christ and we need to just listen to what he
says in Proverbs 8. Verse 22, The Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were no depths, I
was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills, I was brought forth. Yet while as yet he made
not the earth, nor the field, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave the sea his decree that the water should not pass his
commandment, when he appointed the foundation of the earth then,
I was by him, as one brought up with him. I was daily his
delight, rejoicing always before him. One of the things that we
lost in the fall is the fact that our God, our God is a God
of joy. I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him, rejoicing in the habitable parts of his
earth. and my delights are with the
sons of men. In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This Word is called the same. John goes on to describe Him
as the creator of this universe. He creates all things. He is
the owner of life. He is life itself. He is light. He's a light that shines in the
darkness. It's that light. It's the true
light. He's the word that is witnessed to by men sent from
God. The word. The word. And the word. The word. is God's revelation of himself,
isn't it? The words that I am speaking
convey something of my thoughts. The words of God convey what
cannot be known of God unless God speaks. The word he had by right of creation
and special mercy He had the right to call, in verse 11, a
people his own. National Israel. And they received
him not. He came to this world, and the
world knew him not. How great, how great the fall
that John pictures. How great the fall of man that
John pictures. How deep the darkness that John
lays out here before us. that the Lord Jesus Christ came
in all of the simplicity and the essence of what it was to
be the Messiah of God and proclaimed that at the beginning of his
ministry to any who would hear him. And he did the things that
only Messiah could do. It's extraordinary, isn't it,
the depths of the darkness. But one of the things that John
wants us to lay hold of by exalting the Lord Jesus Christ in such
remarkable ways is that we would see something of what it was
for him to come into this world and for him to be made flesh.
Made flesh. The glories of our God are revealed
in the Lord Jesus Christ and the depths to which he came. You see, it's interesting, isn't
it? It doesn't say that he was made a man, because man is always
exalting other men. He could have come as the most
glorious of men, but it says that he came as flesh. The word was made flesh. If you just turn in your Bibles
to Genesis chapter 6 and let's see what this word flesh means. Because John, by opening his
letter, by speaking of in the beginning, he's wanting us to
go back and see foundations. And we know what he says about
the hearts of man when verse 5 in Genesis 6, when God saw,
when God sees, and God sees with 20-20 vision, God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his hearts was only evil continually. That's what God saw. But down
in verse 12, Let's go back to verse 11. The earth also was
corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And
God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh had corrupted his
way upon the earth. What John, I believe, and what
the Scriptures are wanting us to see, that the Lord Jesus Christ
was manifest in the flesh. He who dwells, who has immortality
and dwells in light. was made a man, but it says that
he was made flesh. See, he was God, says John, says
our text. He was God, but he was made flesh. In the incarnation, he was made
flesh. He was made flesh. in his humanity, bearing all
of the frailties of humanity, and yet without sin. So he didn't change what he was,
but he took on what he was, was not. He wasn't made a man. He wasn't made a superhuman man.
He was made flesh. He was made like we are, body
and soul, in the fullness of our nature. So much like man
that only divine light shining could reveal him as God. He could walk through those crowds
Jerusalem as if no one knew who he was. He could live in Nazareth
for the best part of 30 years and never ever sin in thought
or word or deed once and yet the people of Nazareth saw him
so much as flesh that they had no idea His own family, imagine that,
living with him for all of those years, as James and his brothers
and sisters did. And yet in John 7 we find them
mocking him, even after he had performed miracles. So much was
his humanity. that only divine light could
reveal him as God. And he was so much as God that
only divine light could see beyond his humanity. That's what the
Transfiguration was about, wasn't it? It was the veil of his flesh. A flesh that you could lean on,
a flesh that you could walk with and talk with and eat with. A
flesh that grew in the womb of Mary. A flesh that had all of
the weaknesses of our frail flesh, sin excluded. See, it's a lovely
description of it, isn't it? Verse 18 of our text, isn't it?
No man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. The glorious, glorious humanity
of our God. Fully God, fully man, and one
person. fully God and fully man and one
person. Hebrews 2.17 says, See, he didn't
think it was wrongery. to be made equal with God, but
he humbled himself. He humbled himself in his flesh.
It was an extraordinary humility beyond which we will never plumb
the depths of it. That is a glorious hymn, isn't
it? A glorious Let this mind be in
you, Philippians 2, 5, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of
a servant. That's what he says, isn't it?
A body thou hast prepared me. Took upon himself the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. There is, there is in
the scriptures this glorious, glorious picture of this glorious
saviour in all of the wonders of what it is for him to be God. wonder of what it is for him
to be made flesh and to be dwelling among us. He was made flesh. It's a theme that is throughout the scriptures.
He is made of the seed of a woman. He is made of the son of David. He is made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. God sending his son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, it says, in the likeness of sinful flesh. No flesh shall be justified by
the deeds of the law. No flesh shall be justified. He ceases not to be God. He ceases not to be God. But he is fully man. You just think of some of the
glorious pictures. He was the creator of the universe. He was that seed planted in Mary's
womb and he was grown as a seed of a woman, Genesis 3.15. Not
the seed of a man, the seed of a woman. He had none of Adam's
fallen corruption. He was planted in Mary. And he who sustained Mary's life
was sustained. He, who provided Mary with breath
and food and everything else, was sustained by milk from Mary's
breasts. Again and again we see the glory
of His humanity in John 4. We see that He's weary from His
journey and He was in need of water. He, according to Isaiah
40, holds the waters of the world in the palm of His hand. and
yet he was thirsty. Again and again we see glorious,
glorious pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ in the extraordinary
humanity, what it is to be made like unto his brethren. In John
chapter 6 we have him Feeding the 5,000. He can do what God
alone can do. He can cause a creative miracle
to happen and out of his hands, and he feeds not just all of
them, but he has an abundance left over. And then that evening,
he walks on the water. God creating, God walking on
the waters. And a man got into the boat. is the Son of Man in everything
made like us without sin." He wept. He wept at the turn of
Lazarus. It's extraordinary, isn't it?
It's not another recorded incident of the Lord Jesus Christ weeping
like that. It's love that draws weeping,
draws tears from our Lord. He had a soul, a real soul, and
he says in John 12, my soul is troubled. Chapter 13, he's troubled
in spirit, and on the cross he cried. It is finished. I thirst, I mean. And that soldier
that drew that spear and pierced his side and out came blood and
water. The reality of the humanity of
the Lord Jesus Christ is cast for us before us in the scriptures
in the most remarkable ways. He took upon himself, didn't
he, that title again and again. He's called himself the Son of
Man. It's a title which describes
his being in this world as a man like us in every way, sin accepted. But the Son of Man is a title
for God, isn't it? It's a title for God the Son. He was God. He was made flesh,
fully man, completely man in every way, and yet without sin. And before I forget to mention it to you, it is glorious,
isn't it? to think of what it was for him
to be man. To be man in union with his people,
to be man as God suffering for his people. And he says in verse
30 of Ephesians 5, for we are members of his body. fled, and of his flesh and of
his bones." And one of the glorious descriptions of our Lord, and
it was fulfilled. In reality on the cross, but
it has a deeper reality, isn't it? Not a bone of his will be
broken. Not one bone. We're flesh of his flesh and
bone of his bones. He was made, he was made flesh. And he dwelt among us, it says. He dwelt among us. That word
is to tabernacle amongst us. It is. John is leading us to
reference that remarkable and glorious tent that the people
of Israel, in which the people of Israel met with God and in
which God met with men. That's what it is, to tabernacle,
isn't it? It's a place where God meets with man and it's a
place where man meets with God. He tabernacled among us. In the
midst of ignorant darkness, in the midst of a world that knew
him not, in the midst of a people who received him not, there was
an us. He tabernacled amongst us. I
always want to be one of that us. I pray that you'll be one
of that us. The tabernacle, of course, is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ in both his humanity and in his deity. You can go
and read about the glory of the tabernacle in Exodus 32 and following. It's a remarkable building. It
was a tent and in a sense it's a great picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He dwelt here in Egypt for a
while, the dwelling place of God. is in his people now, the
dwelling place of God, is in his temple, the dwelling place
of God, is in heaven, and there'll come a time when the dwelling
place of our Lord Jesus Christ will be with his people in the
new creation forever and ever. But the tabernacle pictured the
body and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ from the outside.
It was covered in the skins of goats and skins of dugongs. It
says it was just red on the outside. It looked like the earth. From
the outside, this tabernacle looked like absolutely nothing.
And this tabernacle just had one door. There's only one way
in. There's only one way into the very presence of God. And
when you went inside, the very first thing that you did and
saw as you walked into that tabernacle, the very first thing is that
altar of sacrifice. The altar of sacrifice, of course,
is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is both the altar
And here's the sacrifice on the altar. And you might recall that
when that tabernacle was put together, the fire that lit that
altar, the first fire that began in that altar that was kept alive
by the Jews for the rest of their time, the fire came down from
heaven. And when Solomon built a temple which was modeled on the tabernacle
and Solomon laid that sacrifice on that altar in the temple,
and the fire from heaven came down and lit that altar, that
sacrifice. Inside the tabernacle is glorious. And so there's an altar and then
there's a laver and then there's a curtain and inside the curtain
there is a lamp, the light of the world. There is an incense,
the offering of the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is the table of showbread. He is the manna. He is the bread
from heaven. God's people live on him. God's
people's light comes from him. God's people's entrance into
the very presence of God comes from him. And then there was
another curtain and in behind that curtain is the Holy of Holies
and on that ark In that ark was the broken law
and the manor, and Aaron's rod that it budded, and above that
ark was the mercy seat. It is just a bowl, and on the
ends of the bowl are the angels with their wings touching. It's
called into the presence of God. You
go past the altar of sacrifice and the labour and then past
the lamp and the incense and the table of showbreads and you
go through that glorious curtain. And that glorious curtain itself
was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and his work. The top
was blue, heaven. The bottom was red, earth. And in the middle was purple.
It's just a picture, isn't it? That this one flesh and in that place you met
with God. at that mercy seat. The great
high priest alone went in there and he never went in there without
blood. And above that mercy seat was the Shekinah glory of God. A glorious picture, wasn't it?
That every day that Shekinah glory shone out from that mercy
seat, out beyond that tabernacle, And it was for forty years for
the people of Israel a pillar of cloud, by day it shielded
them from the burning sun, and at night it was a pillar of fire
for forty years. He came to his own, and his own
received him not. How much evidence do you need?
They only lived because he fed them. They only drank because
he watered them. For forty years he came to his
own, and his own received him not. So the tabernacle is the
meeting place of God and man. It's by God's design, and God's
provision, and God's skills. He gave them the skills to do
it. It's the place of God's dwelling, the tabernacle. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the place of God's dwelling, and it's the place
of his glory, and it's the place where he meets with man. He only
ever meets with man, our great God, in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a place of reconciliation
by blood sacrifice. It's a place of God's worship.
Christ's human body, God's tabernacle, and he dwelt among us. In Christ,
man meets with God. In Christ, God meets with man. You might recall that Isaiah
met the Lord Jesus Christ in that temple and the train of
his robe filled that temple. The glory of our God is what
the Temple of the Tabernacle is all about. Verse 34 of Exodus 40, Then a
cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of
the Lord filled the temple. And Moses was not able to enter
into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. That's what John
is saying, isn't it, when he's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
dwelling among us. I wanted in closing just to go
through some of what it was for the Lord Jesus Christ to be made
flesh. According to the Word of God,
not according to the thoughts of man. This is what it is. These
are some of the descriptions of the Lord Jesus Christ being
made flesh. And I can read them to you, but
you can turn with me if you like. In Galatians chapter 4, we'll
try and begin at the beginning, but in Galatians chapter 4, verse
4, it says, But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. I want us to see that every time
there is a description of the Lord Jesus Christ being made,
there is a description of the finished work. Look what it says,
verse 5, to try and redeem those that were under the law. What
does it actually say? It says to redeem. finished and completed work,
to buy back at the payment of an appropriate God-set price,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. He was made flesh, he was made
of a woman. He was made, according to Romans
1.3, as we saw earlier, he was made of the seed of David, according
to the flesh. Hebrews 2.17 describes why he
was made of the seed of a woman, why he was made flesh. Hebrews 2.17 Wherefore in all
things it was necessary for him to be made like unto his brethren,
that He's made like his brethren for
a purpose and a reason, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in the things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered,
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.
That's why he was made flesh, wasn't he? It behooved him. It was necessary for him to be
a priest. He had to be a priest after the
order of Melchizedek. I love what that word succor
means at the end of verse 18. It means to run to the cry of. Have you cried out to him? Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He's made
like unto his brethren. He suffered being tempted. While
you're in Hebrews, turn over to Hebrews 7.22, a verse that
we know well. For by so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. He was made the surety of a better
testament. Assurity, of course, in our understanding
is the guarantor, but that's not what assurity means according
to the Scriptures. Assurity in the Scriptures is
someone who takes absolute and full responsibility for all of
the debt that he's owed. The first time that word assurity
is used is in Genesis, and it's a reference to Judah being the surety. for his brother
Benjamin. So Judah stands in Benjamin's
place, and he says, I'll be surety, verse nine of Genesis 43, I'll
be surety for him, that of my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever.
Once a surety arrangement has been struck, then the one that
is owed looks and looks nowhere else. That's what it means for
the Lord Jesus Christ to be a surety. God the Father looks to him for
everything that he requires of me. He looks to him for love. He looks to him for faithfulness.
He looks to him for obedience to the law. He looks to him to
love God with all of his heart and all of his soul and all of
his mind and all of his faith. No wonder Paul says, I'm crucified
with Christ, nevertheless, I live, but not I. Christ liveth, the
life I now live in this flesh. I live by the faithfulness of
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. He's
speaking of him being a surety. He was made of a woman. He was
made under the law. He was made like unto his brethren. He was made a surety. 2 Corinthians
5.21. says, for he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. The fall of our father Adam,
according to Romans 5.19, We were made sinners. We were
made sinners. And God made him sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. For by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. That's when you were made a sinner.
You come into this world sinning because you were made a sinner.
So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. He was made sin, and on Calvary's
cross he was made to be a curse. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
3 verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. be made a curse for us, for it
is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now quoting that verse from Deuteronomy
21 verse 23, that once the Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up from
the earth, he was cursed according to the law of God. He was being
made a curse for us. What's the curse of the law?
The wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. The curse of the law resides
on all those who think that they can go back to the works of the
law for something to add or enhance or establish their righteousness
before God. That's what he says in the previous
verse, in verse 10. For as many as are of the works
of the law. As many who attribute something,
that word of means origin. Where it comes from, those who
attribute something of their salvation to their activities
are under the curse of the law. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. I'm doing my best. No, you're not. No, you never
have. It has to be perfect to be accepted. Leviticus 22, 21. Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse.
But look again at what the promise is. See, all of these activities
of the Lord, being made flesh, being made of a woman, being
made under the law, being made like his brethren, being made
a surety, being made sin, being made a curse, they all they're
all attached to a glorious promise, isn't it? Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the Lord being made a curse for us, for
it is written, cursed to everyone that hangeth on a tree, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. To have the Spirit of God is
to have the Lord Jesus Christ dwelling in you. If you have
not the Spirit of God, says Romans 8, you are none. that we might receive the promise. This is why he was made a curse. Acts 2 verse 36, Therefore let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that
same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And what's
the result? in the hearts that are pricked
by the Spirit of God and moved by the reality of what they are
before God and the depths of their sin. He says, there is
a promise, isn't there? There's a promise to them. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And finally, and it's not the
last of these, in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, he's made unto us, he's made unto us wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption. because but of him are you in
Christ Jesus. If he's made unto us all of those
things, you're in him. That verse 31, that is according
as is written, that he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The first man, Adam, was made
a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. So he was made, made like unto
us, but made with a glorious, glorious purpose. And when he
shed his life's blood and his flesh, The blood of his flesh was shed
on Calvary's tree and he made that glorious cry, it is finished. All of the maids are done. Redemption. is done. We now have a merciful and faithful
high priest in the things pertaining to God. We have a priest who
goes into that tabernacle and presents his own blood, and he
does it right now. The one thing that the Lord Jesus
Christ is marked with in heaven are the sins of his people that
caused those nails to wound his hand and his feet and to open
his side. He is the We're made righteous. God's children
have the blessing of Abraham. The promises of God are ours. And God's children have no basting
but him who was made flesh for us. Let's pray. Oh, heavenly
Father, we pray that these words that you have caused to be written
about your Son might be applied to us, Heavenly Father, that
we might be those who look upon Him who is pierced and mourn
for what we are. but find in the glorious life
and death of your dear and precious Son, our life before you, Heavenly
Father, our sins washed away, that you can now call us your
people. You can call us my people. and you can dwell among us. O
our Father, we pray that you would be merciful to us and bless
your words to our hearts and cause your Son to be precious. For we pray in his name and for
his glory, our Father. Amen.