We Have Seen His Glory
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15)
Thus at that first Christmas we have seen his glory in the fulfillment of the first Gospel Promise.
In the first verses John speaks of this glorious one. He was with God and is God. Through him all things were made and without him nothing was made. John calls this person "the Word." Words can be spoken and in Genesis Moses tells us that God created the heavens and the earth by simply saying, "Let there be." The Word created the world; the Word effected our salvation; the Word brings us eternal life.
The Word, who we see as a baby before us, came from the Father. In John's Gospel Christ asserts his divinity. He uses the name "I Am," which is the name God used before Moses at the burning bush. Jesus would state, "I and the Father are one." He would assert, "If you see me, you have seen the Father." Jesus asserts first of all his divinity. Next he is stating the unity of the Trinity. Finally, he is declaring that he is the Messiah (the Christ) sent to carry out the will of the Father. And what is that will?
St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1 that God chose us before the creation of the world. That means God had planned our salvation he said, "Let there be..." He devised this plan long before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit or you or I were born or committed a sin. And Jesus-the Word-was to carry out that mission.
"We Have Seen His Glory." This glory is full of grace and truth.
What is grace? Grace is getting blessings we do not deserve. Today many of us receive presents. Usually, we urge our children to be good. We may even invoke Santa Claus to get children to behave. But children don't act all that saintly, especially just before Christmas, do they? And likely, as parents we may feel our children don't deserve those gifts.
But have you ever withheld Christmas gifts from your children? I'm guessing not. We are in a sense sharing and displaying grace.
We are all sinners. The psalmist
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