The Pre-Incarnate Son: Jesus Before Bethlehem

Welcome remarks

Well, good morning. It is really good to see you here today at this 2022 Proclaim conference. I remember coming to my first conference about seven years ago. I had just started my journey into ministry. On the first day when I came in, I was standing right there. UBC was new to me, Proclaim was new to me, I was really enjoying this conference and then there was a session for a book giveaway. Someone was going to go home with a whole box of books. And I was like, “There’s no way I’m getting this,” right? That’s the humility you should have as a Christian generally.

But, of course, I wouldn’t be telling this story if I was not mentioned, and I did not win the box. I did win the box of books! And I was like, “Oh you guys just give away 30 books for free? You have me for all the Proclaim Conferences!”

And it has been such a blessing: not just the books, but all the men that have gone up here, the workshops and all the resources that have been given out in the last several years of the Proclaimed Conference. It’s been a great blessing in my life, and I trust in your life as well. If this is your first time at the Proclaim Conference, we pray that the Lord would use all that is said and sung and prayed here to build your faith in his Son. Amen?

Bible reading

Well, let me ask you, if you have your Bible, and I hope you’ve come to such a conference with your Bible, to turn to the book of John, the book of John. We’ll read the first chapter from verse 1 to 18. John 1:1-18. John 1:1-18. Let me request us to stand for the reading of God’s Word. I am reading from the English Standard Version.

“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 any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.  He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

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. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.”)  For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

And this is the Word of the Lord. Praise be to God. You may be seated.

Prayer

Our Father, we ask that you would make yourself known through your Son, by the power of your Holy Spirit. We thank you that you delight to make yourself known, so we pray that all that will be said would be used by you, not to distract us, not to obscure, but to further reveal you, so that we may worship you in spirit and in truth.

We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

The Word comes into the World

There once was a show called “Undercover Boss.” This TV show depicted the biggest boss, the biggest managers of a particular big company who would, as the name suggests, go undercover as a normal employee in his company. This person would probably be the CEO or CFO or even the owner and founder of the company. This would be usually a multi-million-dollar company, so it’s a company with a lot of money and a lot of employees and facilities. And so, this is a person with a lot of power, but he would take on the role of a nominal low level, low-grade worker in his company.

So, for example, if this was the CEO of a massive food chain, like fast food chain, like McDonald’s, he would go to a certain McDonald’s joint, or we could say Steers or Chicken-In and he would go there and he would act as if he is a normal employee who’s just come in. He would conceal his identity by probably wearing glasses or a hat or a wig and people would not know him. Of course, we who are watching the show are like, “How don’t you know him?”

The aim of the show was meant to be twofold: it was meant to open the eyes of this boss to see their real working of his company. The assumption here is that once one rises up in the hierarchy, they get a blindness. There’s a gap that develops, that makes them not see the things that they’re truly controlling. And so, this would open their eyes and they would have a true glimpse of the true state of things.

But the other thing would be for the people to get to work next to uh their boss without knowing and their true character to be seen, and then all that to culminate in an interaction with the boss at the end of the show.

Now, there would be all kinds of hilarity that would ensue, because the good employees would often treat this boss – that they don’t know is a boss – kindly. They would seek to train him. They would seek to delineate all the values and, and, and processes of this company. And at the end of the show, the boss would be so proud of this person they would give them a promotion. There would be much celebration that would ensue.

But there are some who would act rudely and unkindly and they will be impatient. And as we would watch those people, I don’t know if you have ever watched that show, you would be like, “Don’t you know who you are dealing with? If only you knew who is talking to you right now. If only you knew just how much or just how you’ve lost your job with that sentence!”

What John wants you to See

The book of John, particularly in its prologue that we’ve just read, takes that picture but blows it times infinity, for it is not the under, it’s not the boss of a multi-billion conglomerate that comes to his particular joint, but it is the king of the universe who takes on the form of his creation and he comes to save it. And there are those who receive him and those who reject him.

John was like that employee in this low-level joint. He saw Jesus, he – together with the disciples – and the things that Jesus said and there’s a way that Jesus looks and the way that Jesus prayed and the way he taught and the science that he did that made him say, “This is not just another employee. This is not just any man. This is the boss of the universe!”

And when John comes to write, he wants you to see the same thing. He says, “There was a man who walked in Nazareth. There was a man who had dust in his feet. He wore sandals. Oh, but he was no mere man! He felt hungry and he felt thirst, but he was no mere man. Let me tell you who he was.”

John will tell us that this man, called Jesus, was the Word who was with God and was God in the very beginning. And he has just now stepped into time. What John is telling is that the Son of God was sent to the world to become a man called Jesus Christ, so that the glory and grace of God may be fully and perfectly revealed. The boss of the universe has come to his creation.

So, I’d like us to notice in these texts: (1) The Word in eternity. Secondly, I want us to see (2) The Word in Creation and finally, (3) The Word in flesh. The Word in eternity, the Word in creation and the Word in flesh.

He wants you to come to the end of this prologue having no doubt, or at least curious to read the rest of the book, in order to see that Jesus is God. That the Son of God, the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, has come in the form of man.

The Word in Eternity

Now, firstly, notice the Word in eternity. John begins with the words, John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word.”

Now all gospels begin at some point. Matthew begins by showing us that Jesus’ lineage can be traced all the way back to David and Abraham. Mark begins with the ministry of John the Baptist. Luke will trace the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam. John goes way beyond that.

These words, “In the beginning…” So, you’ve read your Bible for some time, it’s a familiar statement. These are the very words that open the Scriptures, right? They mark the start of the existence of the cosmos and all that is in it. While Genesis kicks off at the beginning, the opening, it’s, it opens for us the curtains to creation, and then propels us forward into time. John starts at the beginning, yes, but he then takes us backwards, into eternity past. He is referring to a point when there was no time. While Genesis looks forward, John would have your gaze turn backwards, before the first created work was brought forth, before the first flower blossomed, before the first water drop was formed, before the first bird flapped its wings. This is a beginning with no beginning. Before this, the Word was.

What John is saying here is that the Word is eternal. That means that the Word has always existed. That there was no point at which the Word was not. He exists before and outside of time. This is in contrast, obviously, to everything that is created. When we read Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were born, or you bought forth earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

We could say Moses there is speaking about the Word. Since humans’ measure everything in time, it is very hard for us to conceive of something that had no beginning but has always been and will continue forever.

Everything for us is either new or old, right? It’s either young or aged. We identify things by how long they have been in existence. But that is not God. That’s not the Word. Time does not act on God. Time does not act on God. It is his creation. God creates time and lives outside of it. “In the beginning was the Word…”

Now, why is he identified as “the Word,” you might be wondering. What does this word, “Word” mean, right? It means that he is the expression of the Father. A person uses words to communicate themselves. John is using this title of “the Word” to say that this Word is God’s ultimate self-disclosure. That this is how God makes himself known. The Word therefore reveals, communicates, mediates God from eternity. What has the Word been doing in all eternity? Communicating God. He does not just begin to do this in creation or redemption. It is because he’s been doing it in eternity, that he does it in creation and redemption. We are told that he is with God. This helps us to indicate a distinction between the persons of the Trinity.

Relationship in the Trinity

Now, for the next few, for the next section, we’re going to do a deep dive into the Holy Trinity, because there’s no other way for us to make sense of what John is saying. I’ll be demanding of you, so stay with me.

We see that the Word is referred to as one who is with God. That indicates a distinction between the persons of the Trinity. This is further demonstrated by the fact that creation is said to have been made through him. He is referred to as the “only begotten Son from the Father” in John 1:14. John 1:18, He is called the only God, who is at the Father’s side or the Father’s bosom.

The term that is translated “with” (was with God in John 1:1) literally means “towards.” He was towards God. It is.. the Word was, so to speak, facing God. This insinuates an intimate, filial, loving, relation between the Son and the Father, between the Word, who is God, with God the Father. That the Father and the Son have eternally existed in a relation of mutual love. The Father and Son exist in a stance of mutual delight. The Word is the only begotten Son of God. This indicates for us the origin of the second person of the Trinity: he is eternally begotten by the Father, yet at no point did he begin to exist. The Father is eternally revealed as the Father, which means he’s always had a son. The Son, therefore, is eternally from the Father.

The Bible, in its description of the Holy Trinity, consistently distinguishes the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit by their mutual relations, which are called relations of origin. These personal names (they do) name the persons and they do name what distinguishes the persons of the Trinity from each other. They are identified by what distinguishes the relationship between one another, rather than between (the relation) the relationship between us and the Godhead. The Father eternally begets the Son, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Unity in the Trinity

The Bible further illumines those relations of origin by employing various titles which are drawn from the Old Testament. The Son, as we see here, is “The Word of God.” In Colossians 1:15, which we shall see later in this conference, he is the “image of the invisible God.” In Hebrews 1:3, which I think we shall also see in this… Somewhere there’s probably a preacher right now tensing like, “Do not say my point!” We are told that he is “The radiance of the Father’s Glory.”

But these titles reveal that the Son is the one God, in common with the Father. “The Word” is God. “The image of the Invisible God” is the one by whom and in whom and for whom all creation exists. “The radiance of God’s glory” is the exact imprint of the Father’s substance. This is why the church has believed for millennia that God is simple. That does not mean that God is easy to understand. Thank you for not walking out, if that’s what you assumed, or any such meaning, but rather that God is one. Now, the fact that we read of the Father, Son, Spirit does not mean that we read of three Gods, but we read of one God. He is not made of constituent parts. He is not a mixture of persons or attributes, but he is rather one essence, one substance, one being.

At the same time, these titles indicate what distinguishes the Father from the Son, within the one God. The Father is the eternal source of the person of the Son. The Son is the Word of God, the image of God, the radiance of the Father’s glory. Now, these are very exact definitions. They are consistently assumed throughout Scriptures. They’re not explicitly stated and early in the church’s history, many notable people looked at these texts and taught erroneous doctrine as trinitarian theology. Several major heresies arose around this most foundational doctrine of the Trinity and the church fathers, in order to halt the spread of these heresies, compiled the true teaching of Scripture in Creeds, like one that I hope will read sometime in this conference. They laboured hard and wrote prolifically to carefully outline the Bible’s teaching on the Trinity. They introduced terms like the “simplicity of God,” that I mentioned earlier.

Another key term was the “eternal generation of the Son,” by which they thought that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. That this is the relationship between the Father and the Son. It is not a relation between two gods, for the Father and the Son are one essence, one being.

Everything that we can say about God, we can say about the Word. Everything that we can say about the Father, we can say about the Son, and we can say about the Spirit. The deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God. And like matters on the human plane, where plurality of human persons amongst to the plurality of human beings, the plurality of persons in God does not lead to the same. We only have one God. It is not a relation between a deity and a lesser deity, for they are one essence and one being. It is not two modes of the same person, for they are distinct persons in relation to one another, yet sharing the same divine substance. As light naturally radiates its brightness, so God naturally radiates his Son.

John Webster puts it so well when he says, “Light and Splendour are one.” The Son is the splendour of the Father’s light. The light and its splendour are one. The Word is God.

Friends, there’s no other way of understanding these first few verses of John. In fact, there is no other way of understanding the book of John and any other book of the Bible, if we are to assume that the Bible teaches of a lesser Son, of a lesser Word, that Jesus is less than God himself. He is divine. He is eternal. He is, He was there in the beginning. As John tells us, he was before him. We all know from the Bible’s account, and everyone in Israel knew, that John the Baptist was born earlier than Jesus. John is teaching us this very thing. He’s witnessing to his eternity.

The Word in Creation

And secondly, notice the Word in creation. Look at John 1:3-5, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John now brings us back to Genesis 1 and continues the story of creation, but he also takes it and opens it up and illumines it even more for us.

The Word, the second person of the Trinity, was not only there at creation, but he is the creator of all that was made. He is the agent of all creation. This is why we must refute, this is why we refute the claims that Jesus is created: for that is inconsistent with what we just read. This statement here that “nothing that was made,” anything that feels in the category of made, which is everything, you know. Have you ever thought about that? Everything you know is made. There’s someone behind everything you know, except God.

The seat you are in, the hair that you have, the car that you came in, the air that you’re breathing, the sun that is shining: all that has someone behind it. But not the Son, for the Son is the one that is behind all that is made. He is separate from all created order. John insists on this point by stating it both in the positive and the negative. He says, John 1:3, “All things were made through him…” and just in case you haven’t gotten it, what I mean is, “…without him was not anything made that was made.”

Friends, this means that when we look up at the stars as they twinkle in the night, we can say, “The Son made that.” Every morning when the sun rises and its shimmer of orange fills the sky at dawn, we may say, “Thank you Jesus for that.” In the ocean, when we see the mighty waves crashing against the land, we can say, “The Word did that.”

He made all things: the mighty thunder and the tiniest water drop. The tallest mountain, the smallest blade of grass. The smallest insect and the mightiest elephant were made by him. This is because, as we see in John 1:4, he is the possessor and the giver of life. The Son has life in himself, not as something he acquires or receives. “In him was life…” This is meant to further lay out the divinity of Christ.

The life that John speaks of is not yet the light in life in relation to salvation that he shall later do. He means here life in its general sense as that which sustains and creates all that is made, and he traces the source of this to Jesus. The Son is a self-existent being. He is not brought to life or sustained by another. He is not dependent. Jesus does not go to bed saying, “I’ll wake up tomorrow, Lord willing.”

For Jesus to exist is not an activity, like you. For you, to live it’s work. You literally have to breathe. You have to exert effort to continue living. There’s no laziness with life for you. It’s work you’ve been doing from the day you are born. You need to eat, he does not need breath, he does not need to take in something from outside like us in order that it might come in and make him live, like you and I. He does not need oxygen or food or safety in order to continue to live. He does not survive; he just is. He is not sustained; he is independent and is the fountain of life.

The verse then goes on to indicate that this self-existent Son gives life to all other beings in creation. All living things that are made are given life, are lent life, they have borrowed life – the life that they have been given by the Son, by the Word. The creature is dependent, minute by minute, on the creator of life and Jesus sustains all the living. You see in John 1:9 that he is “the true light who gives light to everyone.” As we have seen in John 1:4, the light being referred to here is life. Friends, you are right now in complete dependence on the Son of God for your existence. The only reason you shall live through the next minute of your life is because the Son wills it. It’s because the Son is consistently supplying you with life. Your first to last breath is granted by the Son of God. You are as dependent on him, as the river is to its fountain head.

This is the Word: eternal with God, God himself, giver of life. You have not seen, smelt, touched, tasted anything that the Son has not made. You have not enjoyed or been injured by anything that the Son has not made. Nothing that has come to your life has not been brought forth by the Son of God. You are a creation of him. You are derived on him. You continue, second by second, to exist because of him. This is why John says, John 1:10, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

Even though he was in the world – with every shining, every rising sun, with every chirping bird, with every rustling leaf, with every new-born that is received – the Son is busy running every single detail of the universe. There is not a single molecule that he’s not controlling and wielding with his power. There’s no single star that is being born right now, there’s no single supernova of a star that is dying right now, that he is not overseeing. There’s not a single angel that is flapping his wings that he’s not controlling. There is no insect that is flying around that he is not in charge of. And he has been this, and he shall continue to be this for all eternity.

And Friends, how incredible, how incredible is it that this Word, this very Word, became flesh? This very Word became flesh.

The Word in Flesh

So, thirdly notice: the Word in flesh. We would never dare imagine that such a thing would be possible. If God himself had not said it, we would not even imagine it.

He has said it in his word, John 1:14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” Friends, you have never heard a more profound statement. Ten thousand years from now, I don’t know what you’ll be doing tomorrow or maybe you’ll be here for the conference. I don’t know what you’ll be doing next Thursday, but I know what you’ll be doing ten thousand years from now you’ll be marveling at this statement. You will be seeing Jesus in all his divinity, and you will be seeing him in human form, and you will be wondering how the Word, the second person of the Trinity, the only begotten Son, took on flesh.

The one who made man out of dust, took on dust. The one who gave manna in the wilderness takes on hunger. The one who made the waters separated them from the land comes to know thirst. The Word who is God, who is the very one who was in the beginning, the one that was with God, has taken on flesh, has taken on bones, has taken on weakness. The immortal has taken on mortality. The infinite has taken on finitude.

He did not come in a distant manner, but he became one of us. The text tells us that he came, and he dwelt among us. The word translated “dwelt” there literally means “tabernacled” with us. It is a call back to the way that God dwelt with his people, the Israelites, in the wilderness, in the tent that was the tabernacle. God, in his mercy, condescended himself and took a home, an abode, a dwelling similar to the one that his people took. His people dwelt in tents and guess what he chose for his dwelling? A tent!

It’s amazing how God speaks to David when David intends to build a temple for the Lord and the Lord tells him – this is Yahweh speaking, this is the almighty creator of the cosmos – tells him, “I have not lived in a house, but I have been in a tent, wandering around with my people.”

How, friend should you Marvel at the humility of your God? He is highly exalted yet surpassingly humble. And friends, don’t we have and even greater reality here? Yes, he dwelt with them in a tent, but he has come to dwell with us in flesh. Friends, see your God’s commitment to be near you, to be with you.

During campaigns, politicians have troops of cameraman and photographers (and I guess that’s the same thing) following them. And one of the pictures that people love is when this mighty politician, who runs great resources to the tunes of millions or billions, I mean trillions of Shillings, takes a baby. Or when we see a politician bend and get into a “manyata” (house). They’re like, “What? This person who lives in State House. Oh, he has condescended, he has made himself small and he did he did not say anything…he came all the way in.” When he talks to a child and he, he crouches down to talk to the child, and we say, “Oh, what great humility! I am giving you the next five years of my life!” We are flabbergasted, bamboozled when we see such tiny, sometimes, so to say, pretentious, pictures of humility. Friend, here is humility. Here is condescension. He left the gaze of angels. He left his throne. He left the towardness that he had with the Father, the fellowship that he had with the Father in Heaven and took on our flesh.

We can be Children of God

What are the implications of this? John tells us we have been made the children of God. John 1:12-13,

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Because he is the Son, he is able to give the right to those who believe in him to be children of God. Only the one who is Son by nature can give the right for others to be sons by grace. The Son of God becomes like the children of man, so that the children of man can become the children, sons of God. In this way, therefore, Christ’s sonship is, is different from our sonship. He is the Son in John 1, we are children. In Pauline letters, he is the Son of God, we are the adopted sons of God. He is Son by nature, we are sons by grace. My friends, this is why we know we are secure as sons: because the Son of God, the one who is Son by Nature, has united himself to us, and he has taken us all the way up to be with the Father. He has taken us to come to enjoy the fellowship that he has with him.

The glory of God in Jesus

Secondly, we’re told we have seen his glory, full of grace and Truth. Now, John has not yet left the wilderness where we went for the language of tabernacle and tenting. He’s pointing us to Exodus 33 and 34, which we heard our brother Raymond read for us. Do you remember what happened there? Moses pleaded with God, “Please show me your glory.” And God granted his request. And how did God show Moses his glory? Exodus 34:6-7a tells us,

“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious (and gracious), slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (and truth or) and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty…”

He is the God who is, notice, gracious and faithful, i.e., truthful, trustworthy, to be dependent upon. And John is saying that what they saw in Jesus, the man in Nazareth, this Undercover Boss, and on him and through him, they saw the glory of God, the fullness of grace and truth. That all that can that God ascribed to himself in the wilderness to Moses, can be ascribed to Jesus Christ. He is God.

The grace of God

But friends, this is not yet exactly good news, because when we hear those words, we know ourselves to be those who are guilty. He is a God who does not by any means clear the guilty, so the question still stands: how shall he relate to us? See, after this revelation in Exodus 34, God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses.  The glorious God made demands on his people through the law of Moses, for he is true and just and does not clear the guilty.

Moses came down with a fresh, new set of tablets with the Ten Commandments, and God was saying, “These are the demands. This is how you obey me.” Oh, but in Jesus, friends, in Moses, God brought the demands. In Jesus, God comes and meets those demands on behalf of his people. He comes and he says, “I will take upon myself the guilt of my people, so that they may be cleared of their iniquity and transgression.” So that, what do we have? What do we receive? Nothing else but grace upon grace.

This means that – it means just that. Grace is the bestowing of favour on the disfavourable or the unfavourable or the unlikable – on those who will never seem to get it right. They receive nothing else but grace. Those who trust in Jesus receive nothing else but grace. It is grace upon grace upon grace. And you’ve been there, right? We’ve been there when you think, “I think he might run out of grace for me. I think he’ll give me grace, grace, grace, grace and then at some point, the real God will show up and then I will really have to give an answer!”

Oh, but friends, he will show up and guess what you will receive? Grace upon grace upon grace. Oh, saint, his grace is an inexhaustible fountain. There is more grace in Christ than there is sin in you, as Sibs reminds us. Your failure, your transgression, only invites more grace from him because he has borne your guilt. This is our Jesus. This is the Jesus that we’ve come to hear about these three days. He is the one who has no beginning. He is the one who has all the attributes of God for he is God. He is the one who has condescended and made himself like us.

Worship Christ

As I close, hear these few applications. Firstly, worshipfully, worshipfully ponder on this Christ. Spend time thinking, prayerfully reading the Word and behold this Jesus. The first thing that we owe him is not some kind of other response other than worship. Falling on our faces and saying, “How could it be?” We’re called by the words of John to acknowledge, to receive, to believe and to worship this Jesus.

Preach Christ

And secondly, brother pastors who are here, preach this Christ. Preach this Jesus. Hold this Christ forth. Do not preach a diminished Christ. Only the truly divine, the truly human Christ can save us from our sin. The only hope of your people, of God’s people, is this Christ. For John the Baptist will not suffice – he’s only a witness. For Moses will not suffice – he is only a witness. Only Jesus, the one truly God and truly man, will suffice. Therefore, preach him. Preach him through all the books. Preach him on all Sundays. Preach him at all events. Preach him in all conversations. Preach him in all counselling situations. Preach Christ.

Live secure in Christ

Thirdly, Christian, live secure in what the Son has accomplished for you. Live secure in what the Son has accomplished for you. Do you want to know what it took for you to be saved? God became man. Do you want to know how secure your salvation is? The first person of the Trinity has sent the second person of the Trinity to die for his enemies to secure your salvation.

Oh the Book of John in chapter 17, it’s just glorious. It’s a, it’s a glorious prayer of the Son to the Father. And listen to the Son praying for you, Christian, to the Father. He says, John 12:24, “ Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” Saint, Jesus desires this for you and prays these for you: that you would get home, that you would continually see his glory, that you will one day be a witness to this love. And he prays that we might share his Father’s love. He says in John 17:26, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”Jesus will have nothing less than being with you, than being in you. Friend, marvel and ponder at the commitment of your God to be with you.

Is there something right now that you feel the Lord will not be able to surmount to fulfill his covenant to you? Is there something that you feel is too high above for the Lord to jump over? Are there issues and things and secrets and darkness’s that you feel, “Oh, this one is the one that will ultimately show God my true colours and this is the point at which he gives up on me.” He has already crossed the greatest gap. He has already closed the greatest chasm. He, who is God, has become man.

Accept Christ

Finally, if you’re here and you do not believe in this Jesus, if you don’t believe that this Jesus is the Son of God, your soul is in great peril. This Jesus, who made you and who gives you the life that you have right now, is even now by his Spirit inviting you to receive him. And he promises you that if you receive him, he will give you the right to become a child of God. This can be true of you today. Talk to anyone here. You’ve come to the best place. This place is literally full of pastors and just Christians. Talk to anyone. They’ll be happy to have tea with you and tell you more about this Son. Friends, how great a salvation we have for how great is our God in his humility to come to save us. Amen. Let’s pray.

Prayer

Father, we ask that you would ravish our hearts with this truth about your Son, by the power of your Holy Spirit. We ask that all our actions and deeds, thoughts and words would be rooted in our consideration in their reality of what you have done for us in your Son. Pray that you would open our eyes to see more and more who you are and to marvel at what you have done. Fill us with hope and rest and delight in knowing that our salvation is sure, for the Son has come and he has taken on flesh. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.