He Came

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not." (John 1:11)

I confess that I am struck with the wonder and the significance of the limitless meaning of these two words, "He Came." Within them the whole scope of divine mercy and redeeming love is outlined. All of the mercy of God is capable of showing, all of the redeeming grace that He could pour from His heart, all of the love and pity that God is capable of feeling - all of these are at least suggested here in the message that "He Came!"

Beyond that, all of the hopes and longings and aspirations, all of the dreams of immortality that lie in the human breast, all had their fulfillment in the coming to earth of Jesus, the Christ and Redeemer.

All our fond visions of a life to come are summed up in these simple words in the Bible record: He Came!

There are times when the use of the superlative is absolutely necessary and you cannot escape it. The coming of Jesus Christ into this world represents a truth more profound than all of philosophy, for all of the great thinkers of the world together could never produce anything that could even remotely approach the wonder and the profundity disclosed in the message of these words, HE CAME!

I am awestruck, Loving God, that You humbled Yourself in order to bring hope and salvation. I worship You. Amen

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All Mystery

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Timothy 3:16)

We would suppose that God in stepping down would step down just as little as possible. We would think that He would stop with the angels or the seraphim - but instead He came down to the lowest order and took upon Himself the nature of Abraham, the seed of Abraham.

The Apostle Paul throws up his hands in wonder at this point. Paul, declared to be one of the six great intellects of all time, throws up his hands and declares that "great is the mystery of godliness" (1 Timothy 3:16), the mystery of God manifest in the flesh.

Perhaps this is the most becoming approach to the subject for all of us: to just throw up our hands and say, "O Lord, you alone know!" There are so many more things in heaven and earth than are known in our theology - so it is in the deepest sense all mystery.

I think also that it is very becoming for us to enter into the presence of God reverently, bowing our heads and singing His praises, and acknowledging His loving acts on our behalf even with our words, "It is true, O God, even if we do not know or understand how You have brought it all to pass!"

Lord, I both throw up my hands in awe and fall on my face in worship. I don't always understand You, but I praise and worship Your majesty. Amen

~A. W. Tozer~