The Path to Christmas 15

Glory. It’s a word we think we grasp without really plumbing its depths. I do not profess to know the depths of such a rich and meaningful term, and believe it will take lengths measured with an eternal calendar to fully understand it.

But “glory” and “Christmas” are closely tied. We cannot truly know one without considering the other. The apostle John wrote, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we BEHELD HIS GLORY (emphasis mine)…”

So how can we behold the glory of the eternal God, who none have ever seen… or ever seen and lived to tell it… when we can’t even stare for a few seconds into the brilliant, noonday sun?

The heavens declare the glory of God, according to the Psalmist. The angels shouted of His glory Christmas evening. A beautiful sunrise or sunset hint at it. But Jesus revealed it. He showed it in a way that was unmistakable… “veiled in flesh, the godhead see…” The glory resides in Jesus. And the only way we will see it as it is will be through this One who is God in flesh.

One day, standing before the Father in Heaven, we will see the glory in its fullness. Without veil… without filter… without dilution. It thrills my heart even now as I write this to know that my sweet wife is seeing that glory RIGHT NOW, the same glory she sang and played music about for over half a century.

But now, in Jesus, we can “behold His glory….” Don’t miss this part. To “behold” doesn’t mean to glance at something and then look away. It means to stay with our gaze transfixed and to “see with understanding.”

And in Jesus, there is no greater way to see.


Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace toward men with whom God is pleased. Luke 2:14

Glorious God, as the stars and sun emanate light and power, so does your Presence so much more. Make us long for nothing greater, nothing higher, than to see and know that same glory. Through the Son who reveals it to us we pray, Amen.

 

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