John 1:14 "And the Word became 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." Colossians 2:9 "For in Him (Christ as in vs 8) dwells ALL the fullness of the Godhead BODILY."
If our "God stuff", our communication about God, for God, and to God, is not "enfleshed" in Jesus Christ, we have come short of the Glory of God! Again in John, chapter 1, verse 18, "No one has seen God at any time. The Only Begotten Son, WHO IS IN THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER, He has declared Him." In Hebrews 1:1-3 states, "God who at various times and in different ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us BY HIS SON, Whom He has appointed Heir of all things through Whom also He made the worlds; Who being THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the Word of His Power, when He had by Himself purged our sins (by a bodily death and resurrection), sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." It is disturbing and and gives a sense of incompleteness to hear people talk much about God, with no mention of Jesus Christ. I'm talking about "christians" here. In the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17, Jesus makes it very plain that no one can come to God the Father but by Him. No one can enter into a relationship of communion with the Father except by being found "in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 3:8-9) and are brought into the love bond the Son has had with the Father for all eternity (John 17:20-26) only in Him. Jesus is the only way to the Father, He is the only truth about the Father, and He is the only Life of the Father, accessible to fallen man. To think to approach the Presence of the Most High God apart from the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the mediation of the riches purchased for us, and that by Christ's continual intercession for us, is fatal foolishness! (Exodus 33:20-23) Thank God that He remembers that we are but dust and bears with our frailness and ignorance, but that forbearance and Divine patience are because of the Righteousness of Christ on our Judicial Account.
The Apostle Paul sums this up beautifully in II Corinthians 4:6. "For it is the God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ." As Hugh Martin has pointed out, we misread this text when we think it means God has shined a light into our hearts. What it means is that the Holy Spirit, the Power of God in creation, has taken up residence IN OUR HEARTS!!!! It is there that He is shining His cagillion candle power beacon on the Face of Jesus Christ, and in Christ, we behold the Glory of God in His Fullness!! Therefore, I do believe we can discern our growing relationship with our God by the increase of Jesus references in our conversation, our prayer, and our praise. After all, according to Jesus in John 6:29, the one work that God would have us do is "believe on Him Whom He has sent." We, with Paul should seek to know nothing among one another except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (I Corinthians 2:2)
Anything less than this Jesus saturation and dependence falls short of Biblical Christianity, and I fear it has it's origin in the Pit! It falls short of the Glory of God!!
If our "God stuff", our communication about God, for God, and to God, is not "enfleshed" in Jesus Christ, we have come short of the Glory of God! Again in John, chapter 1, verse 18, "No one has seen God at any time. The Only Begotten Son, WHO IS IN THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER, He has declared Him." In Hebrews 1:1-3 states, "God who at various times and in different ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us BY HIS SON, Whom He has appointed Heir of all things through Whom also He made the worlds; Who being THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the Word of His Power, when He had by Himself purged our sins (by a bodily death and resurrection), sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." It is disturbing and and gives a sense of incompleteness to hear people talk much about God, with no mention of Jesus Christ. I'm talking about "christians" here. In the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17, Jesus makes it very plain that no one can come to God the Father but by Him. No one can enter into a relationship of communion with the Father except by being found "in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 3:8-9) and are brought into the love bond the Son has had with the Father for all eternity (John 17:20-26) only in Him. Jesus is the only way to the Father, He is the only truth about the Father, and He is the only Life of the Father, accessible to fallen man. To think to approach the Presence of the Most High God apart from the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the mediation of the riches purchased for us, and that by Christ's continual intercession for us, is fatal foolishness! (Exodus 33:20-23) Thank God that He remembers that we are but dust and bears with our frailness and ignorance, but that forbearance and Divine patience are because of the Righteousness of Christ on our Judicial Account.
The Apostle Paul sums this up beautifully in II Corinthians 4:6. "For it is the God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ." As Hugh Martin has pointed out, we misread this text when we think it means God has shined a light into our hearts. What it means is that the Holy Spirit, the Power of God in creation, has taken up residence IN OUR HEARTS!!!! It is there that He is shining His cagillion candle power beacon on the Face of Jesus Christ, and in Christ, we behold the Glory of God in His Fullness!! Therefore, I do believe we can discern our growing relationship with our God by the increase of Jesus references in our conversation, our prayer, and our praise. After all, according to Jesus in John 6:29, the one work that God would have us do is "believe on Him Whom He has sent." We, with Paul should seek to know nothing among one another except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (I Corinthians 2:2)
Anything less than this Jesus saturation and dependence falls short of Biblical Christianity, and I fear it has it's origin in the Pit! It falls short of the Glory of God!!
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