Day 17 - FOUNDATION STONES IN A YEAR

Reading: John 1: 18; John 14: 9; John 5: 19, 20; 

The great truth revealed in the New Testament is that the eternal God became one of us; He became a human being.

God became a human in Jesus Christ. This is known as the "incarnation." Incarnation is from the Latin, meaning "in flesh." Although it is not a Biblical word it does present a Biblical truth. Jesus is the eternal God who became flesh and blood. Jesus became a man at a point in time in history. He did so without giving up his oneness with God. He became a human being without a sin nature. "In flesh" means more than Jesus had a physical body - he was a complete human personality.

By the incarnation we do not mean that God was turned into a human or that Jesus ceased to be God while he was a man. The incarnation means that while remaining God, Jesus took a new nature - a human nature. The incarnation was the uniting of the divine and the human into one being, one person. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human.

In becoming a human being Jesus laid aside his heavenly glory to live among us. The question is, why did he do it? 

The first and foremost reason was to give a further revelation of God to humanity. If you want to know what God is like you need look no further than Jesus. As we see in our readings for today, the Bible says No one has ever seen God, but God the one and only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. 

Jesus' work of reaching out to the vilest of sinners reveals the heart of God the Father. Those who criticized his work amongst sinners, revealed their lack of understanding of God’s heart.

While God revealed Himself to humankind in the Old Testament the revelation was incomplete. There were a number of things that waited till God Himself came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. Thus Jesus revealed God to humanity in a personal way.

Prayer

Thank You Lord for this supreme self-revelation through Jesus Christ. 

For the family

Explain the study in an age-appropriate way.