David and I wish all our readers Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, in whatever part of the world you may live.
In a troubled world, the Word of God made flesh is an amazing historical truth that changes the whole understanding of our existence.
This is what John, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, first wrote when he came to set down what still needed to be written about the life of Jesus:
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things became through him, and without him nothing became that has become into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light is appearing in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
It happened that a man came, having been sent from God, and his name was John. The same came to be a witness, that he might testify concerning the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came that he might testify concerning the light. There was the true light, the light which illuminates every man, coming into the world. He was in the world and the world became through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him.
But as many as received him, he gave the authority to become children of God to them, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not from bloods, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of man, but from God. And the Word became flesh and resided among us (and we saw his glory, glory like that of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him and has cried, saying, ‘This was he of whom I spoke, He who is coming after me, has become before me, because he was before me.’ And we all received out of his fullness and grace in exchange-for grace. Because the law was given through Moses; the grace and the truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has described him.” [John 1:1-18, MLV].
Any seeker of a person can only know if he has found him if he has a description of the person he seeks. If we seek after God, we can only know we have a relationship with God if we have a description of what God is like. John asserts that it is Jesus, and only Jesus – the Word became flesh – who described God to us in terms we could understand. He described God because he was God in the form of a human person.
Following the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, He remains God in the flesh and will return in the coming days in the flesh.
Whoever we are and in whomever we believe, we must all contend with the fact of Jesus. We can either bow the knee and acknowledge Him as our Lord or try to undo all He came to do.
Whichever we choose, know that one day each one of us will stand before him and account for what we have done in our flesh, measured against the standard of what he did in His flesh.
Those who made Jesus the pattern for their lives will be accepted, those who chose not to, will not.
This is a serious Christmas message for serious times. But in it is tremendously great news for everyone who wants to turn their life around and follow Jesus. He says: ‘Come unto me!’
The Lord bless you and keep you. May you receive the blessings of Jesus this Christmas,
David Rothfuss and Graham Ford
Director and President
Jesus Christ for Muslims