From: Grace Leung
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1.14
All around me I see a lot of hype and excitement for Christmas. At my workplace, our building is extensively decorated at this time of year, whereas no other time of year or holiday warrants any decorating. There is Christmas music being played all over the place, and (too) many ugly Christmas sweater parties. Yet for all the festivities, people have lost the true meaning of Christmas. Many people focus on Christmas as a time for family, which is all good, but it pales in comparison to the good news that Christmas brings.
This passage from John is one of my favourites. It really encapsulates the true meaning of Christmas and why it brings us hope and life. We will never really be able to wrap our minds around how incredible it is that God Almighty, Creator of the whole universe (vv. 1-5), would become flesh and dwell among us (v. 14)!!! We could never know God except that Jesus Christ came to us where we are, and revealed the Father to us. And the best news of all: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (v. 12).
So as we celebrate Christmas, let's keep in mind that it's much much more than gifts or carols, and praise our Father in Heaven for the hope and new life that we have received.
Yea Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
O come let us adore him!
O come let us adore him!
O come let us adore him!
Christ the Lord!
I am a Canadian transplant from the beautiful city of Vancouver on the West Coast (ask me about Vancouver, I always love talking about it!). I'm currently doing a postdoc studying cancer biology at Novartis, a very large pharmaceutical company in Cambridge.