Hope Found in God Coming to Us

31 Days of Courageous Hope - Day 9

Friday - July 9th

Scripture to Read Today: John 1:1-3, 14, 18

CLICK HERE to access a downloadable PDF of today’s 31 Days of Courageous Hope

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The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

The mystery and miracle of God, leaving Heaven to walk around among us in human flesh, brings us incredible hope. God came to us. We could not go to Him, but He came to us.

We often reserve discussions of Jesus coming to live among us for the Christmas season. The incarnation (God coming in human flesh) affects every aspect of our Christian walk.The Creator of the universe living out life in human flesh matters. Our God gets it! He knows what it is like to be tempted (and yet not sin). He understands how challenging life’s trials can be.

In his book, Pleasure Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Enjoying God, Sam Storms lays out just how the incarnation shapes our daily joy today. I thought you might enjoy this beautiful reminder of what it meant and means that God became human for us.

The Selection from Sam Storms' Book:

The Word became flesh! God became human! The invisible became visible! The untouchable became touchable! Eternal life experienced temporal death! The transcendent one descended and drew near! The unlimited became limited! The infinite became finite! The immutable became mutable! The unbreakable became fragile!

Spirit became matter! Eternity entered time! The independent became dependent! The almighty became weak! The loved became hated! The exalted was humbled! Glory was subjected to shame! Fame turned into obscurity! From inexpressible joy to tears of unimaginable grief! From a throne to a cross! From ruler to being ruled! From power to weakness!

He was conceived by the union of divine grace and human disgrace. He who breathed the breath of life into the first man is now Himself, a man breathing His first breath. The King of kings now sleeping in a cow-pen. The Creator of oceans and seas and rivers afloat in the womb of His mother. God sucking His thumb. The Alpha and Omega learning His multiplication tables.

He who was once surrounded by the glorious stereophonic praise of adoring angels now hears the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, the stammering of bewildering shepherds. He who spoke the universe into being now coos and cries. Omniscient Deity counting His toes… From the robes of eternal glory to the rags of swaddling clothes. The omnipresent Spirit, whose being fills the galaxies, confined to the womb of a peasant girl. Infinite power learning to crawl.

Remembering how Christ came to us should shape our hope as we live our lives for Him!

Today’s Prayer

Father, thank you for sending your Son to earth. Thank you for sending Him to us when we, in our sin, could not reach you. Help me to live and love as He lived and loved. Cultivate in me the very heart and character of Jesus! -Amen