In our Sunday evening class, Jim talked about how God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. In Genesis 26:24 Isaac is encouraged by a visit from the LORD who said to him, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you.” God reminds Jacob of this same truth in Genesis 31:3. We are told four times in Genesis 39 that the LORD was with Joseph, as was evident in his life.
While God has been with His people since the beginning, He very rarely made any kind of appearance. God spoke with and through the prophets in the Old Testament, but appeared in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush in Exodus 3:2. The LORD appeared to Elijah in a still small voice in 1 Kings 19:12. Moses had asked to see the LORD, but was told in Exodus 33:20, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Instead, Moses was allowed to see the LORD’s back.
In Isaiah 7:14 a promise was made to God’s people, a “virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” The name Immanuel means “God with us.” This promise is repeated in Matthew 1:23 and was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. While Joseph and Mary are Jesus’ parents, we are told plainly in Matthew 1:19-25 that Joseph was not Jesus’ father, but God. This is how God came to dwell among us.
The Gospel of John does not contain a birth narrative like Matthew or Luke. Instead John offers us an origin narrative in which we are told in John 1:14 that God (as the Word) “became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus, the Son of God, was God in the flesh and dwelt among us.
When God dwelt among us, His glory was beheld by those who witnessed His teachings, presence, and His power. When Jesus spoke, the very Word of God was speaking. Those who heard Him, heard God. Those who saw Him, saw God. Those who witnessed His miracles, witnessed the power of God.
When God dwelt among us, His kingdom was made manifest in King Jesus. John the Baptist began preaching in Matthew 3:2 that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus, also preached this same message starting in Matthew 4:17. The reason the kingdom was at hand was because the King had come.
The King who comes and dwells among His kingdom changes everything. Because King Jesus came and dwelt among mankind, our relationship with God has forever changed. Jesus is no ordinary king. He is God in the flesh. He is not distant, but near and ever present.
King Jesus is present as a servant, savior, and Lord. We see Jesus as the servant King, especially in John 13 when He washes the disciples’ feet. Jesus is seen as our savior and Lord in His sacrifice on the cross for our sins and in His resurrection.
It is in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection that we have the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Our God came and dwelt among us. Our God gave His life for ours. Our God is both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). Those who accept and obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ enter into His Kingdom (Acts 2:38, 47). When we obey the Gospel and are baptized into Christ, God’s Holy Spirit dwells within us (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Timothy 1:14).
God dwelt among His people as Jesus and dwells within us as His Spirit. Because God’s Spirit dwells within us, God is ever present in our lives with the promise of never leaving us or forsaking us (Hebrews 13:5).
