“The Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Theophany: God in grace revealing Himself to humankind in human form.
The path of return to Eden was barred by angelic security forces armed with flaming swords. The nightly routine of walking together with their Creator in the cool breezes of the day was gone forever. The rest of the story is a narrative of restoration, as God makes a way for man to walk with Him.
Those who had once lived by seeing His face long to once again see His face…and live!
She was unmarried, pregnant and homeless, a fugitive servant on the run. No longer able to endure the affliction of her mistress’ house and lost on the road home, she is arrested by the realization that she had seen…. ”Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?!?” Genesis 16:13
His shirt was drenched in perspiration, his body caked with dirt, arms too weary to be raised and a hip permanently dislocated. Then it dawned on him, “I have seen God face to face” and lived! Genesis 32:30
Discovered in the secret shadows of his private threshing mill, filled with confusion about the seeming absence of the delivering God but not yet willing to bow to the impotent Baals, Gideon shutters in fear as he becomes aware that his personal dinner guest was none other then the Lord. “O Lord God! I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face!” Judges 6:22
The exhausted fisherman, having had nothing to show for an entire night’s work, suddenly possesses a bounty of fish and becomes overwhelmed by fear as it dawns upon him that he is standing in the presence of the Lord.
The exiled evangelist, simply living for survival on the prison isle of Patmos, turns to look upon the one who was speaking behind him and falls upon his face as if he were dead. (Revelation 1:17)
Those who had once lived by seeing His face long to once again see His face…and live!
Can you, then, imagine the pure astonishment of 11 men who had just experienced an unprecedented dinner packed with fresh revelation and intriguing mystery, when one of them--Philip by name--says, “Lord, if you would show us the Father that would be enough,” then to have Jesus reply, “If you have seen Me, you HAVE seen the Father”?
ULTIMATE Theophany: God in grace revealing Himself to humankind in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
“The Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Those who had once lived by seeing His face long to once again see His face…and live!
“…they will see His face, and His name will be written on their foreheads.” Revelation 22:4
See you Sunday, Church!
Pastor Tom
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