The Manger:Where We Meet Our God

"Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel: and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel." Amos:4:12

Christmas , the celebration which notes the entrance of Jesus into the stream of human history. It has been celebrated over the centuries in  numerous ways . To some, Christmas  has become largely a commercial event, a time to generate revenues and profits.

It is noted by films that highlight "family values" and "togetherness" and "goodwill" a "time of sharing" and "serving" .    Those are good things , but they really are not good enough. Christmas should be about our Lord Jesus. If Christmas is not focused upon Jesus , then it is simply a social custom.  It is alright to do those things afor mentioned, but let them be done in light of Who Jesus is and His coming to us. Let them note that something miraculous has occurred for us all there in that far away, and unlikely  place in that far off time.  Something that  changed all things forever.

The Promised Seed

From the very beginning there has been the promise that God would provided the means whereby humanity would be saved out of  their estrangement from God, even as our first parents, under the deceptive sway of satan,  set the course of human civilization. 

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel"Genesis:3:15

This verse is called by some Theologians the "Proto Evangaliuem",   which means the First Preaching of the Gospel.  This is the message that has been consistent, that God will save His people. That He will be with them. In Jesus, Who The Apostle Paul identifies as "the Seed" , God has accomplished this and more for each of us. In Jesus,  God has come to us as one of us and He meets us all  in a very unlikely place.

To See The Glory

Moses during a time of prayerful dislodge with the Great God.  Moses asked to see what all humanity truly has sought  , even if they are unaware of it.

"And Moses said, I beseech you, show me your glory." Exodus:33:18

 And God responded by giving Moses just a glimpse of His glory.

  "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, You can not see my face: for there will no man see me, and live": (19-20)

The Lord tells Moses that His face can not be seen, this means far more than we may first understand , what is being told to Moses and all of us , is that God was not yet incarnate, that is in the flesh in Jesus.
Apart from the incarnation we can not see the full glory of God, that is  "His face", we can only see a glimpse of it, "His back". 
 

 "And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen".(21-23)

Jesus is the face of God wherein we can truly see His glory at its greatest , as we are the recipients of His mercy and grace through Jesus, as the Lord God said to Moses:

"and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy"(19c)

Jesus Reveals God

At the conception  and birth of Jesus God has come to us, in the person of His Son. In Jesus we meet our God even  as we peer into  the manger of the  Nativity.  He is there come to us as one of us.  We are beholding the face of God even in the infant Jesus.

 In the Nativity there in the manger long ago, as we count years,  yet ever present for any who will but come forward to look and gaze upon the child Jesus, Who, was and is,  wrapped in swaddling clothes of  old linen strips used mostly to bury  the dead .
 If we will but look even here in the manger , we will see the glory of God;  we will meet our God there, even  in this the humblest of places. 

The shepherds who heard the angelic choir that night, long ago, and made their way to Bethlehem and look ed upon the face of Jesus saw the very glory that Moses asked to see. 

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told"  Luke:2:8-18

All the history of Israel was to prepare them and all humanity to encounter the great God, to meet God face to face in Jesus. 
  
 "Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel: and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel" Amos:4:12

 Jesus came to reveal to  us the Creator,  to give us what Moses asked  to see God;  to know God.

 "show me your glory" Exodus:33:18


In Jesus we come to know God. He has made this possible by becoming one of us.

"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 were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." John:1:1-3

"and the Word became flesh"(14)

Jesus has come to show us the Glory of God its clearest most powerful way.


"Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

If you had known me, you should have known my Father also: and from now on you know him, and have seen him.

Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. " John:14:6-13

From His very birth Jesus has been showing each of us the Glory of God in His very Self. Jesus , even in His High Priestly Prayer affirms this.

"I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do. And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was."John:17:4-5

The Fullness  of God

In Jesus the fullness of God dwell in Him. we can encounter the fullness of God in the person of His Son. 

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form",Colossians:2:9

  Meets Us Still

There in the manger, all of this was present made possible by the workings of the power of the great God. That Child, in this place suited more for livestock which stunk of the dung and animals. This is where we meet our God. Where we see His glory. Then and now.

 He is still meeting us in the places of our lives that have the offensive  smell of the dung of our broken humanity . He is there to assure us that God is near and He has come to us. He has come in the least threatening way possible to us. A baby. He does not want us to fear, rather,  He wants us to know that He loves us and has come to us even where we may not think to have found Him.

He loves us so much to have descend into the the humblest of places, the feeding trough of animals. He awaits each of us, ever still, there calling us to come and look upon Him and know that our God loves us.

Here ,in the Nativity manger,  is where we all see His glory and  first meet our God. Amen.

Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor

The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
2101 Old National Pike.

Washington, Pennsylvania.   www.gcfountainoflife.org

The Fountain of Life is heard  on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM  in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com