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We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. The Apostle John takes us further into the amazing doctrine of the Incarnation. In 1:14 he tells us “The Word dwelt among us.” This is another “connection” John makes to show us the God of the OT is the same God Who came to earth in human flesh to redeem mankind. John tells us Jesus “tabernacled or tented” among us. This phrase reveals two important truths.
First, we learn reading through the OT we learn God has dwelt among His people since He delivered them from bondage in Egypt. In Ex. 25:1-9; 26:31-34; 40:17-21; and Lev. 26:11, 12; 16:1-3, 29 we learn God was among His people but He was hidden behind the veil in the tabernacle and only the High Priest could go there once a year. If we return to our focal verse, John 1:14, we see how God is revealing to us He is beginning a new dispensation. Even while Jesus was on earth the veil was still in place because redemption had not yet been secured, and sin still separated Man from God. However, Jesus as God, was now among men in physical, visible flesh. One of the major reasons Jesus spent time among His people was to show them what God’s Law is supposed to look like when it is properly lived out in daily life. The consistency of the connection continues in that just as God had revealed His presence to Israel through miracles, Jesus also performed miracles proving His divine sovereignty over all creation. If a person really wants to see Jesus as the God/Man Scripture provides over-whelming evidence of both His deity and His humanity.
The second truth John reveals is that Jesus did not see this world as His home. Tabernacled or tented indicates a temporary dwelling place. In my own personal study I have never found where “dwelt” is translated as templed! The reason is because the tabernacle was a temporary structure used during Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. When they entered Canaan and secured it, then God provided the Temple or permanent structure. The point John so clearly makes is that Jesus had an eschatological view of life here on earth. He never refers to earth as His home. All the Apostles teach that salvation is eschatological or heaven focused. Everywhere in the NT we are told we are “not of this world.” True Christians are citizens of heaven. Jesus verifies that when He tells us “If I go to prepare a place (heaven) for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself so that where I am there you may be also.” The Ascension and promise of a Rapture and Resurrection of the dead all teach us that this world, this life, this earth is not our final home. For true Christians heaven is our final home. A Christless and eternal hell is the final “home” for all the unsaved. The question is: for you personally, “is God still hidden behind a veil and inaccessible to you – not because He is hiding from you, but because you are running from Him?” To answer that question, answer this one: “Does your daily life begin, end, and center in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and all things God, or on something else?” You know don’t you!
If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
