“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Â Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.” – John 16:28
“These things I have spoken to you , that in Me you may have peace. Â In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Jesus Christ came and dwelt among us. God clothed in the flesh of man. It is an amazing act of love that God decided to be on earth. If God would have never come to earth, He would still be God. If He just created humans and animals, but never walked with them, He would still be God. If God just made the sun rise and kept the earth in its rotation but never healed the sick, He would still be God. If God just fought off our enemies, but never felt the feeling of our infirmities, He would still be God. God desired from the beginning to not just be God from heaven but to dwell among his creation. Â In Genesis 3:8 it says that Adam heard God, “walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” In 1st Kings 6:13 when King Solomon built the temple God said, “and I will dwell among the children of Israel…” The book of John tells us that Jesus “came forth from the Father” and came to earth in the form of a newborn child and dwelt among us for 33 years before returning to heaven and as a father I understand now more than ever. On Christmas 3 years ago I watched my then 3-year-old son open up gift after gift. He opened up some matchbox cars. Then he opened up his train set. Then he opened up a video game. Each gift held his attention for a little while but then he wanted the next one. When he was done opening the gifts I noticed he had a lot of toys and wrapping paper strewn all over the floor, but was kind of lost trying to play with them all at once. So I decided to get down on the floor with him. His smile grew to the biggest it had been all day. “Daddy, are you going to play with me?” he asked. “Of course,” I said. I showed him how to put the train together. I taught him how to play the video game. We raced the matchbox cars across the living room floor. And I cleaned up the shredded gift wrappings. I could have just given him the gifts, I would still have been his dad, but I got down and played with him and showed him how to use them and enjoy them, because I loved him. God so loved us that He sent “His only begotten son” as John 3:16 reminds us, to show us how to live and even though our lives may looked scattered and chaotic like a child’s Christmas morning Jesus says, “…in Me you may have peace…”