Lord of the Law

The Beginning of the Glory

Dr. Larry Thorson
January 6, 2008

Scripture: John 1:1-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, "This is he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' ") 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only [Son], who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Today we begin a new sermon series which I’m calling “We Have Seen His Glory”. As I was reading the Gospel of John last year a common theme kept jumping out at me that I hadn’t seen before. I kept reading about this mysterious glory of God and how it would appear in the strangest places in the gospel. Like in John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

What is this glory? I always pictured it as a bright lamp. I used to take 8 mm silent home movies when I was a kid. One year I got a light for my camera. It could be attached to the top of the camera. When I turned it on it would burn anything within an inch of it. I had my middle schoolers in Chino Hills use it in a puppet skit one time to show the glory of the Lord and they caught my eagle puppet on fire with it right on stage. It was bright.

Let me give you a few examples of God’s glory in the Bible…

· And as Aaron spoke to the people, they looked out toward the desert. Within the guiding cloud, they could see the awesome glory of the LORD. - Exodus 16:10

· The Israelites at the foot of the mountain saw an awesome sight. The awesome glory of the LORD on the mountaintop looked like a devouring fire. - Exodus 24:17

· Moses was no longer able to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the Tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the LORD. - Exodus 40:35

· But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD's glory, - Numbers 14:21

· They said, `The LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen God speaking to humans, and yet we live! - Deuteronomy 5:24

· I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD Almighty. - Haggai 2:7

· The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD Almighty. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!" - Haggai 2:9

· The Temple was filled with smoke from God's glory and power. No one could enter the Temple until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues. - Revelation 15:8

The Apostle Paul, before he gave his heart to Jesus was blinded by a bright light on the road to Damascus.

All we can tell from the Scriptures is that God’s glory is so bright we’re blinded if we look at him. Looking at God is kind of like looking at the sun which if done for even just a few seconds, can cause permanent damage to the retina of the eye, because of the intense visible and invisible radiation that the photosphere emits. This damage can result in permanent impairment of vision, up to and including blindness. Since the retina has no sensitivity to pain, and the effects of retinal damage may not appear for hours, there is no warning that injury is occurring.

I remember an eclipse occurring when I was a kid. I remember the stern warnings not to look at it directly and it didn’t make much sense to me. With so much of the sun covered, it’s both easier and tempting to stare at it. Unfortunately, looking at the sun during an eclipse is just as dangerous as looking at it outside an eclipse, except during the brief period of totality, when the Sun's disk is completely covered. Viewing the Sun's disk through any kind of optical aid (binoculars, a telescope, or even an optical camera viewfinder) is even more hazardous.

When you were a child you may have asked the question “what does God look like?” The picture the media usually portrays of God is this long bearded, long fingered, elderly white man. He’s kind of like Father Time. But the reality is that no one can actually see God and live. The glory is too bright. In John 1:18 the Gospel tells us…

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only [Son], who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

What we learn in this first chapter of John is that the Word was God. In v.14 he says The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” That means God is not normally flesh but became flesh for our sake. God is normally a spirit and I think a very bright spirit.

When I was growing up Norwegian Lutheran there was a picture of a long haired European looking Jesus in the front of the sanctuary. That was the picture of God for me. When I was a seminary intern in an all African American congregation in Richmond, Virginia they had a picture of an African Jesus. That conflicted with my Anglo picture of God.

Pictures of God simply reflect our experience and our culture. If we’re Asian we see an Asian Lord. If we’re of European descent we see a European God.

I’ve heard people say they see God in the eyes of poor and that’s why they go out to places like Honduras and Uganda. I’ve met others who say they see God’s glory in the majestic Sierras and that’s why they visit there. I’ve heard others say they experience the glory of God in a well done piece of classical music.

I wouldn’t deny that all of those things cause people to have an experience with God. All three have helped me. Those are glorious encounters. But according to John, it is Jesus who actually makes God’s glory visible to our eye.

Back in verse 14 John writes “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. The word dwelling would have caused his Jewish readers to remember their grandparents telling them stories of a tent dwelling that traveled with them all across the desert as they moved to the Promise Land. As long as that tent was there, they knew the presence of the Lord was with them. You can read the story in Exodus 40.

God doesn’t dwell in tents any longer. God doesn’t dwell in leaky church sanctuaries either. God dwells in people who have opened their heart to receive Jesus Christ. God dwells within you. The reason we need to come to church is not for the beautiful choir, Joe on the piano, Ron on the organ, Pastor Jim’s prayers, and definitely not to find out what creative twist I’m going to give of the Scriptures.

The reason we need to come to church is to see Christ in one another and to worship him. It’s not to just shoot the breeze about your latest golf score, or your desires for the Family Center across the street or the next church rummage sale. The reason we need to come to church is all of those things and to share what Christ is doing in our lives. This is the one place where you can say “I got a message from God” and not be laughed out of the room. It’s the one place where you can say “I’m having a hard time and I need you to pray for me”.

When you sit down in your pew on Sunday mornings you should be able to see people whom you’ve been intimate with and whom you know have been praying for you. But that’s harder to do with 200 people in the room. We do that in small groups of a dozen people whom you come to know and trust.

A nationwide survey of high school seniors involved in church youth groups last year asked what one thing could be done to improve their youth group experience. Overwhelming the number one suggestion made was more time interacting with one another. I think that’s true of any age group.

Starting in late January we’re going to provide an array of small groups scattered throughout the week that meet for six straight weeks. Some will meet on Sunday mornings at 9:00, others on Sunday nights. Some will be in the afternoons and others only during the mornings. They will be one to two hours a week for six weeks sharing the glory of God with one another. After six weeks we’ll take a break and decide where to go next. Next Sunday we’ll have a list of potential times for you to sign up with.

Will you be willing to at least try a six week small group this winter? If you do, you too will see God’s glory.