John 1:1-5 and 14, 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. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
	Let us mark the passage of another year, in this holiday season, ever realizing that each year brings us closer to that time of the universal acknowledgment of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. What we know in our hearts and minds, and what the rest of creation knows and acclaims, will become the manifested recognition of every man, woman, and child throughout the entire course of human history. In the fullness of the Lord’s timing, there will be another physical return of Christ, a return filled with joy for those who know Him, and filled with terror and gnashing of teeth for those who deny Him. At that time, the Only Begotten Son will not be clothed in swaddling clothes, but rather clothed in the magnificence of His glory seen in the truth of the Light which scatters the darkness and causes it to be banished, like the rays of the sun in the morning.
	This time of year is celebrated around the world with all manners of traditions, customs, and rituals and all variety of motives. There are some who feel that in re-enacting the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, some 2000 years ago, they can come into a greater knowledge of what God intended on that day. There are others who feel that good actions at this time of year will atone for their misdeeds during the preceding year, so they go out of their way to attempt any human kindness. 
There are still others who care little for the reason of Christmas, but rather see it as a time of intense activity, or a time to party, or a time to make and spend lots of money. Many are so caught up the selfish desires for gifts and trinkets and whatever else they can get that will fill their thoughts with the idea of their self-worth in the eyes of others. As well, there is often the sentimental time of remembrances of by-gone moments with loved ones now deceased, or estranged, or just a long distance away. 
	The world, in general, despite the carols of the season, and the ceremonial telling of the story of the birth of Christ, has so polluted the precious reality of what God accomplished on that day. He took upon Himself a body of flesh, and made Himself lower than the angels in order to bring humanity into a glorious relationship with Himself. 
Today, however, we are bombarded with the mixed messages of the birth of Christ, Santa Claus, flying reindeer, and all manner of various other tales spun in utter distraction from the resplendent truth of God incarnate. Through these tales, filled with the smoke and mirrors of this age’s lies and decent, the world is trying to ensure that the Glory of God and His great love has been relegated to just another pleasant story for the season.
Our attention, for so many years, has been focused on the babe in swaddling clothes, lying in that manger. What should rather keep our attention, is our God, Who so gave Himself up in order to bring Himself into our lives.
	This should be the focus of our beings, now in Christ. You see, before Jesus Christ came to earth as the child whom we celebrate, God worked around the lives of His people. The Children of Israel were the chosen ones of God, and He kept them, even through the worst of earthly situations. He kept that remnant that looked to Him and trusted Him and relied upon Him. When He spoke, it was through the prophets and the law in manners which they could see, and touch, and hear. 
It wasn't that He loved them any less, but rather that they were chosen by God to display the utter need for the Christ to come. We see pictures throughout the Old Testament of men and women who were friends with and faithful to God, and how He kept them unto Himself. But, this was always in manners that were, simply put, based on human abilities and sensibilities. 
	Even in terms of the words that the Lord sent to His people, through His prophets, there was need to express it in tangible ways, in wording that would evoke the picture in their minds of how it would look, how it would be seen, how it would be physically experienced. Consider the prophecy of the coming of the Christ as expressed in Isa 40:3-8.
Isa 40:3-8, A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. 
	The reality of Christ is that God now, in Christ, no longer needs to use those physically manifested manners of dealing with humanity. The Word, the Son, the One who made us, and called us, has come into us, to dwell in our hearts. He took upon Himself the body of humanity and walked on this earth for a period of some 33 years, and dwelt among us. He took our sins and burdens from us by suffering the shame of crucifixion for us. Then, after the debt of our sinful nature was paid at Calvary, it was left in that grave and by His resurrection power, He chose to live in us. 
	Even as Isaiah expressed this great prophetic reality in the words that the people could see with their minds and understand in a most literal sense, we are able to know the full measure of what God accomplished through the giving of His Only Begotten Son. Consider the entire chapter of Isa 53 in terms of Who Jesus is in our hearts, as we walk and talk with the One Whom Isaiah announced those so many centuries ago. 
Isa 53, Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors. 
	This is the true essence of Christ our Lord and Savior. This is the message that should be proclaimed from the mountain-tops unto the lowest valley floor. Christ did not just come to earth for a short period, as a babe, and then leave us. He, the Word came to indwell us, by His Holy Spirit. We are now brought into a living relationship with the Word Who was and is and ever will be. This is not a seasonal situation, but the very life that we now daily live. 
	Again, Isaiah makes known the fullness of what God has accomplished in the salvation that He freely offers to all who will but believe in Christ and so accept that gift of God’s great love. The clarion call is put forth by the prophet in Isa 60, verses 1-5a.
Isa 60:1-5a. "Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. "For behold, darkness will cover the earth, And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you, And His glory will appear upon you. "And nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. "Lift up your eyes round about, and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms. "Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will thrill and rejoice…
	The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ details what will be seen as the glory of God is revealed for all to behold and to acknowledge. Every knee will bow to the supremacy of Christ Jesus! Every tongue will proclaim the fact that Jesus is Who He says He is! All will give Him the homage that He is due as the Light of the World Who came to shine forth the love of God to all those whom He has created. His light of glory and majesty and righteousness and honor and holiness will be such that there will be no need for any other object to cast those faint glimmers of light as the Light that is Jesus Christ, The Only Begotten Son of God will be the One Who shines forth in all His splendor! 
	We see this picture in our hearts as recounted in Rev 21:22-27. Rev 21:22-27, And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 
	As Christians, let us not be distracted by the ploys of this realm to be persuaded from the truth that Jesus Christ is the very Word of God indwelling us. We have the very God of Life, and Love and Essence, the Creator of all that is made in our lives, guiding and teaching and keeping us and shining forth His brilliant holiness within us. 
It is no longer a matter of the occasional visits by God, as the world consigns to the birth of Christ. Rather, we are at this moment, in our worship, communing heart-to-heart and Spirit-to-spirit with our risen and glorified Jesus Christ, and the Father, by the Holy Spirit. This is an eternal relationship unto which we must give expression each and every moment of our lives.
	If one among us is not able to claim more than the knowledge of the story of Jesus Christ as a babe in Bethlehem, then let us pray together for the Word of God to penetrate each heart, and reveal Himself in His glory. Let the Light that is Christ shine forth, not from this season, but from the lives of His own, to shed forth the glory of God in the living reality of His grace and truth.	 
	Seek Him today, to earnestly know Him in His truth and His grace. We need to pray to God to make known Christ, not as a child in swaddling clothing, but as the Victor over all sin and death! He is now clothed in the triumphant garb of the very Word of God, sent into our hearts to manifest Himself in all His preeminence and majesty and honor and magnificence! So be it!
	And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
	
This morning’s benediction is 2 Cor 1:20-22. For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. Amen.