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John 1:18, No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the

      bosom of the father, He has declared Him.

This might be a strange verse to study during Christmas.  When I taught, I would make sure students would look at the verses before and after the verse being studied to get the full meaning of the verse.  That needs to be done here.

No man had experienced God in His fulness to this time.  No man had ever seen God; He is spiritual, invisible (1 Timothy 6:16 and Hebrews 11:27).  Moses who had been in God’s presence was told he could not look upon God’s face.  The prophets had heard God speak to them but had not seen His face.

Who better to reveal the Father than the Son, the Word who was with God in the beginning and who was God?  Who better than the One through whom all things were made?  Who better than the One who was life and the light of men?  Only the babe born to Mary and Joseph, the Incarnation, could perfectly declare the Father.  The Son was in the bosom of the Father.  It was in the Son that the Father was well-pleased; the Son was the Father’s pleasure. You and I as God’s children are in God’s hands, but the Son is in the Father’s bosom and that declares the most intimate and loving relationship with the Father.

What does this all mean?  We need to understand that the Father and the Son are One.  Jesus Christ came to reveal the father, to fulfill the Father’s promise to redeem mankind from slavery to sin.  To know our Heavenly Father, we study the life of Jesus while on earth; they are One.  It means that now that which was once hidden in God can now be seen in plain and simple truth through the life and teachings of Jesus.  It means the Father’s grace to “whosoever would believe” has come through His only begotten Son.

So, we celebrate the birth of the Son.  While we put up decorations, decorate trees, and give gifts, let us recognize what this celebration is really about.   Take time with your family and friends to celebrate Jesus and be thankful for the grace He has brought to us.

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