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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 (John 1:14).

Here is an earthier translation from The Message

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish (The Message).

Last week, in our riffs on the Old Testament stories regarding Immanuel, you may have noticed something important: God showed up on this earth. God came to Adam and Eve, he came to Elijah, he came to his people Israel to take up residence in the Tabernacle. God came and he kept coming. All through the Old Testament, he kept showing up among his people.

This is a gross oversimplification, but two things that are present in many of his comings are these: he showed his glory here on this earth and he came to call his people back.

These things are the necessary Old Testament background to our Advent theme: Immanuel, God with us. Yesterday, Pastor Anthony brought us into the New Testament. Matthew, in his telling of Jesus’ conception and birth, tells us that Mary’s son is Immanuel. Pardon the pun, but John gives some flesh to what this means. As Eugene Peterson translates our text, “the Word (that Creative and Powerful force by which the cosmos was formed and fashioned) became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.”

Hebrews 1 picks up all the grand themes of John 1. Then it spends considerable time punctuating the fact that Jesus is the final and grandest Word of God, THE Immanuel. He is God with us, forever. End of story!

That’s why we have chosen to spend this Advent exploring together what Immanuel means. There is lots to be said. And its glorious. Let me leave you with one consideration for today.

When we Christians talk about dwelling with God and seeing his glory, we are often thinking about life after we die physically. We like to say that when a Christian dies, she enters into glory. This is alright after a fashion. But I think causes us to miss one of the truths of Immanuel. What did John say, “we have beheld the glory of God.” Jesus reveals the glory of God. And before he left his disciples, he promised to send them his Spirit. Through his Spirit, he would be with them.

Let me say this plainly, the Spirit connects us to God’s glory, now, today. This is Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 3 which ends with, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (18).

Dwelling in the glory of God is not reserved for after death. It begins now. Its true that “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). So yes, there is a difference between then and now, but only one of degrees.

Sometimes we see the glory in the gathering of God’s people in worship; sometimes we see it in the face of a fellow Christian; sometimes we see it in someone that we serve or someone who serves us. But see it we do, if we have eyes to see; if we believe.

Jesus is Immanuel. He is God with us. He is here with us now.

Today’s ornament needs to reflect God’s glory. Be creative. Take time to pray, asking the Spirit to show you God’s glory. Remember, Jesus came in the flesh. Most often, we see God’s glory reflected in human flesh.