The Advent of God's Son

God’s glory is an expression of God’s goodness. Some define His glory as a revelation of His total goodness.

Because Jesus’ life was an expression of God’s nature, He revealed—and continues to reveal—God’s goodness. He revealed His father’s total goodness every moment of every day during His earthly life—when He entered the world as a baby, when He met the needs of individuals and multitudes, when He died on the cross, when He rose from the grave, and when He ascended into heaven.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus’ when he said, Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. (Is. 60:1,2 NIV)

Today, Jesus continues to embody everything we need to know about the nature of God. The season of Advent is a time for setting our hearts to receive glimpses of God’s glory. It’s time to celebrate the advent of God’s Son.

Originally published November 29, 1991.
Picture: Karen's garden, Winona, MN, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

Unique Identities

We reason that if everyone becomes Christ-like, everyone would become the same. But the God who created a physical world with seemingly infinite variety expresses Himself through variety in all of creation—including people.

Three beings in the form of men appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. . . . (Gen 18:1b NIV) One was the Lord; the others were angels. Each was a separate manifestation of God’s nature.

This is also true of Biblical heroes. As they followed God—allowed Him to form them in His image—they did not become clones of one another. Each stands out as an individual because God ignited their unique abilities.

We might be searching for an identity—be struggling to develop. When we strive on our own to be unique, we almost always end up conforming to the latest trends. But if we follow Christ, we becomes expressions of His nature—with His infinite capacity for variety. The more we yield to Him, the more He reveals our unique identity—the unique creation He had in mind when He fashioned us.

Originally published September 7, 1984.