John 1
KJV
14+ 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.
In my earlier article, I made the case against inaction and the mere uttering of words! In this follow up l intend to demonstrate the example God showed us so we emulate Him.
Before Jesus came everything men knew about God was theoretical, hypothetical, etc. When they hear “ God is love “ it does not make sense it sounds ok in the ears but it can not and is not comprehended in real terms.
Everything taught to the Jews was theoretical; you’ll remember at the funeral of Lazarus Jesus engaged his sisters in a conversation.
Well let’s replay parts of that conversation to help you understand what I mean by before Jesus came everything about God was theoretical concepts
John 11:21-26
NIV
[21] “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
[23] Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” [24] Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
[25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; [26] and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Here the subject matter was the “ resurrection “ and from what Martha said she has heard, and been taught all about this subject but she was made to understand that it was “ futuristic”.
No one can fault her she was right for that was what it was! Many things they were taught at their “rabbinical school” ( makaranta! Is the Muslim version) were theoretical
Now hear what Jesus said to her
John 11:25
NIV
[25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
Jesus said “My dear in times past the resurrection was a concept, but standing right before you is the real thing -I AM THE RESURRECTION” In other words “ the word ( theory, concept) has become real!
This is what John meant when he said
John 1:14
NIV
[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.
God who in the past was a concept, imaginary thought etc took upon himself flesh so He can be seen and known, no more a theory. Fili fili!
This is what John said, they experienced Him, walked and ate with Him. He was real
1 John 1:1 NIV
[1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
To John, their preaching was not theoretical but experiential. This truly is what effective, powerful preaching/teaching is about. Experiential not theoretical!
By the coming of Jesus, the Word became flesh. God who was hitherto mere words became a reality everything said and taught about Him was made manifest and demonstrated; made real.
In Christ, God backed His love for us in real terms! Beloved, God’s love for you is not a concept or theory ( mere words ) but real.
May we learn to practicalize our words through deeds so men will know what we mean when we say something! God showed us how to do it.
My thoughts to share
John Franklin Tamakloe