“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
(John 1:18)
Today’s verse is a powerful reminder that when God revealed Himself to men in the Old Testament, He did so in the Person of His beloved Son. Approximately 2,000 years before the Savior’s birth, the God of glory appeared to Abram in Mesopotamia (Acts 7:2). What did that encounter look like? Moses gives us a hint. “The word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision,” wrote the great prophet, “saying, ‘Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’ And Abram said, ‘Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?’” (Genesis 15:1-2). These verses indicate that God mediated Himself to Abram by His Word, which Abram recognized as equally divine; He referred to the Word as “Lord GOD.” We see something similar in Jeremiah’s call to prophetic ministry. The prophet tells us that “the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ‘Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.’ Then said I, ‘Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.’ But the LORD said unto me, ‘Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak’” (Jeremiah 1:4-7). Remarkably, Jeremiah goes on to tell us that “the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9). Not only was God mediated through His divine Word, His Word appeared in some way as a Man to His chosen servants of old. He and two angels dined with Abraham in Genesis 18 (see 18:22). It was the pre-incarnate Christ who appeared to Manoah in Judges 13. The Lord referred to Himself as Wonderful (13:18), a prophetic epithet for Christ (Isaiah 9:6). At his own call into prophetic ministry, Isaiah was in some way transported to heaven, where He saw “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1). The prophet was overwhelmed at God’s awesome, holy presence. “Then said I,” he wrote, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). The beloved disciple explained that the divine King that Isaiah beheld was none other than Christ the Lord (John 12:37-41). “In the beginning was the Word,” he wrote, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Almost unbelievably, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14a). The significance of these things cannot be overestimated, for “in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). Hallelujah!
God bless you, dear saints
pastor john
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