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Advent Devotional - December 6, 2016

“Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning; / Jesus, to thee be all glory given; / Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing: / O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.”

-O Come All Ye Faithful

What a truth-packed verse—32 words that capture John’s confession in John 1:14 in its entirety. Not just that God took on flesh, but that God lived among us.

The word that John translates as “dwelt” is an interesting word. It’s a Greek word that simply means, “to put up one’s tent” or “to tabernacle.” The readers of John’s Gospel would have understood the significance of this word. In the old covenant, prior to the construction of the temple, the tabernacle was a tent that contained the Ark of the Covenant and God’s glory—His physical presence before the people of Israel. The tabernacle was many times referred to as “the tent of meeting,” for this was the place where man meets God. But in terms of access to God’s presence, it was limited; only once per year could the high priest enter into the innermost part tabernacle (the Most Holy Place, where God dwelt) to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people. People—people like you and I—had no access to God and no sacrifice for sins apart from the high priest, who had to offer the sacrifice every year, as it was an imperfect and incomplete offering.

So it’s no accident that John, through divine revelation, uses the word “tabernacle.” John is confessing that the mystery of the birth of Christ is that the Word (Jesus) took on flesh in the incarnation. But God didn’t stop there, at being born as a man. Jesus, through his sinless life and sacrificial death, has become our tent of meeting—our access to the Father. No longer will men and women require a high priest for a sacrifice for sins or our access to God, for God now dwells among His people. That is worth our adoration! Come, let us adore Him.