TOPIC:“The Coming of the Christ”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
“He came unto His own…He that cometh after me” (1:11,15).
It is interesting to note that between verses 7 through 17, in one form or another, the word “come” is used in some reference relating to the coming of Christ. The crowd in the world calls it Christmas, the Church calls it Advent. Paul S. Rees put it in these words: “Someone named Jesus, who was BEFORE history, made His appearance IN history. As a consequence, history was never again to be the same.”
The tragedy in all of this is that millions of people have never discovered the WHY behind the coming of Christ. They have missed the point behind this divine event. Christmas is going to come and Christmas is going to go, and vast numbers of people will not have the slightest idea of the WHY behind the celebration.
Here in the verses before us the Apostle John gives us several answers as to Why Christ came into the world. Let's look at each one of them.
To begin with, John tells us that Jesus came to give GOD a new DISCLOSURE. Notice the words of John in verse 18: “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him.” To Moses, God said: “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man, see me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). Even the Psalmist declared: “Clouds and darkness are round about Him” (Psalm 97:2). Even St. Paul wrote of God “whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (I Timothy 6:16).
Now these verses may seem to raise a problem. Did not Isaiah the prophet say in chapter 6 verse 1 of his book: “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne.” Again in verse 5: “for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” But John's words “No man hath seen God” mean no one has ever seen God's inner essence and essential nature. Now in the coming of Christ the nature of the invisible Father has been disclosed . . .