
hristmas records the incarnation of Christ, (John 1:14) "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." If Jesus existed before His birth, what then was Jesus doing before Bethlehem? That is a question that deserves an intelligent answer. Paul understood and wrote: (Col 1:15-17) "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Jesus Christ expresses to us the essential nature of the eternal God, that He existed before all creation, that He was involved in the creation of everything, that the whole of creation was through Him, and for His glory. He is above all created things, is the centre point around which everything else revolves, and the cohesive force that holds everything in its proper place. That Jesus Christ is bigger than many have realised!
Our God who expressed Himself in Jesus in Bethlehem for our salvation, first expressed Himself through the eternal Christ in creation. Jesus Christ is God-man. John says Jesus Christ was "in the beginning with God" but whose life "in the flesh" is the centre of our salvation. Jesus Christ is beyond time! To be God is to be timeless. The nature of the divine is to be eternal. Jesus never achieved eternal life: He always possessed it. That is how He is able to share that eternal life with us. "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased as Man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel."
Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.