God Made His Home With Us

John 1:14

When we think about certain individuals throughout time until this day… actors, singers, performers and the like… many of those persons would be described as being characters who are “larger than life.” They are untouchable to the modern man and so distinct and separated from all other contemporaries.

Can you think of one famous person who you would like to come to your home and visit you? Who would you like to enter into your world, your life, your house, and make an appearance, and hang out? Who would you want to live next door?

And the next question I have is this: Do you think that they would want to see our house? Would they want to be my friends and get to know me?

And I believe that for the most part… many of these “bigger than life” celebrities are too big, too important, too busy and too rich to have anything to do with me… who is so much unlike them, and I am not able to add riches to their account. Why would they come to me? Look at them, and look at me…

But, when it comes to God… the God of the Bible…

Genesis 1:1 – God created the heavens and the earth. John 1:1 – The Alpha and Omega -The One Who made all things, sustains all things… all things were made through Him… by Him and for Him…

Jeremiah 23:24 – God says: “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” Nothing can contain Him… He has no limits… He controls all… and owns all...

But… this God… He makes His home with us. This God chooses to be born into this evil world, in a world covered with evil, stinking of sin from east to west… This God was clothed in human flesh and stepped into our broken world and into our messed up lives and became a part of it.

Looking at 1:14 – The Word became flesh and dwelt among us… the word dwelt means “tabernacle,” or “lived in a tent.”

We are taught in the Old Testament that God would meet with His people in the tabernacle… and that is where God’s presence could be experienced… and only a few people could enter into His presence.

God’s people would travel from place to place, from location to location… and dwell with God wherever the Tent of the Meeting was… Tents… What else do we know about tents?

The Word of God tells us that all of us are living in tents: 2 Cor. 5:1 – “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

Tents (bodies) are used for temporary living, not permanent dwelling.

And so, Christ, being the form of God, made Himself of no reputation and took the form of a servant and came in the likeness of man (Philippians 2:7). He veiled His divine glory in the tent of His body. And in the flesh, in the tent… the Son of God experienced humanity... human pain, anguish, loss, sorrow, and temptations…

Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses, for He has been tempted in all things, as we are… yet without sin.

In the Book of Exodus (Exodus 40:34-35), we see God meeting with the Hebrew people in a tent… God would fill the tent with His presence and the Hebrew people lived in their tents, as they traveled together in the wilderness.

This picture pointed the people of God to something, to Someone Who will come in the future...

In the fullness of time… that same God and glory came through the virgin Mary… and then… God Incarnate, Immanuel, made His home with us in the tent of human flesh and became like us.

God has always been involved in our lives and has always intervened… But on this day, God will be born in our mess, make His home in our mess… So that we could experience Christmas forever...

When I think about Christmas time, I think about being at home with family… not being away in a hotel or at any other place… but being at home with the people you love the most.

There are so many people in the world without a home, without a sense of belonging… belonging to a spouse, to a family… This is important for us: To have a sense of belonging and acceptance. A home does that for us…

Jesus, our Immanuel (God with us) has made that possible, not for those 33.5 years and not only 2000 years ago. But here and now… We can have a Home… God makes His home with us… today. We can have belonging, acceptance, a refuge, and safety today… and not be separated or distant from Home.

Today we celebrate a Homecoming. We celebrate coming back to our home church. We celebrate having a home here with one another...

But the only Way we can have a home church… is because of Christmas. It is because God chose to make His Home with us. And HE has made His home in each one of your hearts...

He is the One that connects us. He is the One Who brings us all together. He is the One who will keep us together.

“Ryan, do I have a Home here?” Is Christ is your life. Has Christ made His home in your tent?

For the Christian… this is our reality and experience: God lives in me. God has made His home with me.

In this life, we can be at Home now… and when we pass from this life to the next… we will continue to be at home forever with the One Who came and died for us.

Do you feel alone? Do you feel like you are in the dark?

Christ has come to bring you to Himself. Come home this Christmas. Experience Christ this Christmas.

You have a home now and in a future heaven. How do we get to this Home in the future? By God making His home with us today.

Welcome Home!