Glory Vessels!

This Tuesday is our Christmas Eve service. (It will be a shorter service, with a few traditional songs and communion and a short message!)

No service Wednesday December 25, or Wednesday, January 1st!

Open in prayer and pray for the Scoville’s little granddaughter, Chloe who has the flu and pneumonia.

Well, here we are, just 3 days before Christmas, right? How many of you would say that this year has absolutely flown by?

You know, many of us go to great lengths and spend much time and effort and even money, to decorate for the Christmas holiday season!

And after days and weeks and even months, for some people, of preparation for this festive time of the year, by putting up trees and lights and decorations and digital light displays on the front of the houses and figurines and a host of other rituals, it all comes to a climatic closing on the evening of December 25th.

Many people begin, the very next day, the day after Christmas, with the arduous and laborious task of beginning to tear down and box up and put away, all of the lights and decorations and trinkets.

And many people begin to receive the credit card statements that flood in, that serve as reminders of their “generosity” that Christmas season!!

And as the days pass after December 25th, all of the festive holiday thoughts and feelings and emotions, dwindle away and are carried off, with a mixture of sadness and gladness and disappointment and frustration and even emptiness.

The very day that we revere as the pinnacle, the hallmark of peace and goodwill towards others and of which we sing, “Joy To The World”, it leaves many of us with nothing more than emptiness and mostly devoid of peace and joy and love towards others!

But, by the end of the next new year, we are entering right back into the holiday season high again and with an optimism for greater things to come!

This mindset of living from one Christmas season to another and having the expectation that one is going to be more grand and joyous than the prior one, is what I like to call, the “Tennessee mindset”!

Does anyone know why I say this?

Simply put, as a Tennessee Volunteer fan, I live with the mindset that the next season will be more grand and prosperous than the one that we just crawled away from!

So, we are always looking for that next BIG season!

If you have ever worked retail, during the Christmas shopping season, you will see just how much JOY and good will towards others, actually exists!

Churches all across this nation will sing about and teach about the birth of the Christ child and of how special December the 25th is. (Although, in reality, this was not the day that our Lord and Savior was even born on!) But, over the centuries, men have developed their traditions and teachings and stories about the way that it all happened and so one generation passes the oral traditions on to another and so on and so forth and before long, HERE WE ARE!

It’s like one person starting off at the head of a long line of people saying something like , “Jayne and Tom told me last night at a chili dinner, that they are expecting their first baby and it is going to be a girl.”

Then, as each person in the line tries to recant and share the good news and it spreads across a couple of hundred people, the news becomes a little warped and the grapevine version of the story ends up sounding something a little like this.

“Rob and some girl are expecting a baby and they are naming it Jayne and they’ve ran off to Chile to have her!”

Just because you hear it being handed down, doesn’t necessarily mean that it happened that way. You know this, right?

Study the Word of God yourself and allow Holy Spirit to guide you in the reading and truth of God’s Word!

The birth of Jesus the Christ means so much more than just this one day of the year that we tend to focus on.

In fact, it is not even something that God told us to

We get so caught up in the decorations and the trees and presents and the social gatherings and parties and church events, that when it all comes to a screeching halt, we have really only given one hour, at best, of our time and devotion for the whole holiday season, to thanking God the Father, for the sending His Son to this earth, as the Christ child!

And in all of the nativity scenes and Christmas cards and movies that we look at and focus on each year, we tend to dwell upon on just the “humanity” of the baby Jesus, but in doing so, we totally overlook, what was actually shown and displayed on the earth for the very first time, on that beautiful night!

“humanity of the baby Jesus, but we totally overlook, what was actually shown and displayed on the earth for the very first time, on that glorious night!

Although Jesus came to this earth, fully human, there was something much more amazing about His birth and His life!

If you go all of the way back in the Old Testament to the book of Exodus, chapter 33, verse 12-23, we read of one of the most amazing account found within the Bible.

It’s here, that Moses is seen speaking with God about Israel’s advancement to the promised land. In the book of Exodus, in this same chapter, it says that Moses talked with God in the tent of meeting, face to face, as one friend would speak with another!

And in this account, Moses says to the Lord, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

In other words, Moses is saying, “Lord, if you do not go with us into this new land, then I do not want to go. It is your presence being with us, that sets us apart and makes us a great nation!”

The Lord replies to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Now watch what Moses says to the Lord, in the very next verse of this passage, “Please show me your glory.”

The word for “glory” in this passage, is the Hebrew word, “kavod”, and it refers to, honor, wealth, manifestation of power and glorious presence.

So, where you see the “kavod” of Yahweh, you would see these attributes of His represented.

In other words, Moses is asking God to show him His manifested presence.

God says to Moses, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. But, you cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

God is saying that no man can look upon His presence and live and so, God would pass by Moses and then Moses would turn and look and see where God’s goodness, (which is His character and nature) had been.

23 “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

Even today, wherever the presence of Yahweh has been and His goodness has manifest, it is unmistakable and undeniable before men!

You don’t mistake the true presence of the Lord! Wherever His presence resides, or manifests, you will know it!

When Moses asked the Lord to show him His glory, it is interesting that God responded by saying that He would make all of His goodness pass before Moses.

And the Lord also said that He would proclaim His name before Moses.

In other words, God was saying that His glory, was seen in His goodness, His character and nature and also it was found in His name!

Every detail of God’s presence, displays His “glory”.

This is why the Jewish people will not write out the name of God, because it represents Him and it is not to taken lightly. If you write that name on something, then that paper can never be thrown away again, because it has His name on it and thus, it represents the Lord!

The Jewish people had a name for the dwelling presence of the Lord’s glory. They called it His “shekinah” glory.

And although this word is not found in the Bible, the understanding of it is.

Shekinah glory, is the abiding, dwelling presence of the Lord. His manifestation and dwelling amongst men.

As in the pillar of smoke and fire that would appear over the camp of Israel in the wilderness.

The Bible says that whenever Moses would go into the tent of meeting to talk with the Lord, that the pillar of cloud would descend on top of the tent, and the people knew that God’s presence was there.

They knew that the “shekinah” was there.

And after Moses had stood in the full “shekinah” of the Lord God and returned to the children of Israel, carrying the stone tablets with the 10 commandments, the Bible tells us that his face shone!

His skin was still reflecting the “glory” of God from being in His presence! And because of this, the people were uneasy. So much so, that Moses had to wear a veil over his face to try and conceal it. Both then, as well as each time thereafter that he went into the presence of the Lord!

So, God’s glory was seen through signs of His presence. But never directly and in physical form, as the Lord, Himself, had said to Moses, “For no man can see Me and live!

This is why the Ark of the Covenant was so important to the people of Israel. They understood, that wherever the ark was, the presence of God was.

And this is also why, not just anyone could walk into the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and stand before the ark; because the presence of God was there.

The priest, once a year, would enter in the Holy of holies, by the blood of the lamb to make atonement for the people, and that was it.

Now, whenever it came time to move the ark, God and His glorious presence would lift and thus it could be moved.

But even then, it was only to be moved by certain people and in a certain way.

So, the ark was a representation of the “kavod”, the GLORY of God.

If you read in , you will see the account of the Philistine army defeating the Israelite army and in so doing, they captured the ark of the covenant and took it for themselves, because the Philistines knew that God of Israel and His presence and power was associated with that box.

Eli, the priest, who was old and weary at heart, upon hearing that the Philistine army had defeated Israel and that his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were killed in the battle and that ark was taken by the Philistines, fell over from his seat and broke his neck and died.

His daughter in law, the wife of Phineas, who was about to give birth, heard the news that her father in law, as well as her husband were both dead. But it was the news that the ark had been taken, that so affected her.

Now listen to what she said, upon giving birth to the child, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

“The “kavod” has departed from Israel.” And for this very reason, she named her son, “Ichabod”.

“Kavod” means glory and “Ichavod” literally means, “NO GLORY”!

In , upon King Solomon praying and dedicating the new temple to God, the Bible says, “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

Mankind had witnessed throughout the Old Testament, different manifestations of the glory of God, but NEVER had they witnessed Him in person!

Then, for some 400 years, God seemed to just go silent and He stopped speaking to His people through the prophets.

What was going on? Where was God and why was He no longer speaking to His people?

And then, it happened! God broke the silence and entered into the world as never before.

In one beautiful moment, a young girl, by the name of Mary, gave birth to the Christ-child in a little humble town, known as Bethlehem!

In Luke’s gospel we read of the moment that Yeshua was born and of what took place and of how God broke the silence to mankind.

reads,

Luke 2:8–14 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

And upon going and seeing the Christ-child, in verse 20 it says, “The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”

It happened, God had stepped down from heaven and entered our world in physical form!

And upon witnessing the babe, the shepherds went back and began to give God glory!

For you see, GLORY is really His to begin with. We don’t have glory to give to Him, but rather, we give back to Him, as His creation His glory to honor and praise Him!

God, in all of His shekinah glory, had manifest Himself in such a way, that men and women could see Him, face to face and experience His love and mercy, as never before.

Jesus was fully man, but also fully God and in Him, the fullness of God dwelt, as tells us.

And in Jesus, was all of the glory of the Father and this glory shone like a brilliant light against the backdrop of a fallen and sinful and lost world!

Colossians 1:19 NLT

19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,

John tells us this about the Christ coming into the world, he said, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus became the brilliant glory of God, manifest before mankind in human form, as tell us, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”

5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

To see Jesus, was to see God the Father and within Jesus, was ALL of the shekinah GLORY of God.

Those who truly saw and believed in Jesus, became the sons and daughters of God. And that still holds true today!

Jesus, at His birth, was God’s GLORY breaking through the barrier and the enmity of sin and shining upon all who would behold the TRUTH of who He was and is!

This was God’s plan, from the beginning, to send His only Son into the world, so that God could dwell with His children and have fellowship with them.

And within Jesus, the same GLORY of God that shone upon Moses and radiated from his face, existed.

We see this in , where Peter and James and John are on the mountain with Jesus and He is transfigured before them, and the glory of God manifests and shines from Him, and His face shone like the sun!

Everything that God created contains His GLORY and is a vehicle of giving back to Him praise and honor. The Psalmist tells us that, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” And you and I are no exception! We were created to GLORIFY our Father. In fact, you and I are His greatest creation!

In nothing else that God created, did He find pleasure in creating in His image, except for us!

And because we were created in His image, we are the greatest vessels for declaring His GLORY!

says,

Isaiah 43:7 ESV

7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

God created you and I, in His image and for His GLORY!

And with the birth of Jesus the Christ, and His life and death and resurrection, we, as Christians, have been filled with His glorious presence, by His Holy Spirit!!!

Just like with temple of Solomon and glory of God falling like fire and filling the temple, so it was on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God fell like fire upon the believers and filled their vessels; God’s living and breathing temple!

We are NEW creations as God’s children and as such, we are filled with His glory and for the soul purpose of giving that glory back to Him, in everything that we do!

In , Paul tells us that we are like jars of clay, that contain the great treasure of God’s presence and His GLORY!

And it was Paul who also tells us in , that everything that you and I do, should be done for God’s GLORY!

2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

And if anyone would know of what it was like to stand in the full manifest glorious presence of the Lord, it was Paul. For it was Paul, who had the encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus and who witnessed the brilliant light of the Lord, that shone around him and blinded him!

Our lives should shine like bright stars, because of the GLORY of God within us.

Paul likened us to the stars in sky, where he said

Philippians 2:15 NIV

15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

And in the Bible, we are told that our lives are to become more and more like the Christ and display god’s radiant glory!

says,

2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT

18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

When you witness the glory of God, you can’t help but declare it and share it!

This is why the astronauts, aboard the Apollo 8 mission said what they said, on Christmas Eve, 1968, when they had come from the dark side of the moon and as they witnessed the earth rising before them, they begin to read from the creation account in !

You cannot help but declare God and His glory, when you have witnessed it!

And as a believer, you should reflecting the glory of God to a lost world around you!

Jesus and His birth, brought God’s glory to earth in human form and then through His glorious resurrection, He made it possible for God’s glory to dwell within us!

Jesus’ entire life was lived to GLORIFY His Father, which is what He said in .

How much more should you and I live to glorify He and His Father in and through our lives?!!!

Jesus and His birth was God’s gift to all mankind, so that through Him, God’s glory could be made manifest for all to see. And today, you and I are the vessels that are to carry and reflect that GLORY, for the world around us to see.

And just as we sometimes lose focus about what Jesus and His birth really means to us all and the great gift that it was, so too, do we sometimes lose focus on the great gift that God gave to you and I.

God gave each of us a very special gift, and with this gift, you have the ability to change the world and shine like the SON!

Today, I have a gift here, that is for each one of us. It is different for each person who opens it and looks inside, and yet it is the same gift!

If you have lost sight of the great and precious gift that God gave to you and you do not shine with brilliance of His glory, then I will encourage you to look inside of the box and witness the very precious gift that God gave to you, to shine His glory to all of the world!