The Word Became Flesh

Scriptures: “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….No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” (John 1:14, 18)

One parent frustratingly said to the counselor, “How could I make my teenage boy understand what I am trying to tell him?” The counselor quietly replied, “Be a teenager.” “Why?” the parent asked. The counselor answered, “Because you need to feel his struggle and difficulties and to see his perspective. Then, and only then, will you be able to know how to communicate your messages to him.”

How true this is! So many times, when we “communicate,” we actually are just talking,, without listening. This is especially true and visible in our interaction with our children. Sometimes my sons would tell me, “Dad, it’s been too long since you were a boy.” You know what? They were right! I have been an adult too long to forget what it is like to be a boy or a teenager. I’ve forgotten all about the peer pressure I went through, the desire to be respected like an adult, the fear of growing up, the disgust of finding out the dirty side of grownup world, the complexity of life, the discomfort of being lectured, and the list goes on and on.

To this forgetfulness, I labeled it “Generation Gap” and comforted myself that, “One day, they will grow up and they will understand.” It almost seems as though the responsibility is on the younger generation to grow up and understand, to mature and be like us. But, is calling it a gap and asking ourselves to wait all we can do? I think not!

God set an example for us. He knew us and our inability so well that He prepared the salvation for us. And the salvation He has in place is through becoming a man Himself, not just to die for us so as to redeem us, more importantly, but also to reveal Himself to us so we may know Him. The Apostle John called this initiation on His part “The Word Become Flesh” and he went on to say, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” (John 1:18) That’s how God bridged the gap between us and Him to help us know and understand Him.

We all recognize that the pace of culture change has been accelerating. The time it took to go from Baby Boomer generation to Generation X is longer than the time it took to go from Generation X to Generation Y, also known as Internet Generation. And, when the culture changes, everything in it goes too. And we struggle with these changes in every front it implies, family, workplace, church, you name it!

But, for Christians, I think we struggle because we forgot one important fact. That is, the gospel of Jesus is from the heavenly culture, a culture unlike any culture on earth. The fact that we are enjoying this blessed culture is a result of somebody else’ cross-culture efforts of which the first is that of our Lord Jesus who “being in very nature of God, did not consider quality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8)

Yes, God took the initiative to reach out to us by becoming one of us, as John said, “…made His dwelling among us.” (John 1:14) He lived with us, talked with us, worked with us, cried with us, and served us. He was in every part of our lives in which He made Himself known to us and provided the only path for anyone to come to know God.

So, what should we do to bridge any interpersonal gap, generation and others? We need to learn from Him. Be it our teenage children at home, younger generation ministry in the church, colleagues from a totally different ethnicity background, or our neighbors who party all nights, we need to follow the foot steps of our Lord Jesus. Paul learned this lesson long ago and left a teaching for us, “…I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings.” (I Corinthians 9:22-23)

Let’s remember, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….The Word became Flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (John 1:1, 14)

Prayer Requests:
Those struggling with teenager at home or teenage ministries

Prayer:
Our Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing Yourself through the person and work of our Lord Jesus. As we struggle with the challenges in communication with our own children, colleagues, and neighbors, help us to learn from His example and be humble enough so You may work through us to touch and transform their lives for Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!