Christianity could be defined as a bridge uniting God with man. On the side of God, it is pure spirituality. Yet on the side of man, it is spirituality manifested in the flesh. As far as mankind is concerned, the divine glory was most clearly manifested in the incarnation of the Logos.
Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon defines Logos as follows: “(A) the word or outward form by which the inward thought is made known;” and, “(B) the inward thought or reason itself;” so that λόγος comprehends both the Latin ratio and oratio, i.e., intelligence and its verbal expression. Since God has always been intelligent, we can conclude with certainty that the Logos has existed from everlasting.
Now, we all know that the Logos—the One who is God and with God (John 1:1)—was incarnated in the person of Jesus-Christ. The apostle John tells us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The glory of God could be seen by humans as never before because the Logos had become flesh.
What about us today?
To the question: Is it possible for people nowadays to see the manifestation of God’s glory as the Apostles saw it in Jesus? The answer is yes, because—in a sense—the incarnation has not ceased. This is precisely what Paul maintains:
… always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:10,11).
These words cannot be more revealing. Paul is asserting that still today the life of Jesus can be manifested in mortal flesh.
To read the Bible is good, but not sufficient. Speaking figuratively we can say: God wants us to be a living Bible. The Logos wants to manifest Himself through our mortal flesh.
The glory of Christianity
Today many Catholics have Jesus on the wall, and many evangelicals have Him in their heart, but the glory of Christianity is Jesus in our flesh. Sometimes we say: “God knows my heart”, but the world cannot see our heart. They see only what our flesh manifests, and it is not always glorious. No wonder Paul insists on the importance of our body: “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20).
Without Christ’s Life in us there can be no hope of heavenly glory (Col. 1:27). And if that Life is truly in us, it will emanate through our flesh in such a way that others will see it. This is precisely Paul’s testimony:
I have been crucified with Christ;” he writes, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
Here the language Paul uses is so absolute that it becomes almost disturbing. He doesn’t say, “I and Christ live in me”, but, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”. When the life of Christ becomes so exclusive in a body of flesh you have a sort of incarnation, and believe me, it cannot be confined to a heart.
An analogy
When we speak of diamond we refer to a mineral of great hardness and refractive power, consisting of carbon crystallized in the isometric system under great pressure and temperature. When pure, it is a valuable gem with a beautiful display of prismatic colors, especially when cut.
The most amazing thing is that the whole process begins with a piece of carbon that is absolutely black, opaque and matte, and with little beauty in it. But through exceeding pressure and heat a perfect crystallization takes place and we are left with a mineral extremely hard and absolutely colorless.
It is important to notice that the beauty we attribute to the diamond should be rather ascribed to the light, for the diamond has no color on its own. In fact, its colorfulness depends on his colorlessness, for without it no refraction would be possible.
This process of absolute discoloration sets a beautiful example for us, for we also need to lose all our colors before He can manifest His light through us. The fact is this: God doesn’t intend to merely reflect His Light upon us as if we would be a mirror, He wants to refract it through us as if we would be a diamond.
The beauty of the Light
One of the interesting things about the light is that humans cannot see its colors without a medium. In our analogy, the diamond is the manifesting agent. When it comes to Christianity, the Scripture tells us that we, Christians, have the best potential to manifest the Light of Life. For instance, in Psalm 19:1 we read, “The heavens declare the glory of God”. While this is true and marvelous, it cannot be compared to the glory that was manifested through the incarnation. The same is true today. God is looking for people who will surrender to Him in such a way that He will be able not only to regenerate them but also perfect them to the praise of His glory.
I leave you with a little poem I wrote several years ago called “Cold Season”:
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