Compressed Glory

 I read [John 1:14] today and the phrase "The Word became flesh and dwelt among men," really grabbed my attention. I thought about Jesus being present at creation. I thought about Him as the object of worship in [Revelation 5:11-14]. I thought about the passage in Luke 9 where Jesus is transfigured before 3 of the disciples. 

In the moment of transfiguration, it was like Jesus unzipped His humanity for a moment to let His glory, majesty, and splendor shine brilliantly. It was always within Him. On that occasion, He let it come out for others to see. A reminder that He was not just another man. He fully God and fully man at the same time. That might have been easy to forget if you lived with Jesus everyday. Even if you saw Him do some miraculous things it might have become old news. We have a tendency to forget. 

So how did the Father compress all that glory into the tiny package of a fetus and then a baby? How did all the glory of the Son get compressed into the form of a man. Even a grown man. Every cell of His earthly body must have tingled and abounded with supernatural restraint to hold the glory back. Did the splendor not try to splash through the pores? Did the radiance not have to be restrained from beaming through His eyes? Did His majesty not have to be held in check every time He opened His mouth to speak so that it would thunder down frightening all the listeners?

It is miraculous. God's Son leaving heaven. Leaving the throne. Leaving the center of attention. Descending into greatness. Willingly living with the limitations of needing sleep, food, and water. Being limited to working in one place at a time. Setting His divine feet on the very planet He created and could use as footstool from His throne. [Is 66:1] The Creator rubbed shoulders with His creation. Perfection lived among imperfect people. Holiness personified pilgrimed among hypocrites and the defiled. The Lamb of God submitting to being born in a manger. 

Glory squeezed down, compressed, and shoved into humanity. It is nothing short of a miracle. Tragically the religious experts totally missed the miracle. They were blinded by their own selfish agendas and expectations. God literally walked among them, worked among them, taught among them, healed and helped people among them, and the religious rulers totally missed it. They only focused on the fleshy body. They were blinded to the glory beneath. 

Do modern day Jesus followers do the same? Do we nonchalantly enter devotions forgetting the glory? Do we sashay into the sanctuary unsanctified ignoring His holiness? We half heartedly read and listen to His word without heeding the warnings contained within. 

Throughout history God has let His glory loose. Those seasons changed the course of history. Millions were transformed. A little over a year ago God decompressed His glory on the campus of Asbury College just like He had done several other times over the years. For three weeks God had His way among those students and serious seekers. Similar moves swept across the nation. Many missed it. Some of the experts wanted to explain it all away. 

How easy it is to forget the power of God, the majesty of the Messiah, and the tempest of the unbridled Spirit released among people. We live in days of compressed glory. We are used to it. We expect it. We have forgotten the power of God and His Son Jesus. We prefer the religious routine even when it produces spiritual ruts and rot. We half heartedly go through the motions of worship and service. We forget the all seeing eye of God is watching. We never know when He will let the glory out. When He pass by us like He did Moses in all His glory. Exodus 33. We never know when God will shake up the routine, rock the boat, do the unexpected, and remind us of His glory.