John Piper on the Incarnation

Today's extract on the incarnation is by John Piper entitled 'The Word Became Flesh':

God Wants to Be Seen and Known in His Son
God came to live in a tent so we can watch him more closely. God wants to be seen and known in his Son. The same point is made in verse 18. "No one has ever seen God; the only Son [other older manuscripts say "the only God"], who is in the bosom [in the lap or the embrace] of the Father, he has made him known." Here the point is that even though God is a Spirit and is therefore invisible (John 4:24), he has now revealed himself in an utterly unique way—by the incarnation of himself in his Son Jesus. In Jesus we see God.

You don't have to wonder today if there is a baby in the womb of a woman eight weeks pregnant. And you don't have to wonder what it's like. We have pictures and videos and models and detailed physiological descriptions.

And so it is with God. You don't need to be in the dark about God. He has gone beyond parchment and paper. He has gone beyond tapes and cassettes. He has gone beyond videos and even beyond live drama. He has actually come and pitched his tent in our backyard and beckoned us to watch him and get to know him in the person of his Son Jesus. When you watch Jesus in action, you watch God in action. When you hear Jesus teach, you hear God teach. When you come to know what Jesus is like, you know what God is like.

Read the complete article at:
www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByTopic/19/703_The_Word_Became_Flesh/