At this time of year, there are sermons and Christmas card messages that emphasize what the holiday means. I want to add one more idea, which comes from Hebrews 1:3: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being. . . . “
At first glance, this doesn’t quite suggest a manger scene or shepherds. Even so, the verse does connect with the very heart of the significance of Christmas. First, the baby Jesus was God displayed in human form. Paul makes this clear in two verses from the book of Colossians. The first is, ”For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him” (1:19). The second is, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (2:9).
I like the idea that we can discover all about God as we study the person and teachings of Jesus.
The verse above from Hebrews also describes Christ as the “radiance” of God’s glory. This reminds me of the pictures, or icons, of Jesus that we see in the Orthodox churches here in Russia. Literally every picture of Jesus has a golden-colored halo above His head. In much of the art, the halo is not painted on the canvas but is actually a thin metal addition. I appreciate the artists’ attempts to demonstrate the “radiance” of the Holy One of God. What Moses could not look at as the Lord passed by the cleft in the rock (Exodus 33:22), the whole world could see in the person Jesus.
The good news about Christmas is that Jesus is the fullness of God and also His radiance and glory. Since we no longer have Jesus with us in the flesh, He provided another way for the world to see His radiance. The church is compared to a bride, “. . .a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle. . . .” (Ephesians 5:27). The church of Christ is His body here on earth, given the task of radiating the glory of God.
The Christmas message is that Jesus is God in the flesh, in all His glory and radiance. And the church is Jesus displayed in physical form, glorious and radiant.