“Gloria”

John 1:14-18 says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John *testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.” 

While “glory” is difficult to define, the biblical use of it, as it refers to God, is a demonstrable attribute emanating from God’s holy nature. Light is often associated with glory’s physical presence, such as God’s shekinah glory filling the Holy of Holies, or, more Christmas related, the glory that enveloped the shepherds in the field when the angels delivered the “good news” to them.  “Glory” is sometimes used as an exclamatory praise of God. 

The most common image conjured up on peoples’ minds near the “Christmas Season,” is a cute baby in a pristine setting. Some want to leave Christ in that manger in a cleaned up version of reality. Others want to box Him up, like one of our decorative nativity scenes, and put Him on a shelf to forget about Him, as if He is unnecessary.  My hope is that we adore Him… not just in December, nor just on December 24-25. He is to be adored for who He is, the light of the world, chasing the darkness of sin’s effect and penalty away. He is to emanate through us every day! He is “the light,” who eternally pre-existed His human birth.