Shadows of Christmas: The Tabernacle - Selected Scriptures

1:22And I want to use Hebrews 8, verses 1 through 6, to give us a window. Into that. The writer of Hebrews, to situate yourself to Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews is speaking to a mixed group of Hebrews primarily. Some are believers, some are not believers. Persecution is ramping up, and many are thinking about going back to Judaism. After all, they still have the temple. The time of the writing of Hebrews is just probably four or five years before 70 AD, and the temple was destroyed under Titus. So there is still this glorious temple, this ministry, this priesthood.

2:12And there were those who were wondering and probably coming against the Christians, saying, You don't have a priesthood. You are cut off. You have no sacrifices. And so it's with this backdrop that the writer of Hebrews seeks to encourage those who are in the faith and to exhort those who are on the fence to go on and to embrace Christ fully. For He is a sufficient sacrifice, he is a sufficient priesthood, more glorious priesthood, more glorious sacrifice, and a more glorious mediator of a new covenant. So let me read to you Hebrews 8, verse 1. Now, the main point in which What has been said is this: We have such a high priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty and heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law, who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle. For see, he says, that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises. Well, the writer of Hebrews makes it clear in verse 5 that the tabernacle and everything associated with it was simply a mere shadow of a greater reality. We think about as we come and worship Christ this season, that we think of him as the reality to which the whole weight of the Old Testament priesthood, the Old Testament tabernacle and temple ministry, all pointed to him, all the sacrifices.

4:31That were ever performed under that covenant all point to one reality, and that is Christ. He is the greater reality. The temple and the temple worship was a mere shadow, and that the reality had come, and that the shadow was now obsolete and was ready to disappear. And that's what he says in verse 13 when he said, A new covenant, he has made the first obsolete, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. You see, the priesthood was temporary, the covenant it was founded upon was temporary, and the glory associated with that covenant was temporary. These were mere shadows of a greater reality. What I want to do this morning, I want to look at three ways in which Christ's ministry is more glorious than that of the tabernacle and the temple ministry of old. But before I go there, I want to give you a little background regarding God's glory and how it came and left the Old Testament Levitical ministry. There was a glory that came for a while upon the Levitical ministry, and then that glory departed. And I want you to understand that before we look to see how Christ is.

6:00More glorious than the Levitical priesthood. Well, to give you an understanding what glory means or glory, it comes from the word Hebrew kavod, which means to be heavy, not physically heavy, but heavy, heavy in stature, heavy in position, heavy in possessions, heavy in magnitude, a person of gravitas. It's the idea of glory, gravitas. And it came to refer to anything that was praiseworthy or deserving of respect. And it, glory, was, the word was used to or ascribed to certain individuals in the Old Testament. Laban in Genesis 31:1 was a man of wealth, a man of wealth, same word, glory, a man of glory. And it was speaking about his wealth. And Laban's wealth was that which made him a man of gravitas or a man of glory. Joseph also was spoken of as having a degree of glory in his political power and his control of Egypt's vast resources. In Genesis 45, 13, remember Joseph says to his brothers, Now you must go tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt. Go and tell him of all my glory, all that makes me a weighty person, all that makes me. A person of gravitas. That's the idea. It was Joseph's political power that distinguished him as a man of magnitude. So, glory was a word that was used to signify anything that commanded respect, anything that commanded honor or praiseworthiness. And it was a man's glory is what distinguished him from other men. Well, the word is also ascribed to God in the Old Testament. The God of Israel, as he's making himself known, he's going to declare to the world he is the God of gravitas, a God of magnitude, far different than the other gods of the earth.

8:16He had distinguished himself on so many fronts as a God of gravitas. And so, after he demonstrated his magnitude by destroying Pharaoh's army and bringing Israel out of Egypt, he continued to reveal his glory to Israel. In Exodus 16:10, they see him glory in the cloud, which then provides quail and manna. He is the God who can provide for his people in a very desolate place. He is a God of magnitude. You know, the other gods are dead, lifeless. They see God is alive, attentive, and able to provide. And then in Exodus 24:16, God's glory is seen as a consuming fire on Mount Sinai. God is a lawgiver as well. Not only does he provide material sustenance, but he provides spiritual direction and civil order for his people. A consuming fire. So God's glory was in his appearance and in his provision.

9:40Moses in Exodus 33:18 says to God, Show me your glory. Show me your glory. Let me see you in your fullness. What's interesting is what God says. He says, Yes, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you. He's asking for his glory. And what does God show him? His goodness, his graciousness, and his compassion. So God ascribes to his own glory that which makes God distinct, and that which makes God glorious is his goodness, his graciousness, and his compassion. Do you know the God of the Bible today? He is a God of great magnitude and great compassion.

10:30And great concern for you. The word glory in the Old Testament goes on to speak of the radiant light or the blinding splendor of God's awesome appearance. That word kabod also describes that manifestation of light that God revealed Himself. Ezekiel saw this glory. In fact, that is, to a large degree, what the book of Ezekiel is about. Ezekiel sees God's glory, not the pattern, not the little replica in the tabernacle, but he sees the reality, catches a vision of the glory of God. And he describes it in Ezekiel 1, talks about the living beings. And then in 1:26, he says, Above the living beings, there was this expanse, something resembling a throne.

11:33And on that, which resembled a throne, high up was a figure with the appearance of a man. And then I noticed from the appearance of his loins and upwards something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it. And from the appearance of his loins downward, I saw something like fire. And there was a radiance around him, as the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. So was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the Appearance and the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face. So, as Ezekiel describes the glory, it is God's awesome appearance. He is a God of magnitude, a God of great gravitas, just in his appearance.

12:23And the question, as one makes his way through scripture, is where and through whom was God going to establish his ultimate glory forever? Where is that place that God is going to put this glory on permanent display? Well, we know, as Moses knew, it was not going to be through the Levitical order. Even a fairly new reader of the Bible, as they make their way to Genesis 49, 5, knows that the glory is not going to be ultimately upon the Levitical order. In Genesis 49, 5, if you remember, Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel, blessed his sons.

13:16You remember that? He is blessing his sons. And then he comes to Simeon and Levi, and he says this, verse 5: Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are implements of violence, referring. To this incident at Shechem. Let my soul not enter into their council. Let not my glory be united with their assembly. Because in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they lamed oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. It was their anger, their self-will that God was not going to join his glory to.

14:06And so, promise, very early on, a curse. God's ultimate glory is not going to be permanently established with the Levitical order. But for a time, the Levitical order serving the shadow would be glorious, and God would consecrate it by his glory. And what all this points to is that God is not, the glory of Israel is not going to be in themselves in a covenant that is based upon their faithfulness. It's going to be in their God. It will not be in their ability to keep the law, but in the goodness, graciousness, compassion, and power of their God. That is where Israel's glory is going to be. And this will be true for all mankind. You see, man.

15:00Is but a mere image. His glory or gravitas is not in himself, but in the image he reflects. Same is true with us. There is nothing within ourselves of any gravitas, but only that image which we are to reflect. That is man's glory, and what a privilege, privilege it is to be reborn into the image of the perfect man and to grow in his likeness. Well, this is the idea of glory in the Old Testament. And I want you to see that God vested the shadow of the heavenly things with a great deal of glory. That even though this Levitical order and this tabernacle ministry was a shadow, it was consecrated by great glory. And this is what gave the people of Israel great glory or great magnitude or weight among the nations.

16:04The tabernacle. It was a place where God would dwell among his people. In Exodus 25, 8, God says, Let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may dwell among them. God, in a unique way, is going to dwell among them. So God gave Moses careful instructions how to build the temple or the tabernacle and later the temple. And its furnishings. In Exodus 25, 9, he says, according to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnitures, just so you shall construct it.

16:43And in Hebrews 8:5, he cites this verse, Exodus 25, 40, see that you make them after the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain. And it was there that God would meet with the people, holy, set apart. This tabernacle, this place of meeting, was consecrated by God's glory. Exodus 29:43, I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by my glory. God's dwelling place would then again be with man.

17:21Hadn't been that way since the garden, right? Man walked with God in the garden, and now here's Israel with this tabernacle where God has promised to meet again and walk with people, walk among men. Of course, it's going to be different because it's going to involve a priesthood, it's going to involve sacrifice, but yet there he is again in their midst. And this is exactly what, as you see, Exodus comes to a close in Exodus 40, 35, that God consecrates the tabernacle with his glory. So much so that Moses was not even able to enter it. Well, this glory, this tabernacle, is what made Israel unique among the nations.

18:14His glory was physically with them and in numbers. So it was continually. The cloud would cover the tabernacle by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterwards the sons of Israel would then set out. And in the place that the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. At the command of the Lord, the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the Lord, they would camp. As long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped.

18:48They walked with God. And this glory was known. Remember that in Numbers 23 and 24, Balak hires Balaam to come and curse Israel. So he comes up to a high point and he looks out over Israel and he says, How shall I curse him whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? As I see him from the top of the rocks and I look to him from the hills, behold, a people dwells apart and will not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the people? Dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel. Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his. And then he says, This, the Lord his God is with him. And the shout of a king is among them. There's a complete pagan prophet blown away. He says, A star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel. One from Jacob shall have dominion. As he sees the glory of Israel out there on the plain, he's like, God is with him. You remember, after Solomon builds the temple, the queen of Sheba hears about the fame of Israel's splendor, comes up, she hears the wisdom of Solomon, and she sees the stairway with which he went up into the house of the Lord, and it blew her away. It says, Her spirit left her. There was no more spirit in her. She was so overwhelmed. And she said, Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel.

20:44The Lord your God is indeed the great God. You see, the glory of Israel was the glory of God. But it didn't stay there. There was a faith. Fatal flaw within the covenant that they had made with God. You see, the covenant was dependent upon Israel's faithfulness. Deuteronomy 58, or 28, 58 says this: if you are not careful to observe all the words of this law, which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and on your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues and miserable and chronic sicknesses. He will bring back on you the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. If you do not stay, if you do not keep all of the words of this covenant, he goes on to say in verse 64: Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among the peoples from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. Yes, there is a dark cloud over Israel's glory, ominous words that even spread. To Israel's unfaithfulness. Moses himself said in Deuteronomy 31, 16, God said that they would break the covenant. And in verse 17, he says that God would hide his face from them and they would be consumed and they would experience the curses.

22:50And so when the glory of God departed, so did the glory of Israel. This glory, this departure of glory, was witnessed by Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 10, 4, 10, 18, 10, 19, and 11:23, Ezekiel witnesses this glory of the Lord above the living beings, lifted up and moved from the temple to the threshold of the temple, and then from the threshold of the temple to the eastern gate, and then from the eastern gate to the Mount of Olives, the glory departing from the temple.

23:34And God's presence was gone. And with that, God had lifted his veil of protection, his shield, and he gave Israel over to their enemies. So Ezekiel witnessed the departure in a spiritual way. Jeremiah witnessed the result in a physical way. And he wrote the book of lamentation. How lonely, after the Babylonian Empire had come in and decimated Jerusalem. There is Jeremiah writing these words. How lonely sits the city that was full of people. She has become like a widow who was once great among the nations. She who was once a princess among the provinces has become a forced laborer.

24:28Lamentations 2. Here's one crying for his nation. How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with the cloud in his anger. He has cast from heaven to earth the glory of Israel. The Lord has swallowed up, he has not spared all the habitations of Jacob. In his wrath, he has thrown down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned the kingdom and its princes. In other words, he has made Israel just like the rest of the nations. He has profaned them. They are now common.

25:05He treated violently his tabernacle like a garden booth. He has destroyed his appointed meeting place. The Lord has caused to be forgotten the appointed feast, and the Sabbath is Zion. And he has despised king and priest in the indignation of his anger. The Lord has rejected his altar. He has abandoned his sanctuary. He has delivered his. Into the hand of the enemy, the walls of her palaces. The law is no more. The elders of Zion sit on the ground. They are silent. They have thrown dust on their heads. My eyes fail because of tears. My spirit is greatly troubled. The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children. They became food for them because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. The Lord has accomplished his wrath. He has poured out his fierce anger and has kindled a fire in Zion which has consumed its foundations. And he says, This, the kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. Nobody ever fathomed that this could happen, not even Israel's enemies. But he goes on to say that, verse 4 and 16, that it was the presence of the Lord has scattered them.

26:31And then this cry, restore to us, restore us to you, Lord, that we may be restored. Such was the final prayer of Jerusalem as it was decimated by the Babylonians. The question lingers, where is God going to establish his ultimate glory forever? Well, the prophets spoke of the return of this glory to that same place from. Which it departed. Ezekiel in chapter 43 and 1 speaks again of this glory, and he is led to the gate facing the east, and he sees the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, from the Mount of Olives. His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. There's a person here, personality.

27:27And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. Then I heard one speaking to me from the house while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. The glory is going to return there. But a good question. On what basis does God's glory return? They've shattered the old covenant. It's certainly not going to be on the basis of the Levitical priesthood, which was only a shadow of the heavenly things. No, the restoration has to be built upon a better priesthood, upon better sacrifices, and upon a better covenant.

28:25And that brings me to my sermon. Hebrews 8, 1 through 6. I want you to see three ways Christ's ministry is more glorious than the Levitical priesthood of old. Three ways. First of all, Christ has a more glorious priesthood. There are two aspects of this. Look at verse 1. Now, the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest. What the writer of Hebrews is saying is that everything, the primary thrust of everything that has been said so far in the letter relates to Christ's priesthood. And he's just finished chapter 7, a large section about Christ in the order of Melchizedek, king and priest. In fact, if you look at verse 23 of chapter 7, the former priests on the one hand existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing. But Jesus, on the other hand, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. It's interesting to note that right there, he has a greater priesthood, more glorious. He is able to do more than what a whole army of the Levitical priests could accomplish. In fact, more so through the generations of all the priests. Christ could do more because he is eternal.

30:06He's got more glory than the sum total of every priest who ever lived. But look, keep looking. Who has taken his seat? We have a high priest. So he's telling the Hebrews, don't worry. Don't worry about being outside of the priestly order here. You have a better priest. They are serving the shadow. We have a priest who has taken his seat. Listen, a Levite priest did not go into the Holy of Holies and sit down on the mercy seat. That would have been blasphemous.

30:40No, he's saying, we have a priest who has gone in, made sacrifice, and is sat down. Speaking of the perfection of his being, he is sat down. Also speaks of the permanence of his ministry. He is sat down. He is there. And where is he? Look back at verse 1. At the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heavens. The majesty. He is right at the right hand of the majesty. The majesty word emphasizes the idea of sovereignty, power, unlimited magnificence. That's where he is. At the right hand. And this emphasizes the idea of dispensing, bestowing, allotting, assigning, or mediating the power of God. He is at the right hand. Of ultimate power, ultimate sovereignty, ultimate magnificence, and he is the one dispensing that. You don't want the shadow over here, you want the reality. Exalted human flesh at the right hand of God. God raised Christ from the dead, and he went into the heavens, and he said, It is better for you if I shall go. And this is what he meant. There he is, interceding. And because he is an intercessor on our behalf, he can save forever those who draw near to him. Because he lives to intercede on our behalf, he is seated.

32:12This is how the whole book of Hebrews begins. In Hebrews 1:3, he is the radiance of the glory and the exact representation of the nature of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power. And when he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Christ has a more glorious priesthood than the Levites. One aspect, he is seated in a more glorious position, but second, he serves in a more glorious place. Look at verse 2.

32:46He is seated as a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. You see, the earthly sanctuary was made by human hands, and guess what? It Depended upon an army to protect it. And in less than five years, the sanctuary, the temple, would be completely decimated by Titus. No, the writer of Hebrews is saying, look, we have a better priest who serves in a better sanctuary, one that does not need the armies of men to protect, one that is not going to crumble, that is not going to rot, that is not going to be destroyed, but the true one.

33:29You know what I think is really interesting about these two verses? Verse 1, he is seated. Verse 2, he's a minister, he's serving. He is seated, yet he serves. We could literally put the title on him, Christ, our enthroned servant. You see, Christ has a more glorious priesthood. Three ways. I'm going to walk through these. Three ways Christ's ministry is more glorious than the Levitical priesthood. Number one, Christ has a more glorious priesthood. Second, Christ provided a more glorious sacrifice. Look at verse 3.

34:10For every high priest is appointed. Every high priest is appointed to do what? To offer both gifts and sacrifices. So it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. That's in the sort of very definition of being a high priest. You have something to offer. You go in. And what did he have? He offered himself. And when he offered himself, he sat down. And he was qualified to sit down. You know why? Because his work was done. When he said it is finished, what he was saying, with one glorious sacrifice, he did what all of the sacrifices through all the centuries could not do. He provided forgiveness and reconciliation. Now that's a weighty sacrifice. And when you start adding up the numbers of the animals that shed their blood, it is absolutely mind-boggling how many there would have been through the centuries. And yet, in one glorious act, Christ did what all the priests couldn't do, what all the sacrifices couldn't do. He provided forgiveness and reconciliation to God.

35:34Hebrews 10, 11. He's going to go on and develop this. But he says, every priest stands daily ministering and having and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. It's finished. Done. Well, there are three ways. Christ's ministry is more glorious. Than the Levitical priesthood of old. One, Christ has a more glorious priesthood. Two, Christ has provided a more glorious sacrifice. And three, Christ mediates a more glorious covenant. Look at verse 6. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which he has been enacted on better promises. And he goes on in verse 7. For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. In other words, there's a problem. There's a systemic problem with the original covenant. And that is that it was based upon man's faithfulness.

36:44And so he becomes the mediator of a new covenant. Hebrews 3:3 says, he is counted worthy, speaking of Jesus, more glory than Moses, because he is the mediator of a greater covenant, one that is built upon better promises. Now, see, a mediator is someone who stands between two people and brings them together. Kind of that go-between where there's a conflict, the mediator comes in and completely represents the interests of the one party and completely represents the other party and brings them together. That's what a mediator does. He brings in the best interests of both parties.

37:29This is Zacchaeus. What Christ does. He perfectly represents God, and in him, he totally satisfied the righteous demands and everything that God wanted in humanity. He satisfied, and yet he also provides everything that man needs. And he is able to bring the two together perfectly in his death, his life, his resurrection, a new covenant. There are better promises. Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 31 speaks about this. But in Ezekiel 36, 24, let me read to you this covenant that will be enacted for the nation of Israel in the future. For I will take you from the nations, verse 24, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And you will be careful to observe my ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave your forefathers, so you will be my. My people, and I will be your God. You see, there's no condition upon man's faithfulness in this covenant. It's a faithful heart is given to man as part of the new covenant. That in order for man to meet the demands of God, he must have a new heart, a rebirth, a regeneration, a new heart, a heart of flesh, and God's Spirit in him.

39:29And this new covenant isn't limited to Israel in the future. It has been announced to us here today that all who would want a new heart can have one in Christ. Do you want a faithful heart? Ask Him for it. Do you want a right relationship with Him? Ask Him for it. Cry out to Him for it. He's not cheap. He's generous. Do you want a relationship with God? Ask Him for it. Well, there are three ways Christ's ministry is more glorious than the Levitical priesthood. First, Christ has a more glorious priesthood. Second, Christ provided a more glorious sacrifice. And third, Christ mediates a more glorious covenant. Well, the shadow has no substance in itself. A shadow has no independent existence.

40:30It exists only as evidence of the real thing. The old tabernacle, the old priesthood, the old sacrifices are only shadows. And for centuries, they pointed towards something. They're only shadows of forgiveness, only shadows of reconciliation, only shadows of fellowship with God. But they are not the real thing. I mean, who wants a shadow of real forgiveness when true forgiveness is available through Jesus Christ? And what old covenant priest could compare with the high priest of this new and glorious covenant? No, he's speaking to the body of Hebrew believers. You have a greater priest, you have a greater covenant, you have greater sacrifices. Therefore, leave. Let us leave the religions of shadows and put our faith in the reality of Christ and go on with him.

41:40Put our faith in the reality of Christ. You know, John, the gospel writer, writes his whole gospel, and he says this in John 20:31. These things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life. In his name. And so he writes his whole gospel so that you might believe, that you might be aware that the greater one, the reality, has walked among us. John 1:14, he says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. And then John in 17 records his prayer for his followers. He is the glory. And then he says, This, Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. So he is the glory. He has tabernacled among us, and he has prayed that we would see, experience his glory. And in Revelation 21, 23, the Apostle John tells us, and the city, the new Jerusalem, has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The whole Old Testament system pointed to one reality: Christ, the glory of God. The glory of his people.

43:33You see, our glory is Christ and reflecting Christ. You see, just as the glory of Israel was not in themselves, but in God, so it is with us. Our glory is not in our ability to wow God with our righteousness, but our glory is in the goodness, graciousness, compassion, and power of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is true for all mankind. We are but an image, a mere image. Our glory is not within us, but in the image we reflect. Emmanuel, God with us. This is our glory. Let us worship Him today. Heavenly Father, we bow before your throne today, seeing but a dim reflection in the pages of the scriptures, how they testify of your great glory, how you walked among us, how you made yourself known, Father, that you humbled yourself, tabernacled in flesh, so that we might know you, that we might get to know your personality, things you like, things that you don't like, that we might see you and understand you.

44:58So, Father, when you come in triumph. Glory, we will know you and not need to be afraid. So, Father, I thank you for making yourself known. I thank you for this time of season where we pause and celebrate the fact that you became flesh and tabernacled among us in the babe and in the man. Father, be with us, deal with our hearts, and may we render to you all that is due to your name. In Jesus' name.