Daily devotional readings for Advent 2018 with select scriptures on the subject of God's glory. Beginning December 2nd (the first Sunday in Advent in 2018) going through Christmas Day. Put God's glory at the centre of your Christmas season. Includes a daily Bible reading plan, and prayers for reflection. Christmas Eve: The Radiance of God's Glory The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3) It's Christmas Eve--time for us to look again at the baby of Bethlehem. He is worth a long and careful look, for as the writer to the Hebrews says, he expresses God's nature and glory in a unique and powerful way. The New Testament writers comprehend Jesus as God. Even as he lay in the animal's feeding trough, he was the Word made flesh. Even as the donkey brushed against his makeshift crib, he remained the one who ""sustains all things by the word of his power,"" (Hebrews 1:3) keeping all the countless stars in place--stars he had named! Some theologians speak of Jesus as laying aside his glory to be born into this world. The New Testament presents quite a different picture, that of Christ being the perfect manifestation of God's glory (see 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15-16). Others speak of Christ emptying himself to become human, whereas the New Testament speaks not of emptiness but the ""fulness of the godhead"" dwelling in him ""in bodily form"" (Colossians 2:9). Jesus Christ came to reveal God's glory, a glory which is ""full of grace and truth"" (John 1:14). The radiance of God's glory reaches out to you and me, inviting us in, to love the one who first loved us, worship the one who was born to redeem us, and praise the name of the one who died, so that the costly rescue mission he began at Bethlehem could be accomplished. Prayer: Lord, we praise you for the glory of Christmas--that God is with us and will never leave us. We praise you, for you so loved us, that gave up your heavenly home, shedding your blood on the cross to save us. It is this love, more than anything else, that reveals the fulness of God's glory to us. Amen. Advent Themes: First Week: God Reveals His Glory. Second Week: The Prophets Foretell Future Glory. Third Week: God's Glory Revealed in Christ. Fourth Week: To God be the Glory!
