A prayer based on John 1:14-18.

<aside> 🙏🏻 We give You our God all the glory and praise as we marvel at that awe-inspiring moment, when Your Son, the eternal Word of God, the uncreated Creator, who made everything and holds everything together, became flesh; when He added human nature to His divine nature, when He who was infinite, unlimited, invisible became finite, limited, and visible, as He shrank Himself into a baby; as He came into our world as the man Jesus Christ, to dwell among His people in an even more personal and much closer way. We praise You that in Him, You have made Yourself known with a clarity never seen before. That He has revealed Your glory by showing You to be a God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth; that You are a God who forgives iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

Lord Jesus, we thank You that You are full of grace and truth, and we can know this for sure, by looking at the cross. As we see You bleeding and dying as a sacrifice for sin, we see Your grace, as You are forgiving the sins of Your people who don’t deserve any forgiveness from You. As we hear You cry out as One forsaken by Your Father, we see Your truth, as You are not leaving the sin and guilt of Your people unpunished but receiving what they deserve. We thank You that You took on flesh so that You would have flesh to offer up to God as a sacrifice for us, so that we can be brought into relationship with Him.

Gracious Father, We are truly amazed by what Your Son has done for us. We are astonished by how much He must love us that He would give up the riches and splendour and glory of heaven to enter this dark world of sin and suffering, to experience all the weakness and temptation we face. And yet we confess our response to the news that the Word became flesh for us is not what it ought to be. Though He cares about us, about every detail, domain, and day of our lives, we do not care about Him as we should. We are prone to drift and disobey and dishonour Him daily. Though He has saved us from all our guilt and shame before You, and rescue us from the wrath to come, we do not live in a manner worthy of this salvation. Though He has given us eternal life and a future hope, we do not live as citizens of heaven, but cling far too tightly to the things of this world and continue to be attracted by its ways. Forgive us we pray and continue to conform us by Your Spirit into the image of the Son, who loved us and became flesh for us. Help us to fix our eyes on Him who is the author and perfector of our faith; and in whatever we do, to do it all to Your glory and the glory of Your Son, our Saviour and King.

Amen.

</aside>