The God Who Moved In Next Door: Glory in the Ordinary
Pastor Rasol Manouchehri Ardakani - 20 December 2025
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Welcome to Day 20.
We are now into the final stretch of our Advent journey.
If you have been reading through the Gospels during this season, you might have noticed that John is very different from Luke or Matthew. He doesn't mention shepherds, he doesn't mention wise men, and he doesn't even mention a manger. Instead, he starts with a cosmic poem. He zooms right out to the beginning of time and then zooms in on one earth-shattering fact: The Word became flesh.
This is the central mystery of Christmas. God, who is spirit, infinite, and invisible, took on skin and bone. He became fragile. He became touchable.
But I want to focus on the phrase "made his dwelling among us."
In the original Greek, this phrase literally translates to "he pitched his tent among us." To a Jewish reader, this would immediately bring to mind the Old Testament, when God’s presence dwelt in the Tabernacle—a literal tent that travelled with the people through the desert. Where the tent went, God went.
John is telling us that in Jesus, God has done it again. But this time, He hasn't moved into a tent made of fabric; He has moved into a body made of flesh. And He hasn't just visited us; He has moved into the neighbourhood.
Imagine if the King or the Prime Minister decided to move into the house next door to you. Not a palace down the road, but the semi-detached house right next to yours. Imagine seeing them taking the bins out or walking to the local shop. It would change everything about how you viewed them. They would no longer be a distant figure on the news; they would be a neighbour.
That is what Jesus did. He didn't stay in the "palace" of heaven. He came down and lived right in the middle of our messy, noisy, complicated humanity. He ate our food, walked our dusty roads, and laughed at our jokes. He made Himself completely accessible.
Verse 14 tells us that He came "full of grace and truth."
We often find it hard to balance these two things. We tend to be either all "truth," which can be harsh and unyielding, or all "grace," which can be soft and permissive. But Jesus is the perfect blend of both. He speaks the truth about our sin and our brokenness, yet He offers the grace to forgive and heal us. He is the only one who sees us exactly as we are (truth) and loves us completely anyway (grace).
So today, as you prepare for the final few days before Christmas, take comfort in this reality. God is not hiding from you. He is not locked away in a distant heaven where you cannot reach Him. He has pitched His tent right here. He is "With Us" in the most physical, tangible way possible.
You don't have to shout across the universe to be heard. You just have to talk to the One who moved in next door.
Prayer of the Day:
Lord Jesus, thank You for becoming flesh. Thank You for pitching Your tent among us and moving into our neighbourhood. We are amazed that You chose to live in our broken world rather than staying distant in glory. Thank You for being full of grace and truth. Help us to see Your glory today, not in the spectacular, but in the nearness of Your presence. Amen.