Glory, Presence, and the Reign Of God In John's Gospel

The idea of the "Word" becoming flesh and dwelling among humankind was restricted solely to the unique human

person of Jesus Christ, and his limited human existence at one place and time in human history in Palestine. God's

redemption of humankind in Jesus Christ is not limited to people, nor is it completed in it. It is a continuing process

that involves the whole created order or cosmos; the physical/material, the moral/ethical, cultural, political, social,

economic, and religious; in other words a total interconnectedness of all states of being and doing. Life is a search

for wholeness. People desire to be fully human, with disease and disappointment as well as strength and

accomplishment, and be thus fully present with God and presented to God, who himself is fully present with his

creation in Christ Jesus and who alone can make perfect the offering. The Word of God made flesh and dwelling

among us as one of us calls into being a new and redeemed creation through an eschatological community of God's

people made manifest in Christ; and in God's new world made possible through the death and resurrection of

Christ.