I tried to describe a kaleidoscopic sunrise. It enveloped we who watched it, took us into itself and made us a part of its towering beauty.

But words written on a piece of paper could not convey the real splendour of our experience. They could only stimulate and inspire thought but of themselves, they were just words. They were limited and what they conveyed was limited to the sunrise memories of each reader. They could only inspire an appreciation for sunrises and a search for the perfect sunrise.

It was left to imagination and experience to flesh out the picture.

Then a thoughtful artist took the words and engulfed them in a picture. What the words described, the picture was. Black ink on paper became a melody of colour, a song of creativity. Light and joy flooded the page and burst open on the mind. The words took on flesh.

Just so, pictures of what the perfect Man would be like were scattered through a Book. Abel, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua – a stream of characters are word descriptions that make us search for the perfect Man.

They were there until “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Words in a Book took on flesh and became the glory of the rainbow encircling the world and of the stars singing the universe into joy. Now the Word took on meaning, and a whole picture enveloped history.

The new Son of God, Jesus, the new Adam, showed us what the Word describes. He ended the search for the perfect Man.

Then he did what the sunrise did, he took us into himself and made us a part of the complete picture. “To those who put their trust in him, he gave the right to become the children of God.” (John 1:13,14.)

Elizabeth Price, Team writer with Just a Minute reprice@dragnet.com.au