Good News of Great Joy part 1
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Introduction
Introduction
A lot of things bring me joy during this time of year: baked goods, Christmas decorations, presents, Christmas lights, baked goods, the smell of a Christmas tree, children’s anticipation, the music, Castle Rock at Christmas, baked goods, and, of course, Christmas movies!
What makes Christmas movies fun for me? They are simple, hopeful, bring me back to my childhood, and the theme is usually the joy of the season.
Pastor Ben’s Favorite Christmas Movies:
#10 - Jingle All the Way
#9 - The Santa Clause 2
#8 - It’s a Wonderful Life
#7 - The Nativity Story
#6 - Elf
#5 - Scrooged
#4 - The Santa Clause
#3 - A Christmas Story
#2 - Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
#1 - A Charlie Brown Christmas
What brings you joy during the Christmas season?
What steals your joy during the Christmas season? (Let’s call them Christmas Grinches)
Unfortunately, I believe that for many today, the joy of the season gets stolen because of all of the Christmas Ginches during this time of year…
Christmas series from John 1…
John 1:1-18 is way too deep for three sermons...
We will focus on the key Christmas verse, and use the other verses to get a clearer understanding of why this season should be such a joyful time for believers, in spite of the Christmas Grinches that try to steal our joy.
Focal Verse: Verse 14 – “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
We will break this into three parts over the next three weeks…
Read John 1:1-18
“And the Word became flesh…”
“And the Word became flesh…”
Identifying “the Word”
Verse 1
“was” = preexistent
The Greek ‘was’ here is what is called in the “imperfect form”. This means that it is something that was already in continuing existence before the current event. (i.e. something that existed before the beginning.)
Not created…
In essence, John is saying, “In the beginning, the Word was already in existence.”
“with God” = unique relationship too God
The word ‘with’ in Greek can be used in two ways:
σύν = side-by-side
πρός = face-to-face
πρός is the term here…talk about the intimacy of a face-to-face relationship…
The Word being “with God” suggests a unique relationship, which no other can boast of possessing and nothing we understand can illustrate it effectively.
Thus He is called God the Son, because the Son reflects the Father.
“was God” = eternal God the Son
The Word as God-Man is a challenging topic. However, though our feeble minds might not be able to grasp this unique relationship (because it is like no other relationship), it doesn’t make it any less true.
Some have historically reinterpreted or retranslated this verse to get it to “make sense” to their minds. But, doing that shows that your God is too small!
Understand, this doesn’t mean God the Father and God the Son are identical (Sabellianism). It means that they share the same nature and being. Yet, they are distinct persons within the Godhead.
This is what Scripture tells us of God.
Logos vs. OT “Word of God”
Greeks = λόγος meaning the center of reason, typically with divine sources.
Hebrews = “Word of God” or dabaar was God in action, especially in creation, revelation & deliverance.
We see this throughout the OT: when God speaks, His word creates; when God speaks, His word reveals His will and character; when God speaks, His word heals, rescues, and even brings judgment upon sin.
I believe John 1:1-18 points to a Hebrew understanding of this passage because of verse 3 (creation), 9 & 18 (revelation) & 12-13 (deliverance).
Jesus is the Word
Jesus alone fits the description of God in action; the Word of God.
John’s purpose statement: 20:30-31
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Who Jesus is lies at the heart of John’s Gospel
John says so in verses 16-17
What coming in the flesh means:
The theological term “incarnation” comes from the Latin meaning “in the flesh.” It is the supernatural act in which the eternal Son of God became a human, though without sin.
In using this term, John is doing away with the Docetism (DOH sea tism) of his day, who claimed that Jesus merely appeared to be human.
John says that in fact, Jesus came as both fully human and fully God.
While the finite mind struggles to understand this, faith says that Jesus is who He said He was.
Why becoming flesh matters:
Jesus came in the flesh as God’s ultimate communication of Himself and His will.
Jesus came as the ultimate self-disclosure of God to mankind.
By coming to the world Christ has revealed what God is like.
By dying for us he has shown us just how much God loves us!
Jesus came in the flesh so He could bear the sins of humans to make us children of God.
Throughout his Gospel, John points to the mission of Jesus came to fulfill. This could only be accomplished through His death, burial and resurrection.
The goal of mission is stated clearly here at the outset of this Gospel: vv. 12-13.
Good News of Great Joy: The preexistent, eternal Son became fully human like us so we can become children of God.
Good News of Great Joy: The preexistent, eternal Son became fully human like us so we can become children of God.
This truth tells us three important things:
God loves us.
Your value does not come from your ability to contribute great things to society. Maybe you will maybe you won’t.
Your value comes from the fact that you are loved by God for no justifiable reason.
Ephesians 3:18–19 (ESV)
I pray that you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
There is hope.
What gives the world hope?
Success/wealth/material possessions;
Relationships with people;
Pursuing your passion;
“Living your truth”;
The arts (music, dance, works of art, film, etc.)
Spending time in nature;
Volunteering and/or helping others;
There’s nothing wrong with many of these. However, they are all fleeting.
Wealth fades, gets stolen, or taxed;
Relationships go sour;
Your passion isn’t always good or attainable;
Living your truth often conflicts with someone else’s truth;
The arts can be just as discouraging as they are hopeful (especially when the arts is trying to make political statements);
Nature can be rough on the human body;
Helping others can backfire at times.
But the hope we have in Christ Jesus never fades because it’s not founded in a fallen world.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We have reason to have great joy this Christmas!
Our joy is not the joy of this world. Our joy is knowing that God’s great love for us gave us His Son so that we can become children of God, not by our merits, but through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
That, my dearly loved friends, is truly good news of great joy!