The Word Became Flesh
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Introduction
Sermon Series: Unforgettable Christmas
Sermon Text:
Introduction
We have entered into the Christmas season. Everywhere you look there are Christmas decorations and Christmas music going on. It is a beautiful time of the year. With all of the beauty of this season, some of the most important things about this season can get overlooked and pushed out if we are not careful.
It is interesting to me how some people get irritated when others try to take Christ out of Christmas. I think that we see this most obvious when people use “Xmas” instead of “Christmas.” The interesting thing about this is that this is not really taking Christ out of Christmas. The letter “X” is actually the Greek symbol/letter “Chi” which was the beginning of the word “Christ.” I think that we may push Christ out of Christmas in other ways than this.
How do we treat Jesus during the holidays? How much of Jesus and His love for others do we include in our daily schedules? We shouldn’t regulate Christ to simply our speech and holiday announcements. We should take on His mission every day. It has been said that the best Christmas is the Christmas that never ends.
We are beginning our journey to the manger with a series that I am calling “Unforgettable Christmas.” We want to look at ways that we can make this a Christmas to never forget. The best way that can happen is to make sure that the focus and attention is placed on the proper things.
We are going to look at the true reason for this Christmas season: the first coming of Jesus Christ. This morning, I would like to look at and see what Jesus brought when He came the first time.
John starts his gospel out very differently than the others. While Matthew and Luke start out with the events around the birth of Jesus, and Mark starts out with ministry of Jesus, John starts his gospel out with one of the greatest theological recordings of why Jesus came in the first place.
John starts out by showing that Jesus is God and present even before the beginning of time (). John calls Jesus the living Word and shows that it was through Jesus that all things were created.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
John moves into telling the reasoning why Jesus came: He came to bring some much-needed gifts to the world.
Jesus brought light
Jesus brought light
In , John shares that Jesus came and brought light to a dark world. Darkness saturates this world because of sin.
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
There is a common thought among many people that there is a little good in every person. The Bible teaches a different truth though. recalls verses from the Old Testament that share the true nature of people. It later sums up in that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.
There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips.
Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,
and the path of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.
There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips.
Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,
and the path of peace they have not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Jesus came to bring light to a very dark world. It is interesting that if you go back to and look at the creation account, the first thing that God said is “let there be light.” It is light that exposes things for what they really are and makes redemption possible.
In verse 5, John shares the wonderful truth that no matter how thick the darkness is, it cannot overpower the light that Jesus brought to this world. You can go to the deepest, darkest cave in the world where no light is found and light a candle, and you can literally watch the darkness be pushed back by the smallest of candles. Jesus came to bring light and has given it to those who trust Him with the intentions that we use it to push back the darkness in the places in which we live.
Jesus brought life
Jesus brought life
A second thing that we see that Jesus brought is grouped together with the light that He brought: life. Jesus brought the life that God intends us to live. There is no true life apart from the light that Jesus brings.
Jesus brought physical life. We see through His ministry time and time again that Jesus brought fullness of life to those who were suffering in great ways. Jesus also came to show us how our everyday lives are to be lived: under the direction of God.
Jesus brought spiritual life. Jesus came and gave hope to the hopeless. He showed us that even though we have all fallen short of God’s standards, the life that He offers is one that is that brings us back to the Father and allows us to experience God as He intended.
Jesus brought eternal life. As Jesus came to earth with the purpose of going to the cross, He brought eternal life to those who were destined to be apart from God forever. tells us that “all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be the children of God.” That means that it is a life that lasts through all eternity.
Jesus brought grace and truth
Jesus brought grace and truth
In , we see that Jesus came and brought both grace and truth. These are two of the most important qualities of the divine nature. Jesus brought them and displayed them in human personality.
for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
These two qualities, grace and truth, are needed together. Truth is what shows us what is right and wrong. Truth does not waver or change. Truth sets the barriers and cannot be moved. Truth can be hard to take sometimes, but it is exactly what we need. Grace is the special ingredient that draws us to God. It is His grace that looks past our condition and brings us what we need even when we do not deserve it.
Without Jesus coming the first time, we would not be able to experience the grace and truth of God, nor would we be able to see things clearly because the light would not be present. We would not be able to experience life to the fullest if Jesus had not brought these wonderful gifts to us.
How do we respond to Jesus’ Coming?
How do we respond to Jesus’ Coming?
In the middle of this wonderful theological masterpiece about Jesus’ coming and the gifts that He brought to the world, we see a dividing line. As wonderful as it is that Jesus came and brought these gifts to the world, we see in that there are two ways to respond to His coming.
The first manner of response is to look past Jesus. That is what many did when Jesus showed up the first time. John states that even though Jesus created all things, many of the people did not recognize Him. Maybe they were looking for something else. Maybe Jesus didn’t fit into their well-made plans. Whatever the case, many did not receive the wonderful gifts that Jesus brought.
Sadly, the same thing happens often today. Many see Jesus as “not for them” or “unnecessary.” They look past the fact that He didn’t have to come but chose to for them. They choose rather to go on their merry way and “take their chances.” This is a sad state.
The second manner of response is to receive Jesus. John says that those who received Him and believed in His name were welcomed into the family of God. Notice that it didn’t say anything about being good enough or having their affairs in order. They simply saw Jesus for who He really is and trusted in Him.
It is still that simple today. It simply takes a person allowing the light that Jesus brings open their eyes to the grace and truth of the gospel. Once that happens and person confesses and turns from their sins to Jesus, He gives them life.
Conclusion
Why someone would want to take these truths out of this wonderful season called Christmas, I do not know. Jesus’ birth was the coming of so much more than just another baby… it was the coming of light and life, grace and truth.
If we want to make this an “Unforgettable Christmas,” then let’s be sure that we keep Christ in Christmas. To remove Him would be to remove everything good about Christmas.
How can we keep Christ in Christmas and make this an “Unforgettable Christmas”?
If you have never believed and received Jesus, do so today.
Be like John the Baptist in . John was not the One himself, but he testified (gave witness) to the true One, Jesus. We can share the light and life, grace and truth that has been shared with us with others.