Reasons for the Incarnation — Revelation

In spite of all the clamor and the clutter, and clatter of the Christmas season what captures my attention this time of year—and I hope your’s—is the preeminence of Jesus Christ. Advent is about seeing past all the peripheral things, all the distractions to see the glory of God in the Christ-child.

Simply put, the meaning of Christmas is to say that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. No other world religion makes such an audacious claim. He came minister the five Incarnational-R’s — Redemption ... Revelation ... Reconciliation ... Righteousness ... Resurrection.

Jesus came to redeem his Elect from sin and death. In his person, he was the Spotless Lamb of God sent to take away the sin of the world. He was spotless because he was sinless. In his death that Spotless Lamb became the propitiation for our sin, purchasing our freedom from the dominion of sin, and the sting of death. Redemption was the Incarnational-R of last week’s message.

This morning I want us to think about the second Incarnational-R ... God came in the flesh to reveal Himself to men. John’s gospel tells us, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Do you realize how astounding is that statement? The sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, infinite, immutable, merciful, holy triune God, revealed His character to us in the person of Jesus.

Jesus, according to the Prologue of John’s Gospel, is The Living Word. Of all the books of the Bible, none presents Christ as supremely as the Gospel of John.

I. THE INCARNATION TEACHES THAT THE LIVING WORD COME INTO THE WORLD WAS GOD’S PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING

1. the incarnation was not some “ah-ha” moment God the Father had after Malachi spoke his prophecy, and the voice of God fell silent among the Jews

a. God didn’t look at the Jews and say to Himself, “Ya know, this whole ‘law-thingy’ ain’t really working. I’d better switch to ‘Plan B’.”

2. the incarnation was God’s plan from the very beginning

a. it is unmistakably found all over the pages of the Old Testament

A. THE PROPHET ISAIAH PROCLAIMED IT

1. Isaiah revealed it to King Ahaz and his royal house

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, NIV)

a. when Jesus was born Matthew records that he was given the name Immanuel which means “God with us”

b. 500 years before the event, the prophet Isaiah revealed that there would be a supernatural event, a virgin conception, the virgin birth, and a child who is God with us

c. the reality of the incarnation is laid down for us in Isaiah 7:14 — a baby will be God, a baby born to a virgin

1) the prophet would later reinforce this in Isaiah 9:6

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, NIV)

2) there is no other explanation for this prophecy than that this child that would be born of a virgin would be both mighty God and mortal man

B. THE PROPHET MICAH PROCLAIMED IT

“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2, KJV)

1. Micah speaks of a child who would be born in Bethlehem to rule in Israel who was eternal

a. the only eternal being is God, therefore again Micah asserts and affirms that this is the birth of God in human flesh

2. only god is from “everlasting”

a. the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates Micah 5:2 this way…

“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity.” (Micah 5:2, HCSB)

C. THE ANGEL GABRIEL PROCLAIMED IT

1. in the Old Testament Yahweh claimed to be the God Most High

ILLUS. We find the phrase used for the first time when Abraham meets Melchizedek, the King of Salem, after the rescue of his nephew Lot. Melchizedek is described as a priest of God Most High. Melchizedek tells Abraham that it was the God Most High who delivered Abraham’s enemies into his hands. With that Abraham exclaims,“And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,” (Genesis 14:22, KJV).

a. fifty more times the Old Testament — mostly in the Psalms — describes the Lord as the God Most High

1) the prophet Daniel says that the most high God is sovereign over all the nations of the earth

2. the angel Gabriel tells Mary “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:31-32)

3. it is at this time of the year Christians around the world celebrate the coming of the eternal God into the world as a baby

a. this is the great story, the great truth, the great reality of Christianity

b. there is only one God and he came into this world one time in the form of a man, Jesus who is the Christ

4. Christ came into the world not only to redeem us, but to reveal to us the character of God

a. this has always been God’s plan

5. in theology the incarnation is referred to as the hypostatic union

a. at the end of the day you can forget about the term, but never forget about what it refers to — that Jesus has to complete natures — one fully human and one fully divine

1) the doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches that two natures are united in one person in the God–man

a) he wasn’t a man, momentarily indwelt by God, nor was he God who merely took on the appearance of a man

b) because he is fully human he gets tired, he needs to eat, he can love, he can bleed, and he can die

c) because he is fully God he can heal the blind, and cleanse the leper, he can forgive sin, he can die, but he can rise again

b. why is this important?

1) it means that 33 years after Bethlehem, at a place called Golgotha, that God died for us, and he is now the focal point of our worship

II. THE INCARNATION TEACHES THAT THE LIVING WORD COME INTO THE WORLD IS THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD

1. the Apostle John begins his gospel in a way reminiscent of the very first book of the Bible

a. in Genesis we read: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, (Gen. 1:1)

b. in the Gospel of John we read: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

2. Genesis begins with the creation of the world and tells us of God’s creative efforts

3. but in his gospel, the Apostle John goes behind the creation account into eternity past, and tells us the story behind the story of creation

4. that story is of an eternal Christ in glory with the Father, high and lifted up and on His throne

a. Jesus was the Word that was with God and indeed was God

1) words are not just letters strung together

a) words are the incarnation of our thoughts and the stimulators of feelings

2) words are used to express our thoughts, ideas and intents

a) a word can be a soothing balm or an explosive bomb

b) a positive word makes you feel good, but a negative word leaves you feeling depressed and defeated

c) words release energy — a single word can turn you on, or it can turn you off

d) a negative word can defuse your enthusiasm for a project, but a positive word releases positive energy and becomes a creative force

3) behind every word there is a mental picture that conveys meaning to us

b. Jesus Christ — as the Living Word — is the expression of God’s thoughts and intents toward us

1) it’s one thing to say, I love you

2) it’s another thing altogether to be loving — to inflesh our love through personal direct actions

5. in Christ, God revealed Himself to us

a. if you want to know what God thinks about your life, all you have to do is look at the life of Jesus

ILLUS. The great rocket scientist Robert Oppenheimer once said, "The best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person."

b. that’s exactly what God did in Jesus

A. JESUS CHRIST — THE LIVING WORD — IS ONE WITH THE HEAVENLY FATHER

1. Jesus is and forever has been and will always be eternal with God the Father because He is God

a. three times in vs. 1 the Apostle John uses the word was

b. now, I know most of you don’t care for grammar lessons, but it’s important that I give you one very quickly

1) the word was in this passage is the imperfect form of the verb to be

c. there is no adequate translation for the verb in the English language

1) in the original language of the Bible, to verb to be is a word that expresses timelessness

a) thus, we might read the verse like this: In the beginning always was the Word, and the Word always was with God, and the Word always was God.

b) do you see the difference than just a our normal reading of it?

2. what’s the big deal?

a. it means that Jesus Christ, is and forever has been and will always be eternal

3. at Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the Savior

a. his name is Jesus who is the Christ

b. but just because He was born of a woman and had flesh and blood as we do does not contradict His claim to deity and oneness with the Father

• “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.” (John 6:46, NIV84)

• “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30, NIV84)

c. I don’t think you can get any clearer than that

4. Jesus has absolute equality with the father

a. the nature of Christ has been at issue since the earliest days of the Church

1) some have maintained that Jesus was merely human who had great wisdom and spiritual insight

2) some have believed that He was adopted by God at His baptism and was divine only until abandoned by God at His crucifixion

3) and a few have even advanced the idea that Jesus is divine, but not on equal footing with the Father — in essence He is second-banana in the universe

b. but Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus is God, come to us in the flesh

1) He was made in the likeness of men, yet he remains God over all, blessed forever

2) in the Book of Hebrews, the Bible says that God, in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son who is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being

3) to believe anything less is heresy

5. why would God do this?

a. why would God come in the flesh?

ILLUS. Shortly before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus is attempting to prepare His disciples for the events which are about to take place. In John 14:7, He tells them, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well . . . “ The apostle Phillip responds, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

b. what was our Lord’s response?

“ ... “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” (John 14:9–11, NIV84)

1) to hear the words of Jesus in the Gospels is to hear the voice of God the Father

2) to see the actions of Jesus in the Gospels is to see the behavior of God the Father

3) to know the character of Jesus in the Gospels is to know the character of God the Father

III. THE INCARNATION TEACHES THAT THE LIVING WORD COME INTO THE WORLD REVEALS GOD TO MEN

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, NIV84)

1. God wants to be known

a. He wants to have fellowship with His creation

2. to be known by another means you must take the risk of revealing things about yourself

a. God took that risk

b. God hides nothing

1) His very work from the beginning is revelation – a casting aside of veil after veil

2) on and on throughout the Scriptures He reveals Himself, until at length in his Son, Jesus, he unveils his very face

A. HE DWELT AMONG US

1. vs. 14 is a unique and interesting statement

a. it literally says that Jesus tabernacled among us

2. John’s Jewish readers knew immediately what the Apostle was referring to

a. he was talking about the tent of meeting or the Tabernacle which served as the Israelites’ temple during their wilderness wanderings

b. to paraphrase what the verse is saying we could translate the verse like this: The physical presence of God — manifested in the person of Jesus Christ — pitched His tent among us.

3. the Apostle John is saying that God was so desirous about being known and revealing His nature to His people, that He moved in next door

a. I like that!

3. it tells me that I have a Heavenly Father who took the initiative to come and experience life as I do in order that He might judge me more fairly and provide me with what I need the most — the opportunity to get to know Him personally

What are the reasons for the incarnation? Last week, we learned that the incarnation is about redemption. This morning we learn that the incarnation is about revelation. God wants to be known.

J. I. Packer wrote: “God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.”

Christ, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, left the glories of heaven in order to share himself with us. That gift of his love and friendship will never be withdrawn from us. He chose to be your friend and mine forever. Like Shah Abbis, who revealed His true nature to the poor man, so God in Jesus who is the Christ, reveals Himself to us.

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20, NIV84)