2016-12-24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service: John 1:43-51 Heaven Came Down

HEAVEN CAME DOWN (John 1:43-51) Date: December 24, 2016 Four-year-old Nancy was so excited for Christmas. It was all about gifts for her, so Mom went to great pains to explain the real meaning of Christmas and why the family celebrated it. Nancy had a wonderful Christmas with lots of presents. But a few days later – to show she got the real meaning – she said, “That was a great Christmas, Mom. I sure hope Joseph and Mary have another baby!” I guess they still had a little work to do with Nancy! But there are a lot of people struggling to find the true meaning of Christmas. If you watch the TV shows it mostly boils down to getting the Christmas spirit of peace and love toward others – getting along. In real life, that feeling usually lasts at least until the last present is opened. But God’s idea of the meaning of Christmas is a little different and a lot more profound. And since God is really good with pictures, He depicts the meaning before long before it happens, and a lot of ways. One of those is found way back in Gen 28. There, around 1900 BC we find a guy named Jacob. He is the youngest of twin boys – a Momma’s boy -- who cleverly steals the family inheritance from his brother, Esau, by tricking their elderly, blind father. But things don’t exactly go as he hoped. Esau is furious and vows to kill Jacob the first chance he gets. So, Jacob has to get out of Dodge to the land of his mother’s family, 500 miles away. Sadly, he never sees his mother again. We can only imagine how scared Jacob was the first night out – leaving his only home, fearing for his very life, unsure where he was going or what he would find there. Nothing had turned out right. But that night, camping under the stars with a rock for a pillow, Jacob had a dream. Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it.” God then makes some promises to Jacob. But what He’s really teaching him is, “Jacob – you need me. You’ve tried to do things your own way, and look where it’s gotten you. It’s time to do things my way. When you’re ready, I’m here for you.” Jacob got the message. Next morning, Gen 28:16: Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob was wising up fast. He realized the Lord had been there all the time and he hadn’t seen it. He 1 saw that the ladder represented heaven reaching down to him. The blessing his cheating and finagling had failed to provide – it would all come by grace. It’s all a picture, dear friends. It’s a picture of Christmas! Really? Yes. Fast forward to John 1. Jesus, the subject of the Christmas story, at age 30, has given up carpentry to begin 3 years of active ministry. He begins to gather followers, one of whom was named Philip – and Philip does what he always did best – he brings another man, Nathanael to Jesus by telling him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote [and his name is] Jesus of Nazareth” (Jn 1:45). Nathanael is skeptical to say the least, but he comes and the first thing Jesus ever says to him in Jn 1:47 is, “Behold, an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you [tho apparently Nathanael would have been hidden from view].” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” – the title Jesus always used for Himself. What in the world is that about? I’ll tell you what that is about. Jesus is saying, “Nathanael, remember Jacob’s dream (any Jewish person would have known about it)? Well, you are right in calling me the Son of God. That’s who I am. Furthermore, I am the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream. What Jacob saw in a dream, you’ll see for real! I am God reaching down -- becoming one with you to bring you to God. I am the gate to heaven.” Wow! That’s pretty dramatic, isn’t it? An extraordinary claim. But He turns around and does it again a short time later in another pix when a guy named Nicodemus – someone Jesus called “the teacher of Israel” – the Billy Graham of his day – he comes at night to see what Jesus is all about. Jesus tells him – you want heaven? Then I have good news for you. Jn 3:13: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” So what’s this about Moses and some serpent? Another picture illustrating a spiritual truth. When God sent Moses to deliver Israelites from Egypt around 1425 BC, they ran into a problem in the wilderness. A bunch of snakes came out of nowhere 2 and were biting and killing the people. Moses prayed and God told him in Num 21:8, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it shall live.” “You’ve got a poisonous bite. You can’t cure yourself. Good. Soon as you realize that, look at the pole. Look to the snake that has been lifted up high enough for all to see. You’ll be cured.” It’s a picture – of what Jesus came to do by His death and resurrection. Nic had a sin problem like all of us. But Jesus came down from heaven to be lifted up on the cross as payment for Nic’s sin and the sin of anyone who will believe. He is the only cure. But by looking to Him we can be saved from the poison bite of sin. He is therefore the gate to heaven. He’s Jacob’s ladder – the only bridge between God and man. He is “the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Him.” He’s God’s infinite gift to all of us. That, Beloved, is the meaning of Christmas. It is God coming down to provide, at the cost of His own life, the ladder to take us to Himself. We can’t build our own ladder. Can’t work our way in, can’t pay our way in, can’t talk our way in. But what we can’t do – He’s already done. It is only for us to look to Him, believe in Him, accept His gift and receive Him into our lives. You say, “So Christmas isn’t about being kind to each other?” Sure it is! But it’s about loving each other because He first loved us. Don’t miss Him. Jacob said God was there and he almost missed Him. For us, God is there in Christ. Don’t miss Him. He’s the portal to heaven – the only way to the Father. Conc – Dad was showing his five-year-old son around the farm where he grew up. He pointed out all the hard work and skill it took to be a good farmer. As they came to the barn, he showed the boy the long, handmade ladder up to the loft and said, “That ladder goes up to the loft where we kept all the hay to feed the cows.” The boy stared for a moment taking it all in, and then he said, “I bet it was hard for those cows to climb that ladder.” Hard? Would have been impossible, wouldn’t it? Just like it’s impossible for us to climb our way to God. Thankfully, we don’t have to. God’s pictures tell us He came down to us – and made the way so we can go back to Him by accepting His gift. Hope you’ve done that. If not – why not right now? Let’s pray. 3