|
Christmas – The Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the World! (6 of 7)
John 1:14 – ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…’
John 1:1-18
1 John 4:14 (ESV) –
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.”
John 1:1-5 (ESV) –
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
- These verses show us who Jesus is by bridging from before Creation to Christ’s coming – the only fitting response is worship… (John 1:1-5)
These verses build a bridge from all the way back before Creation to Christ’s coming and this confronts us with the significance of His coming! The story is much bigger than Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, right away we come to the words – In the beginning was the Word…
Notice that’s Word capital ‘W’. The Word is eternal but that’s not all – we’re told more vital details about the Word, we read – …the Word was with God… and …the Word was God.
John 1:1-2 (ESV) –
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke begin with accounts of Jesus’ birth – think Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels and wise men (Magi). Mark skips over Jesus’ birth and childhood and begins with the launch of His public ministry, marked by His baptism in the Jordan River. The Gospel of John does something entirely different going back before the beginning of time to explain the earth-shattering significance of Christ’s coming!
These compact statements point to the Triune nature of God: one God eternally existing in a loving unity of three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These words don’t tell us all the details about the Trinity but many of the building blocks are right here.
God the Son, the second person of the Trinity (the Word) has always been, is and will always be fully God! The Word was with God and the Word was God back before the beginning began.
John 1:3 (ESV) –
“All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
Hebrews 1:2 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“…but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.”
We can ultimately believe: In the beginning was the Word… or we can believe: In the beginning were the Particles… and what we believe will influence (or touch) absolutely everything (it’s a worldview issue).
If we believe: In the beginning was the Word… we’re accountable to our Creator, we have a purpose and there is meaning to life!
If on the other hand it’s – In the beginning were the Particles… we’re nothing more than cosmic coincidences and there’s no meaning (or purpose) to life and there’s also no objective basis for morality! It’s survival of the fittest because we’re nothing more (or less) than the unlikely meaningless accidents of purposeless, random forces.
John 1:6-9 (ESV) –
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”
- Christ’s coming demands a response one way or the other and we all need to ask and answer the question – What’s my response?
Remaining on the theme of light and darkness we see that – John the Baptist was a witness pointing to the true light. John’s role was to point people to the one who is – The Light of the World. And the world is a dark place full of people who are in rebellion against their Creator.
John 8:12 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 12:46 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness.”
John 1:10-13 (ESV) –
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
There are different responses to Christ’s coming. One response is rejection and we see this in verses 10-11 and the other and opposite response is receiving Him, we see this in verse 12-13.
John 1:3 (ESV) –
“All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
Colossians 1:16 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.”
Exodus 20:12 (ESV) –
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
John 1:11-12 (ESV) –
“He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…”
Only those who receive Him become members of God’s family and those who reject God’s gift seal their own doom.
John 3:36 (ESV) –
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
We have all been lovingly created in the image of God but only those who receive Jesus Christ become children of God! There’s a razor thin dividing line between eternal life and Divine wrath and the dividing line is our response to the person and work of Christ. Verse 12 tells us that everyone who receives Him becomes a child of God!
1 John 5:12 (ESV) –
“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
All of us are sinners needing to be saved and this is why the Word became flesh: He came to save! And we have to personally receive the Savior’s gift, we need to place our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must receive Him!
John 1:14-18 (ESV) –
“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. (John bore witness about Him, and cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.’”) For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known.”
- We’re not stuck making wild guesses about who God is! Jesus supremely reveals God to us! (John 1:14-18)
The incarnation is the theological term pointing to the glorious truth that God the Son became human for the purpose of our salvation! The glorious truth of the incarnation is that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.
John 1:1 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:14 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“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.”
The Word became flesh to save us from our sins! John 1:14 is a concise and densely packed answer to the question – What Child is this?
John 1:18 (ESV) –
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known.”
If we want to know who God is, we need to look at Jesus! We need to look to the Word (capital ‘W’) who became flesh! Because of the incarnation we’re not stuck guessing about who God is – He has revealed Himself!
Psalm 19:1 (ESV) –
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.”
Pause and ponder how scary that would be to know that we’re accountable to God but to have no idea who He is and what He requires of us – this is a terrifying proposition and it’s not the case because God has supremely revealed Himself in His Son.
We can find ourselves tempted to feel like God doesn’t understand our struggles and heartaches more than we’d like to admit but it’s not true. God has identified with us and He never wonders what were facing feels like, He understands – …the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…
I’m convinced that a barrier to receiving Jesus Christ for many is the feeling that God doesn’t understand my struggles, heartaches and pain – we must insist that this is absolutely not true!
How do I personally need to respond to the glorious message of the Word made flesh?
John 1:12 (ESV) –
“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…”
What’s my response to the Savior? Am I a committed follower of Jesus Christ?
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV) –
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”
1 Corinthians 11:26 (ESV) –
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”
We’re looking back to the cross and Christ’s death as our substitute and forward in expectation to Christ’s promised and glorious return.
| 
