‘AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH’
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 19, 2021 under 2021 |
Bethany Bible Church Christmas Sunday Message; December 19, 2021 from John 1:1-5, 14
Theme: Christmas is the story of how the Son of God became one of us to bring us eternal life.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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This morning, I’d like to call your attention to a love story. It’s the story Christmas. Christmas—above everything else—is the greatest love story that was ever told.
And in this story, we’re the ones who are loved!
Now I’ll admit: I’m not an expert on love stories. But I suspect that one of the most necessary elements of a truly great love story—that is, a story of genuine love, and not merely of romantic feelings—is that it involves a sacrifice. For a story to be a truly great love story, it seems to me that there must be a way in which someone gives up something of themselves for the sake of the one who is loved.
And if that’s the case, then Christmas truly is the greatest love story ever told. No one has ever given up more of Himself than the One whose birth we celebrate on Christmas. In obedience to His Father’s will, He left the glory of heaven, took full human nature to Himself, and was born into the human family as one of us so that He could save us from our sins. He left the eternal bliss of heavenly glory for a time, and give Himself for us, so that we unworthy sinners could share in the riches and joys of heavenly glory with Him forever.
I don’t believe we can truly appreciate Christmas unless we understand it as the greatest story of sacrificial love ever told—and unless we embrace it personally as the ones for whom that great sacrifice was made.
And to help us to appreciate Christmas in that way, I ask you to turn with me to John 1:1-5. That’s where we’re told about the One who made this great sacrifice of love for us. It says;
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 nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
These are among the most remarkable words ever written. They were written, under the guiding inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by the apostle John. They tell us about the Son of God as He existed in eternity—long before the world ever was. In just a few words, they tell us of the majesty and eternal joy and delight that He enjoyed in fellowship with the Father—happy and fulfilled to an infinite degree—perfect in blessedness and bliss—Creator of all that is—the source of all life and light.
And the act of love that He has shown toward us is told to us in verse 14;
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-14).
We can’t possibly appreciate the love story that Christmas is unless we grasp at least something of how high up in glory He was, and then of how far down He went in order to be born into the human family as one of us, and—without in any way ceasing to be fully God—how much He gave up to become one of us; and then how great an act of love it was that He would then die on our behalf in order to save us, and then to how great a destiny of glory it is that He has made available to us as a result. It’s what we sing about in the great Christmas carol:
Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore Him …
Christ the Lord.
As these words from John 1 tell us, Christmas is the story of how the Son of God became one of us to bring us eternal life. And as we consider His sacrifice of love for us, let’s grow in our adoration of Him who is the ultimate lover of our souls.
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Now; let’s look together carefully at those first five verses of John 1. They affirm something to us that we need to know about this one who was born on Christmas. They tell us something about Him that we could not—in any way—know unless God the Holy Spirit had revealed it to us. And that is that …
1. HE IS THE ETERNAL WORD.
It begins by telling us, “In the beginning was the Word …” That ‘Word’ is a Person. He is the Son of God who was born for us on Christmas. But why is He called by the name ‘the Word’?
Well; what do we ordinarily think about when we think of a ‘word’. A word isn’t just a jumbled-up group of letters. It is something that has meaning. It does two things. First, it is an accurate and meaningful expression of the speaker’s inner thoughts. Even if no one else is there to hear it or read it, a word is a meaningful thing that expresses something of someone who speaks or writes it. And second, because it is a meaningful thing, it reveals something to someone else about the speaker. It is a thing that is both expressive and revealing.
And so; when we’re told in the Bible that the Son of God was the ‘Word’ of the Father, it’s meant to tell us that He is both the outward expression of the Father’s being and the Revealer of the Father’s nature. We would not know the Father except by the Son who is the Word of the Father.
We see this important truth affirmed to us in the Bible. In Hebrews 1:1-3, for example, we’re told;
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high … (Hebrews 1:1-3).
God had spoken in many ways in times past. He has spoken through His creation. He has spoken through Scripture. But now, He has spoken most clearly and most eloquently through His Son; who, as ‘the Word, is “ the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person”. This wonderful Person, who is the Word, expresses the Father.
And another passage that tells us this is Matthew 11:27. It was there that Jesus Himself said,
“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27).
The Son of God is ‘the Word’ of the Father; and as the Word, He expresses the inner being of the Father and reveals Him to us. We wouldn’t know the Father except by this living ‘Word’; but as Jesus has so perfectly and completely revealed the Father that He once told His disciples;
“He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
So; the Word that we’re reading about in John 1:1-5 is both the self-expression and the Revealer of the Father. How grateful we should be that the Father has spoken to us through His Son!
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And just think of the things that are told us in this passage about this Person who is ‘the Word’. In the first five verses of John’s Gospel, we’re told six glorious truths about Him—things that were true of Him long before He was ever born into this world on Christmas.
First, we’re told that He is everlasting in existence. John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word …” The ‘beginning’ that this speaks of is the beginning of all creation. And what an amazing thing this is that we’re being told about this Baby whose birth we celebrate on Christmas. When Creation had first begun to exist, the Word was already there. He existed long before the world—long before the heavenly realms—long before time itself—in eternity past. There never was a time when He was not.
I wonder if one of the best descriptions of this truth that we could find is what we read in Proverbs 8:22-31. It’s in that passage that ‘Wisdom’ is presented to us in the form of a Person. And this Person speaks and says;
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:22-31).
It’s my conviction that these are the words of the Son of God spoken before He was ever born into the human family. This describes of the Word, who is everlasting in existence.
Of this Word, John goes on to say, “and the Word was with God …” And this tells us another marvelous thing about this everlasting Word—that in relation to the Father, He was distinct in individual being. He is a Person who is the Word of the Father. But He is not the same Person as the Father.
This, of course, speaks of the marvelous mystery of the Trinity. There is but one God; but God exists as three distinct Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s a truth that is revealed to us in the Bible; but a truth that is beyond our ability to grasp. We can do nothing more than to bow to it in reverent awe. It’s a truth that Jesus Himself spoke of in His wonderful prayer in John 17. Just before He went to the cross for us, He prayed,
“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:5).
He had an eternal relationship with the Father. And that relationship was one of eternal love. In verse 24, He prayed for us and said;
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (v. 24).
So; in verse 1, we’re told that in the beginning was the Word, and this Word enjoyed an eternal relationship of love with the Father. But there’s more. We’re also told in verse 1, “and the Word was God.” And this tells us that this Person who is the Word is full Deity in nature. He is not the same Person as the Father; but He shares the same divine essence as the Father—and is fully God. In other words, that Baby whose birth we celebrate on Christmas was—and is—God. The angel Gabriel came to Joseph and told him;
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
So; when we think of this Person who is called ‘the Word’, we are thinking of the Son of God—distinct in individual Personhood from the Father, but of the very same essence as the Father. Fully God with the Father! What a glorious mystery it is that we think about when we think about Christmas! And what a glorious thing it is that He loves us!
John then goes on to tell us in verse 2 that “He was in the beginning with God.” This tells us further about how the Word was unchanging in relationship toward the Father. Jesus once declared,
“I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).
That meant much more than simply that He was in unity of purpose with the Father. He was, of course, in unity of purpose with His Father. He sought the Father’s will. But when the people heard Him say that, they picked up stones to stone Him to death; saying, “because You, being a Man, make Yourself God” (v. 33). It’s a remarkable statement that Jesus made; because in it, He was affirming that He was of one essence with the Father, yet distinct from the Father—and yet always with the Father. He was, in the beginning, “with God”. What joy He must have had in that unchanging, eternal relationship of love!
John goes on to tell us more about this Person who is ‘the Word’. As the Word who was God, He was not created. He had a relationship with the Father as the ‘only begotten Son of the Father’; but He was not ‘made’. Instead, He was—along with and for the Father—the Maker of all that is. In verse 3, John says, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John puts it in a positive way to show that all things were made by Him; and then in a negative way, to show that there was no exception. He is total in Creatorship.
The apostle Paul put this to us in a wonderful way. In Colossians 1:15-17, he wrote of Jesus and said;
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:15-17).
Think of it! The Baby that was born in Bethlehem—who laid in an animal trough—was the divine Maker of the wood that the animal trough was constructed from … and of the animals … and of the land upon which Bethlehem sat … and of the Star that guided the wise men to Him … and of the wise men themselves … and of everything else that is; and He was, even while He lay in the cradle, the divine Sustainer of it all!
And because this is true, note further what we’re told about Him in verse 4; “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” As the Creator and Sustainer of all things, He is giver of life and light.
As the Creator, He is the giver of all life. But this speaks of much more than biological life only. He is also the giver of eternal life—life that is defined as knowing and being in a relationship with God the Father that is eternal and joyful and fulfilling. One of the first passages that I memorized when I first believed on Jesus was 1 John 5:11-12. I loved these words, because they assured me that I was saved and had eternal life. They say;
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-12).
This life that He gives is the light of men. It shines in this world and shows us the way to be saved. This ‘light’ is just another name for the soul-saving gospel. John the apostle went on to speak of the ministry of John the Baptist; and he wrote,
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:6-13).
And I love what John said about this light at the end of verse 5; don’t you? “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” That means that the spiritual darkness that has contaminated this world did not, and cannot, and will not put that light out!
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Now; all of this tells us what this Person—the Word—was like. He was everlasting in existence, distinct in individual being, fully God in nature, unchanging in His relationship with the Father, total in His divine Creatorship, and the giver of all life and light. What majesty He possessed! What glory was His! What eternal bliss it was that He enjoyed with the Father! How the angels of heaven must have delighted in Him and served Him and worshiped Him!
But it’s when we think of all of this glory that He possessed as the Word that we appreciate the greatness of His sacrifice of love for us. Because as John then tells us;
2. HE BECAME FLESH FOR US.
In verse 14, John wrote,
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (v. 14).
There would have been no way for us poor sinners to know the holy God who made us—this holy God against whom we have sinned—unless the very self-expression and revelation of God had willingly left the glory of heaven, became one of us, and was born into the human family. It’s by becoming ‘flesh’ like us that the Word was able to be heard by us in a language that we can understand. God the Son came and spoke ‘human-ese’ to us as one of us. As the apostle John put it in 1 John 1:1-4;
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full (1 John 1:1-4).
What a great act of sacrificial love Christmas is! It truly is the greatest love story ever told!
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But Christmas isn’t just a love story for us to enjoy. It’s a story that we must embrace personally. God has shown us love in giving us the gift of His Son—who was born as one of us, and who lived a sinless life for us, and has died on the cross to atone for our sins. And now, in love, we must receive this gift.
The way the apostle John has put it for us is like this:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).
Please, make absolutely sure that you have personally received this gift of love!
