Merry Christmas! I hope this is a wonderful and joyous Christmas Day for you. Perhaps this day, as in Christmas Day’s past, will become a wonderful personal memory for you.
But Christmas is more than a personal event. It is also more than a cultural event. The real message of Christmas is not that long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Santa Clause was born. As the little slogan well says, "Jesus is the reason for the season." Christmas is all about the fact that Jesus Christ came. And we call this first coming of Christ His Incarnation. The Incarnation refers to that glorious event when God became a man. The Bible has a great deal to say about the significance of this event. Our text today is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Holy Scripture concerning the meaning of Christ’s coming. And the meaning of His coming is the real meaning of Christmas.
So while we all have our own personal and fond memories of Christmas, it is extremely important to us to take time, as we are doing today, to remember the Person who gives Christmas its real meaning.
The first fourteen verses of John chapter one speak about the coming of Jesus Christ. Several truths are revealed in these verses. These are truths for living; truths concerning God’s relationship to us; truths concerning who Christ is and why He came; truths that transform. They are exciting truths that can enable us not only to get a clearer picture of who Christ is, but who we can be in Him. By looking at the prepositions "over," "for," "with," "in," and "through," we will understand more of the true Christmas message.
"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 came into being through Him; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." (John 1:1-3)
Here we see the fact of Christ’s supremacy, that He is God over us. The picture we have here is of Christ’s pre-incarnate state in that eternal heavenly realm with God. John calls Him "the Word," and indeed He is the perfect revelation of who God is. Christ, the Word, was with God and was God. Actually, the literal construction of the Greek gives this verse even more force. For it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word."
Christ and God are one. The baby Jesus we worship at Christmas is not a mere mortal baby. The picture of the baby Jesus in the manger is a picture of God becoming man. Before Christ came to the manger, He existed in eternity as God. He was there from the beginning, as verse 2 states. In fact, He is the Creator God, as is revealed in verse 3: "All things came into being by Him." The Christ of Christmas is the God of eternity.
The supremacy of Christ means that He is God over us. Romans 9:5 says, "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." To say Christ is Lord and to say He is God is really the same. And, as the Lord God, He is over all His creation.
Colossians 1:16 through 18 gives us another graphic picture of the supremacy and pre-eminence of Christ. We see in this passage His supremacy in relation to Creation and in relation to the Church. "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers, or authorities — all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything." There is no doubt what the Bible teaches concerning Christ, that He existed as God, that by Him all things were created, and that He is the head of the Church. He is over all things. It is Christ who is supreme. He is God over us.
The bottom line is that He is Lord. It is to Christ we owe our allegiance. He is the God before whom we bow the knee. He is the God to whom our worship is due.
"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." (John 1:4-5)
We see here Christ’s advocacy, that He is God for us. The fact that He is God over us can be a frightening concept. But the Scripture reveals that this King of the universe cares for His subjects. It is true that He is holy and just and righteous. It is true that one day He will be the judge of all the earth. Yet, this judge is now our advocate. He pleads our case because He loves us. He is for us. As it says in Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?"
We see in Christmas just how much God is for us. In the birth of Jesus, we see God being made a man. And the whole reason He was made a man was so He could die for us, that we might have eternal life. Doesn’t it say in John 3:16 and 17, "For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him"? The birth of Christ should testify to us of the love of God. He loved us enough to come to this earth and be made a man; and then to die for us on a cruel cross, that we might be set free.
John says that the light shines in the darkness. Christ, the light of the world, came to shine upon men. The fact that He left His throne of glory to do that should testify to the fact that He cares for us. He did not wait for us to come to Him — He came to us. God is for us. But Christ’s incarnation is not the only reason we know God is for us.
The Cross of Calvary is also a reminder of the love of God. Listen to Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus revealed His love for us through the greatest act of self-sacrifice a man could perform — He gave His very life for us. What more could God do to prove He was for us?
O how He loves you and me,
O how He loves you and me,
He gave His life, what more could He give,
O how He loves you, O how He loves me,
O how He loves you and me
Jesus left His throne of glory in Heaven to endure the death on the Cross. He gave up His eternal glory to be born in a stable. And then He gave His life to set us free. He is God for us.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Another incarnational truth is found here in verse 14. It is the truth of Christ’s humility, that He is God with us. John reveals Him as the Word made flesh. In the incarnation, Jesus clothed Himself with human flesh, and came to live among us.
Listen to Matthew’s account in the first chapter of his Gospel, verses 21-23: "‘And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.’ Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’" Jesus is revealed as Immanuel, God with us. And this is the great truth of the incarnation. God has come to be one of us. Christ has identified with us. That is what the babe in the manger is all about.
In the book of Philippians, we have a beautiful account of Jesus leaving His throne in Heaven to be made a man. In Philippians 2:7 we read that He "emptied (literally, laid aside His privileges) Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men." Jesus humbled Himself by laying aside His privileges and coming to this earth to walk among us. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
One of the most interesting of London’s ancient cemeteries is Bunhill Fields. There rests the dust of Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe. The cemetery is sometimes spoken of as the "Westminster Abbey of Nonconformity." Directly across from this ancient graveyard is the chapel of John Wesley, and the house in which he lived and died, and the monument which has been reared to his memory. Just before his death on March 2, 1791, John Wesley opened his eyes and exclaimed in a strong, clear voice, "The best of all is, God is with us!"
The glorious significance of the matter is that in Christ, God is with us. We see in the virgin birth a sign of His divinity. The prophet Isaiah spoke of that miraculous birth, and by it we come to understand that God was made a man. Christ is God with us.
"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came unto His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even 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 1:10-13)
This God who is over us, for us, and with us, came to live in us and through us. Here we see Christ’s potentiality, that He is God in and through us.
When Jesus came to this world, the world did not recognize Him. His own people rejected Him. But the Scripture reveals that to those who did receive Him, He gave the right or the power to become children of God. Jesus came into this world in order to live in us.
This is why He went to the Cross. This is why He died for us. He died on the Cross in order that our sins could be forgiven. He ascended into Heaven and sent forth His Holy Spirit to live in each of us who receives Him. That is why Christ came. That is why He died. That is what the Gospel message is all about.
Colossians 1:25-27 speaks of this Gospel. It refers there to the "mystery of the Gospel." Listen carefully to these verses: "Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." The mystery of the Gospel is that Christ lives in us. The mystery of the Gospel is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Jesus died to live in us. He desires to be God in us and live His life through us.
When a believer comes to Christ, he or she has the privilege to become inhabited with God. We can exchange our life for His. Paul, speaking in the book of Galatians, refers to the believers in that place as his "children with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you." (Galatians 4:19) It was Paul’s desire to see Christ formed in them. In other words, Paul wanted to see Christ’s life indwelling every believer.
Again in the book of Galatians, Paul speaks of the privilege of having Christ living His life in and through you. In Galatians 2:20, a passage I keep coming back to again and again, we read, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." We have the privilege of having the Son of God live His life in us and through us. It can truly be an adventure.
Christ wants to live in us to enable us to live fulfilled lives. The Bible teaches us that He came to give us life, abundant life. But while that is true, He also lives in us and through us to enable us to be His representatives to others. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." As we allow the Son of God to live in us and through us, we will then be able to communicate His love to others. We will be able to share His forgiveness and mercy, because they will see in us those who have been forgiven. The life which we have will be seen by others. And God will give us the privilege to share with them why Jesus came.
On that special night almost 2,000 years ago, in the little town of Bethlehem, a pregnant woman and her husband were turned away from an inn. A census was being taken, and the place was full. They found shelter in a stable. And there, in those humble surroundings, Christ was born; not in a palace, but in a stable, God became a man. He came that first Christmas because He was God. He came because He loved you. He came because He wanted you to be His. That’s what Christmas is really all about.