Christ the Word - In Eternity - In a Manger - In our own Lives

I like those Christmas carols. We are very familiar with them, I know. But if you look at each phrase and each verse, you will probably notice how powerful they are theologically. Lots of rich truth there. As a matter of fact, some of what we have just sung we'll look at this morning in our message. So that being said, go ahead and turn back with me to John chapter 1. John chapter 1, like I said earlier, we'll divide verses 1 to 5, actually verses 1 to 3, and then our destination and our launching pad is truly verse 14. Now by way of introduction, I want to put these verses in their context.

Context always helps us, and then also I want us to see the central theme of the central message. Now what I mean is the central theme, the context of verses 1 to 18. Now first the context. Verses 1 to 18 really are an introduction for the entire book of John. Now those of you who have a good memory, when we started in 2015, I believe it was in March, 2015. We covered that. We dealt with that information, the fact that this is an introduction for the entire book. Now I'll ask you a question. Why is it important for me to say that this is the introduction for the book?

We must understand that one of the purposes of John writing the letter was to exalt Christ as the Son of God, God in the flesh. We know that. That was one of his purposes. These verses present Christ, the eternal God, and Christ born in the flesh. That's the theme of the message in these verses. Everything in verses 1 to 18 communicate these basic and fundamental truths, and they set the stage for the book. Now second, the message within these verses. The central message in verses 1 to 18 is the incarnation. Now a question that some of you may be asking in your mind and heart. What is this word incarnation?

In theological circles, the incarnation is called the, and this is a larger term, the hypostatic union. Simply or in layman's terms, this is the mysterious union of Christ fully God with Christ fully man. The incarnation is God became a man being fully God and fully man. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, thus he was God. He was born of a virgin, thus he was a man. He was Emmanuel, which means God with us. This all pertains to what we call proper Christology. Any altering of that leads us to heresy. Now that is what we'll be looking at this morning. We're going to be looking at the incarnation.

God the son becoming a man, but we will make a greater application of this truth. We will apply this truth past a proper acknowledgment or understanding of the incarnation. See if we're not careful, we can look at this information and tip our hat at the information, but we need to move past that. We're going to move past Emmanuel, God with us, and we will make application in three ways. Now some practical words of introduction. Truthfully this message builds. Now no one part is lesser, no one part is less important, so I encourage you to listen along through the message and just know that the message is building.

I said earlier that verse 14 is our destination and our starting point, and I think you'll understand what I mean when we get there. We're going to start off by dividing verses 1, 2, 3, and I will put before you the major truths that are before us. We will look at the Word and God out of verses 1 and 2. The Word and creation out of verse 3, and then we'll move on down to the Word incarnate in verse 14. Let's go back and read these verses together starting in verse 1. 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 by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. And then verse 14. In the Word, the Word became flesh and dwelt our tabernacle among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Now I do encourage you to take notes. We will look at these major truths out of these verses, and then later on in the message we will transition to these three points of application. So I believe you'll be able to follow along. We know it's our habit to take notes so that we can study and be good stewards of what the Lord gives us.

Now let's jump into our message this morning, our first major truth and our outline is the Word and God. I call this the Word and God. Go back to verse 1 and 2. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Now all throughout our study in the Gospel of John, we have compared John at times to the other Gospel accounts. Well if we compare the other Gospel accounts here with John, we see that John starts in a completely different place. Some of you might remember this, but Matthew starts with the earthly genealogy of Jesus.

Mark, he starts with the earthly ministry of John the Baptist. Mark starts with the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus. But John is entirely different, whereas the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they start on earth. John, the Apostle John, he starts in eternity past. This tells us that God and the Word, they were pre-existent. So we see the Word and God. Now there are five observations that I want to make here. Five observations that I want to quickly make here out of verses 1 and 2. First notice time. Notice time in these verses. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God. Two times in the verses we have the phrase "in the beginning." All the modern translations in the King James say the same thing. Now with repetition like this, we should take notice. The word "beginning" here can have several meanings. It can mean source. It can mean origin. It can mean even rule or authority. But here John is referring to the beginning of the creation, which we know is in Genesis 1 and 2. So John is calling the readers of the book back, back to the time of the creation in Genesis 1, even before Genesis 1 verse 1. A couple of Bible commentators help us see this.

You know the reason why I quote individuals is because they have a way of saying it in which I cannot. The Bible commentator A.W. Pink says of John 1-1, he says John 1-1 precedes the making of all things in Genesis chapter 1. Marvin Vincent says, "The beginning had no beginning." I like that. His eternal existence is already expressed. So we see time here in verses 1 and 2. Notice the word in verses 1 and 2. Go back. "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." Three times this phrase the word is mentioned. We see this again in all of the translations. The word in the original is called the logos.

And many of you have heard that term used. Now there were two different audiences here with this book. There would have been the Greeks or the Gentiles and then also the Jews. And they would have heard this word differently. The Greeks, they were highly educated. They were very much into philosophy and high thought. And they had some idea of a creative force or a creative being in the universe. But this force to them was impersonal and did not relate to humanity. Within the creative or this creative force, the Greeks believed there was this true source of wisdom.

And that is what they were searching for in their philosophy, in their high thinking and their great learning. They were searching for wisdom. And they used this word logos to describe this impersonal wise creative force. Well then the Jews, they had a use for this word logos as well. This word was used all throughout the Old Testament. If we go back to the covenant that God made with Abraham. If we go back to many places in the Old Testament, we will see phrases like the word of the Lord came. So when the Greeks heard this phrase and the Jews heard this phrase, they really stood up and they took notice.

But John is saying in the beginning was the word but it was much different than Greek and Jewish understanding. But then notice where the word was. Notice where the word was. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God. The text reads that the word was with God. John is adding another layer in this case here. He is saying that this word was with God. Now it is important to see what the original language says here. It gives us a very clear and vivid picture. A source that helps us see this is John MacArthur. He says that this phrase means far more than merely that the word existed with God.

It gives the picture of two personal beings facing one another and engaging in intelligent discourse. So we see that the word was with God. But then notice who the word is. Notice the text that reads the word was God. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God. And the word was God. It is extremely important for us to see that the word is actually God. If we do not understand the true meaning of this text, again we can fall off into the pit of heresy. The original actually says word for word, the word was God. But notice who was with God. The King James reads, "The same was in the beginning." Here John tells us who this word is.

He is Christ. This must be understood as Jesus. Truthfully, this verse is a repeat all through here. And here John is revealing who this word is. This is Jesus. Go back to the verses, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." He, Christ, was in the beginning with God. So simplistically what do we have here? We have the word and the word is preexistent. And this word is Jesus. He was with God and He is God. Let's move on to our second major truth. That is the word in creation out of verse 3. The word in creation.

Verse 3, "All things came into being by Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." Here we have John moving from eternity to the beginning of time. Here we have John moving from the creation to before, from before the creation into the creation. Now John is not giving us a copy of the creation account that we would see in Genesis. But he takes us to who is responsible for this Genesis creation account. Three observations here. Notice the word created. Now I'm skipping to the second part of verse 3, but I want us to see first who created. All things came into being by Him.

The New American reads, "Came into being," but the King James it reads, "Made by Him." The original literally means came into being or became. But notice the verse. It says, "By Him or through Him." This refers to the word or Christ Himself. So we see that Christ or the word created or creation came into being by Him or through Him. Then second, the word created all things. Now go back to the beginning of verse 3. All things came into being by Him. Every translation reads all. Simply this means all. This is a reference not only to just all, but every detail of the creation.

So not only did Christ create, but He created even the smallest things contained within the creation. And then third, only the word created all things. This is the last part of verse 3. All things came into being by Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. The first portion of the verse, John is positive. But adding emphasis, John takes a negative tone. The word nothing in the original is translated not even one thing, but there is more, has come into being or that has been made. This is in the perfect tense, meaning there is a continuance of that which has been created.

That which was made and that which has been created, it still exists. So we see Christ as creator. Paul gives us this same truth in Colossians 1, verse 16 and 17. Paul's writing to the Church of Colossae. We studied this book in our adult small group Bible study. We covered this verse. What does the verse say? "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible." Now if we study the Genesis account, go into chapter 1 and chapter 2, we see some interesting wording. I never forget studying this wording back in my seminary days, specifically Genesis 1.26.

In the original Hebrew language and in our English translations, these words are in the plural, especially verse 26. Now a question, did Moses see that there was God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit there in the creation? No, I do not believe he did understand it in that manner. But he wrote it as God inspired him. But we have what's called the complete revelation of God's Word. Simply Jesus is included here with God as creator. We saw Jesus prior to Genesis 1.1. Now we see Jesus within the creation in Genesis 1 and 2. And John tells us these truths. And even Paul, the Apostle Paul. So what do we see? We see the Word and God.

Now we see the Word in creation. I think you see how it's building. And then our third major truth, we see the Word incarnate. The Word incarnate. Verse 14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt our tabernacle among us, and we beheld His glory." Glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Now if you know this portion of Scripture well, you will know that verses 9 to 14 really teach on the incarnation. But this morning we will only have time to deal with verse 14. Now simply verse 14 is the clearest single verse on the incarnation.

John takes everything about the incarnation found in God's Word and he condenses it into this one verse. And out of this one verse I want us to make five observations. First, the Word became flesh. The King James reads, "Made flesh." The Word became flesh. We have seen the Word is Jesus, the promised Messiah, and this Word became, it is a key word. This is the same verb that is found in verse 3. All things came into being by Him. It was not that Jesus was created, but that He entered into a new form or a new being. The Bible commentator Vincent helps us here. He says, "All things came through Him.

He in turn became flesh." So we see the Word became flesh. Then second, the Word came to us. Go back to the verse and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. All of the translations read dwelt the New International Version and I like it. It says, "Made is dwelling." In the original it means to pitch a tent or to live in a tent. Some have used the word tabernacle. Only Christ lived in a tent of flesh among the people of Israel and other peoples. He lived over 30 years, traveled hundreds of miles in His earthly ministry, and He came in contact with thousands of people. He interacted with Jew and Gentile alike.

He dwelt in a tent or a tabernacle of flesh with mankind. He was fully God and fully man. The Word dwelt among us for over 30 years is what John is saying. And then notice a third observation, "They saw His glory." Go back to the verse, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Now notice the text reads, "We." We beheld His glory. Who is this we? John is referring to himself and others. John at this time was the last of the living apostles and he is representing all of those who saw Him and heard Him.

He was the last living link to what Jesus did and said. That is why He said, "We beheld His glory." This is key. They did not see His full glory as Jesus lived physically on earth. They merely saw drops of His glory or glimpses of His glory. Think back to our study in John when we're looking at the miracles. Those are glimpses of His glory and they beheld that glory as it was revealed. And then the fourth observation, "They saw the only begotten." They saw the only begotten. The English Standard reads, "Only Son from the Father." This is important to look at.

This does not speak of Christ's origin because we've already learned that He was not created. This speaks of Christ as the only one of His kind. Again, I like the English Standard, "The only Son from the Father." And then fifth, "They saw His grace." Let's go back to the verse again. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory." Glory as the only begotten from the Father, notice, full of grace and truth. MacArthur says, and I'm quoting, "The truth to attributes most closely connected with salvation are grace and truth." The grace here speaks of the free gift of salvation. This is not the works of man or man's will.

This truth here speaks of Christ as truth. And there is no salvation outside of the truth of God, nor is there salvation outside of the grace of God. Truthfully verse 14, John MacArthur sums it up very well. And I'm quoting, "In the incarnation God took on humanity, the infinite became finite, eternity entered time, the invisible became visible, the creation entered His creation." And I would add to John MacArthur's quote, "He simply came to man." Now quickly, what have we seen here? Christ as God, Jesus as God. And we've seen Christ Jesus as Creator, not just in eternity past, the eternal God, but He is there in the creation.

And now we see Christ Jesus incarnate, Christ who came to earth in flesh. And this is the essence of the Christmas story. If we boil the Christmas story down, this is at the core of the Christmas story. Emmanuel, which means God with us. What does Isaiah chapter 7 verse 34 say? And by the way, we find this verse in Matthew's account. Isaiah prophesies, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel," because that word means God with us. That's all we've looked at. Emmanuel, God with us. Now like I said earlier, I want to take this past the Christmas story.

I want to take this past a proper acknowledgment of the incarnation. And many of you have this information properly in your mind and your heart. You just amen me along the way saying, "Pastor, that's true, that's true." But I want to take it a few steps further, specifically three. First I want us to see that through the incarnation we have Christ the representation of God. Christ the representation of God.

Colossians 1 verse 15 and 16 says, "He thus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Verse 16, "For by Him all things were created, and heaven and earth, visible and invisible." So we see that Christ is the representation of God. Now out of this Colossians verse, there's a key word, this word image. It means copy or likeness. Only Jesus is the perfect image of the exact likeness of God Himself. Christ was God very God. I'll give you an example of how important this is for us to understand. I found myself this week dealing with an individual.

And I began to move into spiritual things, the word of God, eternity and death and things such as that. And I began to quiz this individual where he stood in eternal things. And then this individual began to tell me about his history in Catholicism, his history in Baptist work, his history with other religions. He began to tell me how the Egypt Egyptians worshiped many different things. And then from there he goes on to talk about how there are all these different gods throughout history. And he goes on to say that some of them are right, some of them are wrong and we really don't know. But what do we learn here in these scriptures?

Christ is God. And if we are dealing with an individual and they're expressing views like that, we can say no. It doesn't matter what the ancient Egyptians say. It doesn't matter what the other religions say. The word of God says Christ was and is God. We must not be like this individual. Looking for God in all of the other places and all of the other religions and all of our experiences and our excuses. Listen, we have God in the flesh, Christ before us. He is the image of the invisible God. And when we read through the gospel accounts, we are looking at God and hearing God and seeing the heart of God. Christ is the representation of God.

Second, we see that through the incarnation we have Christ, the propitiation of sin. Christ the propitiation of sin. Verse 1 and 2, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Now, I know we have this large word, propitiation, and it is a key word. It means satisfaction or appeasement. Simply, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, appeas the righteous demands of God's holy standards for the punishment of sin.

Remember the individual that I was discussing with you earlier? He continued that conversation and he talked about how he had never stolen. He had never murdered anybody. And how he was relying on his goodness to leave earth and stand before God. There is only one problem. That is not what the Bible teaches. We will never stand before God and our sin will be never dealt with by our own goodness, our man's standards. No, no, no. And my friend, I say this to you today. Don't trust in anything but Christ and his work on the cross for the payment for your sin.

If you are not born again, if you have never been born from above and become a new creation in Christ, you will stand before Christ as your judge, not your advocate. Christ is the propitiation for sin. And then third, through the incarnation, we have Christ the salvation for sinners. Christ the salvation for sinners. Now here I turn our attention back to John. I purposefully use this verse, John chapter 1 verses 12 and 13. 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.

Now these verses are in stark contrast with the previous verses. If you look at verses 10 and 11, you see man's rejection of Christ because there were many who resisted and rejected Christ while he walked on earth. But here in verses 12 and 13, we have what I call the two-sided coin of salvation. Verse 12 reveals man's responsibility. Man's side of the equation. Go back to the verse. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, man's responsibility. But then verse 13 reveals God's sovereign work. Or the divine side. Go to verse 13.

Who were born not of blood, that's heredity, nor of the will of the flesh, that's works, nor of the will of man, that's man's efforts, but of God. Simply man receives and believes after they are born of God. Simply in our quote-unquote Baptist culture, most people have it backwards. Most people believe that they can pray and they can receive and they can commit. They can make that decision for Christ. And then, then they will be born of God. But the scriptures teach otherwise. And I pray that you have John chapter 1 verse 12 and 13, Christianity.

Not a simple decision, not cultural Christianity, not a Christianity that you invented in your own mind. I pray that you have been born of God. Verse 13. Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Now for some of you, that stirs up some questions. That stirs up some thoughts. That stirs up some debates. We must go to the remainder, other scriptures that teach here. Here's one that I think will help us, Ephesians 2.5. Paul says, "Even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ." What do we see? Men are dead without Christ, but it is God who makes us alive.

And so what we see is Christ is the salvation for sinners. And the key isn't a decision. The key is being born from God. Now you know sometimes I don't give us the title of the message until later. I will transition to the title of the message. What have we seen this morning? Christ the Word, in eternity, in a manger, and in our lives. What have we seen this morning? Christ as God, Christ as Creator God, and then Christ incarnate. And it's not enough for us to stay there at the incarnation. We must move past that and see how the incarnation affects humanity. Christ is the representation of God.

If we want to know who God is, what God says, what God looks like, how God feels, we look at Christ. Christ the perpetuation, the payment for sin. And then Christ, the salvation for sinners. And listen, that's why I titled this this morning. Christ the Word, in eternity, in a manger, and in our lives. Now I close this part of the message with a question. For you, is Christ in eternity and in a manger? And that's as far as you go. There are countless people that will come to church around the Christmas season, and they will acknowledge Christ in eternity. God very God, preexisted. They will acknowledge Christ in a manger.

Being born of a virgin, God became man. But yet there are many people that do not have Christ in their own lives. Oh listen, my friend, if it's only for you, in eternity and in a manger, you need to be born from God today. Only God can do this work. I do not understand the tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. I just know it's there. So my friend, I say this to you. It could be that this Christmas season, God is bringing you from celebrating Christ in a manger to Christ in your life. And I'm so very thankful that I can have that celebration myself. Because God saved me so many years ago. Let's do this.

Let's pray over what we're looking at this morning out of John and other verses, and then we'll transition to worshiping in the Lord's Supper.