Return to Main Page How Do You See Christmas? John 1:1-18 Scripture ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Introduction: A. How do you explain the meaning of Christmas? 1. The best way I know is: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 a) Christmas is about giving, but no one could give a greater gift than God has already given. b) I would like for us to consider the meaning of Christmas this morning. 2. Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of different people. a) To some it is (1) a time of shopping and spending (2) a time of drinking and carousing (3) a time of traveling and entertaining b) But, what is the real meaning of Christmas? 3. The meaning of Christmas to each person is largely determined by how they see Jesus! B. How do you see Jesus? 1. C. S. Lewis addressed this question in an interesting way in his second of the Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian (1951). 2. In Prince Caspian, the Pevensie children return to Narnia a year (in our time) after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the youngest, Lucy, meets Aslan. a) “Welcome, child,” he said. b) “Aslan,” said Lucy, “You’re bigger.” c) “That is because you are older, little one,” answered he. d) “Not because you are?” e) “I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” 3. “Grow” here means not just getting older, but increasing in wisdom and understanding. 4. As you grow in wisdom and knowledge of Jesus, you see Him more clearly and He always looks bigger! I. He is The Word – John 1:1-2 A. Logos = “The Word” – v. 1 1. John meant for us to read this many times! 2. Logos a) Communicate something (1) John 1:18 - ¹⁸No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. b) Makes sense out of chaos - logic (1) John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word” (2) Genesis 1:1-2 - ¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. c) Creates – brings into being (1) John 1:3 - ³All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. d) All of the above! 3. The testimony of John was that Jesus Christ was the Word, the One who had always co-existed with God. a) John did not say that “the Word” was the God (ho theos). b) He says “the Word” was God (Theos). c) He omits the definite article. John was saying that “the Word,” Jesus Christ... (1) Is of the very nature and character of God the Father. (2) He is of the very being and essence of God the Father. d) When a man sees Christ, he sees a distinct person, but he sees a person who is of the very essance and character of God in all of His perfect being. B. He is coexistent – v. 1b, 2 1. “The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:2). 2. He was and is face to face with God forever. 3. The word “with” (pros) has the idea of both being with and acting toward. 4. He was “with God”: by God’s side, acting, living, and moving in the closest of relationships. 5. Christ had the ideal and perfect relationship with God the Father. 6. Their relationship, communion, fellowship, is a perfect eternal bond. C. He is Eternal – v. 1b 1. In the beginning, He already was! 2. Christ was pre-existent. a) This means He was there before creation. b) He had always existed. c) “In the beginning [En archeô]” does not mean from the beginning. (1) Jesus Christ was already there. (2) He did not become; He was not created; He never had a beginning. (3) He “was in the beginning with God” (John 17:5; John 8:58). D. He is God! – v. 1c 1. Written by a monotheistic Jew! a) Not “a god” b) Not “the God” c) “The Word was God” 2. There is one God in three persons. a) The Word became flesh – The Christmas Story! - John 1:14 (1) ¹⁴And 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. b) Not only was the Son with God, he was God. c) John’s Gospel, more than most books in the New Testament, asserts Jesus’ divinity. d) Jesus is called “God” in 1:1; 1:18; and 20:28. 3. Christ reveals the most important Person in all the universe: God. a) He reveals all that God is and wants to say to man. b) Therefore, Christ must be diligently studied, and all that He is and says must be heeded to the utmost (cp. John 5:24). 4. Christ reveals God perfectly. a) He is just like God, therefore, when we look at Christ we see God 5. Christ reveals that God is far, far beyond anyone we could have ever dreamed. a) He is loving and caring, full of goodness and truth; and He will not tolerate injustices and sin. 6. Christmas isn’t simply about God’s visit… but about God’s view of everything. a) It’s the night God put the world into perspective. b) In the coming of Christ our deliverance from sin became a reality! c) It’s the wonderful night that while the world slept, everything changed. II. He Is the Creator (v. 3) A. God Reveals Himself in Creation – v. 3; Colossians 1:15-17 1. It is no accident John moves from the Word as God to the Word as Creator. 2. The two primary ways God has revealed Himself: thru Creation (natural revelation) & thru His Word (special revelation). a) Colossians 1:15-17: “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 of 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.” B. “All things” (panta) – v. 3 1. Means every detail of creation—not creation as a whole, but every single detail. a) Each element and thing, each being and person—whether material or spiritual, angelic or human—has come into being by Christ. 2. Nothing was existing—no substance, no matter whatsoever. a) Matter is not eternal. (1) Einstein “proved” this (2) General relativity equations (3) Cosmological “fudge factor” (4) Solving the field equations demanded that the universe could not be infinitely old! (5) “The biggest blunder of my life” b) Christ, the Word, took nothing but His will and power; and He spoke the Word, and created every single thing out of nothing (ex nihilo). c) God to scientist who said he could create life out of dirt: “No, no! Make your own dirt!” 3. Two statements of fact are made. a) “All things were made by Him.” b) “Without Him was not anything made that was made.” (1) Christ was actively involved in the creation of every single thing. 4. Note a critical point for man - The world is God’s; He made every element of it. a) God is not off in some distant place far removed from the world, unconcerned and disinterested in what happens to the world. (1) God cares deeply about the world - even about the most minute detail and smallest person. b) The problems of the world are not due to God and His attitude. (1) The problems of the world are due to sin, to the attitude and evil of man’s heart. c) The answer to the world’s problems is not man and his technical skill. (1) The answer is Christ: for men to turn to Christ, surrendering and giving their lives to know Christ in the most personal and intimate way possible. (2) Then, and only then, can men set their lives and world in order as God intends. III. He is Life and Light (vv. 4-5) A. Christ is the source of life and light – v. 4 1. John moves now from creation in general to the most significant element of creation, life itself. a) Life is one of John’s distinctive characteristics. b) He uses the word 36 times (whereas no other NT book uses it more than 17x). 2. The gift of life is important. a) And here John reminds us that only in Christ is spiritual life obtained. b) He is the origin of life. 3. “The life [Christ] was the light of men.” a) From the very beginning man was to know that life, to know God personally and intimately. b) The knowledge of the life of Christ was to be the light of men, both abundant life and eternal life. c) John 17:3 - ³And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. d) The life (Christ) was to be the light of man’s purpose, meaning and significance upon earth. B. Christ is the answer to darkness – v. 5 1. Christ was born in the darkness of night. 2. But Christ’s life did shine in the darkness (John 8:12). a) Since man had brought darkness into the world (by sin), the life of Christ was the light of man that showed man the way, the truth and the life b) Christ showed man the way God intended him to live. c) Christ showed man the truth of life, that is, the truth about God and man. d) Christ showed man how to save his life and avoid the things that can cause him to stumble and lose his life. 3. Christ’s life (the Light) cannot be overcome. a) Jesus identifies Himself as the Light of the world (8.12). b) The spiritual light cannot be extinguished by the darkness of this world. 4. At Christmas, we sense that we can see more clearly in a dark world - that there’s a light within the darkness! a) And we always have a choice between the two. b) Christmas tells us that we have a choice for embracing light in the midst of the darkness of this world. c) Story: (1) Ann along with her two small sons, went to live with her parents in Texas for the duration of World War II, while her Air Force husband was busy in Europe. It was Christmas time and mother and grandparents were making great plans for the boys. The tree was up and decorated. Gifts were bought and hidden away. The excitement, the joy, the beauty of the season seemed to push the sorrows and separation of war aside for a time. But only for a time, for just a week before Christmas Day, word came that Daddy would not only be away for this Christmas, but for all the Christmases that were to come…he had been killed in action. Ann went away to her room and closed the door. Grandpa and Grandma talked quietly and wondered. Finally they decided to set the tree out and take down the decorations. Since sorrow had replace their joy. Ann came out of her room after a while and saw the empty space where the tree had been. “Why, Mother?” she questioned. “What have you done with the tree” “Daddy and I set it out. It seemed out of place with you so broken-hearted.” “Oh, but Mother, let’s bring it back in. Christmas was made for such times as these!” “There is a darkness in the earth this Christmas. Deep, thick, black, darkness that would destroy all that is bright and beautiful if given full release. But the light that blazed forth from Bethlehem still shines from the lives of those who believe everywhere, and the only thing that can put it out is rejection. Surely, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness! Shall we keep Christmas this year? Yes, we must keep Christmas this year, for Christ was born for such times as these. (A story told by Jessie Scaggs, submitted by Sany Wylie.) 5. At Christmas, we sense that our world is not fully lost and abandoned a) We sense the presence of a spirit of hope! b) John declares the reality of that hope – that God is with us! c) “Peace on Earth, Good Will towards Men” is not just a good Christmas card - it is reality for God is with us. 6. At Christmas, we sense that our lives are given meaning because through that baby in a manger we see the reality of God’s great love for us. 7. And the more clearly we see Him, the bigger He is!

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