Message

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Let’s read John 1:14 together. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus’ life has been recorded in four Gospels. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called “the Synoptic Gospels,” because they are written with a similar point of view. The authors of these Gospels recorded Jesus’ life from an earthly perspective. Matthew saw Jesus as King. Mark saw Jesus as a Servant, while Luke saw Jesus as a Perfect man. John’s gospel was written much later than those Synoptic gospels. John saw Jesus from a heavenly point of view. He saw Jesus as God. Today we will focus on who Jesus really is and why he came to this world. May God give us Christmas message through studying John’s Gospel. First, Jesus is the Word. Look at verse 1 and 2. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Here “in the beginning” refers to even before the creation of the world. This verse tells us that Jesus was there in the beginning. The name ‘Jesus’ was given to him through the angel at the time of his birth. But Jesus existed in the beginning as the Word. The Word is the name of Jesus before his birth. Let’s think about the meaning of the Word. The Word is Logos in Greek. It is the expression of thoughts and reasoning, also the Greek believed that Logos is an intelligent force or principle that sustains the universe. But John tells us that Logos is not an impersonal force, but Jesus Christ. Jesus is the full expression of God’s wisdom, thought. Jesus is the revelation of God’s way and truth and life. Jesus is the embodiment of total message of God. And in the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. This means Jesus was in the beginning as God the Son. And he was with God – God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This is known as “God’s Trinity.” God is in three persons -- God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who become one in nature and essence. Three persons have individual personalities and can have communion with one another, and they become one in perfect love. So it is clear that Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Trinity. Second, Jesus is Creator. Look at verse 3. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Here “him” refers to Jesus. Jesus is not only God, but he is also Creator. As we read Genesis 1, we see that God created all things through his word. For example, when God said in the first day, “Let there be light,” there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And this Word of God is Jesus Christ. Jesus participated in the work of God’s creation as the Word, along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. So without him nothing was made that has been made. Jesus is our Creator God. Here, it is important to know that Jesus is the Word of God. God does his work through the Word. God speaks to us through his Word. Therefore, we must honor the Word of God as much as we honor God, and we must have absolute faith in the Word of God, which is living and active. Third, Jesus is the Giver of life. Look at verse 3, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” This verse tells us that Jesus is the source of life. Life was in him. As the Creator, Jesus gave life to all living things, including mankind. And the life Jesus gave to men became the light of men. Jesus is the author and owner of our lives. Our lives came from God, and we are going back to God. While we have life in this world, we enjoy our lives in fellowship with God, and we return to eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We must remember that Jesus Christ is the Giver of life. Whoever receives the life of Jesus never walks in darkness but has the light of life. John recorded seven miraculous signs in this Gospel. These miraculous signs well describe how the life of Jesus became the light of men. Let’s think about the seventh miraculous sign. Once Lazarus was dead and placed in the dark tomb. Jesus proclaimed in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Then Jesus called in a loud voice. “Lazarus, come out!” Then the dead man came out. Jesus gave him a new life. Look at verse 5. “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Here “the darkness has not understood it,” has the better translation as “the darkness has not overcome it.” Darkness can never overcome light, even the small candle light. But Jesus is the true light. Look at verse 9. “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” Jesus is the Rising Sun. When the light of life in Jesus shines on us, we are no longer in darkness, but have the light of life in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we have life, hope, healing, restoration and even resurrection from the dead. Look at verse 10. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” Even though the Creator who made the world came to the world, the world did not recognize him. What a surprise! It was because of their spiritual blindness and pride. Look at verse 11. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” His chosen people rejected him and crucified him. Now let’s read verse 12 and 13. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural decent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” Even though the world rejected Jesus, there are many people who received him with joy and gladness and believed in his name as their Saviour. To them, God gave the right to become children of God. This birth is not from men, but from God above. Through faith in Jesus we are born again to become children of God. This is the re-creation work of God through the Holy Spirit. As children of God, we can call God “Abba Father,” and boldly approach the throne of God’s grace. We become heirs of the kingdom of God our Father in heaven. In this way, Jesus gave us a new life. Fourth, the Word became flesh. Look at verse 14. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This verse tells us that God became a man. God did not pretend to become a man. He became a man in flesh and blood just like us. This is the Christmas message. This is the good news of great joy for all people. Why is it so? So far, we have thought about who Jesus really is. Jesus is God the Son, Creator and the Giver of life. But this great God became man, and came to this world as a baby in a manger two thousand years ago. This is called “Incarnation.” The omnipotent and Almighty God became flesh with human limitations and weaknesses. The eternal and omnipresent God became confined to time and space. He became flesh like one of us. He gave up all his glory and power and privileges as God and made his dwelling among us, and lived among men for 33 years. Jesus was tired, hungry and thirsty, and experienced all kinds of human weaknesses and sufferings like us. Philippians 2:6-8 described Jesus’ incarnation excellently. “(Jesus Christ) Who, being a very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking a very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on the cross!” How can this be? Why should God become a man? Why did God come from far away from heaven into this world in the form of flesh? It is because of God’s love. Out of his great love, God could not bear to see mankind perishing in their sins and in their spiritual blindness and pride. Therefore, he showed mercy on us and decided to save mankind. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world and gave his One and Only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It is God’s love that motivated him to send his One and Only Son to the world as a man. It is Jesus’ love that motivated him to become a man and die on the cross for our sins. 1 John 4-9-10 says, “This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his One and Only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Jesus’ death on the cross is the best demonstration of God’s love for us. Jesus became flesh in order to suffer and die for our sins. We are the ones who had to die because of our sins, but he died for us as atoning sacrifice for our sins. Through his death one the cross, Jesus forgave all our sins and made us children of God. On the cross, Jesus’ flesh was torn apart, and his blood was shed to the very last drop. Jesus gave us a new life through his flesh and blood. This is the grace of God. Let’s read John 1:14 again together. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” We see in Jesus the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father. We see in Jesus the fullness of grace and truth. Today we learned about the meaning of Jesus’ incarnation. The Word became flesh. God became a man. This is wonderful Christmas message. This is the true meaning of Christmas. This is the best Christmas gift from God. All we have to do is to open our heart and accept God’s love through Jesus Christ. As Jesus became flesh and showed the example of love, may we also share God’s love with those around us during this Christmas time.

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