2024 Christmas Eve Message

he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

And why is it that we can see the son but not the father? Well, chiefly, it's because of the incarnation. because God's Son came to earth as a man. As John 1, verse 14 says,

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And this is what Paul has been talking about here in Colossians. He's writing to Christians who've heard about this crucified man, Christ Jesus. He's the one that they've put their faith in. And yet now others are challenging them that maybe Jesus alone isn't enough. Maybe Jesus is great, but there are angels and other heavenly beings that are great too. Maybe we need Jesus plus someone else. And Paul is responding to all that here by saying, no, Jesus alone is the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus alone is the one who created the universe. Jesus alone is the head of the body, the church. Jesus alone is the firstborn from the dead. Jesus alone in everything has preeminence. And Jesus alone is the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells bodily. and you are complete in him. And the point is to emphasize Jesus's supremacy and Jesus's sufficiency. Now note that here at least Paul doesn't seem to feel the need to defend Jesus's manhood or even Jesus's greatness. Because the Colossians have all already heard or seen about Jesus's life and his death on the cross and how he rose from the dead. They're already convinced that Jesus is someone great. Paul's point is that that's not nearly enough to say. Jesus is not merely great. He's God. He is the one in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And that's why he is utterly sufficient for our salvation. Now again, when it comes to our theology of the incarnation, verses like this are also why we confess that Jesus is fully man and fully God. Not 50% God, not 99% God, but 100% man, having all the attributes and characteristics of true manhood, and simultaneously 100% God. having all the attributes and all of the characteristics of true godhood. Because as this verse tells us, all God's fullness dwells in him. And that fullness is not diminished in even the slightest degree by Jesus' humanity. Now the way the church has come to articulate this is in terms of Jesus having one person in two natures. So Jesus is the one person of God the Son, who has forever shared in the divine nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit. But in his incarnation, God the Son assumed a human nature as well. And so we confess that God is three persons in one nature, and Jesus is one person in two natures. Now the term nature essentially means the sum total of all the essential qualities of a thing. It's that which makes something what it is. So in the case of human nature, this includes things like having a body and a soul, having consciousness, having a will, having moral characteristics, having the ability to talk and think and act. All of this is part of what makes you what you are. Now, in the case of God, the divine nature includes his aseity, his simplicity, his eternality, his holiness, his omniscience and omnipotence and omnipresence, his righteousness, his wisdom, his love. All of the attributes of God pertain to the nature of God because one's nature constitutes all of his qualities and capacities. Now the term person refers to an acting subject. It's not a personality, but it is a way of speaking of the actor. It's the one to whom any given action may be ascribed. So when God does something, we don't say, well, God's nature did it. We say, well, the father sent his son, the son became incarnate, right? It's the person who's the acting subject, the who, who is doing something. And persons always act in and through and according to their nature. And so when we say that Jesus is one person in two natures, We mean that Jesus is the divine son, the second person of the Trinity, who subsists in two distinct natures, one divine and the other human. And this means that in the incarnation, when the power of the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and overshadowed her, a human nature was created that was impersonated by the divine son. That is, a human nature was created within and assumed by the second person of the Trinity. And he was simultaneously conceived in the womb of Mary. It's not that a human person was created and then added to the Son, because that would be two persons and two natures. Nor is it that a human nature was somehow created in the abstract and then later joined to the Son. Because you can't have a nature in abstraction from a person. But rather, in the Son, human nature was created and assumed so that he began to have two natures in one person, even as he was conceived in Mary's womb. Now, in theology, we call this the hypostatic union or the personal union of these two natures in one person. And one of the amazing things is that somehow neither of the natures is compromised by the other. When Jesus, the Son of God, assumes humanity, he doesn't in any degree cease being fully divine. He's both at once. The Chalcedonian Creed confesses that these two natures are without confusion, right? So it's not the divine and human nature are somehow mixed into one new hybrid nature. They're without change. This is not a temporary thing, but permanent. And they're without division or separation, right? So they can never be pitted against one another or separated from one another in such a way that Jesus becomes like a split person. No, there's this perfect harmony of both together. In fact, I find the language of the Chalcedonian Creed so helpful that I actually want to read it for you now as we continue to think about what it means theologically that Jesus became fully man while remaining fully God. This is the Chalcedonian Creed from 451.

Therefore, following the Holy Fathers, we all with one accord, teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body, of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood. Like us in all respects, apart from sin, as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before all ages, but yet as regards his manhood, begotten for us men and for our salvation of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer. One and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation. The distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons. but one and the same Son and only begotten God, the Word, Lord Jesus Christ, even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him. And our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us. And the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

I think that well summarizes the theology that we should confess this Christmas. As we think about Jesus coming into the world And what it means that all of God's fullness was pleased to dwell in him. But I wanna turn to a second topic of consideration. Because tonight we should not only think about the theology of the incarnation, we should think of the miracle of it as well. So number two, the miracle of the incarnation. And you see, we must not make the mistake of thinking that just because we confess orthodox theology, and can use big words to try to describe the incarnation, that that means that we understand the incarnation? I mean, you see, everything that I just said in point number one, and the Chalcedonian Creed that I just read, that's really just setting boundaries for when we realize, when we can know that we've stepped outside the truth of Scripture. That's like putting a hedge to protect us from error and heresy. It can help us understand some things a little bit better. It can reassure us that when we confess these things, we aren't contradicting ourselves. But friends, at most, that brings us to the edge of a horizon that we can never see beyond. The incarnation of Christ far transcends our ability to comprehend or explain. It's something like trying to define infinity. You know, just think of the word. It's infinite. It's not finite. I mean, everything in our realm of experience is finite. Everything could be counted. Everything has an end. All we can say about infinity is, well, it's not like that. It's totally different than anything we know or have experienced. But what it is, we really don't have anything to say. And similarly, when it comes to Christ, and how he becomes incarnate, what exactly it means that he's one person in two natures. Well, the Creed just says they're without confusion, they're without change, they're without division, they're without separation. But as to what they are, as to actually being able to positively explain how this is, how it works, we have no idea. There's nothing that we can say to describe this. And friends, that fact should not frustrate us. It should not make us feel full of doubts. Instead, it should lead us to worship. We should be like something like that little child who's just staring in awe at something he's seeing for the first time. He doesn't understand it. He never even conceived of that before, and yet he's just mesmerized by this thing he's beholding. I mean, how much more should we be mesmerized by the sheer miracle of the incarnation? By this reality that we may not be able to fully explain, but we can confess with confidence because God's word has revealed it. Friends, just think of this. I mean, the infinite God, of whom it is written that not even the heavens or the highest heavens can contain him. Yet he came to dwell inside a little baby, a child born in a stable, laid in a manger. I mean, sometimes people make up ridiculous riddles like, you know, can God make a rock so big that even he can't lift it? But when it comes to the incarnation, we're confronted by a somewhat more serious riddle. Can the infinite God dwell inside something finite? Can the God of whom Solomon said,

the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built?

Can this God's fullness somehow reside in something far smaller than Solomon's temple? Even in mortal flesh? And the shocking answer of scripture is yes. And Paul tells us here,

in him, all God's fullness was pleased to dwell.

All the infinite power of God, all his infinite wisdom, all his infinite goodness, all of it dwelling in Christ, truly and fully being displayed through him and his life and character. Just think of it, in becoming incarnate, God's fullness was not diminished or lessened in any way. It's something like taking the light of the sun and then trying to transfer it through this tiny little pinhole, and yet somehow it's not diminished at all. It's like taking the full expanse of the universe and trying to compress it into a single dot, and somehow retaining the whole. all of the fullness of God is pleased to dwell in Christ. You know, as we think about this, I think it should allow us to read other passages in the Bible with new eyes. For example, listen to Job 26. Job is meditating on God's greatness, God's power. He says,

God helps the one who has no power. He saves the arm that has no strength. He counsels him who has no wisdom and plentifully declares knowledge. With no one's help, God utters words, yet no one else's breath comes apart from God. Even the dead tremble under the waters before him. Sheol is naked before God and Abaddon has no covering. God stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in his thick clouds and the cloud is not split open under them. He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud. He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. Yet behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. And how small a whisper do we hear of him? But the thunder of his power, who can understand?

I was thinking about what Job is saying there. I mean, he's looking out at all these mighty acts of God that display God's power and make us marvel. Things that we cannot understand, and yet we can see that God can do. And then Job says in the end,

These are the mere edges of his ways. How small a whisper we hear of him, yet the thunder of his power, who can understand?

He's saying that if all that we see in all these mighty acts of creation are like a low whisper, God's true power is like thunder by comparison. And friends, tonight as we think of the incarnation, I think we start to get just a slightly bigger glimpse of what God's true power is like. That he can come down in the person of Christ. Like Joe, we should respond to this by confessing that God's power infinitely transcends our ability to comprehend. And so we should respond in worship. Or another passage, think of David in Psalm 139 when he's reflecting on his own creation and reflecting on God's sovereign care in his life. He says in that Psalm,

I praise you, Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You knit me together in my mother's womb. You form my inward parts. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before word is on my tongue, behold, oh, Lord, you know it all together.

And then he confesses

such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it.

And he just humbly admits, I can't begin to understand these things. And friends, if David is led to worship God and to humbly acknowledge that he can't begin to understand it as he thinks about his own creation, as he thinks about God's work in his life, how much more than should we respond with worship and awe when we consider the miracle of what God has done in Christ? That the mighty one would come to earth as a little child. You know, as you think about the Christmas story itself. Last night I was leading a Bible study, and sometimes we forget just how amazing that story is. You know, the people I was sharing with, they didn't know what a manger was. And so just explaining, actually, Jesus was born out in a stable, like a barn, and laid in a feeding trough, and it was just this surprise. We're just realizing, wow, like the God of the universe would come and be born in such poverty? I mean, there's such a paradox there. And yet how we, again, should respond. Kind of like Mary did. When the angel visits her, at first she's terrified and she's asking, you know,

how will these things be since I'm a virgin?

And then she's given an explanation which, I can't imagine she could even barely understand. And yet she responds in faith, saying,

behold, I am the Lord's servant. Let it be to me according to your word.

Or the shepherds, they're out in the field by night and suddenly angels appear and they, too, are greatly terrified. And then the angels say, well,

behold, we come to give you glad tidings of great joy, which will be for all people. In the city of David, a savior is born who's Christ the Lord.

And again, how could they have even comprehended what does this mean to look for this child in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger? And yet they say,

let us go and see what these angels have told us about.

Well, friends, let us tonight respond to the message of the coming of Christ with simple faith and worship. Simply marveling at what God has done. That the great God of the universe would come down to save sinners like you and like me. And this of course brings us to the third and final thing I wanna think about tonight. We've considered the theology of the incarnation, the miracle of the incarnation. Now finally, the significance of the incarnation. And this brings us to verse 20. So after saying, in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, Paul adds,

and through him, God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Now, here we find the purpose of the incarnation. Why it is that the second person of the Trinity would become a man. What is it that Jesus came into the world to accomplish? And the answer is, through him, God determined to reconcile all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Through him, all would be set right, all would be realigned, all would be put back in order. And this happens because Jesus has come to make peace by the blood of his cross. Now, the idea of making peace by blood is really another way of speaking of propitiation. A propitiation is that which satisfies wrath or anger. It's speaking of a sacrifice. And a propitiation is needed when there can be no peace without sacrifice or payment. And that was our situation before God. Our sin had aroused his holy wrath. Our sin had created this great chasm between us and God. We could not be in the presence of a holy God because of our sin. And Jesus comes being born into this world so that by the blood of his cross, there might be peace. because he came to offer himself as the propitiation for our sins, as the wrath bearing substitute, so that we could be forgiven. He was indeed a child born to die. And he was at the same time, as verse 19 has just told us, a child filled with all God's fullness. And that is so that by his sacrifice, He doesn't just come to save one person. He doesn't just come to set some things right. No, all the fullness of God is in him because he is the one who has come to reconcile to himself all things, whether things in heaven or things on earth. And the reason why Jesus can reconcile all things is because the value of his sacrifice is of infinite worth. and his sacrifices of infinite worth because the one sacrificing himself is the eternal son of God. You see, Jesus had blood to offer because he was man, but his blood was priceless because he was God. Now, when Paul says here that through him all things are reconciled, it doesn't mean that all people are saved. It means that all of the elect are saved, And also, all else is set right, that the whole order of creation is restored. You see, from the very beginning, Satan has sought to thwart God's good purpose for creation. Satan sought to destroy mankind together with him. And one of the great questions is, why is God forestalling judgment so long? Why is he allowing open rebellion to continue? And the answer is because of his great love for mankind. and his determination to save his elect. And so no doubt angels in heaven have been asking, how long? No doubt many are wondering, how are these Old Testament saints not going to hell? How can they die and yet be with the Lord? And friends, the answer to it all. The thing that reconciles every question, that reconciles all things, that brings about lasting peace, that brings about this cosmic restoration, is the blood of Christ on the cross. Jesus' sacrifice purchases the salvation of all of his people. And it guarantees that God will bring all of his good purposes to pass, that there will be judgment and there will be the restoration of creation. In fact, a new heavens and a new earth. And there will be salvation for all of God's people so that all things will be set right, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And ultimately, in the end, Christ and every single one of his people, all who have placed their faith in him, will stand with him. justified and at peace with God in a new heavens and a new earth, where finally, at last, everything will have been brought into submission beneath the feet of Christ and into submission before God. And, friends, the point for us tonight is that in this man, Christ Jesus, In this little baby that we celebrate the birth of tonight. All the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. So that by him. By him alone, God might reconcile all things to himself and bring this great cosmic plan to pass. And friends, our response to that should be awe and worship, wonder. That this great God would somehow display such incredible wisdom and glory and power, even through the apparent weakness of this little baby boy. And how we can rejoice. That if our faith is in Christ. Then we have hope, even in the face of death, hope in the midst of whatever darkness is in our lives. we can rejoice that our Savior has come. And if you're here tonight and you aren't a Christian, or you have not truly come to know Jesus Christ, the invitation is to you as well, to put your faith in Him and to receive Him so that you too might be saved from your sins, so that you too might have peace with God. And so that together we can rejoice in the one in whom we have redemption, forgiveness, adoption, and everlasting hope. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this good news that we can rejoice in, for this incredible marvel that Jesus has been born, that he is fully man and he is fully God, And he is the savior who has reconciled all things to you. Pray that we would leave here tonight, worshiping you full of joy and peace and hope. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen.