Why Such a Big Deal, Christmas

I turn with me to John chapter one. Let us begin with prayer. Father, we thank you for this evening, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in your name. And Lord, we ask that you would cause my words to bring us all closer and closer to you and in a deeper understanding of who you are and a deeper love for you and gratitude for what you've done for us. Amen. A non-believer once assailed my faith by asking, why do you Christians make such a big deal about Christmas? Don't you realize it's just a capitalist plot to get you to buy gifts? You should all make a bigger deal of Easter. That should truly be the biggest holiday in the Christian calendar. I knew this man very well. He was a very close friend of mine, and the motivation of his question was not piety. The fact that American culture had devised a mechanism to pry hard-earned money out of his wallet irked him. Nevertheless, I was still challenged by his question. Why do Christians make such a big deal about Christmas? Is it because we've been sucked in by the materialistic glitz and glitter? in which the world has packaged Christmas, isn't Easter the more important holiday? Aren't the atonement and the resurrection more significant than baby Jesus lying in a manger? Indeed, Paul seems to support this notion when he says, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you're still in your sins. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people to be most pitied. And so the question plagued me for some time. Why do Christians make such a big deal about Christmas? I first got the answer to this question about 20 years ago reading a book by J.I. Packer, Knowing God, and God used the words of that book to help me to gain a deeper understanding of something which had remained fuzzy in my mind until that time. So in the next few minutes, I'm going to seek to convince you that the Christmas miracle, the Incarnation, is the greatest miracle of all time. I'm not going to focus on why the Incarnation is the necessary aspect of the Gospel. Rather, we're going to see that the Incarnation is the miracle upon which many stumble, and that if we embrace it, all other aspects of the Gospel flow naturally. Our key verses this evening are going to be in John chapter 1. In particular, John chapter 1, verse 14. But in order to get context, we're going to read the first five verses, and then verse 9 through 14. So read with me. 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 were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And our key verse is, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory, glory... I lost my place. Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Let's read it again. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. So this verse is going to provide the outline for our message this evening. There are three aspects. Number one, God became flesh in Jesus. Number two, God dwelt among us in Jesus. And number three, God revealed his glory to us in Jesus. Number one, God became flesh in Jesus. So right now, we're all peering into the greatest mystery of all time. It's known as the incarnation, literally the enfleshing, which occurred approximately 2,000 years ago in Nazareth and Bethlehem. A young Jewish lady betrothed to be married was visited by the angel Gabriel, who foretold that she would become pregnant and give birth to a child. When she asked, how could this be, since she was a virgin, he explained, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child will be born and will be called Holy, the Son of God. Those of you who have studied Latin or Spanish or Italian know that the word for meat or flesh in those Romance languages is caro or carne. That's the root word from which we get our English term incarnation. The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, took on flesh and became human. Incarnation is the term used to capture the truth of our key verse, and the Word became flesh. One of the reasons I say the Incarnation is the greatest miracle is because it's the most hotly debated doctrine of our faith. It is the doctrine of Christ which causes the Greeks to consider it foolishness. It is the doctrine of Christ over which the Jews themselves find a stumbling. Consider that many of the early church councils were convened and confessions of our faith were drafted primarily to refute misconceptions and heresies regarding the incarnation. Some could accept that Jesus was a man. Some could accept that he was a God, but only the Orthodox believer accepts that one person, Jesus, simultaneously had two distinct natures, human and divine. And our own time is no different, though the center of the argument shifts from one age to another. It is at the Incarnation that followers of all other religions fall on the rocks, whether Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, even those of Christianity-derived faiths like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Unitarians. They cannot accept the historical man Jesus was God. The complete doctrine of the Incarnation is the dividing line between Christianity and all others. And once we make sense of it, all other mysteries of the Gospel will dissolve. So let's walk through them. Buddhism, it neither accepts nor denies the existence of God at all. Rather, it teaches that questions into creation or origins or the creator are futile. Thus, the discussion ends at the first word of our text tonight. John began his book with in the beginning. The two faiths are incompatible. Hindus are exceptional. They're willing to accept the notion of an incarnation. In fact, their own religion teaches that the god Vishnu has been incarnated nine or ten or more times, including Krishna, told of in the scriptures. The problem arises when Christ asserts that he is the way, the truth, and the life, that he is the one and only incarnation. If you were to ask a Mormon if Jesus is God, they would say yes. But if you were to press the matter and say, was Jesus God when he was a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, some would say no. Because some Mormons believe that Jesus became a God by the perfection of his life. Thus, some Mormons would grant that Jesus became a God and provide hope that you too can become a God if you follow in Jesus' footsteps. This belief violates our text, because John makes it clear that Jesus was God in the beginning, and that He became flesh, and not the other way around. Jehovah's Witnesses simply do not accept that Jesus is God. Their belief is akin to that of Arius, who was refuted at the Council of Nicaea. In fact, some call them modern-day Arians. They say Jesus was the first created being, and that all other created things were created through Him. But that directly contradicts the scripture we read tonight, which states, all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. The context of our verse makes it clear that the Him is Jesus. And if Jesus Himself were created, the verse would be false. Unitarians, along with Jews and Muslims, are strict monotheists. Unitarians and Muslims believe that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God. In fact, it may be surprising to you to learn that Jesus is named more times than the prophet Muhammad by name in the Quran. Some Unitarians will accept that Jesus was supernatural, but they will not accept that He was God. The Trinity, three persons existing in one being, is the Christian God. They will not accept that Jesus was God Himself. Concerning Jews, John declares in our verse tonight, Jesus came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. The most famous of all Jewish-Christian disputes took place in Barcelona, Spain in the year 1263. It was between a Messianic Jew named Pablo Christiani and Moses Nachmenides. Nachmenides argued the central issue separating Christianity and Judaism is not the issue of whether or not Jesus was the Messiah, but whether or not Jesus was divine. He said, there was no basis in Judaism for believing in the divinity of the Messiah or indeed of any man. Jews do not believe the Messiah will be God or the Son of God. They believe he will be a man. Jews view any assertion of Jesus' deity as a direct contradiction of their daily prayer. Here, O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. I think it's worthwhile for us to pause here for a moment. Because Jews and Muslims have a reverence for God that's frequently missing among Gentile Christians like us. And that that prevents us from appreciating the significance of the incarnation. Jews and Muslims understand that God is holy, meaning pure and distinct. They're taught He cannot tolerate sin. He cannot be defiled. He is infinite, immutable, and eternal. How could God confine Himself to time and space, let alone a single human being? Hopefully, those of you who have been with us on Wednesday nights recently will have a renewed appreciation for the attributes of God. Many of these attributes seem completely incompatible with our understanding of humanity, and we can only fully appreciate the magnitude of the paradox. The paradox of the incarnation, when we fully develop our sense of fear and awe and reverence for the one God of the universe. My first challenge to you this Christmas is to meditate on the attributes of God. Immerse yourself in the study of His holiness, His omniscience, His love, His grace. Only then will you be able to comprehend just how great a miracle the Incarnation is. Such a study may, in fact, make it more difficult for you to understand the Incarnation, but it will help you to appreciate the love which God has extended toward us in sending us His only begotten Son. Point number two, God dwelt among us in Jesus. Again, our key verse 14 states, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. The phrase translated dwelt literally means pitched his tent. So we could read, and the word became flesh and pitched his tent among us. This is an allusion to Old Testament scripture that would, for some of John's audience, immediately have invoked images of the tabernacle erected in the wilderness during the Exodus. God told them, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell, that I may pitch my tent in their midst. Despite the fact that they had heard of this notion of God dwelling in their midst, it still would have been shocking. How could the completely all-holy Creator God risk defiling Himself by dwelling in our midst? Even when God did dwell amongst His people in the tabernacle which He had ordered them to build, its construction and its ordinances emphasized the holiness of God. The tabernacle had curtains which insulated the most holy place from the holy. And that separated in turn from the surrounding courtyard and in turn from the surroundings around the tabernacle. Only the high priest could enter into the most holy place. And only then, once per year. And only then, after he had been properly consecrated by ritual. Reflecting on God dwelling in a tent, David thought to himself, this is not right. He's living in a tent and I'm living in a palace. And so he thought, I'm going to build God a glorious temple in which to reside. Indeed, his son, Solomon, built that temple. Yet, in Solomon's famous prayer of dedication, he questioned, but will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this house I have built. And I say to you, behold, the scriptures tell us not only did he come and dwell in a tent and in a tabernacle, Not only did he manifest himself as a glorious pillar of smoke that prevented Moses from entering the tabernacle and caused his face to shine, but Jesus also came to pitch his tent in a stable in Bethlehem and in Nazareth of Galilee. John brings the tension of the paradox of the incarnation to its highest level when he states that God, who cannot be contained by the heavens, will dwell within human form and walk amongst us. Paul echoes this sentiment in his letter to the Colossians when he says, in Christ, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. So my second Christmas challenge for you is this. It's borne out in our verse. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Because it raises a question. Do you long for God to dwell with you? Do you long to dwell with God? I urge you to set your affections on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. And remember, not only did Jesus come and dwell amongst the people 2,000 years ago, but He will come again. And the same author of our Scripture tonight penned the revelation of Christ. Listen to the way John describes the new heavens and the new earth. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people. And God Himself will be with them as their God. All of us experience pain here on earth. And the Christmas season can be particularly difficult for those who have suffered loss, or for those who suffer from a broken family. In fact, I just learned this afternoon of a close friend who cried all night long because of the broken family in which he was raised. Jesus promises in his revelation, he will wipe away every tear from our eyes and death will be no more. There will be no more mourning or crying or pain for the former things have passed away. So I urge you, place your hope in him who is all powerful and able to save. He is worthy of all our affections. Our final point, God revealed His glory in Jesus. And it's based upon the final half of our key verse. We have seen His glory. Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. We didn't read it tonight, but many of you will be familiar with the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah in Chapter 9, frequently read throughout the Advent season. In the latter time, he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shone. John leaves no doubt that Jesus is the answer to this messianic prophecy as he opens his gospel with the words, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. However, John wrote his gospel after the other three by Matthew, Mark and Luke were written, and he fills gaps that the others left open. Most notably, he emphasizes the divinity of Christ. Some people struggle to accept the notion that Jesus could be a man if he is a God. Their view of God is so holy, so otherly. They cannot imagine that God would stoop so low as to become a human being like us and to submit to death on a cross. He must have just looked like a human. He must have had a stand in double when he was on the cross. We've learned that the councils were convened and confessions written to correct such errors, as well as the far more common error in our day. Modern men can believe that Jesus was a man, maybe a good teacher, even a prophet, but they frequently cannot accept that he was divine. John's gospel account was written for them. He begins his gospel with the strongest statement of divinity he can muster. He plainly spells out his thesis in the first few words of his book. He equates the word with the creator God of Genesis 1. He invokes the language of Genesis 1 right in the first words in the beginning. He's casting a mysterious vision of a person that pre-existed the created order in which we live. In Genesis 1, we read that God spoke. and creation came into existence. Thus, we learn that the Word of God encompasses His power to create. God created all that is, including the farthest reaches of the universe, including the star, which heralded the arrival of His Son on earth. In many places throughout Scripture, it is God's Word which goes forth first, and then His mighty hand accomplishes what He has declared will happen. And the Incarnation is a prime example of this. The prophets, like Isaiah, foretold many details of the coming of Christ, which God sovereignly provided for in these last days. In John chapter 1, we learn that the Word was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. The Apostle Paul uses very similar language in his letters. He, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, and all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, listen carefully, and in Him all things hold together. If you accept that Jesus is the Creator God, Is it really miraculous when He stands in a small boat that's being tossed about on the stormy sea of Galilee, and He orders the wind and waves to be still? If you accept that He upholds the universe by His power, and in Him all things hold together, is it really miraculous when on another stormy night at sea, Jesus asks the water to hold together a little bit more tightly, and He walks on it to His disciples frightened in a boat? Don't you see how all of the miracles of Christ melt away as soon as you accept that He is God? Our background Scriptures declare that in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. If we accept that Jesus is the divine source of life, is it really a miracle when He raises the sick and dying daughter of Jairus from her bed? or a widow's son from his funeral procession in Galilee, or a buried friend Lazarus of Bethany from his tomb. If we really accept Jesus' own words when he says, I am the way and the truth and the life, his claim that he is the very essence of life, is it really a miracle when he raised from the dead himself? How could the grave hold him? How could death lay any claim to Him who is the very definition of life. Don't you see? If we accept that Jesus of Nazareth was and is co-equal with God the Father and His Holy Spirit, all other mysteries of the Gospel melt away. I don't mean to diminish the paradoxical nature of the Incarnation itself. Indeed, it's the greatest paradox of all. How could the God of the universe humble Himself? and take on the form of a baby that suckled at his mother's breast, who needed his diapers changed. How is that possible? Again, for those of you who have been coming on Wednesday nights recently, I'll ask specifically, how does Jesus of Nazareth embody the omnipotence the omnipresence, the omniscience of God. And yet, the Scriptures teach us that in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. When God took on flesh and came to dwell amongst us, did He cease to be omnipotent? Don't the miracles on the Sea of Galilee refute that possibility? Did He cease to be omniscient? Didn't his ability to see deeply into the hearts of men refute that possibility? Did he cease to be omnipresent? Doesn't his ability to, or his claim that for wherever two or three are gathered in his name, he'll be there among him, refute that possibility? So what does Paul mean when he writes, Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Of what specifically did he empty himself? Let me suggest it was his glory. Not that he was any less glorious because our verse states, we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. So we must confess that he did not lay aside any divine attribute, including his glory. He was no less glorious as he walked the dusty roads of Palestine than he is now seated at the right hand of his father. What He set aside was the continual and constant praise that He is due. He left the angelic chorus of Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. During His incarnation, that rightful chorus was replaced by man's disbelief, by his sinful questioning, by his false accusations. by curses and ultimately by a murderous execution on Calvary. So why do Christians make such a big deal about Christmas? I hope you've learned it's because on Christmas God became flesh in Jesus. And God dwelt among us in Jesus. And God revealed His glory to us in Jesus. And if we receive these truths, our reading teaches us that we will be given the right to become children of God, born of God. No, we weren't born with that right. He gives it to us. My goal this evening and our application is to glorify the risen Lord by deepening our understanding of who he was and is. Indeed, the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is what is the chief end of man? And the answer is man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. So our aim this Christmas Eve should be our aim for every night and for every day of our lives. Jesus said it this way, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. Love the Lord your God with all your mind. As we seek to develop our understanding and adoration of the person of Jesus, we are obeying the first and greatest commandment. Merry Christmas.