1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,080 As they're finding their way back to their seat, I'm going to 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:09,920 read to you the scripture for the Christmas sermon tonight. 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,440 It's in John chapter 1, verses one through 3. 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,960 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,840 the Word was God. He was in the beginning with 6 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,560 God. All things were made through him 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,640 and without Him was not anything made that was made. 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,040 This is the word of the Lord, Amen. 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,240 Would you guys pray with me? Father, we do come to you this 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:40,520 morning thankful that you sent your son, thankful that we have 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:46,120 a Savior, Jesus Christ. The Lord who first had to become 12 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:51,760 human, had to become one of us. And every year we make a big 13 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,240 deal out of it, although our world has and even the enemy has 14 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,960 tried to to drown it out or confuse this holiday. 15 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:06,560 We come together as your people claiming this holiday back as as 16 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:07,920 ours. It's a Christian holiday. 17 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,560 This is about Jesus. This is about 2000 years ago you 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,960 came down to be one of us grew up, lived a sinless life and 19 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:23,400 died for us to be, as Matthew says, to save us from our sins. 20 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,040 So Father, help us to understand your son even more. 21 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:34,600 Help us to hear all the, the glories and the wisdom and the 22 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:39,040 the majesty that is that's wrapped up in him as we look at 23 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,680 your word once more tonight I pray in Jesus name, Amen. 24 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:46,960 Well, my name is Eric. I'm one of the pastors here. 25 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,640 Thank you for being here on this Christmas Eve. 26 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,800 This is our second one as a church plant. 27 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,880 And so hopefully it's better than last year. 28 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:02,840 But in either either case is about what does God's word have 29 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,680 to say about who Jesus is? And I've titled today's message, 30 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:12,880 God became human. And in those verses it said the 31 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,080 word. It talked about this, this, this 32 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:20,000 being called the word. What or who is the Word now? 33 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:27,000 Back in 600 BC in Ephesus, there was a a philosopher named 34 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:33,440 Heraclitus who who came up with these ideas about an impersonal 35 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,680 force that was the principle of reason. 36 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,600 This, this rational force that gave order to the universe and 37 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:46,600 and Plato and Socrates and Philo, who were philosophers 38 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:52,120 later in Greece followed this and they, he was famous for 39 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:57,320 asking these questions like it's or it's, he said it's impossible 40 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:02,880 to step into the same river twice, meaning that if you take 41 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,760 your foot out of the river and then step back in, it's a New 42 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,120 River now completely the the water has flowed down it and 43 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,160 asking these questions like philosophers do. 44 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,440 One was that if that be so, how is it that everything that 45 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:21,240 exists is not in a state of perpetual chaos? 46 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,840 And they came to believe and reason that there's an ordered 47 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:27,520 change out there in the universe. 48 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:33,080 There's a a divine reason or a word. 49 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:37,920 And that's that word in the Greek, the New Testament was 50 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:42,440 written in Greek. The word word is Lagos, which 51 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:48,720 means statement or speech or a message or reason. 52 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:55,000 John, John is believed to be the apostle John, a pastor in 53 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,840 Ephesus later on in his ministry. 54 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,040 And he pastored there and, and it's believed that he wrote this 55 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:07,800 gospel, the book of John about Jesus from Ephesus, from from 56 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:12,240 his ministry while he was in Ephesus. 57 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,440 And he knew about the philosophers and, and what they 58 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:23,720 believed about reason and logic. And so John opens his gospel 59 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:29,080 unlike any of the other gospels, talking about this person, the 60 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:33,800 Word, the Logos, the one who brings all reason, the one who 61 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,520 holds all things together, who brings order to the universe. 62 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,880 And so we're going to look at this being whom philosophers 63 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,200 tried to grasp but didn't quite get it. 64 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:49,760 John brings clarity. And so I've got 4 points from 65 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,240 this text I want to look at tonight. 66 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,440 And the first is answering the question, who is the Word? 67 00:04:55,480 --> 00:05:00,640 Jesus is the Word. The first verse in the beginning 68 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:07,320 was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 69 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:14,000 In Revelation 1913 it says He is clothed in a robe dipped in 70 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,160 blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. 71 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,680 This is a title of Jesus Christ in the Bible. 72 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,960 In fact, if you Scroll down to verse 14, it says the Word 73 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,360 became flesh and dwelt among us. So we know that this first 74 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:36,640 verse, John is telling us that this word, this Lagos, this 75 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:42,560 statement, this speech is a person, not just an in 76 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:47,240 impersonal force out there in the world like a law of nature, 77 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,800 but the one who spoke all the laws of nature, nature into 78 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:57,800 existence. But it's not only that that he 79 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,160 speaks, he also comes with a message. 80 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:08,320 The word comes with this message, and in Hebrews 1 verses 81 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,200 one through 3, it says long ago, at many times in many ways, God 82 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,200 spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days 83 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:20,600 He has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed the heir of 84 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,200 all things, and through whom also He created the world. 85 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,280 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of 86 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,880 His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His 87 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,680 power. So the apostle John, along with 88 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,080 all the other writers of the New Testament, are trying to get us 89 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:47,320 to understand who Jesus is. And this says that Jesus is God, 90 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,680 Jesus is God. And there's so much to that 91 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:57,920 statement to try to understand. But back in that first verse, it 92 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,200 says in the beginning was the Word, the word was with God and 93 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,040 the word was God. And so there's these 94 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:09,120 distinctions that the word was with God, another person, and 95 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:14,480 yet the word was also God. So right there is just the the 96 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,440 beginning of this understanding that God is triune. 97 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:23,080 He exists as three persons in one being, the Father, Son, and 98 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,320 the Holy Spirit. And that's what John is getting 99 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,480 at. He's trying to get that that 100 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:35,840 look, God became human and by believing and trusting in him 101 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,120 and the message that he brings, Can you have eternal life? 102 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,640 That's what John's gospel is all about. 103 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,000 But let me go on as we look into these verses. 104 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,400 And my next point is that Jesus is eternal. 105 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,200 You see, if God is eternal, then Jesus is eternal. 106 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:57,000 And John's trying to prove to us here in these verses again that 107 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,320 Jesus has always existed with God the Father. 108 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,200 In the beginning of time, Jesus already existed. 109 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,040 And that's the word he's using here. 110 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,400 In the beginning was the Word. The word was with God. 111 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,080 The Word was God. He was in the beginning with 112 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,440 God. And this isn't just the 113 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:20,840 beginning of creation. This goes further back. 114 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:27,640 Before anything was ever made, Jesus was with God. 115 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:33,559 That word beginning is the word archae, which which also means 116 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,159 the alpha. Revelation 18 says he's the 117 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:41,240 alpha and the Omega. He's the the. 118 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:47,280 The word means first, 'cause often times, you know, atheistic 119 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:53,400 science tries to explain how the world came about and the the 120 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:58,560 theists, the people that believe in God, say it's irrational that 121 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:02,680 something came out of nothing. You see, that's what a lot of 122 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:05,840 people believe when it comes to The Big Bang, that just out of 123 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,600 nowhere, at some point in time, from nothing, everything 124 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:11,520 happened. And that's what you see here. 125 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,920 But the rational way to look at it, the logical way to look at 126 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,360 it, is that there has to be a first 'cause there's always 127 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,120 cause and effect. That is, that is observational 128 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:30,200 science or observable science is that we see cause and effect. 129 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:36,360 Well, Jesus is the uncaused first, 'cause nobody caused him. 130 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,200 Why? Because He always existed. 131 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,320 In fact, a famous Christmas verse that we often read in 132 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,080 Micah 52. We looked at this in our sermon 133 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,040 last Sunday. But As for you, Bethlehem, 134 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,560 Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. 135 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:53,720 From you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. 136 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,560 His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. 137 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,160 This person to be that that was prophesied about the Messiah, 138 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,640 Jesus the Christ to come, whom we're talking about here on 139 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,800 Christmas Eve. He is from eternity. 140 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:21,920 And in first John, John wrote this letter later in his life 141 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,760 after he wrote the Gospel. And it says that which was from 142 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:27,720 the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with 143 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,280 our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, 144 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,800 concerning the word of life. The life was made manifest, and 145 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,280 we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the 146 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,680 eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to 147 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:48,080 us. Jesus is the eternal life that 148 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,400 He's talking about here. Who was with the Father. 149 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:54,680 As he had already told us, He starts off this letter pretty 150 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:59,280 similar to his his gospel. Within the beginning. 151 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,280 His emphasis is to teach us who Jesus is. 152 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,560 So then, if Jesus is the Word and Jesus is eternal, then my 153 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:11,000 Third Point then is that he must be the Creator. 154 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:17,360 Often times we think of the Father as the Creator, but the 155 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:22,880 Bible tells us that the whole triune God was involved in this 156 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:28,000 creation of the universe and the earth and everything in it. 157 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,560 And going back to our verses again in verse 3, it says all 158 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:36,560 things were made through him and without him was not anything 159 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:42,200 made that was made. Now this is this is this kind of 160 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,040 blows my mind here because if we think about Jesus, the second 161 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:51,320 member of the Trinity, the Son of God, he's always existed, but 162 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:57,240 he wasn't human. He only took on flesh later on 163 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,840 Christmas, the first Christmas before that though, how did he 164 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,240 exist in what? In what kind of essence or being 165 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,120 did he exist? And and while I don't know that 166 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:14,360 I can answer that other than God is Spirit and so he existed as 167 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,720 Spirit with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but there's 168 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:24,080 something else to it that I think just helps us to worship 169 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:26,920 Jesus a little bit more and understand his power. 170 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:34,640 As I said, the Lagos, the word of God, his, his title is a 171 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:39,160 message, a speech. And if you think about Jesus 172 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,880 being the creator and we go back to the narrative that we get in 173 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,600 the very beginning of the Bible, look how the world was created. 174 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,120 It says in the beginning God created the heavens and the 175 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,680 earth. The earth was without form and 176 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:55,960 void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit 177 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,880 of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 178 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:03,120 And God said let there be light and there was light. 179 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,480 You see, God spoke the world into existence, the universe, 180 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:10,600 earth, everything that you can see, and even the things that 181 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:16,720 are unseen. When God said a word that was in 182 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:22,600 somehow in some way, the word of God was the Son of God and those 183 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,360 words that the Father spoke were, were through the Son's 184 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,240 power, through the sun's creating power. 185 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,560 Do we see everything that was made and, and going back to what 186 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:39,200 those philosophers believed about a, a force, some kind of 187 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:45,120 a, a rational reason that held everything together in that in 188 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,480 this verse in in Genesis 1, it says second in second verse, the 189 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,560 earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face 190 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:58,640 of the deep and in the, the timeline of creation days one 191 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:03,040 through six, it wasn't complete. And, and at this time God had 192 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:07,520 just started creating and, and often many theologians say the 193 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,720 world was in chaos without form and void. 194 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,000 There was darkness. This there was not order. 195 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:17,920 The order had not happened yet on the first day in God's 196 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:22,440 creation. And the Word of God brings about 197 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,720 that order to everything in the universe, the laws of nature, 198 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:31,560 gravity, thermodynamics, things like this. 199 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,840 And it is Jesus. And let me just tell you what 200 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,200 Paul says about him in Colossians then that ties into 201 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,720 this. It says he is the image of the 202 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,880 invisible God, the first born of all creation. 203 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:48,800 And by the way, that word first born in its original language, 204 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:53,240 Protata cost doesn't mean although he was physically born, 205 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:58,440 it also means first in rank. If you know anything about 206 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:04,280 Jewish tradition, it was always the first born son who gained 207 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,600 the inheritance, who took over the blessing. 208 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,960 And and this is saying that Jesus is the protatacost, the 209 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,920 first in rank of all creation. Why? 210 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,160 Because he's the creator. Let me go on. 211 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,240 For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, 212 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,200 visible and invisible, whether Thrones or dominions or rulers 213 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,960 or authorities, All things were created through Him and for Him. 214 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:34,760 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 215 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,320 So what the Greeks thought was an impersonal force. 216 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:45,840 We know as Christians that God is a very personal being and 217 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:51,520 very powerful. And this God who was born as a 218 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:56,800 baby, even now, because when Paul wrote this in Colossians, 219 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,520 Jesus had already ascended and he's sitting on his throne in 220 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,560 heaven, ruling and reigning his king. 221 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:08,080 And somehow in his reign, he is still holding all things 222 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:12,240 together. Isn't it amazing to think about 223 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:17,120 Jesus that way, as Almighty God? Because that's who he is. 224 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:22,640 That's the significance of Christmas. 225 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:29,880 It's not just a baby that was born to be king to, to save his 226 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:36,120 people from oppression one day, but this was God coming down in 227 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:40,760 all of his power, in all of his might, in all of His Majesty. 228 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,560 A great commentary which I think you should all look at. 229 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,520 It's very accessible and easy to get by. 230 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:54,040 A guy named Matthew Henry. It's free anywhere. 231 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:55,680 You can download it off the Internet. 232 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,920 Or he said this. This proves the Excellency of 233 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:04,280 the Christian religion that the author and founder of it is the 234 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:09,800 same one who is the author and founder of the world, the one 235 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,599 that we believe in, that our faith is completely built 236 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:16,800 around. As Hebrew says, he's the author 237 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,200 and perfector or finisher of our faith. 238 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,480 He's also the author of the world in everything that you can 239 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:31,200 see. Jesus created the world and then 240 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,880 later he came into the world to save it because we plunged it 241 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,520 into sin. As human beings, we chose to go 242 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,280 our own way, follow our own passions and desires, and when 243 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:46,960 those don't line up with God's Word and God's will, and when 244 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,560 God isn't the first one we worship in our lives, in fact, 245 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:57,240 the only God who we worship, that is sin and all of the other 246 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:03,320 moral failings that God has said in His Word, we tend to go 247 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:08,880 against those not just on a yearly basis or monthly basis, a 248 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:14,240 daily basis even, me included. We've plunged the world into sin 249 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,800 and we ourself are sinners and that is why God had to come, 250 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:22,040 because only God could take away the sins of the world, not some 251 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,880 created being. Back in John's day in Ephesus, 252 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:32,560 there was a man named Cerinthus and there was this heresy going 253 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:37,840 around that that God was or Jesus was a created being. 254 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:42,840 But when the Spirit came on him and his baptism, that was the 255 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,080 the, the, the height of his deity and then and then 256 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:51,360 eventually before the suffering God, the spirit left him again 257 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,320 and he was just a human being suffering. 258 00:18:53,320 --> 00:19:00,280 This was a heresy that one of John's direct disciples, 259 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:04,880 Polycarp, who we have many of his writings, said that when 260 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:10,560 John ran into this guy Cerinthus in Ephesus at the bathhouse, it 261 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,960 says let us flee lest even the bathhouse fall down because 262 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:15,560 Cerinthus the enemy of the truth. 263 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:20,640 It is a heresy to not believe that Jesus is God. 264 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:28,760 It is a it is the only way to truly understand and know the 265 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:33,120 sacrifice that was made for your sin and in the power of the one 266 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:36,280 who can save you is to believe that Jesus is God. 267 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:39,560 Now you might not fully understand it or wrap your mind 268 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:46,000 around it, but that is what God's Word says and we must come 269 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:52,080 to that conclusion. But He also, although he was 270 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,800 fully God, he was fully human as well. 271 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,920 We must understand this about His nature. 272 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,200 In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word 273 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,200 was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 274 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,160 And we have seen His glory, glory of the only Son from the 275 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:17,440 Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus is the perfect picture of 276 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,880 God here on earth because God is so transcendent and mighty. 277 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,120 But he's also a personal God. He decided I'm going to come 278 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,440 down and I'm going to show you who I am in the most perfect 279 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,840 human being, whoever existed, and that's Jesus Christ. 280 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:38,040 And it is only by him becoming a human could God die for the 281 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,360 sacrifices of our sins. So this is how it needed to 282 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:46,640 happen as Philippians tells us, who though he was in the form of 283 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,920 God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but 284 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:54,000 emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in 285 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,240 the likeness of men and being found in human form. 286 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,960 He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 287 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:03,600 even death on a cross. So I want to end with this. 288 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,680 I hope I've proven to you that Jesus is God, and the whole 289 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,080 Bible tells us that Jesus is God. 290 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:14,200 And not only that, but Jesus can take away your sins by faith 291 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,040 alone in him, by believing the work he did on the cross was 292 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,880 sufficient enough to forgive you past, present and future. 293 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,400 Let me read you this illustration by a man who I 294 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,840 follow, great theologian Joel Beaky. 295 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,040 There was a farmer whose wife became a Christian. 296 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,320 He was upset and didn't want her to become a Christian. 297 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,440 He rejected the incarnation of Jesus. 298 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,920 Him being born as a human baby. He said to his wife, why would 299 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,520 God lower himself to be human like us? 300 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,400 His wife said I hope you see it someday. 301 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,760 One snowy Sunday evening the wife took the kids to church. 302 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:56,840 After the farmer fed the animals, he read a little and 303 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,680 took a nap. Suddenly the weather got worse. 304 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,560 It was a snowstorm. He got concerned about his 305 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,280 family. He thought should I go to 306 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,040 church, Take the 4 wheel drive to get them. 307 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,840 He loved his family and his. He is thinking. 308 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,960 He hears a loud thump against the house, and then another, and 309 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,960 he looks out the door and he sees a large flock of Canadian 310 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:20,600 geese. They are disoriented from the 311 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:25,040 storm and stranded on his farm, not knowing where to go, unable 312 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,000 to fly, unable to see their way. It's a Blizzard. 313 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,400 The farmer has compassion on the geese, he thinks to himself. 314 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,640 The only good thing is to give them shelter in the barn for the 315 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:38,520 night. So he gets on his jacket in his 316 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:42,200 hat and he opens the barn doors and he tries to invite them in 317 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,680 and they scatter and emotions to them to go in and they won't. 318 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,200 He tries to get behind them and shoo them in but they go off in 319 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,960 all directions. They'll go anywhere but inside 320 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,760 the barn. He's tired and confused, not 321 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,440 sure what to do. He goes back inside, get some 322 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,640 feed and figures he will make a trail of food and they would 323 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:07,800 follow him in. So he spreads the feed all over 324 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:15,000 the ground. And still they won't come in. 325 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,440 He says to himself. How can I possibly save these 326 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,960 geese? The only way I can save them if 327 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,720 if I was a goose myself and I could lead them into the barn 328 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,360 and the the geese would follow another goose. 329 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,840 He realizes as all this is going on that it was time for his 330 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,080 family to follow or to come home. 331 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,760 So he jumps in his four wheel drive, goes down to the church, 332 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,000 picks up his family and the children are happy to see him 333 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,920 and start saying Daddy, daddy, we thought you would come for 334 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,920 us. He said, did you have a good 335 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:47,640 service? They said yes, yes. 336 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,000 We sang our favorite songs and the preacher was preaching from 337 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,200 John 1 where it says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 338 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,960 And Daddy, the preacher told us that Jesus became one of us so 339 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:02,480 that we might find salvation and security in him. 340 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:07,800 And immediately the farmer thought, oh, become one of us. 341 00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:11,720 And he thought about the geese, and it kept swirling around in 342 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,240 his head how he would save them by becoming one of them. 343 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,120 And for the first time in his life he had insight into what 344 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:22,120 God was doing when he sent his Son into a Manger in Bethlehem. 345 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,400 He didn't tell them of his new found insight, but he told them 346 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,160 about the geese. And when they got home, they 347 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,040 could not see the geese anywhere, but then they could 348 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,160 hear some honking. And when they got to the barn, 349 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,440 they found all of the geese eating. 350 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,080 And he said to his children, come see, come, see. 351 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,600 Well, that family never went to church without their daddy 352 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,280 again. And the Holy Spirit worked on 353 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:51,120 his heart until he too put his trust in the God who was made 354 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:54,960 manifest in the flesh. The God who says to you today, 355 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,640 come into my barn of grace. Come into the Manger, come into 356 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:04,520 the open stable door. Why do you flounder outside in 357 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:09,120 the storm of the wrath of God? You're disoriented out there. 358 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,720 Come in, there's food enough and more to spare in my son Jesus 359 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,880 Christ. I say to you today, come to 360 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:24,680 Christ, the Lagos of God. Your life is in chaos and it may 361 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:29,800 have no meaning because you have not Jesus, the author and 362 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,800 perfector of the world. As the author and perfector of 363 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:38,120 your faith, trust in Him as Lord and Savior. 364 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:42,120 Tonight, while there's still time, repent and turn back. 365 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:47,440 Acknowledge that your sins put Jesus on that cross and it was 366 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,440 because of your sins personally that He came down to become a 367 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,280 human. And it was only through that 368 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:58,640 death and resurrection could you be made right with God. 369 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,920 Believe in Jesus and follow Him. Now would you pray with me, 370 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:14,760 Father, Gracious and merciful Son, the Majesty, the King of 371 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,720 Kings and the Lord of Lords, Holy Spirit, the one who draws 372 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:23,040 us and helps us to understand. We come to you, God, and ask 373 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,920 that you would do a miracle, and those who do not believe in you 374 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,480 tonight that they would, that they would finally see why you 375 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,040 became a man. Every Christmas passes by every 376 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:41,400 year, but make this the year that they finally get why you 377 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,880 came. And I pray Father, that you help 378 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,960 them to come back Sunday after Sunday and meet more and more 379 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:55,120 people and read their Bible and pray until they get that Jesus 380 00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:57,720 Christ is Lord who came to save sinners. 381 00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:59,440 I pray in Jesus name, Amen.