1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,440 If you're able, would you please stand for the reading of God's 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:07,640 Word on this first Sunday of Advent? 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:09,960 I'll be reading from two different books in the New 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:15,000 Testament, first the Gospel of John and then Paul's letter to 5 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,200 the Colossians. This is John chapter 1, 6 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:23,200 beginning in verse 14. And the Word became flesh and 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:28,920 dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only 8 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,119 Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 9 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:35,680 John bore witness about him and cried out. 10 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:40,080 This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before 11 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,400 me, because He was before me. For from his fullness we have 12 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,960 all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through 13 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,440 Moses. Grace and truth came through 14 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:55,400 Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the 15 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,040 only God who is at the Father's side. 16 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,440 He has made him known. Now Colossians chapter 2, 17 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,400 beginning with verse 8, Paul writes, See to it that no one 18 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:12,400 takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to 19 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,840 human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the 20 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,240 world, and not according to Christ. 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:23,640 For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells a bodily, and you 22 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,400 have been filled in Him who is the head of all rule and 23 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,760 authority. This is the word of the Lord. 24 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:39,240 You may be seated. Well, today is the first Sunday 25 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,600 of Advent, and as we begin the season of Advent together, it's 26 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,400 probably important that we know what the word Advent actually 27 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,120 means. Advent comes from the Latin word 28 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:58,800 Vinny simply means coming. So Advent is more than just 29 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,360 waiting for the arrival of Christmas Day. 30 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:10,600 Advent is a season where we wait for the coming of Jesus Christ. 31 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:15,400 And no matter your age, whether you're a child this morning or 32 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,440 you're an adult who's a child at heart, the truth is waiting is 33 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,280 hard, isn't it? Nobody likes to wait. 34 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:29,240 Waiting takes discipline. Waiting requires patience. 35 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:38,440 And so if Christmas is a feast in so many ways, Advent is a 36 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:44,160 fast. Advent is a fast that invites us 37 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:51,240 to wait, a fast that calls us to confront the reality that this 38 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:58,640 side of the return of Jesus. Our entire lives are one long 39 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:07,560 season of Advent because every one of us is waiting, longing 40 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:13,120 for the turn of Jesus to come again and make all things new. 41 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:20,000 We confront this waiting when we experience the hardship, 42 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,680 difficulty, and disappointment of life. 43 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,800 When we face the darkness in the world around us, the darkness of 44 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,520 our own sin. We know what it means to wait 45 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,760 for the coming of Christ. As we enter into this season of 46 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,280 Christmas, for so many of us it's not only a season of joy, 47 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:49,200 but the season of an intense sorrow and grief when we feel 48 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,520 most profoundly the loss of somebody we've dearly loved is 49 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,160 no longer with us. And in that moment, we're 50 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,800 waiting. We're waiting for Christ to come 51 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:09,840 again. Advent invites us to fast to 52 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:20,279 stop and to wait, and great anticipation for Christ to heal 53 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:26,720 all that has been broken and to make new all that has been lost. 54 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,120 But Advent is not just a time of waiting and looking forward. 55 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,800 As we wait and as we long for the return of Jesus, we look 56 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:45,160 back on his first Advent and there we find the fullness of 57 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:55,520 God come down to us in a Manger. As we look forward and wait for 58 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:01,120 the future coming of Jesus, we look back on his first Advent 59 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,080 and the fullness of His incarnation. 60 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:11,800 Since 325AD, Christians all over the world have used the words of 61 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:18,440 the Nicene Creed to confess what we believe about the incarnation 62 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:24,320 of Jesus, to consider the incarnation of Jesus as one of 63 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,400 the essentials of the Christian faith. 64 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:34,240 The Nicene Creed says we believe and 1 Lord Jesus Christ, the 65 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:38,720 only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before 66 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:46,880 all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God. 67 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,880 With these words, the Nicene Creed teaches us that it is 68 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:59,320 essential to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that 69 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:06,480 he is God Incarnate, fully God and fully man. 70 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,320 That is the doctrine of the incarnation. 71 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,400 It's essential to what we believe is Christians that we 72 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:23,080 believe that Jesus not only is the Son of God, but he has God 73 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:29,880 become flesh, the one who has come down to dwell with us. 74 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:36,240 And it is the fullness of the incarnation that is the focus of 75 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,200 our sermon series this season of Advent. 76 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,560 Apostle Paul describes this fullness. 77 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:48,200 The book of Colossians, Colossians 2 verse 9, he writes 78 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:54,800 for in Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. 79 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,080 In his gospel, the apostle John uses similar language. 80 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:04,200 This is John 1 verse 16. For from his fullness we've all 81 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:09,840 received grace upon grace. And so this morning as we begin 82 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,200 the first Sunday of Advent, we're going to begin in the book 83 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,880 of John and the book of Colossians. 84 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,240 And together we're going to see the fullness of the incarnation 85 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,160 of Jesus Christ in three ways. The first is this. 86 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,880 In the incarnation of Jesus, we see the fullness of the glory of 87 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,000 God. Once you would look with me. 88 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,040 The Gospel of John, chapter one, verse 14. 89 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,240 John tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 90 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,320 If you've grown up around Christianity or grown up going 91 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,360 to church around Christmas time, odds are you've heard this verse 92 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,280 before. Christians all over the world 93 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,440 are reciting this verse. John 114. 94 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,000 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 95 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,960 But the problem When words become familiar to us as they 96 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,840 begin to lose the depth of their meaning, they go in one ear and 97 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,880 out the other. And we never stopped long enough 98 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:12,040 to really consider what is it that these words actually mean. 99 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,680 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 100 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:24,160 Well over a year ago we preached through the Gospel of John and 101 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,080 you're with us for that series. You may remember that the word 102 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:32,600 word here and John 114 is the Greek word, the original 103 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,360 language of the New Testament, the Greek word Lagos. 104 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,960 Now the word Lagos is borrowed from Greek philosophy. 105 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,400 The Lagos was the highest form of transcendence. 106 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:53,160 The idea was if you can think of a being or a force that is 107 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,080 higher than any other, that thing, whether or not you call 108 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,760 it God, is the Logos. It was known as divine wisdom. 109 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,240 Why is John using it in the Bible? 110 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:11,560 Well, John was writing to a bunch of Greek Jewish people. 111 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,640 He knew his audience. He knew that not only were many 112 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:20,280 of them Jewish, but they were influenced by Greek philosophy. 113 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,080 And So what John is saying to them and to all of us who now 114 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,480 read it 2000 years later, is that whatever it is that you 115 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:33,480 call God, whether you call him Yahweh, the one true God, or you 116 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,440 conceive of the highest form of existence, the Lagos, whatever 117 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,240 that thing is, John is here to tell all of us. 118 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,040 This is what the one true God is really like. 119 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:51,040 And if you want to know who God is, look no further that his 120 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:57,560 Son, Jesus Christ, the one who has come down to us and the 121 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:04,320 fullness of his incarnation. John says the word became flesh 122 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:09,800 and dwelt among us. That word flesh is an also an 123 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,480 interesting word. John could have said the word 124 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:19,920 became human, or the word took on a body, or the word came 125 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:25,040 down, but no, John says the word took on flesh. 126 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:30,640 In other words, John is using the highest and loftiest speech 127 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,920 that he could try to put together to describe God in all 128 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:36,960 of the ways he might be conceived. 129 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:44,760 And he's saying that transcendent God took on flesh 130 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:52,240 that which you can touch and feel and even smell when it gets 131 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,200 dirty. John is putting together 2 words 132 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,680 that have no business to be together. 133 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,800 This is the paradox of the incarnation. 134 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:12,640 The Word became flesh. The transcendent became 135 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,120 imminent. That which is eternal somehow 136 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:20,680 became temporal. The very God who spoke the 137 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:26,760 universe into existence became a baby born in a Manger. 138 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:33,400 This is what we profess as Christians, and it's essential 139 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,000 to the Gospel. John doesn't stop there. 140 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,600 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 141 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,840 The Word dwell is unique to John. 142 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,280 He's the only one who used it in the entire New Testament. 143 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,280 He uses it here, the Gospel of John. 144 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:56,400 He also uses it in the Book of Revelation. 145 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:00,120 The word literally means Tabernacle. 146 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:06,320 The word became flesh and tabernacled among us. 147 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,600 Now, to our modern ears, that sounds very strange. 148 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,320 What in the world is John talking about? 149 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,560 But to his first listeners, they would have immediately known 150 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:19,080 what John was saying. See, in the background of his 151 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,880 gospel is the story of the people of God throughout the Old 152 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,680 Testament, and particularly here in John's prologue in the 153 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:32,280 introduction of his gospel. And the background is the book 154 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,480 of Exodus. We have a Bible. 155 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:36,400 I want you to get out the book of Exodus this morning. 156 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,000 If you don't have a Bible, you can take the Blue Pew Bible in 157 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,280 front of you. That's our gift to you. 158 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,360 Please take it home with you. Turn to the book of Exodus. 159 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,160 That's the second book of the Bible, the second book of the 160 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,560 Old Testament. Now I want you to turn to Exodus 161 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:56,600 25, verse 8 for the first hearers of John's gospel. 162 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,880 They would have heard the Word became flesh and tabernacled 163 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:02,000 among us. They would have immediately 164 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:06,280 thought of Exodus 25. This is verse 8. 165 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:12,320 God says, and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in 166 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,320 their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning 167 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:20,200 the pattern of the Tabernacle and of all of its furniture, so 168 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,400 you shall make it. Now. 169 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,640 The Tabernacle was the precursor to the temple. 170 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,640 It was the place, as the people of God wandered in the darkness 171 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,800 of the wilderness. It's where God dwelled in all of 172 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,240 His glory with His people. And there were very specific 173 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,680 instructions given to the construction of the Tabernacle. 174 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,680 You can think of it as a very ornate tint. 175 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,440 Yesterday we were making our way up from Thanksgiving holiday 176 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,160 with my family in Waco up the highway, and I saw, I don't 177 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,120 think my family did. They were too busy seeing all of 178 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,160 the Bucky signs. But I think out of my corner of 179 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:59,320 my eye I saw a circus tent. And what's amazing about a 180 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,600 really good circus tent is how amazing and ornate they're able 181 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,120 to make it, and all the things are able to fit inside. 182 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,320 It feels like a permanent structure. 183 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,320 The Tabernacle was that and so much more. 184 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:23,440 It was built for the glory of God to dwell with his people. 185 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:31,040 And in the story of Exodus, as God dwelled with his people 186 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:37,240 after bringing them out of Egypt, rescuing them from 187 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:41,800 slavery, and being present as all of His glory with them, 188 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:43,600 leading them through the wilderness. 189 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,520 What we see over and over again in the story of Exodus is not 190 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:53,760 their gratitude, it's not their worship, but it's the rebellion. 191 00:14:55,400 --> 00:15:00,040 Even after all that God did for his people, the book of Exodus 192 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,760 tells us the people of God rebelled against him. 193 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,880 They didn't trust that God will fulfill his promises. 194 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:13,560 And they took all of their gold and they melted it down, and 195 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:18,440 they made the statue of a calf, and they bowed down in front of 196 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,920 it and worshipped it instead of God. 197 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:26,280 Now that might sound ridiculous to us, but the truth is, you and 198 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,240 I rebel against God every single day. 199 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,840 And even though He has brought us out of the slavery of sin 200 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,120 over and over again, every day we go right back to it. 201 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,400 And though you and I'm not might not worship golden calves, but 202 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:48,880 we worship ourselves and other people and everything around us. 203 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:55,280 You and I are no different. We are rebels too. 204 00:15:55,280 --> 00:16:04,640 And what we see in the story of Exodus as God meets rebels with 205 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:10,400 his glory and with His grace. As the story continues, Exodus 206 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:18,240 33, Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to plead for God's mercy on his 207 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,200 people. Verse 18, Moses goes to God and 208 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:27,520 says, please show me your glory. And God says, I will make all of 209 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,720 my goodness pass before you and proclaim before you my name, the 210 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,280 Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I 211 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,840 will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show 212 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,320 mercy. But he said, You cannot see my 213 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,520 face, for man shall not see me and live. 214 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,400 And the Lord said, Behold, there's a place by me where you 215 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,280 shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I'll 216 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,640 put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with 217 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:58,760 my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, 218 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:03,080 and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. 219 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:10,960 But God is telling Moses is that he can only give Moses a glimpse 220 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:16,119 of his glory because no man in our sin can stand in the 221 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,880 presence of God's glory and live. 222 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,839 So Moses isn't allowed to see the face of God in the face of 223 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:27,400 his glory and its fullness. He's only allowed to see his 224 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:35,520 back and just catch a glimpse. I can't preach on this or even 225 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,280 think about this passage without thinking about Raiders of the 226 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,680 Lost Ark. And if you've seen the movie, 227 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,440 you know what I'm talking about. Towards the end where the Nazis 228 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:47,480 finally have the Ark of the Covenant, they decide it's going 229 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,800 to be a great idea to open the Ark. 230 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,520 There is a 9 or 10 year old little boy. 231 00:17:53,520 --> 00:18:00,360 I can never Unsee their faces melting off as the Ark of the 232 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:05,240 Covenant is opened. It's almost cheesy when you see 233 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,800 it. It's complete silliness compared 234 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:15,440 to what God is telling Moses. No one can see the fullness of 235 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:20,880 his glory and live. So what does any of this have to 236 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,680 do with Advent? What does it have to do with the 237 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,360 Gospel of John? And what does it have to do with 238 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:33,160 the incarnation? The Word became flesh and 239 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,640 tabernacled among us. The first hearers of John's 240 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:43,120 gospel would have heard this. The fullness of God's glory no 241 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:50,880 longer resides in a tent, but it resides in a person, and his 242 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:56,120 name is Jesus Christ. This is why John goes on and 243 00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:59,920 says this. And we have seen His glory, 244 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:06,680 glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth 245 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:14,640 in the person of Jesus Christ. We behold the fullness of the 246 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:19,120 glory of God. We are not hidden in the cleft 247 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:23,520 of a rock or hidden by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 248 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:28,840 And though we stand before the throne of God as sinners, we 249 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,640 stand beholding the fullness of God's glory. 250 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,360 Apostle Paul put it this way, 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 6 For 251 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:39,800 God who said let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our 252 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:45,080 hearts to give the light of the glory of God in the face of 253 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:50,040 Jesus Christ. Moses was not allowed to see the 254 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:58,960 face of God, but in the incarnation of Jesus we behold 255 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:06,480 in his face the fullness of God's glory second. 256 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,400 In the incarnation of Jesus, not only does he see the fullness of 257 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:16,040 God's glory, but we receive the fullness of His grace. 258 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,760 Look with me at verse 16. John goes on. 259 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,800 He says, for from his fullness we've all received grace upon 260 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,360 grace. That is, from the fullness of 261 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,560 the incarnation of God and the person of Jesus, we've all 262 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,000 received grace upon grace. Now there's two ways to 263 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,680 understand that. One is in terms of abundance, 264 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,680 all of us in Jesus Christ, this great gift that God would come 265 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,640 down to us. The thing that separates 266 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,720 Christianity from every other religion, that's not about us 267 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,480 working our way to God, but God coming down to us in his grace 268 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,480 is grace and abundance. It's grace upon grace. 269 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:03,760 It's grace that never runs out. It's grace that meets us in 270 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,680 every sin that we have committed, every sin that we 271 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:13,440 will commit. Grace upon grace upon grace. 272 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:20,320 But you can also understand that phrase quite literally as a 273 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:25,320 grace in place of a grace that has already been given. 274 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,640 Now, what does that mean? Well again I think Exodus is in 275 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,680 the background and helps us understand what John is talking 276 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,160 about. He goes on in verse 17 he says 277 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:44,960 for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came from 278 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,080 Jesus Christ. John is showing us that Jesus 279 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:57,520 was born, that he was Incarnate. Not an historical vacuum, but 280 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:03,320 Jesus Christ was first born in a Manger as the fulfillment of all 281 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:07,840 of Old Testament prophecy in history, and he's connecting the 282 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:13,320 dots between the incarnation of Jesus and the grace that God has 283 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:19,720 already given us in the law. You see, the law of God was 284 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:24,520 given to us by the grace of God. Now, that might sound 285 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,640 contradictory to you. Let me show you what I mean. 286 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,320 When the people of God rebelled and formed a golden calf and 287 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:38,880 worshipped it, Moses was so angry that he took the first 288 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,960 tablets of the law of God, and he threw them down and they 289 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:47,280 broke. And after he went up to the 290 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:52,000 mountain, Mount Sinai, and pleaded for mercy, and God spoke 291 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:58,440 His mercy over His people, he then made a new set of tablets. 292 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,360 It was grace. Rather than destroy his people 293 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:08,360 for breaking the law, quite literally, God gave the law to 294 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:12,280 them. Again, we're told in Exodus 34, 295 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,480 verse 4. So Moses cut 2 tablets of stone 296 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,200 like the first, and he rose early in the morning and went up 297 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,720 on Mount Sinai. And the Lord had commanded him 298 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,760 and took his hand. 2 tablets of stone. 299 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:30,280 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and 300 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,680 proclaimed the name of the Lord, listened to his name. 301 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,480 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord. 302 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:44,880 The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and 303 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,120 abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 304 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:56,040 God graciously gave them the law again, and then he declared His 305 00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:01,440 covenant name over His people, a name of grace and mercy. 306 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:07,520 All of this happened after the golden calf, after His people 307 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:13,480 rebelled. This is good news for us because 308 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,480 just like the people in the Exodus, we are rebels too. 309 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,400 And God has given us, in the fullness of the incarnation, 310 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:31,400 grace in place of a grace that was already given by His grace, 311 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:36,800 He already has given us the law. And now in the gift of his Son 312 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:41,920 Jesus Christ, he's given us the grace of fulfilling the law. 313 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,640 You see, because Christ came not to destroy the law, but to 314 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:52,280 fulfill the law, to fulfill the law on our behalf, because the 315 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,920 truth is none of us can keep it and every one of us breaks it 316 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,600 every single day. And so God gave us grace in 317 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,880 place of grace. He not only gave us the law, but 318 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,000 in Jesus He gave us the fulfillment of the law. 319 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,720 And This is why the incarnation matters. 320 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,680 Apostle Paul put it this way, Romans 8 verse 3. 321 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,600 For God has done with the Law, weakened by the flesh, could not 322 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:23,040 do by sending His own Son and the likeness of sinful flesh, 323 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,360 and for sin He condemns sin in the flesh and order that the 324 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:31,880 righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. 325 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:39,800 The incarnation is essential to Christianity because without the 326 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,600 incarnation there can be no gospel. 327 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:50,040 If Jesus Christ did not take on flesh, then our sin could not 328 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,720 have been condemned in His flesh on the cross. 329 00:25:54,760 --> 00:26:00,000 Without the Manger there can be no cross, because without Jesus 330 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:07,240 taking on our human frailty, He could not have died a real 331 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,800 death. But in the fullness of the 332 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:17,400 incarnation, Jesus Christ died a real death in our place. 333 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:24,120 He shed real blood to make atonement for our sin. 334 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:31,400 And listen to this on the third day, His real body rose from the 335 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:36,920 dead to be the first fruits of our own resurrection. 336 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:43,440 And everyone who believes in him would live for him and with him 337 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:48,200 forever. The incarnation is essential not 338 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,520 simply because it's one of the list of things you have to 339 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:56,400 believe in order to call yourself a Christian now. 340 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:03,560 The incarnation is essential. Without Christ coming down to us 341 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:10,920 in the fullness of deity and the fullness of humanity, there can 342 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:17,880 be no salvation. And so this Christmas, just like 343 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:22,160 we do every single year, we'll tell the story of the Manger 344 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:30,040 over and over and over again. And as we retell the Christmas 345 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:37,080 story, it invites all of us to truly ask the question, what is 346 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:42,000 it that we actually believe? That's the third and final 347 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,440 thing. The Incarnation shows us the 348 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,480 fullness of truth. John goes on verse 18. 349 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,280 He says no one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the 350 00:27:54,280 --> 00:28:00,920 Father's side. He has made him known word only. 351 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:06,720 Here is the same word that we get only begotten from what we 352 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,360 profess in the Nicene Creed, that Jesus is the only begotten 353 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:13,480 Son of God. When we say that, we're not 354 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:17,680 saying that Christ is simply the only child of God the Father. 355 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:23,160 Of course He is, but we use the word only in saying He is the 356 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,680 only one like him. He's unique. 357 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:28,480 How? Well, John tells at the 358 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,800 beginning of verse 18, no one has ever seen God except in the 359 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,920 person of Jesus. You see, in the face of Jesus, 360 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,400 we not only see the glory of God, but we see the truth of who 361 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,480 God is. And not only do we see that God 362 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:50,280 is true, but in the incarnation we see that God can be trusted. 363 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,680 And as we enter into the Advent season, we need to be reminded 364 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,640 that our God can be trusted. As we confront the darkness 365 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:05,480 around us, confront the darkness of our own sin. 366 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,040 We asked a question along with a psalmist. 367 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,880 How long, O Lord? And we wait for the coming of 368 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:16,280 Jesus Christ to return. In the incarnation. 369 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,960 We're reminded that he has already come. 370 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,440 And surely, as he has already come to us, he will come again. 371 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:33,160 He can be trusted. And again in the Exodus we see 372 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:37,600 that God is trustworthy. He's got God cave the law not as 373 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:44,720 a set of rules, but as a covenant Exodus 3410 as he gave 374 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,240 the law he said, behold, I'm making a covenant before all 375 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,920 your people. I will do marvels such as not 376 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,960 has been created in all of earth or in any nation and all the 377 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,880 people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord for it 378 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:03,360 is an awesome thing that I will do with you. 379 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:09,160 God made a promise to do something that we would marvel 380 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:16,080 at, and every promise finds its yes and Amen in the incarnation 381 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:22,040 of Jesus Christ. Not only is He true, but He can 382 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:26,280 be trusted. Apostle Paul puts it this way. 383 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,440 Colossians 2 verse 8. See to it that no one takes you 384 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,520 captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human 385 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,480 tradition, according to elemental spirits of the world, 386 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,560 and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of 387 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:46,160 Deity dwells bodily. Notice the context of Paul's 388 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,640 teaching on the incarnation in Christ. 389 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,960 The whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily. 390 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,760 Why does that matter? So that no one would take our 391 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,920 minds captive by empty philosophy and vain teaching. 392 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:04,040 In other words, in the incarnation of Jesus, we see 393 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,520 that Christianity is not just another truth among many truths. 394 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:12,120 It's not a philosophy. It's not a set of principles. 395 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:16,440 It is not a man made religion. No, Christianity is the true 396 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:21,240 story of God coming down to us and the person of Jesus Christ. 397 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:26,480 And one day he will come again. And so this Advent, make 398 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:32,120 yourselves ready. May we prepare ourselves for the 399 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:38,200 coming of Jesus. And as we wait, may we receive 400 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:45,000 grace upon grace, setting our hearts and our minds and our 401 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,880 gaze on the face of Jesus, seeing that not only is he true, 402 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,440 but he can be trusted as we long for the day. 403 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,600 And Christ will come again, and all of the fullness of this 404 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:05,360 glory, and we will stand before His glory, face to face forever, 405 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,080 world without Him. Let me pray. 406 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:14,160 Father in Heaven, we ask that in this season of Advent you would 407 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:19,800 help us to wait with patience, but also to wait with hope, 408 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,840 longing for the day when you, Christ, will come again, but 409 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:27,920 also to wait by remembering that you, Christ, have already come. 410 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,080 Come to us now, even as we leave this place and go to our 411 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,320 families and our neighborhoods, and as we work and walk through 412 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:40,400 the season of Advent until Christmas Day, we pray that you 413 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,240 would teach us to wait. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. 414 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:44,200 Let's stand and sing.