“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Christmas is upon us again. It is easy to view the celebration of Christmas simply and easily. Christmas has been associated with family gatherings, a time of giving and receiving gifts, eating delicious food, singing carols, etc. But when we view Christmas in this way, we settle for it too little. When we don't understand the meaning of Christmas, it can be the most miserable time of the year. The meaning of Christmas has so much depth and breadth. Its meaning is inexhaustible. If we truly grasp the beauty of Christmas it will change your life. In fact, the truths of Christmas can be applied to everyday life. It is not just 12 days, but 24x7, 365 days.
Today we will study the Christmas message from the book of John. This is not your typical Christmas passage. The gospel of Matthew and Luke tells us the facts of Christmas. There is the baby in a manager, Joseph and Mary, shepherds, angels, donkeys, Caesar Augustus and others. But John 1 doesn't mention any of these things. John's purpose is to concentrate on what all these facts mean. As we study this passage, let us mediate on three beautiful aspects of Christmas. First, God came to be with us. Second, Jesus became our close friend. Third, Jesus our Savior. May the beauty of Christmas fill your hearts with joy as you meditate on what God has done.
First, Christmas means God came down to be with us.
Let us look at verse 14 again "“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." God becoming flesh is known as the incarnation. It is from the Latin word in="in or into", caro, carnis="flesh" meaning "to make into flesh." There is a story of a farmer and a wounded bird that illustrates the meaning of the incarnation . One day a farmer saw a wounded bird on the ground. He saw it had a broken leg. As he tried to help the bird, the bird would scurry away in fear. Then the farmer said, "If I became a bird, I can help the little one." Suddenly, the farmer understood the incarnation. In the same way, we are like the wounded bird. Our condition is far worse than a broken leg; It is a broken heart and a soul ravaged by sin. God created a beautiful world where mankind had fellowship with God. But when Adam and Eve sinned, they lost paradise. Because of sin, God's world and our world was separated. The separation divided by bottomless pit. As sin increased in the hearts of men, so did the separation. We became prisoners and slaves to sin. What does God do for his fallen creation?
God came down from heaven and broke through our curse world and came in human flesh! When we read the Bible, flesh is usually associated with the sinful, the ugly and the wretched nature of mankind. The pure and holy God decided to humiliate himself with our wretched flesh. The superior became the inferior. The omnipotent God became vulnerable and killable. It is like you deciding to become a cockroach. It is like you jumping into sewage of human waste and filth.
Christmas is so radical because it teaches that says the divine creator became a baby, helpless and vulnerable. In Islam the concept of the incarnation is considered blasphemous. How could the Great transcendent God enter the womb of an illiterate village girl. Honestly speaking, we also don’t like the teaching of the incarnation. We don’t like to lower ourselves. We always default to pride and selfishness. We don't want to admit when we are wrong nor do we want to apologize first. We always want to say the last word. We want to get even when someone cuts us off the road. A pastor said the incarnation is the "greatest miracle" that can change the human heart.
Recently, I read a beautiful story of Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian Holocaust survivor. After the second world war, she met one of the guards from the Ravensbruck concentration camp where she was held captive. This guard became a Christian. He did not recognized her, but she recognized him. Soon memories of the horrors and her sister's death in the camp flooded her mind. Her hands probably clenched in a fist as he walk towards her. For the first time, she had a difficult time to shaking someone's hand. But she remembered the incarnation of God who forgave us. The moment she grasp his hand, she noted "I have never known God's love so intensely as I did then." What is your foundation? Is it rooted in the incarnation or pride? We can only be rooted in the incarnation when we remember God who lowered himself to be with us. We can be rooted when we remember how God shook our blood stained hands. May the incarnation be real in our hearts this Christmas.
Second, Christmas means Jesus became our friend.
Why did he have to come in human flesh? Paul said in Hebrews 2:14,15 "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. " Our God came down to share in our humanity. This means God experienced the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the human experience. The Bible says Jesus cried, he sorrowed, he was tired, thirsty, and he bled. He experienced humiliation, poverty, betrayal, injustice and a shameful death. Why did Jesus suffer? So he may "free those who all their lives were held in slavery." Jesus became poor, so you may be rich. Jesus was cursed, so you may receive blessing. Jesus cried and felt deep sorrow, so you may experience inexpressible joy. Jesus became God's enemy by taking our sins, so that you maybe a friend of God. On the cross, Jesus body was broken, bruised and bloody, so you may have be healed and have eternal life.
All of us have deep wounds and scars. We have sins that are too shameful to talk about. A few months ago I watched the documentary titled, “Tyson.” It was a fascinating film peppered with fight footage, interviews and training tapes of the boxer "Iron" Mike Tyson. The documentary opened a window into his dark soul. His identity was shaped by his broken family and horrific childhood filled with abuse, neglect and pain. In short, Tyson was driven by fear of being humiliated and defeated. Fear catapulted the career of one of boxing’s greatest fighters. It was also fear that led him to bankruptcy, divorce and prison. On the front page of USA Today on June 3, 2005, Tyson was quoted as saying: "My whole life has been a waste - I've been a failure." He continued: "I just want to escape. I'm really embarrassed with myself and my life." He failed to carry his sin of fear. We are all like Mike Tyson. Carrying sins of shame, guilt, sorrow, hatred is too unbearable. It will crush us! Jesus is our close friend. What is a close friend? It is someone who we can talk and bear our soul without reservation. A close friend does not judge, but understands and is ready to sacrifice his life. Jesus is our close friend who is ready to carry our sins and heal us. As the hymn says, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear.”
Third, Christmas means Jesus became our Savior.
Look at verse 14, "...made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
This last statement “made his dwelling” and “seen his glory” is radical as well. By the coming of Jesus as a baby in a manager, it mean, God dwelled with us on a personal level and we can see him face to face. In the Old Testament, it was impossible for God to dwell with men or see his glory because of our sin. God warned Moses that if he sees his face he will die (Exodus 33:20). As we learned earlier, it is sin that created a deep separation between Holy God and sinners.
The only way God could dwell with his people was through the tabernacle. Exodus 25:8,9 reads, " Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." The Tabernacle in Hebrew means "dwelling place." It was a portable tent for the God’s dwelling as the Israelites traveled through the desert to the promise land. God resided in the holy of holies at the back of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was fenced off, revealing the separation caused by sin. In the Tabernacle, the blood of goats and calves was spilled as sin offerings for the people. This is how the Israelites came to God's presence for 500 years.
But that all changed by the coming of Jesus. According to verse 14, Jesus made his dwelling among us. This means Jesus became the true tabernacle. Hebrews 9:11,12 " But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.“ Jesus became our savior. He offered his blood as the sin offering for each of us. On the cross, Jesus took the punishment that we fully deserved. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God. In this way, Jesus came to reconcile us back to God. He closed the gap caused by sin through his death on the cross. Because of Jesus perfect sacrifice, we can now come to God. This is the reason John said he made his dwell among them and he could see his glory. Before the coming of Jesus, people feared if they saw God, they will die. Because of Jesus, we can behold his glory and not die. The glory of God became a baby so he can be held and hugged.
So what does this mean to us practically? The coming of Jesus puts an end of religion as we know it. Religion basically teaches, I obey or follow the rules in order to be accepted. You say, "I go to church, I read 7 chapters a day." I'm a straight 'A' Christian and God should bless me. The problem is it is too hard to stay on the spiritual honor roll. We constantly fail because of sin. So we try to "atone" ourselves. We beat up ourselves to try to get our records straight. We live in pretense by hiding that big 'F'. You never know when it is enough. Yesterday, I read about the tragic suicide son of Bernie Madoff. His father Bernie swindled many investor of billions of dollars. Now he is serving a 150 year prison sentence. Sons look up to their fathers. But Bernie son looked at his father's tragic record. It was unbearable to live under his father's record, so he killed himself. But Jesus coming in human flesh means, we are accepted because of what Christ has done on the cross. Religion is replaced by the gospel which means the “good news” about what Jesus has done. We don't live by our bad report, but Christ record. As a pastor said, our Christian life is no longer defined by “DOs”, but by “DONE” (What Christ has done.) We serve, we love, we give, and we forgive others because we remember how Jesus has “DONE” for us.
In today’s message, we learn the beauty of Christmas. Christmas is beautiful because God came to be with us. God took the initiative to have a relationship with us. Christmas is beautiful because Jesus became our close friend. He truly understands us. Christmas is beautiful because Jesus saves us from our sins. Jesus opened the door so we can behold the glory of God. We live by remembering what Jesus has done for us. I pray each of us may take time from the hustle and bustle of Christmas to see the beautiful thing God did that Christmas morning. May the joy of Christmas remain in your hearts throughout your lifetime.
