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From Heaven to Earth

Sermon by Rev. Paul Fahnestock – December 16, 2007
 

Introduction
In our Scripture text this morning, John introduces us to the focus of the whole gospel. Usually these verses are referred to as the prologue. And what we have in the prologue is a little bit like an overture to an opera, where some of the major themes of the opera are played as an introduction to what will follow. So the references here in the prologue to light and life and glory are things and issues and aspects that John is going to enlarge upon in his gospel account. We will find that there is something familiar about this prologue; John’s overture is based on a much older masterpiece. See if you can identify it:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.
     ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
     ⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
     ¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – ¹³children not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
     ¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.      ¹⁵John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” ¹⁶From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

John 1:1-18 (NIV)

In the beginning was the Word
Doesn’t that sound familiar? It’s almost identical to the first line in the first book of Scripture, Genesis. “In the beginning God...” As John begins his gospel account, he is saying if you really want to understand who Jesus is, if you really want to grasp something of the glory of Jesus Christ, you have to go back to the very beginning, even before anything was created.

John says, “The Word was with God.” There is one God, but within that one God, there is plurality. The Word has existed from all eternity as a distinct person in relation to God the Father. There is God the Father, there is God the Word and, although this text doesn’t mention it, there is God the Holy Spirit. And the Word of God was in fellowship and in harmony with the Father. “The Word was God.” The Word is God, the Second Person of the Trinity, and has always existed.

Through him all things were made
Can you hear John playing another note from the ancient music of Genesis? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And how did God create? You can hear the ancient refrain, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Seven more times we hear it, “And God said, ‘Let there be…’” as God created the heavens and the earth, all living creatures, and man and woman in His image.

John wants us to understand that before the creation of the world, before any matter or particles have come into existence, the Word of God already had being. Through the Word, the second person of the Trinity, everything was created and the Word, the Son of God, is the one who sustains everything that is.

In him was life, and that life was the light of men
In the Word is life. The origin of all physical life is not found in the creation; it is not in chemicals or DNA. It is the Word, it is God, who gives life to all creation. And that life is the light of every person. There is no light apart from the eternal Word. All wisdom and knowledge has its origin and radiates into existence from God, the Word.

And that light and life entered the darkness of our world. God called John the Baptist to be the herald of the news, “I am not the light, but I am here to tell you the light, the true light that gives light to every person, is coming into the world.” And the Baptist identified Jesus, “Behold, he is the true light.”

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us
He is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the name given to the Second Person of the Trinity when he became a human being with a body, soul, spirit, will and emotions. The Word was never called Jesus until Joseph did so in obedience to the angel’s command. An angel appeared to Joseph to confirm that the child his wife Mary carried was conceived of the Holy Spirit. She would give birth to a son who was to be named Jesus, because He will save his people. And the night of his birth, an angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds in the fields saying, “I bring you good news of great joy for all people. Today a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” This is the wonder of the incarnation – the divine and the human, two distinct natures, are united in one person – the God-man Jesus Christ.

When the Word became flesh, He didn’t cease to be the Word – for God cannot cease to be God. When the Word became flesh, He became flesh forever. At this moment, Jesus is a man at the right hand of the Father. He is also God. And, he will eternally be the God-man Jesus Christ. If Jesus were to explain His incarnation, He would say to you, “I am now what I always was: God [or Word]. I am now what I once was not: man [or flesh]. I am now and forever will be both: the God-man, Jesus Christ.”

John says “the Word made his dwelling among us.” The word dwelling is the same word for tabernacle. “The Word tabernacled among us.” In the Old Testament, God instructed Moses and the Israelites to put up a tabernacle in the wilderness, literally a tent. It was the place where sinners could come into fellowship and communion with God. The tabernacle is the one place where a Holy God and sinful men and women might meet together.

The Word, who was with God and was God, came into this world as a human being. He lived in our physical and social and spiritual environment. He shared our pains and frustrations. He knows what it is to be tired. He knows what it is to be exhausted, to be thirsty, to stand before a tomb and weep. He knows what it is when rusty nails pierce His hands and feet, to be betrayed, to be lonely. And John says, “You have never seen God, but Jesus Christ, who is God in the tent of human flesh, He has bridged the gap between unapproachable light and intimate friendship. He has made God known.”

The world did not recognize him
“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” The Creator God came from heaven into the world that He created. Listen. John is playing a crescendo. The Creator has come to our world as one of us. “Don’t you recognize him?” Here is your Savior, the Messiah. “Why don’t you receive him?” John is astonished at those who neither recognize nor receive the light that shines in the darkness.

Yet to all who received Him
But John says there is also another response (this is the high note): “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, but born of God.” The great ministry of Jesus Christ is to re-create.

If you are a Christian, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a part of the new creation. The Apostle Paul understood this and wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) What has taken place in the heart and soul of a believer in Jesus Christ is an act of re-creation. It is the purpose of the incarnation – God became flesh in order that flesh could become children of God.

For God so loved the world
In total wonder we contemplate that God became human, the invisible became visible, the infinite became finite, eternity entered time, the exalted was humbled, glory was subjected to shame, from a throne to a cross. The Word became flesh because our sin had separated us from God and we could not bridge the gap; we were totally lost and without hope. There was only one cure for our sickness. God himself became our representative, our mediator, our substitute to pay the price for our sin. God became flesh, and the God-man Jesus Christ destroyed death for us and granted us eternal life.

God did this out of love. Hear the good news! “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The Christmas season is a wonderful time for many – being with family and friends, generations gathered for gift-giving and shared meals. But that is not the only side of Christmas. The holidays can also be a time of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and disappointment. The message of Christmas – Emmanuel, God with us – is especially poignant for those who are hurting. It is this very Christmas message of God’s love that brings hope, which points from the transitory nature of earthly happiness to that which is eternal.

Even as the whole creation was groaning under the burden of sin and guilt, God sent his Son from heaven to earth, to enter time, to be conceived in the womb of a humble, virgin daughter of Israel. In the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal meets time; the One to whom belongs the entire universe becomes poor; and God becomes a laughing, weeping, comforting, saving friend and relative. Peace on earth, peace in your heart. Emmanuel, God is with us.

Let’s pray together:
Lord Jesus, we trust and believe. We receive you as our Savior and Lord. We bow before you in all of your sovereign majesty and we worship you and we adore you. We join our voices with angels to declare you to be King of kings and Lord of lords. Grant us, from the fullness of your grace, that we might continue to receive one blessing after another. Father God, hear the prayer of your sons and daughters in Christ, for it is in his name we pray. Amen.