Bentley Baptist Church Sermons
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Bentley Baptist Church Sermons
The Word Became Flesh
John 1.1-18 | Ps Alex Huggett
Christmas 2024
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www.bentleybaptist.org
John, chapter 1,. I'm going to read verses 1 to 5 and then skip to verse 14. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him and apart from Him, not one thing was created. That has been created In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only son from the father full of grace and truth. John testified concerning him and exclaimed this was the one of whom I said. The one coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me. Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father's side. He has revealed him.
Speaker 1:Well, at the heart of Christmas lies a scandal. And it's not actually that Jesus conceived Jesus. Sorry that Mary conceived Jesus out of wedlock. Mary and Joseph wouldn't have been the first couple in history who had to have a quick wedding because they couldn't wait, as everyone around would have presumed. Quick wedding nod, nod, wink, wink. Well done Joseph. The scandal wasn't even that Mary claimed it was an act of God. By marrying her so quickly at God's command, Joseph made sure she wouldn't have to rely on that story. And who'd have believed it anyway? You know, the real scandal of Christmas is that it's true that God was becoming human, and not that he'd only appear human, but he was actually becoming truly human in the flesh, from conception to grave.
Speaker 1:I want to spend a couple of minutes this morning just talking about the incarnation. It's going to be a little bit theological for a few minutes, but then I want to get into why that's important in the application. But this is the scandal of Christmas. The Word was God and became flesh. It's not that the Word became God, as if God brought a counterpart into being. It's not that God Word became God as if God brought a counterpart into being. It's not that God bestowed divinity upon a human being.
Speaker 1:The third century theologian Arius said there was a time when Christ was not and he was thoroughly branded as a heretic. His brand of Christianity was rejected a heretic, His brand of Christianity was rejected. The Son, the Word, existed before his older cousin, John the Baptist, was born. The uncreated Word was there at creation. The Word became flesh and that's what we call incarnation. Modern translations say we, that's the apostles observed his, that's Christ's glory, the glory as the one and only son from the father, and traditionally that one and only was translated only begotten.
Speaker 1:The Greek can go both ways, but only begotten makes it sound like the son came into being. That's what begotten means, isn't it? Well, if he's eternal, what are we to make of this? The Greek word for only begotten can mean one and only, as in unique, and John could be referring to the unique, special relationship of the word to the Father. Or it could refer to the incarnation. The word was begotten when he became flesh. In either case, the word has always and eternally existed. This speaks of the Son's unique relationship to the Father.
Speaker 1:The church fathers back in the first few centuries of Christianity understood it to mean not that the Son came into being, but that the nature of his eternal being is that of being begotten of the Father. So the Nicene Creed says he was begotten, not made, and they said he is as eternal as the Father and eternally generated or begotten from the Father. It's not as an act of the Father's will, but it's the very nature of God. But it's the very nature of God. And again it speaks of the unique relationship of the Son to the Father. Now, all agree there is only one God, eternally existing in three persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Or to put it another way, the three persons of the Godhead eternally share one divine essence.
Speaker 1:Now, if all that goes over your head, don't worry too much. As an infinite and all-powerful being, the reality of God's nature is not something we'll ever fully grasp. Even the smartest theologians in history will have got something about God wrong. That doesn't mean the theology doesn't matter, though, because the relationship of the son to the father has enormous implications for the way we relate to God. In fact, I would say it's a relationship of the son to the father that allows us to relate to God, and so the point today isn't so much to do theology. All of that is a setup to let theology lead us to wonder and to worship it's so that we can come and adore him. We can come and adore him.
Speaker 1:John said that the word became flesh and dwelled among us. He dwelled among us. Don't be fooled by that little word dwell, it's full of significance. The Greek word dwell comes from the word used for tent. The word didn't just dwell among us or live with us, he pitched his tent among us. Now, what do you think of? Maybe your mind goes in several directions when you think of that image of pitching a tent, of the human body being a tent. The one I want to pick up is how tent is most commonly used in the Bible, Because in Exodus we read of how God instructed the Israelites to build the sacred tent that's more commonly known as the tabernacle.
Speaker 1:Tabernacle is just a fancy English word for tent. The sacred tent was in fact a mobile temple where God dwelled among the Israelites as they moved through the wilderness to the promised land. It was the place where they went to meet with God. The eternal word had been worshipped in the sacred tent and now became flesh and pitched his tent among us. Once again, there was a sacred mobile tent wandering around Israel where people could go and meet God and his name was Jesus, Unlike the temple in Jerusalem where only the priest could enter into the inside of the temple. With sacrifices. Anyone could approach God. In this tent. That was Jesus. Even Gentiles who weren't allowed anywhere near the temple came and he received them People like you and me, and in fact, more often than not they didn't need to go to him, he came to them. So we say come, let us adore him.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the characteristics of God is his utter holiness. The Bible says he's a consuming fire, and just as we can't look at the sun for too long without going blind, no one can look at God and live. And as I said before, we can't truly comprehend God. Our finest thoughts about him fall short, Just as my dog must look at us and our actions and our speech in utter bewilderment sometimes. What are these humans doing? I don't understand, except for the word food.
Speaker 1:So we can't comprehend God until the one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the father's side, revealed him. The phrase at the father's side might be better, but probably more quaintly rendered in the bosom of the father. When my children were babies, I loved to lay them on my chest, skin to skin, and this Jesus being in the bosom of the father speaks of the utter intimacy, love and communion between the Father and the Son. And now he has made known to us what only he had known. Do you want to know what God looks like? What God is like? I mean, you can't know what he looks like, but what God is like we find out by looking at Jesus.
Speaker 1:Now, this might seem to put us at a little bit of a disadvantage. After all, when John penned these words, he'd lived with the son for three years. He'd actually seen and touched and heard Jesus. And so he says we observed his glory, and he means it very literally we apostles, we saw the glory of God in human flesh. And yet even while the apostles were with well, Christ was with them they didn't really understand. It wasn't until he rose from death, returned to God's side and poured out his spirit that they started to really get it. And now we have the word about the word contained in Scripture, but more than that, we have that very same Spirit that gave them understanding, dwelling in us if we've accepted Christ. And in fact, just as the Father dwelled among us in the Son, Jesus said that the Father and the Son would make their home in us by the Spirit. He hasn't left us. He's present by his word and by his Spirit. Come, let us adore him. And so is it any wonder, then, that John says we've all received grace upon grace in him, and not just a little bit of grace, but grace from his fullness.
Speaker 1:In the opening letter to Ephesians, Paul says he lavished his grace on us in Christ. He poured it out with all wisdom and understanding. And what grace is this, but that he has given us himself? He brought the heavenly tabernacle to us. He revealed the Father's heart to you and to me Through his death and resurrection. He has given us eternal life, and he poured out his Holy Spirit on us. And as the son was in the father's bosom, so he invites us into that same intimacy with the father. In John 17, he prayed may they also be in us. He's saying may you and I also be in God. Jesus said I am in them, he's in us and you are in me, God is in him, so that they may be one, as we are one. Friends, you don't really have to understand all the theology, but this is why the theology matters, because it helps us understand God and helps us worship him in wonder. Come, let us adore him.