“Christ the Eternal Son”
(John 1:1-5)
Christmas 2012
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
• Take your Bibles and join me in John, chapter 1 (YouVersion Bible app.)
At Christmastime most of us try to prevent ourselves from being lulled into the familiarity
of the season. Even in the Bible most of us know how we can just sort of take for
granted the events surrounding the birth of Christ.
Matthew and Luke, in their Gospels, give us the birth narratives, all the details, you
know. They tell us about Mary and Joseph, the star appearing, the wise men, the
shepherds and the angels and everything. But John is different. John, in his Gospel, is
interested not so much in the sequence of events or even in describing what happened
when Christ was born. Rather, John is interested in why it all matters. What John does
is get at the significance of Christ’s birth and the meaning of it all.
• Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was
made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
• Pray.
Introduction:
It really is easy to get caught up in the things of Christmastime that make us feel warm
and tug at our heart strings. Christmas just has a feel about it that makes many people
happy: family, friends, food, fireplaces, and chestnuts roasting, and all of that stuff. And
many people just go through the month of December shopping and making plans and
attending parties.
And those things, of course, are not wrong in and of themselves. In fact, there’s a lot
about Christmastime that does our hearts good. Our hearts get all warm and gushy as
we gather for family get togethers and as we show kindness to strangers.
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But the Christmas story is not really something that we can be lulled into understanding.
Even if we just read the narratives and feel warm things in our hearts, we don’t
necessarily “get it” until we begin to really use our heads and and think.
It’s like the guy who bought some new gadget and he couldn’t put the thing together and
so his neighbor, an old handyman, came over and put the thing together in just a few
minutes. The guy says, “Man, you didn’t even look at the instructions,” and the old man
says, “Well, fact is I can’t read and when you can’t read you’ve gotta think.”
John wants us to think. He wants us to use not just our hearts, but our minds and really
think about who this is, this baby born in the manger. He wants us to think about Christ
that we may truly worship Him as He is. So from this passage we have a few things to
think about, we have a few things to ponder about Christ. My prayer is that this morning
and the days that follow we will consider these things as we worship Jesus Christ.
!
**When You Worship Christ this Christmas…
1) Consider His Eternity (1-2)
That may be better stated, “His eternality,” the eternal nature of Jesus Christ. The baby
in the manger scene is a newborn, but in another sense He has always been. Always.
Look again at verse 1:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
That term, “The “Word” is John’s way of referring to the Son of God. This becomes
especially clear in verse 14. That’s why we read that a moment ago: John 1:14, “And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Why does John refer to the Son of God as “the Word?” Why that unusual designation?
It’s helpful to remember that John is addressing both Jews and Greeks. The Jews knew
that in the Old Testament “the Word” referred frequently to God’s speech and the
consequent power of what came as a result of God’s speaking. God spoke His word
and things happened.
Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.”
Genesis 15:1, “The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision,”
Jews understood that, “the Word” was the way God made His power known. God says
in Isaiah 55:11, “The word from my mouth will accomplish what I please.”
2
But John also addresses Greeks. In fact, in John’s day the Greeks outnumbered the
Jews something like 100,000 to 1. So by using this term, “The Word” John also appeals
to the Greek thinkers who will read or hear his letter. This term, “Word” in the original
Greek is the word, “Logos,” from which we get our English word “logic” from it.
In John’s day, popular Greek philosophy taught that reason was everything. The word
“logos” in Greek philosophy referred to the principle of reason, a concept that took on
godlike dimensions. Reason–with a capital R–was the unseen and impersonal thought
that governed the universe. And the Greeks referred to this principle of reason by the
term “logos.”
So John is kind of “hooking” those who hear his letter, both Jews and Greeks, and then
he pulls them in and tells them who this “Logos” really is. Logos is not merely God
speaking in the Old Testament, nor is Logos some thought in the mind of man. Logos is
the personal revelation of God. Logos is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among
us (verse 14). He is God’s supreme message to mankind.
So the God who–according to the writer of Hebrews–“Who at various times and in
various ways spoke in time past…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” This
is Logos, the eternal Word, the supreme and final message of God, the revelation of
Himself to mankind in the Person of Jesus Christ.
So the Word, the Son of God, was “in the beginning,” verse 1. He was “in the beginning
with God,” verse 2. So the Son of God has always been. He is eternal.
In the words of Athanasius, “There never was [a time] when He was not.” The Son of
God is eternal.
Consider His eternity. This attribute is tied closely to the second one:
2) Consider His Deity (1-2)
Verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.” He was “with God,” but also “was God.” What we have here are a couple
building blocks of the doctrine of the Trinity. The One True God of the Bible is One God
in three Persons. He is God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God in three
Persons.
John is stressing the nature of the Son of God as one who encompasses eternity and
deity. (use your hands to illustrate), “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was
with God”–a reference to the Father–so the Son of God was with God the Father and,
John adds, “and the Word was God.” So God the Father is also God the Son.
As most of you know this teaching about the deity of Christ was a big deal to John. He
stresses the deity of the Son of God more than any other Gospel writer.
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In fact, there’s a funny incident from church history that illustrates John’s passion for
stressing the divine nature of Christ. Polycarp, whom most of us remember as the first
Christian martyr, was a disciple of John’s. And Polycarp passed along a lot of stories he
had learned firsthand from the Apostle John.
So there’s one incident where John is visiting a bathhouse in Ephesus. That’s what you
did in the Graeco Roman world, you went to the bathhouse to bathe. And he goes there
and learns that a guy named Cerinthus is there taking a bath. Now Cerinthus denied
the deity of Christ, okay? Cerinthus was like a modern-day Jehovah’s Witness.
Cerinthus did not believe in the deity of Christ, but believed the Son of God was merely
human, a creation of God.
And so when John learned that Cerinthus was inside the bathhouse, this distinguished
apostle immediately runs out of the bathhouse, presumably grabbing his towel and
swimming trunks on the way out and he yells, “Let us flee, lest the building fall down; for
Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside!” And we picture John running bare feet
down the streets of Ephesus in his haste to avoid the calamity that would befall upon
Cerinthus. John was passionate for the truth. Jesus Christ was not merely a man. He
was God. Verse 1, “…the Word was God.”
Every false religion, every cult, and every wrong belief system errs at the point of Jesus.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe wrongly that Jesus was merely created and not, “fully
God.”
Muslims believe wrongly that Jesus was merely, “a prophet.”
Buddhists believe wrongly that Jesus was merely a man who had compassion for
others.
But Christianity teaches that Jesus was the incarnation of the eternal God. While Jesus
was born in a manger 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, the Son of God has always
existed. There never was a time when He was not. Consider His eternity, His deity,
thirdly:
3) Consider His Creativity (3-5)
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was
made (or less awkwardly, “Nothing was created except through Him”).
God created everything and He created everything through the Son of God. Do you
think of the Son as the One through Whom all things were created? Paul teaches this
truth, as well:
Colossians 1:16, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on
earth…all things were created through Him and for Him.”
4
The writer of Hebrews also teaches the Father’s creative activity through the Son,
referring to the Son as the One “through whom also He made the worlds (Hebrews
1:2).”
So the Son of God was not created, but was Himself the means by which all things were
created. The Son of God has always been. He was with the Father in the beginning
and God created the entire universe through the Son. Think of it!
Through Christ God created the very star that would one day guide the wise men to His
birthplace.
Through Christ God created the very tree from which would come the cross upon which
He would die.
All things were made through Him. This means, of course, God created you. God the
Father brought you into existence through the eternal Son of God.
Jesus Christ is the creator of life.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Jesus does not say, “I am a way to life.” He says in John 14:6, “I am life.” He says, “I
am the way, the truth, and the life.” In Him was life. And his life brings light into a dark
world.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
We need light because we sit in darkness. Remember how Luke wrote about this in his
Gospel? Luke refers to Christ as the “Daystar.” In his opening chapter Luke says, “The
Daystar from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the
shadow of death (Luke 1:78-79).”
Apart from Christ we sit in darkness and the shadow of death. The thing is, we may be
sitting in darkness and not even realize it. Just as our eyes adjust to the dark, so our
lives may adjust to darkness. We may be lost and not even realize our lostness.
Did you hear about that guy who didn’t know he was a missing child until he was on the
internet and came across a picture of himself? Steve Carter had been adopted when
he was young, but he had no idea he was “missing” until he came upon the website,
missingkids.com. He saw a composite image of himself with the name, “Max Barnes,”
depicting what he would look like today. And it was he! And Steve Carter learned that
day that he had actually been lost.
Apart from Christ we are lost. We are missing children. And we may not even realize it.
We sit in darkness. Jesus says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows
Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
5
That’s what John is saying in verse 4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
He continues in verse 5:
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
It’s translated better, “The darkness will not overtake the light, or “overcome the light” as
the ESV has it. In other words, the darkness will never ultimately win.
Darkness will never finally overtake the light. Darkness may, at times, appear to be
winning. When loved ones get sick, darkness appears to win. When storms and
hurricanes blow, darkness appears to be winning. When tragedies occur like the
senseless shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, darkness seems to be winning.
But the darkness will never finally overtake the light. As the hymn-writer of the
Christmas carol writes:
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light (Christ!);
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
Jesus Christ shines as the eternal Light dispelling the darkness of sin, sickness, despair
and death. Consider His eternity, deity, and creativity. As the one through Whom all
things are made, the Son of God gives life–physical and spiritual life. Consider His
creativity. Fourthly:
4) Consider His Humanity (14)
Verse 14 describes deity taking on humanity:
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Deity takes on humanity. God becomes man. That’s what the word “incarnation”
means: God incarnates. God enfleshes. God takes on flesh. The eternal Son of God
takes on the nature of man. The Word became flesh.
Why? This is the part about Christmas we often overlook. The Word made flesh is the
Word made crucifiable. The Word made flesh is the Word made killable.
Jesus Christ took on the nature of man so that He could die. He is 100% God and
100% man so that as man He could die for our sins and as God He could save us from
sin. He became the God-Man to be our substitute. He lived the life we should have
lived. He died the death we should have died.
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We don’t often think of these things at Christmastime, but we should. Christ came into
the world to die for the world. Christ was born to die. The Word made flesh is the Word
made crucifiable.
We are sinners. We are lawbreakers. We have broken God’s perfect moral law and we
deserve to be punished.
We said earlier we may not realize we are in darkness. Apart from Christ, we may not
even realize the magnitude of our lawbreaking.
I read about this guy from Deleware who was driving around town one day and he
describes what happened. He says:
“I was driving when I saw the flash of a traffic camera. I figured that my picture had
been taken for speeding, even though I knew I wasn’t. Just to be sure, I went around
the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly. But again the camera
flashed. Thinking this was pretty funny, I drove past even slower three more times,
laughing as the camera snapped away each time while I drove by it at a snail’s pace.
Two weeks later, I got five tickets in the mail for driving without a seat belt.” (Reader’s
Digest 2011).
Apart from Christ we may not realize just how frequently we break God’s law. Apart
from Christ we may not realize the depth of the darkness. But God comes to us in the
person of Christ to shine in the darkness and to give us the light of life.
The Word made flesh is the Word made killable, crucifiable. The incarnation is God’s
coming to us to fix our problem.
When I was young I remember breaking something and I remember my dad was angry
about it. I said, “I’m sorry,” and my dad said, “Yeah, well ‘Sorry’ doesn’t fix it.” I
remember his saying that, “Sorry doesn’t fix it.” And when we do wrong and our hearts
condemn us we may feel genuine sorrow, but to a holy and just God, “Sorry doesn’t fix
it.” The wonderful thing about Christmas, about the incarnation, is that God doesn’t
expect us to fix ourselves. God comes to us to fix it. God comes to us to fix our sins.
The Word made flesh is the word made crucifiable that we may be fixable. The Son of
God comes to make things right. So don’t think manger without thinking cross.
Consider His eternity, His deity, His creativity, his humanity, and:
5) Consider His Majesty (14)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten (unique; one-of-a-kind) of the Father, full of grace and
truth.
7
Ponder the majesty of God in the incarnation!
Remember what Solomon said in his prayer of dedication when he was dedicating the
temple? In 1 Kings 8:27, Solomon asked, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth?”
In the incarnation, God dwells on the earth! God comes to man and dwells among
mankind.
On a bright day you look up into the sky and try to look at the sun and you’ll burn your
eyeballs right out of your head. It’s too bright. And the Old Testament teaches the
same thing about God; no man can look upon God and live. Yet, in the incarnation,
John says, “We beheld His glory.” We can look upon Him!
In Christ we see God and His glory is not blinding because His glory is veiled in flesh.
That’s what the writer of the Christmas carol was saying:
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the Incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel!”
You couldn’t see Him before. You couldn’t look upon Him and live. But in Christ, we
can see God! We can gaze upon the splendor of His majesty.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
The Life and Light of Christmas means hope shines in the darkness.
Dr. James Dobson relates a story of an elderly woman named Stella Thornhope who
was struggling with her first Christmas alone. Her husband had died just a few months
prior through a slow developing cancer. Now, several days before Christmas, she was
almost snowed in by a brutal weather system. She felt terribly alone—so much so she
decided she was not going to decorate for Christmas.
Late that afternoon the doorbell rang, and there was a delivery boy with a box. He said,
“Mrs. Thornhope?” She nodded. He said, “Would you sign here?” She invited him to
step inside and closed the door to get away from the cold. She signed the paper and
said, “What’s in the box?” The young man laughed and opened up the flap, and inside
was a little puppy, a golden Labrador Retriever. The delivery boy picked up the
squirming pup and explained, “This is for you, Ma’am. He’s six weeks old, completely
housebroken.” The young puppy began to wiggle in happiness at being released from
captivity.
“Who sent this?” Mrs. Thornhope asked.
8
The young man set the animal down and handed her an envelope and said, “It’s all
explained here in this envelope, Ma’am. The dog was bought last July while its mother
was still pregnant. It was meant to be a Christmas gift to you.” The young man then
handed her a book, How to Care for Your Labrador Retriever.
In desperation she again asked, “Who sent me this puppy?”
As the young man turned to leave, he said, “Your husband, Ma’am. Merry Christmas.”
She opened up the letter from her husband. He had written it three weeks before he
died and left it with the kennel owners to be delivered with the puppy as his last
Christmas gift to her. The letter was full of love and encouragement and admonishments
to be strong. He vowed that he was waiting for the day when she would join him in
Heaven. He had sent her this young animal to keep her company until then.
She wiped away the tears, put the letter down, and then remembering the puppy at her
feet, she picked up that golden furry ball and held it to her neck. Then she looked out
the window at the lights that outlined the neighbor’s house, and she heard from the
radio in the kitchen the strains of “Joy to the World, the Lord has Come.” Suddenly
Stella felt the most amazing sensation of peace washing over her. Her heart felt a joy
and a wonder greater than the grief and loneliness.
“Little fella,” she said to the dog, “It’s just you and me. But you know what? There’s a
box down in the basement I’ll bet you’d like. It’s got a little Christmas tree in it and some
decorations and some lights that are going to impress you. And there’s a manger scene
down there…Let’s go get it.”
God has a way of sending a signal of light to remind us life is stronger than death. Light
is more powerful than darkness. God is more powerful than Satan. Good will overcome
evil.–(as told by Bob Russell).
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
• Stand for prayer:
We’ve considered the Son of God’s eternity, deity, creativity, humanity, and majesty.
Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed,
but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for
paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sin and
receive you as Savior, amen.
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