In The Beginning Series

In the Beginning...

In the Beginning...

Rev. Delwyn and Sis. Lenita Campbell / General

(Illustrations for Biblical Preaching) Christmas

Christmas is a depressing time for most people. An article written by a director of the California Department of Mental Hygiene warns: “The Christmas season is marked by greater emotional stress and more acts of violence than any other time of the year.”

Christmas is an excuse to get drunk, have a party, get something, give a little, leave work, get out of school, spend money, overeat, and all kinds of other excesses. But, for the church, Christmas is an opportunity for us to exalt Jesus Christ in the face of a world that is at least tuned in to his name.

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

John 1:1–5 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

These are beautiful words, whether you read them in English or in the original Greek. When you read them or hear them, you don’t usually think about the fact that they were written by a fisherman, a business not really known for its artistry or beauty. These words say things about God that we could never discover by observation or deductive reasoning.

Human reasoning has, at times, led men to recognize that there is only one God, while at other times has convinced them that there are many gods, each of which controls some aspect of life. When men concluded that God was alone, they also were certain that He was unapproachable, except to those who had been fortunate enough to break through the barriers of flesh and spirit. When they thought otherwise, they saw the gods as being just humans on a bigger scale, both in terms of their virtues and in terms of their vices.

It is by the revelation of Scripture that, as light reveals our surroundings, God reveals our condition. More importantly, He reveals Himself, by the power of His Eternal Word as He declares it through His servants.

John 1:6–11 ESV

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

It is because we are fallen, separated from God by our sin, that we cannot recognize His presence on our own. There is nothing that we can do to change that. That doesn’t, however, change the truth that our failure to know God leads us down paths that are fatal, and that the only way to avoid the wages of sin is by knowing God.

John 17:3 ESV

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

As blind men, we stumble around in our daily lives, bumping up against others, stepping on their toes and having ours stepped upon, with the inevitable reactions to such encounters. We do our best, hope that it’s blessed, and wish that we had the resources to take care of the rest.

John 1:12–13 ESV

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Not “took Him,” not “controlled Him,” not “bought Him.” Instead, only those who “received Him, who trusted in His name” and believed that there was “power in His name,” power to save, heal and deliver, God extended to them the gift of sonship, the gift of a relationship. This gift, so grand that men have dreamed of it, have schemed to obtain it, and have deceived others into believing that they had access to it, had to be packaged by the Creator of the ends of the earth into a package so small that it could fit into the womb of a young, virgin woman from the little town of Nazareth. He took this gift and made it the treasure of a new creation - the Church - that to all outward appearances had neither power nor authority, and yet, because it is the Body of Christ, has all power and authority given to it in Christ Who is the Head of the Church.