A Christmas Sermon

A Christmas Sermon

As I sit to write this Christmas Sermon I feel rather strange because it will find its roots in the Gospel of John and the writings of the Apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews rather than the Gospel’s of Luke and Matthew. This seems odd even to me but this is where I am given to begin---so I shall.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning. (3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The Apostle John in his writings, 1,2 & 3 John and Revelation, does not go into detail or give a genealogy of the birth of Christ instead he sets out immediately to tells us point blank exactly who Jesus Christ is.

We note that boldly John declares that in the very beginning Jesus the Christ is called The Word and that He existed with God the Father and that He was in person God—one with God—a part of the Godhead we know in the Christian realm as the Trinity.

He reiterates that statement again in the second verse to insure that we get it that Jesus was with God in the very beginning. Then he continues.

(3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Now John begins to stretch our theology and we catch our breath at this statement for he tells us that at the time of the creation of all things Jesus was not only present but was in fact the Creator. Can we grasp this in our Earthly brains? Through Jesus Christ all things were created!

To be sure that our brain can grasp this John comes back with the assurance that NOTHING was made without Him making it. We have long had the picture in our mind of God the Father doing the creating but John is very clear here and we must do the stretch and accept it because it is from the word of God. If we trust in the scripture this must be part of our belief.

Okay, I agree that we should not base our belief on one single statement of one single person so if we are to add the fact that Christ was the Creator to our theology then we need to hear this from someone else—someone of high regard—someone who’s writings we can rely upon.

How about the Apostle Paul?

Paul spent a great deal of time in the City of Colossi during his missionary journeys. He writes a letter to the church after he has left it to continue on his missionary journey. In that letter we find the following statement as he is relating to them just who Jesus the Christ is.

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (16) For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (17) He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Paul was a brilliant Jewish scholar who was educated by Gamaliel one of the most respected Jewish teachers of his day. Yet this brilliant scholar was given the revelation of who Jesus Christ was—the depth of who Christ was and the depth of it was beyond all his earthly scholarship; he shares that with us.

Paul first tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God—God the Father. We note here that Paul was writing to Christians who had no Jewish history, before coming to Christ they were Gentiles or pagans or heathens. So He speaks of God the Father as the invisible God.

1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

He makes clear that Jesus is the human reflection of God the Father. If we to want to “see” God we have to look at Christ, His ways, His teachings and His personality for He is the image of God the Father.

In agreement with the Apostle John, Paul clearly states that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation and then continues that thought by saying that by Him (Jesus Christ) all things were created. Not only that but those things created were things not only on earth but in heaven as well. Things that are seen and not seen were created by Christ. Places of power, rulers and authority were created by Christ. We note that Paul says they were created by Him and FOR Him.