Christmas - An Amazing Journey

Christmas: An Amazing Journey

John 1:1-5, 14

Last week as we looked at how we are to share the real meaning of Christmas, which was, “That Jesus left His heavenly estate and came down as a baby human being; it’s about God becoming flesh like you and me so that He could take our place and die the death we deserve due to our sins.”

This got me thinking about the amazing journey that happened on that very first Christmas.

When you think about it, there are many and varied journeys that humanity takes.

• The physically impaired take “Accessible Holidays,” journeys for the adventurous at heart even though they are limited in their abilities.

• There are those who go on health journeys to find the secret of a long and happy life.

• History buffs take journeys to re-creations of famous periods and battles, or journeys for those who want to find their genealogical roots.

• There are also inner journeys, spiritual journeys, journeys of self-discovery, and journies where people test themselves against nature, or man made obstacles.

There are also memorable journeys.

• The first solo flight of Charles Lindbergh across the Atlantic Ocean, or the fateful flight of Amelia Earhart and her disappearance.

• There’s the journey of Stanley Livingston into the heart of Africa, or Hudson Taylor into the heart of China to spread the gospel.

• There’s the famous journey’s of Christopher Columbus to America, or that of Neil Armstrong taking the first steps on the moon.

• And then there are the journeys of those who made famous discoveries like Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, or Louis Pasteur.

Yet all these journeys pale in comparison to the greatest journey of them all, and that is the Christmas journey over 2,000 years ago. I’m not talking about the Wise Men’s journey, but rather the journey Jesus took.

All of us are familiar with the story, some can even quote it verbatim, that is, the earthly version of how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem and finding no place for them in the inn, stayed the night in a small stable on the outskirts of town.

We’re all familiar as well with the angelic proclamation that night to the shepherds proclaiming the long awaited Messiah had come, and that He would not only be Savior, but the Lord God Himself come down in human form as a baby, and because of this birth there would now be available to humanity peace and goodwill on earth.

Today I’d like to share with you the heavenly version of this story, it’s found in the first chapter of John’s gospel.

“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 nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it… 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.” (John 1:1-5, 14 NKJV)

This may well be called God’s view of Christmas, the most amazing journey of all time. So amazing was this journey that people over the last 2,000 years have a hard time believing it. Somehow it’s too good or outlandish to be true. It’s the Christmas journey of Jesus coming from heaven to earth.

1. From Heaven to Earth

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1, 14a NKJV)

The term, “Word,” is another name for Jesus. Not only was Jesus the Lord God, as it says, “He was God,” but that He came to earth dwelling among us as a person.

Jesus lived in heaven, the place He created.

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:3 NKJV)

Heaven is Jesus’ home. He built it. It was the perfect place. It’s more magnificent than anything we could ever see or even perceive. It’s more beautiful than the most beautiful sky we could see, or the most beautiful music we could hear. It’s a place that excels in beauty far beyond what we could ever imagine. It’s a place of perpetual joy and peace. And this was His home.

But the Christmas journey brought Jesus from His home to ours. He moved into our hood. He moved into our world.

To consider this, consider another story.

Back on July 12, 2001, a wall of garbage collapsed in Manila’s main dump crushing shacks and killing over 100 people.