The Truths about the Christ Child
John 1:1-13
* Darkness is defined as the "absence of light." In Genesis 1 we clearly see this concept. In verse 1 God created the heavens and earth and in the verse 2, darkness covered it all. God didn’t created darkness, it simply exists. Then God created light and from that point forward everything has been different. Just to be clear, the light which God created was not the light of the sun because it wasn’t until 3 days later that He created the sun. It is almost like God turned on the light switch of goodness, holiness, and purity, to give perfect light to the perfect world and universe He had in mind.
* This light shined until sin switched the divine light off in the garden. Before this, as far as I can determine, there is no mention getting weary or sleeping except for the divine surgery which produced Eve.
* At Sunday school they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Johnny seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam’s ribs. Later in the week his mother noticed him lying down as though he was ill, and she said, ’Johnny, what is the matter?’ Little Johnny responded, ’I have pain in my side. I think I’m going to have a wife.’
* After the sin in the garden, darkness invaded the hearts of mankind because the light of righteousness had been switched off. Starting from Genesis 4 running down the time line of the Old Testament and the New Testament throughout the history books, this truth can be followed even until today.
> We can see it in the murder of Abel.
> We can see it in the wickedness which prompted God to send the flood.
> We can see it in the pull of King David to the rooftop.
> We can see it working in Peter when he said, "I don’t know this man Jesus."
> We can see it in the life of Saul of Tarsus as he guarded the pocket books and clothes of those who stoned Stephen.
> We can see it in the lives of those religious fanatics who took control of commercial airliners with the intent of destroying life and property on 911.
> We can see it in this culture who attempts to make the sin of homosexuality and murder of unborn children the law of the land.
> We can see it in the person who, in the name of Christ, murders the abortionist.
> We can see it in the believer who chooses to promote their personal agenda rather than the gospel.
> We can see it everywhere and it is a sad sight.
The prophet Isaiah tells us this, "the people walked in darkness." This is talking about spiritual darkness. It is into this environment that we read our text. Before I was saved I saw John 1 as a bit confusing, but it is truly LOADED with truths which assist us in knowing about Him. Let’s pull out 4 simple Truths;
1) The Simple Truth – This simple truth is one which needs to be understood and accepted; once it is, it has the power to change our lives, our church, our culture and our world. In verse 1 notice the word, “WORD”. Then notice the change in verse 2-5, “word” is now changed to “He and Him.” The word, He, and Him speak of Jesus, the baby, the Lord, and God’s son. Seeing this, gives us two understandings from the 1st 5 verses;
a) He Oversees - He was there in the beginning, He was there at creation, and He is the source of light. In Genesis 1, God the Father said, “Let there be light”, I don’t know all about what and who responded to those words, but from this text it would appears that Jesus had something to do with it. He watched it, was involved in it, and is now responsible for it. You see, to oversee something carries the idea of responsibility for it. Not that it surprised Him, but when Jesus saw the darkness in the world and that the darkness was indeed the darkness of death, He accepted the responsibility for bringing light to the darkness and life to death. Darkness was and is not going to win on His watch. He was there in the beginning with God, was God, and IS God.
b) He Overcomes- Verse 5 is clear, the light of life (Jesus) came into the darkness and darkness was defeated. Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people walking in darkness” (that would be all people) “have seen a great light” (that would be Jesus); “on those living in the land of darkness” (that would be ‘on earth’), “a light has dawned” (Jesus has come to earth through the manger). He didn’t come to earth to make your life better; He came to earth to overcome the darkness of sin, to release the bondage of shame and the shackles of guilt. He came to see the captive free. This should be what celebrating Christmas is all about! Jesus came to give us the gift of Spiritual freedom. He came to offer us an answer to life. The light He offers is as real today as the star that guided the wise men. His light is available to show you the road HE has for you (which is the best way). This has been true yet, there is;
2) The Sad Truth – God the Father, so desperately wanted God the Son to be see, understood, welcomed, recognized, and received, that God appointed someone special to announce to the world Jesus’ arrival. John the Baptist was given the responsibility to give a witness or to testify to the coming of Christ. His message is recorded several places in the gospel. “Repent, because the Kingdom is near! I am the one crying out ‘Prepare the way for the Lord. I baptize you with water, but HE shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Scripture tells us that crowds flocked to him, that the multitudes came, and that people came from all Judea & Jerusalem. John fulfilled his personal assignment and personal call from God to properly and appropriately introduce Jesus to the world. But there are two sad truths;
a) The world did not Recognize Him – When Jonathon was in college, he was involved in Theatre. At one of the performances a lady comes up to me obviously to hug my neck. Honestly, I had no clue of who she was so I offered her my hand for a hand-shake and she said, “a hand is not going to do it.” As soon as she spoke, I knew this lady to be my first cousin, to whom I felt ‘super close’ as a teenager and had not seen in years. Thinking back on that experience, I wonder how she would have felt if I had expressed no recognition of her. John the Baptist had gone to great length to introduce Jesus to the world. Many people heard and were even baptized, but the scripture says that His own people did not recognize Him. The same is happening today. In many ways the Biblical Jesus is not recognized today. Among believers & nonbelievers alike, the contemporary concept of the Jewish Carpenter is much different than is written about in the New Testament. Today He is seen more as compliant rather than confrontational person who called the Pharisees hypocrites and snakes. He is seen as the soft (to almost effeminate) man versus the strong man who went to the woods with His earthly father to cut and retrieve trees for the carpenter’s shop. He is literally seen as the one who accepts whatever we choose to give Him as opposed to one who expects our all. Is it any wonder that the world does not recognize Him? Since they didn’t recognize Him;
b) The world did not Receive Him – For most of the stronger translations, the word received is used. However, other translations & paraphrases say, “accept, welcome, and even the antithesis, rejected.” The Greek literally means to “welcome to the point of association with or joining to, and are being their companion.” Have you ever gone to a new church and had difficulty being accepted? You thought, “Well, we are all believers so this should be easy” only to try to break into a SS class or another group and find it not so easy. Candidly, to not be received does indeed feel like rejection. What if it’s your gang who does it?
3) The Solid Truth – What I learn from this text is that humankind consists of 2 groups of people. This is affirmed throughout scripture.
a) His Creation – Everyone who has ever been born is a part of God’s creation. Verse 10 says, “The world was created through Him” and verse 2adds this; “apart from Him not one thing was created!” There is so debate today about divine design, or that God created it all. Yet, the most learned scientist and clearly understand the intricacies of this universe could have simply happened any more than the complexities of our bodies could be a ‘oops’ type of events. The truth is we have come to worship & serve creation instead of the creator & exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Never forget, all are His by creation.
b) His Children – The most blessed thing about Christ is this; He wants you and me to become His Children. No want become an “Offspring by Osmosis” or a “Dependent by Default.” This required intentionality. There are only two ways to become an offspring, a dependent, or a Child in a family. One way is to be adopted. This process occurs when a responsible person or couple sees an individual with a need to be accepted and loved so they extend an invitation to become a part of their family. As a rule this is a voluntary process, requiring people of extraordinary compassion and love. The other way is by birth. We have several examples in our congregation of couples who have just given birth to babies and thus, this is by blood. Interestingly, to join the family of God both processes are employed. Verse 13 tells us we are born, not of blood, flesh, or man, but of God. It is only 2 chapters over in this gospel where Jesus says, “Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven” which means, you’re not a family member. Only family members enter. It’s like the little boy who built a little boat and lost it in the water. Later he found it & bought it from the store where someone has sold it. When he left the store he said, “You are twice mine, because I created you & bought you.” We are only His child when we have been born & adopted into the family.
4) The Saving Truth –
a) Believe right – You must believe that Jesus is God, sent from Heaven to earth as the light of the world through which you can have life. You must believe this to the point of receiving Him as the virgin born baby in a manger who some 33 years later would die on a cross for YOUR sins and raised from the dead to make you right before God. You must believe that He is the way, the truth, and the life. And this belief must be so embraced that you are willing to surrender your life to Him. He loved you so much that He surrender His life for you, so in return, you must turn loose of yourself and give Him control. Never forget, “You do what you believe, the rest is just talk.” To drive this point home, please hear this; If you have walked an aisle and never surrendered your life, the transaction wasn’t complete. Becoming a part of God’s family requires a huge change of life, without it – it isn’t!
b) Birthed right – We have already said we must be born and adopted into the family. Nicodemus didn’t understand it & many of us do not. It’s a simple formula: If you have only 1 birth you can suffer 2 deaths (that is the physical and eternal). However, if you have 2 births, you will suffer only 1 death.
The truth about the Christ child is this: He came to grant you an invitation to become a part of God’s family. Will you accept His invite?
