INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• As we rapidly approach Christmas this coming Saturday I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas!
• We have been examining the subject over the past couple of weeks as to why Jesus is so special!
• Last week we saw that Jesus is the light of the world, two weeks ago we examined the fact that Jesus is worthy of worship.
• Today was we focus on message on the Christmas theme, we see that Jesus is so special because the Word BECAME FLESH!
• Throughout time man has sought ways to see God or to make a connection with Him. Throughout time man tried all sorts of ways to do it.
• During man’s history, God has reached out to man because He loved man. God created Adam and Eve, and communicated with them, then they sinned and God caste them out of the garden.
• God revealed a bit of Himself through Moses and the 10 Commandments.
• During Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s time God communicated with man through these men.
• In these last days Hebrews 1:1-3 reminds us that God communicated with us through Jesus!
• Mankind has longed to see God and connect with Him. This explains the reason that throughout history mankind has had a tendency to be religious.
• The emptiness that we experience and the inner desire to see God and connect with Him has driven mankind to be religious.
• God took a step in making the ultimate connection with mankind when Jesus became flesh!
• When people were peering into that manger on they were looking at the face of God!
• The birth of Jesus puts an exclamation point on how much God loves us, but sending His Son to be born in the flesh into this world!
• Today I want to consider three reasons the Word became flesh!
• Let’s begin with John 1:14-15
• SLIDE #2
• John 1:14-15(ESV) 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. Jesus revealed God’s glory to us. (14-15)
• This verse gives a deeper explanation of the ”word” spoken of in verse 1.
• The reason that the world was able to see the glory of God through Jesus is because Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us.
• The word “dwelt” literally means literally pitched His tent to live among temporarily.
• This passage tells us that Jesus became flesh.
• The phrase “became flesh” means that God changed His nature to take on ours. It denotes ones of a higher order (God) than man, of a different nature, assuming the appearance of man, or becoming a man. He became embodied in flesh.
• When Jesus BECAME flesh through His extraordinary birth Jesus changed His existence from heaven to earth!
• S.D. Gordon (summarizing John 1:14) noted: "Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand." Bruce Demarest, Jesus Christ, The God-Man, p. 41
• How many religions of the past and present try to cloak God in some way that you cannot understand Him?
• In the New Age movement, God is just a force, in Hinduism; God is something that cannot be seen.
• God made Himself easy to understand be sending Jesus to represent Him. People could not relate to the gods of Greece or Rome.
• The passage says we have SEEN His GLORY.
• “Seen” does not mean to blindly stare at, but to contemplate, to learn by looking and observing.
• John expands this thought in 1 John 1:1-2
• SLIDE #4
• 1 John 1:1-2(ESV) 1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—
• Glory means splendor, majesty, that which brings honor and praise to someone.
• In the Old Testament God revealed Himself though the Shekinah cloud that led the Israelites through the wilderness.
• God’s glory was so great that when Moses was with God on the mountain in Exodus 34:29 his face shone with God’s glory. The people were afraid to come near him. Moses had to cover his face when he spoke to the people.
• SLIDE #5
• John 2:11(ESV) 11This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
• Moses saw the Glory of God; Isaiah saw the glory of God. Isaiah was so in awe of God that it changed his life.
• When we see the glory of God, it should do something to us, it should change us, this is why reading God’s word is so important, we see the glory of God through Jesus, and Jesus is revealed to us in the Bible by eye witnesses such as John.
• As people saw the Christ child, it had to change them, when we connect with Jesus now it should change us also!
• SLIDE #6
• Hebrews 1:3(ESV) 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
• We need to understand how glorious our God is so that we will not take Him for granted. When we see the glory of God through Jesus, we will want to give our lives to Him and serve Him.
• Let’s turn to verses 16-17
• SLIDE #7
• John 1:16-17(ESV) 16And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
• SLIDE #8
II. Jesus revealed God’s gifts to us. (16-17)
• We see from these verses that we receive the gifts of grace and truth from God through Jesus.
• In verse 17, John tells us that the Law came through Moses, but that grace and truth came through Jesus.
• Before the crucifixion, Pilate asked Jesus the question, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
• Jesus the truth that all the types, shadows and symbols from the Old Testament pointed to.
• Jesus Christ is the Embodiment of truth (John 14:6). He is the picture of truth. God not only talks to man about Himself; God shows man what He is like in the person of Jesus Christ.
• Man can look at Jesus Christ and see a perfect picture of the truth of God.
• The Law also revealed the truth that man could not get to God by his own merit.
• SLIDE #9
• Romans 3:23(ESV) 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
• The Law gave us a glimpse of God. The Law showed us the truth about the justice side of God. Break the Law and pay the price. Jesus gives us a full picture of God.
• The Law showed us that we couldn’t make it to heaven on our own merit. This is the truth that was revealed through Jesus.
• The religious leaders of the day did not grasp the truth. They thought that they could get to heaven because of their own goodness and righteousness.
• When we look at Jesus, we see the truth about ourselves. We see that we are not as perfect as we once thought.
• We also receive a gift the Law did not provide, GRACE!
• Grace is unmerited favor. Since the Law showed us we cannot possibly make it to heaven on our own, we need God’s grace to get there.
• Where the Law was weak, God’s grace is strong. Grace says, that I know that you will not be perfect, so I will make up to difference if you belong to me.
• SLIDE #10
• Romans 8:3-4(ESV) 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,£ he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
• SLIDE #11
• Ephesians 2:8 reminds us...
• Ephesians 2:8(ESV) 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
• The Law was about “DO”, grace is about “DONE”!
• The grace of God can change the world. When Paul experienced the grace of God, he was a changed man. When you experience God’s saving grace, you too will be a changed person.
• Many of us do not think that we need God’s grace because we do not have a proper understanding of ourselves. We compare ourselves to each other instead of Jesus.
• Through Jesus we receive God’s gifts of grace and truth!
• Jesus has these gifts in abundance and if we follow Him we will receive them from Him!
• SLIDE #11
• John 1:18(ESV) 18No one has ever seen God; the only God,£ who is at the Father’s side,£ he has made him known.
• SLIDE #12
III. Jesus revealed God to us. (18)
• God had revealed Himself throughout the Old Testament period. God revealed Himself through theophany’s , visions, and dreams.
• Through Jesus we see the only God. Jesus has full knowledge of God, He is one with God!
• Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us that God has spoken to us through Jesus in these last days!
• SLIDE #13
• Hebrews 1:1-2(ESV) 1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
• God did not fully reveal Himself through the Law. The only way that you will find God is through Jesus.
• The reason that people can change and the world can change is because through Jesus we can see God.
• SLIDE #14
• 2 Corinthians 3:18(ESV) 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,£ are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
• 2 Corinthians tells us that as we behold the glory of God, we are being transformed into the image of God. TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT TO REACHING OTHER PEOPLE. WHAT IF THE APOSTLES HAD NOT CHANGED.
• This passage tells us that we must behold God to be changed into His likeness.
CONCLUSION
• When you ponder the child in the manger what do you see? A Baby or the face of God?
• Do we stand in Awe of Him or do we see Him as cute?
• Why did God send Jesus?
• C.S. Lewis said, “The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God.” -- Mere Christianity. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 14.
• Man can become a son of God because the son of God became a man!
• The way that we get people to want to become a Christian is to let them see God though us as we are being transformed into the image of God.
• Is the way you live your Christian life important? Yes it is, because people will see Jesus living in you, and then they will want Him to live in them also!
• God gave us the ultimate gift for Christmas, what gift will you give to Him? How about your life!
