Title: “What Child is This”– Incarnation of Christ Script: Jn. 1:1-5, 9-13
Type: Series – Christmas Where: GNBC 12-4-11/RW 12-20-15
Intro: “What Child is This?” is probably the most popular of the Christmas carols written by William Dix. The music, set to the English folk tune, “Greensleeves” certainly helps. It’s words, however, lead us to the heart of the Christmas story. The very first verse of the song raises a question that all should ask yet few do. (Read v.1 #137). For that reason, it may be appropriate to title this message: “What Child is This?” Looking at our text this morning in the 1st chapter of John’s Gospel, someone has suggested that the more appropriate title should be: “What Child?” There is NO child in our text. No Mary, pregnant by the Holy Spirit, no babe in a manger, no shepherds, no magi, no evil king. So, why should we call this message: “What Child is This?” when there is no “child” in our text? John’s Gospel gives us incredible insights into the incarnation of Christ, which is the entire message of Christmas.
Prop: Exam. Jn.1 we’ll better understand the nature of the incarnation of Christ this Christmas Sunday.
BG: 1. The Incarnation represents the belief that Jesus, who is the non-created second Person of the Trinity, took on a human body and nature and became both man and God. In the Bible its clearest teaching is in John 1:14: "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. This is the message of Christmas. Emmanuel, Christ with us.
Prop: In Jn. 1 we’ll notice 4 important aspects of the Incarnation of Christ.
I. The Incarnation Portrays an Infant Who was Infinite – vv. 1-2
A. John Points us to the Fact that Christ Predated the Incarnation
1. It’s hard for us to consider the fact that Jesus existed before being born in Bethlehem.
a. Illust – I don’t know about you, but back in school I never could quite get my mind around the concept of infinite numbers. Despite the popular one-upsmanship phrase "infinity plus one," you cannot add, subtract, multiply or divide infinity and get anything besides infinity. Although infinity itself is not a quantifiable number, there are both countable and uncountable infinities. For example, take two series of numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4.... and 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4... While both series continue infinitely, the second series potentially contains twice as many numbers as the first series. Infinity is a concept that is hard for us to grasp, especially when it relates to time.
b. Here in John 1:1 we see John takes us to the “beginning” – arche – Christ is referred here to being “in the beginning”. Paul tells us He was the efficient cause of creation in Col. 1:16-17. Logically, and more importantly, Biblically, He is before all things if He was the cause of all of creation. Not just looking at this passage, but the entire scope of Scripture as well, we realize the Son of God possesses the exact same divine nature as the Father. The Nicene Creed reiterates this truth, as does the carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful” with the words “God of God, Light of Light”.
2. John states that the Logos was “with God”.
a. Now, pay careful attention because this distinction distinguishes b/t the Logos (Word) and God in that it says one was with the other. However, in the very next statement John asserts that the Logos was God, Himself. So, we see 2 of the 3 distinct Personalities or Individuals in the Godhead.
b. You see, this is a part of the miraculous beauty that is the incarnation: Jesus Christ is distinguished from God the Father and yet completely identified with Him. There is no difference in the attributes of the Persons in the Godhead. The love of the Father is the Love of the Son is the Love of the HS. The knowledge of the Father is the knowledge of the Son is the knowledge of the HS…and so on. Everything making God, God, is found in each of the 3 Persons. Ever other child that has ever been born in all of history has a beginning point in time. Illust: Last week little William Robert Redlinger was born. He had his birthday. Christ infinitely predated His birthday.
B. The Christ-Child was fully divine.
1. The Divinity of Christ is Essential.
a. Illust – Cults, most notably the JW’s, despise and attempt to redefine this passage. Jn. 1:1 is one of the clearest assertions of the deity of Christ found in the Bible. And yet, groups like these attempt to deny the deity of Christ by arguing that the lack of a definite article (the or a) indicates that John was asserting only that Jesus was “a god”. Not only does Greek syntax not require the definite article, Judaism, of which John was firmly culturally entrenched completely and totally rejected polytheism.
b. The most obvious and important connection John makes is this: The God who created the universe is the One who was found lying in a Bethlehem manger. John wants us to know that the “Jesus” he introduces is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. More than this, the Jesus who is the Messiah is the Jesus who is God. Our Lord did not “begin to be” in Bethlehem. He did not even have His origins in Genesis 1 and 2, when God created the world. He was there; He already existed when the world was created. He was there with God. He was there as God. V.2 – In the Greek “Pros ton Theon” “with God”, “Face to Face”. He Who was Face to Face with the Father became Flesh to become Face to face with us! Only One Who is God can reconcile us to God. Only One Who is man can be a substitute for man.
2. What John tells us in the first two verses of his Gospel is mind-boggling: Jesus is God. Before He took on human flesh, “the Word” existed eternally as God, and in fellowship with God the Father. It is important that we grasp this fact. John’s words cannot be reduced to mean anything else, to mean anything less. Our Lord is God. He is eternal. He existed in the very beginning, and He has ever existed with the Father. This is what John expects us to understand him to be saying, and it is what he hopes to convince us is true.
C. Applic: Illustration: A patient who had been in a terrible accident and was left with only the sense of smell. Her mother wanted to communicate her presence, so used a perfume the girl would remember as her mom’s. Now the perfume is not the mother’s essential nature, but is an extension of her real self to communicate on the girl’s level. God also is not essentially a body, but he became human. At Christmas He extended Himself to communicate on our level so we could respond.
II. The Incarnation Portrays a Christ Who is the Creator – v. 3
A. John Identifies Jesus as the Cosmic Christ, Creator of the World.
1. How big of a picture do you have of Jesus?
a. John does not write of angelic messengers announcing the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus. We do not read of the mystery of the virgin birth, as important as it is—the mechanism of our Lord’s incarnation. Instead, we are told in the clearest of terms that the eternal Word, Who was in the presence of the Father and Who called the world into existence, broke into time and space in the form of a man, a man named Jesus.
b. In John’s words, “Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father” (John 1:14).
2. Christ is the Creator.
a. Illust – I am so impressed with individuals who can create things. Mr. Turner, Martin K, Mike Miller, Scott Popham, John Hatcher, Tom Palmer, Mille, many, many others of you who are talented in construction or artistic or do wood or metal working. Do you realize that is something you got from God? More than that, it is something you have in common with Him! God Himself is creative. It is a part of the divine image of God in man. V.3 – All of the world came into being by the spoken Word. God’s creative power.
b. V.3 is an example of antithetical parallelism. There are negating or contrasting ideas contained in the verse. (Read and explain.)
B. Christ Created Man with a purpose.
1. Mankind was made to have fellowship with God. "The life of Jesus Christ was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s. But what seemed to be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose." (Oswald Chambers; My Utmost For His Highest: August 5)
2. Here is the beauty of the Gospel: Our holy loving Creator, confronted with human hostility and rebellion, has chosen in His own freedom to become our holy, loving Redeemer and Restorer! Acts 4:12 tells us that there is no other name under heaven by which man must be saved. He came for you and me! Do you know your purpose in life?
C. Applic: The message of Christmas is the Creator came to save His estranged creation.
III. The Incarnation Presents a Lord Who is Both Life and Light vv. 4-5, 9
A. How Does the Incarnation of Christ bring Life to the World?
1. What is this life that Jesus brings?
a. “life – zoe – not “the life” but “life”. Not just spiritual but all life is a result of the existence and creation of Christ! That’s why it’s so offensive to the nature and Person of God when people today say “Jesus is one of several options available to be to choose from.” It’s kind of like saying “Yes, oxygen is great for you to breathe, however, I have the freedom to choose any other gas I want so as to live.” REALLY? Sounds very inclusive. Very stupid, but inclusive.
b. Illust - FedEx logo has an arrow in between the E and the X. We often look at it and never see it. If we are not careful to look with an eternal focus, we can miss the purpose and plan of God for our lives as well.
2. Jesus Brings His life.
a. Illust – There is a story making the rounds attributed to Carl Sagan, concerning Biology I examination in which the students were asked: “Suppose you could take to Mars any of the laboratory equipment used in this course. How would you determine if there was life on Mars?” One student responded: “Ask the inhabitants. Even a negative answer would be significant.” Received “A”!
b. Jesus is THE LIFE. He has given us life in creation and in the incarnation, through His death and bodily resurrection He has and knows the answers to the questions of “How and when did life begin?” and “What is there after death?” Questions we all would like to ask the inhabitants thereof.
B. How Does the Incarnation of Christ bring Light to the World?
1. The Christmas Star announced the birth of the “Light of the World”.
a. Light – phos – again, both John’s prologue here in chapter 1 and the opening of Genesis have much in common. When Genesis opens there is darkness until God speaks and declares: “Let there be light.” In Gen. 1:3- After creating the light, God then creates life. Here in v.3 we are, almost w/o recognizing it, transported in time from the origin of creation to the incarnation of Christ. And why shouldn’t we be?
b. John introduces “light” as a theme that will recur throughout this Gospel (John 3:18-21; 5:35; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36; 12:46). It is a prophetic theme, which is highlighted in Matthew (4:13-16; 5:14-16) and Luke (1:76-79; 2:25-32; 16:8) as well. Jesus came as the “light,” and He left His disciples and His church behind to reflect that “light” in His absence. The world’s efforts to suppress the “light” have failed, and thus the light continues to shine, even till the present time, through the people of God. After “presents” the average non-Christian associates “Lights” with Christmas.
2. Yet, we know that the light of the Gospel message has not been comprehended.
a. v.5 – The Gospel of Christ shines forth into the world and yet that message has not been comprehended. Again, Paul confirms this assessment of John’s when he writes in II Cor. 4:3-4: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
b. Illust - Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. “Why,” he exclaimed, “when I went a-courtin’ I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark.” “Yes,” the hired man said wryly,” and look what you got!”
C. Applic: We’ve all walked in darkness before. We certainly aren’t confident! We shuffle. We grope with our hands out. We walk slowly and never run. Careful not to step on something, trip over something or fall into something. Walking in the dark is dangerous! So is your and my life w/o the TRUE LIGHT of God!
IV. The Incarnation Shows us that a Reaction is Required vv. 10-13
A. The Incarnation of Christ confronts us Individually.
1. The Incarnation forces us to make a decision about Christ.
a. Illust - Astronaut James Erwin is one of but a few men to walk on the moon. As he stood upon the lunar landscape and looked at the earth, he prayed for the first time in his life. He thought about the strife among nations, poverty, hunger, and rampant evil; and he thought to himself: "What is more important than man walking on the moon is that God should walk on earth." Jesus is God come to earth and He rules both in heaven and earth. (Credit: Nathan Johnson, Sermon Central)
b. Illust: When Hugh Latimer was preaching one day in the presence of King Henry VIII, he reported that he said to himself, “Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the king is here; be careful what you say.” Then he said to himself, “Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the King of kings is here; be careful what you do not say.” For such unflinching faithfulness Latimer was eventually burned at the stake by Bloody Mary. But He feared failing God more than he feared men. If Christ truly is God and has come to earth, you and I have a decision to make!
2. For the Christian, redemption is not from the body, but of the body! We look forward to a perfected humanity that will participate in the glorified humanity evidenced in Christ. – I Cor. 15:20ff. The incarnation comes to show us how we can have eternal life that is qualitatively different from what we have here and now.
B. We See 3 Distinct Reactions to the Incarnation.
1. Immanuel is Ignored – v.10
a. v.10 is an incredible statement – Jesus made the world that did not know/recognize Him. At Christmas, even today, Christ is ignored by many.
b. Illust - Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for.
2. The Revealer is Rejected v. 11
Coming to His own people, who were looking for the Messiah, Christ was rejected by their leadership and therefore, the nation. Rejection is a step beyond ignoring. Many specifically choose to reject Christ from their lives.
3. The Redeemer Must be Received cc. 12-13
a. Salvation is a gift that must be received. As many as receive Christ have the right to become children of God! If you believe.
b. Illust - An ad for the U.S. Marines pictures a sword, and beneath it the words: “Earned, not given.” If you want to become a Marine, be prepared to earn the right to be called a “Marine” through sacrifice, hardship, and training. If you get it, you deserve it. But if you want to become a Christian, you must have the exact opposite attitude, for the message of the gospel is: “Given, never earned.” You cannot save your own soul, and God will not save anyone who tries to earn salvation, but only those who will humbly receive it as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ. If you get it, you absolutely did not deserve it.” Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;’ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Romans 5:8), “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” NLT
Conclusion: “What Child is This” has one major omission. No mention of Joseph, the man God entrusted to provide, protect, nurture and raise “the Word made flesh”. Perhaps this was due to Dix’s poor relationship w/alcoholic father who abandoned family. All have pain. Yet, Dix ends w/the hope for all who trust Christ: “the King of kings salvation brings” (v.3) The Christ of Christmas, the Incarnation, offers Himself as the Savior for all who receive Him.
