Christmas: “An Amazing Journey”
John 1:1-5, 14
Watch on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXpWnJ1-iF4
As we enter this Christmas season, the true meaning we should share with the world is that Jesus left His heavenly estate and came down as a human baby; it’s about God becoming flesh like you and me so He could take our place and die the death we deserve because of our sins.
This made me think about this amazing journey that took place on that very first Christmas.
When you consider it, humanity embarks on many different and diverse journeys.
The physically impaired enjoy “Accessible Holidays” — adventures for the adventurous at heart —despite their limitations.
Some embark on health journeys to discover the secret to a long and happy life.
History enthusiasts take trips to re-creations of famous periods and battles, or journeys to seek their genealogical roots.
There are also inner journeys, spiritual journeys, journeys of self-discovery, and journeys 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.
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 are the famous journeys of Christopher Columbus to America or Neil Armstrong taking the first steps on the moon.
And then there are the journeys of those who made famous discoveries, such as Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and Louis Pasteur.
Yet all these journeys pale in comparison to the greatest journey of them all, and that is the Christmas journey from 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, and some can even quote it verbatim — that is, the earthly version of how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem and, finding no room at the inn, stayed the night in a small stable on the outskirts of town.
We’re all familiar with the angelic proclamation that night to the shepherds, announcing that the long-awaited Messiah had arrived, and that He would not only be a Savior but also the Lord God Himself, coming in human form as a baby. And because of this birth, peace and goodwill on earth would now be available to all who would believe.
Today I’d like to share with you the divine version of this story, which is found in the first chapter of John’s gospel.
Read John 1:1-5, 14
This may very well be referred to as God’s view of Christmas, the most incredible, amazing journey of all time. So incredible, so amazing was this journey that people over the past 2,000 years have struggled to believe it. Somehow, it feels too good or outlandish to be true.
So, let’s that a look at this amazing journey. And the first thing we see is that it was a journey from heaven to earth.
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 He also came to earth and lived among us as a person.
But Earth was not Jesus’s home. 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’s home. He built it. It is a place of perfection, more magnificent than anything we could ever see or even perceive. It’s more beautiful than the most stunning sky we could ever see, or a place where the most beautiful music we could hear is played. It’s a place that surpasses everything in beauty beyond our greatest imagination. It’s a place of eternal 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.
Now consider another story.
On July 12, 2001, a wall of garbage collapsed at Manila’s main dump, crushing shacks and killing more than 100 people.
And now consider this: there are over 40,000 men, women, and children who build their homes on the blackened, foul-smelling refuse of Manila’s garbage dump. These houses are made from whatever they can scavenge, and each morning, children go out to sift through the massive pile of the city’s trash in search of food.
And then there are those who live in abundance, residing in comfortable homes, dining at nice, clean restaurants, but have chosen to leave it all behind to become missionaries, living among and serving those who are living, eating, and dying in a garbage heap.
As remarkable as this is, it’s not as remarkable as Jesus’s journey from heaven to earth. It was a journey He chose willingly. He knew where He was heading and the sacrifice He would make, but He chose to come from heaven to earth to save the human race.
Jesus traveled from heaven to earth to offer humanity an abundant life to all who live, eat, and die in the garbage heap of the world.
He did so because the human race He created had gone astray. Sin had turned us away from God and corrupted the earth in the process.
Now, if God had hired a business consultant, the advice would be to cut His losses and start all over again. If He had a religious advisor, the suggestion would be to create a set of tasks and regulations so humanity could work its way out of it. If He asked the angels, they would probably say, “Wipe them out and give it to us”—that’s just my speculation.
But God consulted no one but Himself, and because of His love, He knew the only way to fix what was broken and restore the fellowship lost in the Garden was to send His Son, Jesus, on this special Christmas journey from heaven to earth.
Not only did Jesus journey from heaven to earth, but He also journeyed from all eternity into time itself.
From Eternity into Time
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2 NKJV)
The question is, “When was the beginning?”
Go back as far as you can imagine, and when you arrive there, Jesus existed even before that point because the beginning is before time itself started. In the beginning, the Word “was.” That is a very important word with significant meaning. It means Jesus existed before the beginning, so He never truly started but always was.
Jesus existed before time because He created it. Therefore, Jesus came from eternity, where time isn’t measured, into time itself.
He entered our time, our calendars, and our days. He lived among us, which means He measured time like you and me, in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Can you imagine it? The Son of God, who knew no time, was now clothed in time.
Jesus entered time and our history. He came not only from eternity into time but also transformed the way we measure it. He reset the clocks of time. In the past, calendars were marked by the reigns of kings. You often see references like, “It was the third year of the reign” of a specific king. But now, our calendars are based on the coming of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; they are centered on Jesus’s birth. History is divided by this event, and what’s truly amazing is that the entire world, even those religions that reject Jesus as Lord, set their calendars and clocks according to His coming.
And so, Jesus made this remarkable journey from heaven to earth and from eternity into time. The next part of this Christmas journey involves a trip from Spirit to flesh and blood.
From Spirit to Body
“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 1:14 NKJV)
What this means is that Jesus was never a flesh-and-blood human being. He never had a human body. When He began this incredible Christmas journey, He received a body and a name. Before this time, He was Spirit. But when He came, He took on human form. His names were Lord, the Son of God, and the Angel of the Lord. His new name, Jesus, described His mission: to save people from their sins.
Jesus took on a human body. If you think about it, this might be the very reason God created humanity in His image and likeness — because Jesus, the Son of God, would dwell in it.
The Son of God became limited, not only by time but also by space, as He became human. The eternal, all-powerful Son of God left heaven and eternity and became a human embryo.
While Jesus appeared in human form in the Old Testament —known as a Theophany (God in human form)—as the Captain of the Lord of Hosts, the fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and also as the Angel of the Lord, but He did not come in the flesh, that is, with a body of flesh and blood.
The Christmas journey was truly incredible because Jesus became a flesh-and-blood human to reach His creation and communicate His plan for salvation: to become that perfect, sinless sacrifice.
This brings me to the final part of this incredible, and amazing journey, which is the journey from divinity to humanity.
From Divinity to Humanity
Jesus is fully God and embodies all that God is: Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient.
He is also holy, righteous, just, and full of grace and mercy. Then Jesus became human and lived among us. He took on a human body, experienced human emotions, and thought and acted like a human.
But when He became human, He didn’t stop being fully God. Jesus was 100% human and 100% divine. The reason is so He could be our Savior: 100% humanity multiplied by 100% divinity results in a perfect Savior, the only one who can pay the price for our sins so we can spend eternity in His home, heaven.
Jesus was 100% human and 100% divine so that He could be our Savior. 100% humanity multiplied by 100% divinity results in a perfect Savior.
No human could do this. There is nothing that any human being can do to make us right with God, to secure our salvation, The Bible says, “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—For the redemption of their souls is costly.” (Psalm 49:7-8 NKJV)
There is nothing we can do, or that anyone can do, to make us right with God, secure our salvation, or prepare us for the journey to heaven. The Bible says that no one is righteous enough, and that no one hasn’t sinned (Romans 3:10, 23).
It took God to make the journey for us.
Only God, who can forgive sins, can do this.
Only God, who created us, can make us into those new creations who can dwell with Him forever.
Only God, who is perfect, holy, and just, can pay the price that declares us not guilty before His judgment seat.
It could only be the Word, who was with God and was God, that became flesh and dwelt among us, who made this amazing journey.
Conclusion
The whole Christmas story is full of journeys:
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem by Joseph and Mary.
The journey of those wise men from the East to find the King who was foretold.
The journey of the angels from heaven to earth to the shepherd’s field to proclaim the arrival of Jesus, and
The journey of the shepherds from the fields to the Bethlehem stable to find baby Jesus lying in a manger.
But the greatest journey on Christmas was the one made by the Son of God, from heaven to earth, from eternity into time, from Spirit to body, and from divinity to humanity.
But let's also not forget the great journeys that are ahead.
The journey is for all those who die in the Lord, who accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. It is a journey that will carry us from this life of pain and suffering into a life where there are no more tears or sorrow, only joy forever in His presence.
Then there’s the journey known as the Rapture, where Jesus returns in the clouds to receive His church. In an instant, in the blink of an eye, the dead in Christ will rise, and all those who are alive and remaining will be caught up into the air to meet Jesus and be with Him forever (1 Corinthians 15:52).
And then there’s Jesus’s return when He will destroy the armies of the Antichrist and redeem His people.
And so, as we begin this holiday season, let’s remember the incredible and amazing journey Jesus took. And from this remarkable journey, all who believe in Him will follow their own journey of faith from this life here on earth, to eternal life in heaven.
