And the Word Became Flesh

Christmas Message

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

Dec. 17, 2023

And the Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And 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. John 1:1-14

John opens his gospel with this amazing, cosmic, description of God that’s reminiscent of the opening words in Genesis, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Before anything was created, when there was no earth, no sun, no universe, no mankind, no angels, no devils, God was, existing eternally without beginning or end. And there in the beginning, before anything was created, was the Word. Jesus. The Word was with God and the Word was God and all things were created through him and nothing was created without him. When God said, “Let there be light” Jesus was the Agent through whom that first light was created. So on with land and vegetation and animals and man. All things were created through Jesus.

Jesus – the Word – was with God the Father and the Spirit and was God because Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, fully God. Jesus was with God and Jesus was (and is) God.

John calls Jesus the Word to emphasize that God is a communicating God and Jesus came as God’s ultimate communication to this dark, rebellious, deaf-to-God’s-voice world. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…

That’s what we celebrate each Christmas – that the Word, God the Son, became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came to communicate the heart of God to us. John said, no one has seen the Father, but Jesus came to make Him known to us. Jesus speaks God’s heart to us – let’s posture our hearts to hear what He has to say to us.

1. Jesus communicates God’s perfect love to an undeserving world

We tend to use the word love so freely we can lose sight of what love means. We love steak, summer days, vacations, and that new TV show. And oh yeah, I love you. What does love mean?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16). God loved this broken, dark, rebellious world so much He gave us what we needed most and the highest cost to Himself: He gave us His Son, Jesus. Jesus became flesh, born a helpless baby into a poor family in a stinky stable in order to give us what we need most: salvation, life, light, grace, God. Jesus speaks of God’s deep and sacrificial love.

If you ever wonder, maybe in your quieter more introspective moments, if your life matters, if your life has meaning, Christmas speaks to that. I love the Christmas carol O Holy Night. The first line goes:

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

The soul felt its worth. Only as we know God’s deep and personal love for us will we feel the worth of our soul. What is your soul worth? To God, your soul is worth dying for. The Creator of all the universe said you were worth dying for. That’s not the same thing as saying we are worthy of Jesus dying for us. To be worthy means we deserve Jesus dying for us and we don’t. We are saved by grace and grace is always undeserved.

We didn’t deserve Jesus giving his life for us, but to God we were worth Jesus laying down His life because God loves us so. Rom. 5:8 God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us. What imparts meaning and value to our lives is that we are loved by God. This Christmas remember you are loved by God. May your soul feel its worth.

What does that mean, God so loved the world? Famous people often say to large crowds, “I love you!” Taylor Swift tells her tens of thousands of fans filling a stadium that she loves them. And I believe Taylor Swift has a deeper bond with her fans than many artists, but if you happened to be in that packed stadium and heard her say she loved you and assumed that meant that you and Tay Tay were besties, and that she dearly loved you personally, you might be in for a rude awakening. It’s possible to love a crowd but not love any single person in that crowd. I don’t mean that as a slight, just the way it is.

But when God says He loves the world, it’s not just Him loving the crowd but not loving any particular individual in the crowd. Just the opposite: God loves the world one person at a time. He knew you before you were born. He hand-crafted you in your mother’s womb. God’s love for you and me is as personal as it gets. Jesus came to save you, he came to be grace, light, and truth for you. He came to show the love of God for you. That’s the message Jesus spoke loud and clear when he became flesh and dwelt among us.

2. Jesus communicates God’s pure truth in a lying world

The first thing God created after creating the heavens and earth was light. Light is an extension of who God is. The Bible says God is light and in Him there is no darkness. Darkness represents evil, sin, and deception. Lies are meant to keep us from the light of truth.

Jesus came to shine the light of truth in a darkened world. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Sin is deceptive. Sin lies to us. The devil is the father of lies – lies are his native tongue. Darkness, evil and lies are the currency of Satan’s kingdom. When Adam and Eve gave in to the serpent’s temptation, it gave the devil license to turn this world into a dark place full of evil, deception, and lies. And our fallen state means that as sinners our hearts are blinded to spiritual truth and are drawn towards the darkness of lies.

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. John 1:9-10

Jesus’ own people rejected him. Why? John answers that in chapter 3:

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:19-21

Sin has terminally bent our hearts towards darkness. We are predisposed to deception, we have a deeply embedded bias towards believing lies and suppressing the truth. Darkness can’t overcome the light but it can cause us to hate the light and run from it.

Jesus came to tell us the truth. If we want to live in deception, if we want to continue doing evil, if we value other things and other agendas over truth, we don’t want Jesus. Coming to Jesus means coming to the light where our deeds will be exposed. And that’s painful. Walking in the light means getting painfully honest with God, ourselves, and others. Honest about our immorality. Honest about our alcoholism. Honest about our selfishness. Honest about our anger, hatred, pride, bitterness, spite, laziness. Honest about our failures and fears. Honest about our mistakes. Honest about our cruelty and lack of compassion.

Honest about our doubt and unbelief towards God. Honest about our need for God’s forgiveness and salvation. If we want Jesus the Truth we need to get honest! We need to love the light!

The sad truth is most love sin and lies more than God and the truth. They value darkness and hate the light. Jesus came to his own and his own did not receive him. When Jesus was born, the world didn’t have room for him. No room in the inn. The Christmas story isn’t the story of a world waiting and looking for the Savior. Most couldn’t care less. Most wouldn’t receive him or have room in their lives or their hearts for him. That wouldn’t sound good on a Christmas card but it’s true.

3. Jesus communicates the promise of eternal life to all who receive him

But there were those ready to hear the good news. Shepherds keeping watch. Wise men ready to travel longs distances to honor the one born king of the Jews. Simeon and Anna in the temple. For them and for those of us who are ready to receive Jesus these words are life-giving and true:

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13

In him was life and the life was the light of men. (Vs. 4)

Jesus came to bring the best gift of all: to make us children of God. Born again by the will and power of God. It’s not something we do, it’s something only God can do in us. Even the desire to come to the light and receive Jesus is something God has to do in our hearts. We are not born of blood or man’s will but of God. Our part is to respond to His work in our hearts and come by faith to Jesus. To the light. To the life. To Jesus our Savior.

Jesus promises eternal life to those who come to him in faith and trust. Because Jesus was born in that stable, subjected to the very laws he created, so that he could willingly lay his life down on the cross to save us from our sins. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. The power of Jesus’ blood shed for us is so great that no sin can’t be forgiven and cleansed. Our part is to come to Jesus in faith.

If you have never received Jesus as your Savior, this is a good morning to consider his claims and asking Jesus to reveal himself to you if he is the Son of God. And if your heart is ready, to pray to receive him as your Savior, turning away from sin and darkness and turning towards the light of truth in repentance and faith.

Let’s pray.