The Doctrine of Christmas

The Doctrine of Christmas - 1 John 1:1-4 December 17, 2023 Here is how Keller opened his book, "Hidden Christmas:" "Christmas is the only Christian holiday that is also a major secular holiday - arguably our cultures biggest. The result is two different celebrations, each observed by millions of people at the very same time. This brings some discomfort to both sides. Many Christians can't help but notice that more and more of the public festivities surrounding Christmas studiously avoid references to the Christian origins. The background music in stores is moving from 'Joy to the World' to 'Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas.' The holiday is promoted as a time for family, for giving, and for peace in the world." He's right, isn't he? I know Jewish people and even some Muslim people who "celebrate" Christmas. So, the question is, what is Christmas, and why do we need it? The Apostle John is going to address this in our passage this morning. Please follow along as I read our text this morning - 1 John 1:1-4: 1 THAT 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- 2 THE 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- 3 THAT WHICH WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD WE PROCLAIM ALSO TO YOU, SO THAT YOU TOO MAY HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH US; AND INDEED OUR FELLOWSHIP IS WITH THE FATHER AND WITH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. 4 AND WE ARE WRITING THESE THINGS SO THAT OUR JOY MAY BE COMPLETE. How many of you knew this was a Christmas passage? We're wrapping up (no pun intended) our Christmas series this week. Until now, we've covered some "traditional" Christmas passages. Pat opened the series in Isaiah 8-9 with the prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus in a sermon titled "A Light Has Dawned." This light, if you recall, is sort of a sign that Christmas is coming. And in darkness, we learned, when we're unable to find the light on our own, God sends His light, which is Jesus. Then, the following two weeks, we looked at the Gospel account of Luke and learned of the faith of Mary, and then of the Shepherds. So, this week, as we conclude our series, we look at what we're calling the "Doctrine of Christmas." I'll define that shortly, but first ... here's the main idea for our time together this morning: Christmas means fellowship with God is available because of Jesus' coming. Let's begin with a couple of definitions: * Doctrine: simply put, doctrine is a set of beliefs taught by a church, political party or other group. In this context, the doctrine of Christmas would refer to the meaning of Christmas to the believer. Maybe you're here - or watching online this morning - and you're not a believer, my prayer for you is that you will understand what Christmas is all about. Next, * Fellowship: Biblically, fellowship means "holding something in common," it conveys a shared participation within a community. Or how the Monday Morning crew put it: "it's more than coffee and donuts, it's joint participation." There may be other terms that we'll define along the way. Until then, we're primarily going to discuss this morning what Christmas means, but before that, I want to answer the following question: WHAT DOES THIS PASSAGE TELL ME ABOUT CHRISTMAS? First, Christmas really happened. (vv. 1-2) * This may be obvious for many or all of us here this morning, but I want you to notice the language that John uses in this passage. * The intentional use of language here tells us several things: o There were eyewitnesses alive when John wrote this letter in the late 1st century. o These eyewitnesses heard, saw, and touched Jesus. o But maybe equally notable is John's use of legal language. * He speaks of the eyewitness and the testimonies of those eyewitnesses. * Late pastor and writer Timothy Keller, as we've mentioned, inspired this sermon series wrote: "when John writes, 'we have seen it and testify to it' - and then speaks of hearing, seeing, and touching - 'he is not making conversation but virtually swearing a deposition." * This is why both Matthew and Luke recorded a genealogy, and that's why Luke wrote both his gospel account and the books of Acts to Theophilus, it's to record the historical record of the birth of Christ, and His life, death and resurrection, and later to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the early church and the apostles. * Next, this passage tells me that ... Christmas happened through ordinary means. * There's a churchy word that we use this time of year called "incarnation." * Incarnation - literally - means "in the flesh." o In other words, it means "Jesus in the flesh" or "God with us" * Does that sound familiar? o Yes, the name "Immanuel" means "God with us" o This is why in Isaiah 7:14 we read: THEREFORE THE LORD HIMSELF WILL GIVE YOU A SIGN. BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE AND BEAR A SON, AND SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL. o The virgin birth was the means to the incarnation, which served as a sign of the uniqueness of the One who was born. o The general purpose of the incarnation was: * To reveal God to us * To provide an example to our lives * To provide an effective sacrifice for sin * To be able to fulfill the Davidic Covenant * To destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) * To be able to be a sympathetic High Priest * To be able to be a qualified judge * So, the incarnation and the means of the incarnation were miraculous, the Savior as a human baby was ordinary in the sense that He came into this world just like you and I came, ordinarily. So now, let's focus our attention on the Doctrine of Christmas by asking: WHAT DOES CHRISTMAS MEAN? * Christmas means that salvation is by grace. (vv.1-2) o Listen to Keller again: "In 1 John 1:1 he is called 'the Word of life,' and then Jesus is called 'eternal life' in verse 2. When John says, 'eternal life ... was with the Father and has appeared to us,' he is referring to Jesus Christ himself. This is a startling statement, but the point is clear. We are not being told merely that Jesus Christ has eternal life or even that he gives it. This verse says that he is eternal life, salvation himself." o In Luke 19, Jesus encounters a rich tax collector named Zacchaeus who was curious about Jesus and His teachings. In verse 10, Jesus tells him: FOR THE SON OF MAN CAME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THE LOST. o Jesus came for many reasons, but we see here is that there is a distinct purpose, to seek and save the lost. o Is that because of anything we've done? * To quote the Apostle Paul, "certainly not!" o Obviously, there are two aspects to this: * Without Christ, we are all separated from God. That separation is what we need salvation from. Because, that separation is death, according to the Scriptures. * Romans 3:23 tells us that we've all sinned - which means we've all been separated from God. Romans 6:23 tells us that the penalty of that sin is death - eternal and spiritual. Romans 6:23 further tells us that there is life in Christ. Romans 5:8 reminds us that God demonstrated His love for us by sending Christ. Romans 10:9 tells us that when yon confess with your mouth that Christ is Lord, you will be saved, and Romans 10:13 further states that if you confess with your mouth that Christ is Lord, you will be saved. Romans 5:1 reveals that in Christ, we have peace with God, and Romans 8:1 tells us that we are no longer under condemnation for sin. Finally, Romans 8:38-39 says that nothing can separate us from God's love, in Christ. * Without Christmas, there is no salvation. o What about grace? * Grace tells us that this gift of the incarnation of Christ was done out of God's love, nothing that we can do. Later in 1 John 4:9-10 we read: 9 IN THIS THE LOVE OF GOD WAS MADE MANIFEST AMONG US, THAT GOD SENT HIS ONLY SON INTO THE WORLD, SO THAT WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM. 10 IN THIS IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE HAVE LOVED GOD BUT THAT HE LOVED US AND SENT HIS SON TO BE THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS. o So, Christmas means salvation is by grace. * So, what does that mean to us personally? I'm glad you asked. We see this next in our passage, verse 3 tells us that ... * Christmas means that you can have fellowship with God. (v.3) o There, John reminds us that we not only have fellowship with one another, but also with God, through Christ. o Recall our definitions of fellowship earlier: * holding something in common, and * joint participation o With Whom? God. God Himself. The Creator of all things. o We are now aligned with Him, because He declared it, because His Son made it possible. o Again, only those who have been saved by grace can experience this fellowship with God. But what does this look like? o Well, John addresses this in the next passage: o Here's what he says in 1 John 1:5-10 - 5 THIS IS THE MESSAGE WE HAVE HEARD FROM HIM AND PROCLAIM TO YOU, THAT GOD IS LIGHT, AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL. 6 IF WE SAY WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM WHILE WE WALK IN DARKNESS, WE LIE AND DO NOT PRACTICE THE TRUTH. 7 BUT IF WE WALK IN THE LIGHT, AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT, WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS HIS SON CLEANSES US FROM ALL SIN. 8 IF WE SAY WE HAVE NO SIN, WE DECEIVE OURSELVES, AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN US. 9 IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. 10 IF WE SAY WE HAVE NOT SINNED, WE MAKE HIM A LIAR, AND HIS WORD IS NOT IN US. * We see several elements here: * Walk in the light - as we saw in the first week of our series, darkness is not only the absence of light, but it represents evil and ignorance, and God's light reveals that. * Fellowship with others - as we saw earlier, fellowship with God gives us His peace. And fellowship with others adds support, encouragement and even some accountability. * Confess our sins - when we confess our sins, John says, God is faithful to forgive us. Confession puts us in agreement with God. * You see we come full circle, the need of forgiveness for our sin, so we can walk in the light, and in doing so we enjoy fellowship with God, with Christ, and with one another. o Then finally ... * Christmas means joy. (v.4) o Last week we looked at the shepherds, and we saw in Luke 2:8-10 this account: 8 AND IN THE SAME REGION THERE WERE SHEPHERDS OUT IN THE FIELD, KEEPING WATCH OVER THEIR FLOCK BY NIGHT. 9 AND AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO THEM, AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHONE AROUND THEM, AND THEY WERE FILLED WITH GREAT FEAR. 10 AND THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "FEAR NOT, FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY THAT WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE. o Our joy comes from the Good News. * In case you did not know, the term "Gospel" means "good news." * What is that Good News? * The incarnation, the atonement on the cross, and the resurrection from the dead by Christ is the Good News. o That is the message of Christmas. o Joy is possible. Peace is possible. Hope is possible because of the coming of a savior, the incarnation of Christ. Immanuel, God with us. o How do we receive joy? * Just like we received our salvation, by grace. o How do we rejoice always? * This is more difficult. * I can easily just tell you - prayer, reading of God's Word, fellowship and worship - and I wouldn't be wrong, but that's not exactly that easy, is it? * I think about a man like Job who wished he wasn't even born when he was suffering. * Or Elijah who fled into the desert, no longer wanting to live. * Joy is a mindset. It is setting your mind on the things of God, rather than the circumstances of the things around us. * Joy is found in His presence. Earlier I said: Christmas means fellowship with God is available because of Jesus' coming. That's why we celebrate Christmas. Chew on that for a moment. The God of all creation provided a way for you and me to be forgiven and to enjoy fellowship with Him. In most eastern religions, there is no possibility of a personal relationship with God. Christmas means that we can be saved by grace. Christmas means that we can have fellowship with God. Christmas means that we can have joy. Christmas requires a response. At the end of the day, each one of us need Jesus. For the Christian, we look to Him as the example for us to follow, as the Savior who gave His life for us, and as the One who will return for us. For the non-Christian, you must make a decision to follow Him. To believe in Him. To call upon His Name. So, you too, can have salvation, fellowship, and joy. Let's pray.