Jesus for Advent John 1:1-14
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Remind about the candles and how each one fits the story of Jesus’ birth.
Hope - Zachariah and Elizabeth, the hope of having a child and him being the messenger for the Messiah.
Faith - Joseph and Mary, the faith it took to accept God’s assignment of parenting His Son and taking a journey to Bethlehem.
Joy - The Shepherds and the joy of the message they received about the birth of the Messiah. The lowly broken people who got to be the first to hear the message and the first to spread the word.
Peace - The Angels and the message of peace they provided to mankind about the coming of the Messiah who would bring Shalom between God and man for all those who would believe.
Jesus - The Christ Child who was given to mankind as the sacrifice that would bring reconciliation between God and man.
Advent the celebration of waiting for Christmas is over for another year but we can continue to watch for His coming. We can continue waiting with expectancy for Him to return and make all things right again. While we wait let’s take a look at the central character of the story. Jesus, who is He and why does it matter to us. Our passage for today is:
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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
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 saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Transitional Sentence: When Jesus came He fulfilled many prophecies dating all the way back to the beginning, but He came for a much bigger purpose, to reconcile us to God, heal us and set us freed.
Who is Jesus?
Why did He come?
How does this help us?
Who is Jesus?
a. He is the Son of God: John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He is the Only Begotten Son. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Those of us who believe in Him are adopted into the family of God. Jesus was born into the family.
b. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things John 1:3
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
All things came into being through Him. Everything around us was designed and built by someone. All the pieces and parts were put together by someone. But ultimately everything was made through Him. He was there at the beginning speaking everything into existence.
c. He is the The Light of the world John 1:4-5
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
The Light of life is the Holy Spirit. Without it there is no life.
Compare the light in the ceiling or a flash light to the Light of the world.
2. Why did He come?
a. He came to make us Children of God: John 1:12-13
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Those who receive Him, take Him into their lives and follow Him become children of God. We are adopted into the Kingdom of God. Even those who simply believe in Him are given the right to be children of God. Justification through faith. Faith that He will do what He says He will do.
b. He came to Reconcile Man to God Romans 5:10
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Reconciliation)
Reconciliation: A change in relationship or attitude from enmity to peace; the cessation of hostility in attitude or action. Reconciliation is a central doctrine of Christianity. Specifically, in Christ God reconciled the sinful, hostile world to himself by Christ’s taking upon himself the cost of our hostility and enmity, thereby setting the world free to restored union with God. The foundational assumption of the gospel is that only God can bear and remove the consequences of human enmity toward God and the resulting separation from God; therefore God alone can effect this change in relationship.
Sin ripped the relationship between God and Man apart. Reconciliation put it back together. He didn’t just tape it together and leave it, He put it all the way together - a brand new sheet.
(Rip a piece of paper and tape it back together. Then show a brand new piece of paper.)
c. He came to set us free and give us sight. Luke 4:18
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,
When Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah He was proclaiming that the scripture He was reading had been fulfilled in Him. He came to proclaim the release of captives...
Provide sight to the blind...
Set free the oppressed...
3. How does this help us?
a. Without Jesus there is no Reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
We need reconciliation to become a child of God. We need the enmity between us and God to be done away with. We are unable to do it ourselves. That is why Jesus sent His Son to die on the cross. No one else could do it. Without Jesus there is no reconciliation. Without Jesus there is no peace with God, without Jesus there is no eternal life. Christ Jesus is the doorway between man and God.
b. Without Jesus there is no Hope, Faith, Joy, Peace, or Love
These emotions are given to us by the Holy Spirit. Without Him we really don’t have hope, joy, peace or love and there really isn’t much faith to be found. Jesus is all these things and is the source of these things for us. Without Him we walk in darkness. We walk without hope, we will always be at war with God and won’t know what love is. That’s a pretty dark and miserable way to live - if that is living at all.
We can have all of this because Jesus brings sight to the blind. He removes the scales from our eyes that keep us in darkness and allows us to see the truth that is in the Light. And He sets us free from the oppression caused by the evil that inhabits this earth. The evil that keeps us in darkness, the evil that hates the light. Step into the light and be set free.
c. Without Jesus there is no Salvation Acts 4:12
12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Salvation: that is the one thing we need the most. Without saving we will walk in darkness for ever and will be separated from God forever. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God so we all need something we can’t do for ourselves. We can’t save ourselves from the law of sin and death. Only the blood of Jesus can save us. Only faith in Jesus can call us out of darkness and allow us to be children of God.
Exit: Jesus the reason for the season. Jesus the reason we wait expectantly and celebrate advent. Jesus the reason we can have, Hope, Faith, Joy, Peace and know Love. Jesus the Son of God, the creator and sustainer of all things, and the Light of the world that came and made His dwelling among us that we might be reconciled to God.
Jesus if you don’t know Him it’s time to put your faith in Him. It’s time to let Him be the reason you have life, it’s time to allow Him to reconcile you to God so that you may be a child of God.
Pray!