Christmas Characters- pt1- God

When we talk about the story of Christmas, there is a cast of characters that always crosses our minds. Shepherds and angels. Wise men (who arrive later) and an innkeeper. Herod and all the assorted villains. But there are four principles that we really should drill down on. Three of them are obvious- Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. But one often gets forgotten, because He is in the background.

God the Father.

So as we launch into this series I want to focus on Him. And His role in the story of Christmas. And to do that we are going to go to John 1:1-18.

There are three things we need to grasp about God when it comes to this story, and truthfully the bible itself.

First, He has always been.

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

The surprise is that he began by linking the Logos (Word) with the beginning. This statement asserts that the Logos existed before creation began. John confirms this assertion in the two following verses.

We tend to focus on beginnings and endings in stories. Our minds struggle to comprehend Someone who was never born but has always been. That fundamental otherness is one of the things that makes God God. He has no beginning or end.

So when John says “in the beginning” he means in the beginning of time…because before there was time, there was God.

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

Accordingly, in John 1:1 we are dealing with a thesis that means that just as in Gen 1:1, where there was allowed no hint of the creation of God, there is here no time envisaged when the Word was not in existence or in relationship to God.

That bigness is big. When we consider the short days of our lives and the vastness of God that can be really scary. And yet, God in His vastness is so interested in the minute details of the world He created.

Look at the intricacy of creation. Shoot, look at the intricacy of you. Take a second and look at your finger with me. (no 2 fingerprints are alike)

And God in His bigness is also powerful- look at verse 5. He drives out the darkness of the emptiness of nothingness and brings into being all of life.

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

“Light” according to the Prologue does not belong naturally to humanity. It is a gift or a power from outside the human situation that confronts the world

Christmas starts way before a stable or an angel announcement. It starts before creation. Because God in His bigness knew of the need for a Savior before we were even created.

And yet He made us.

The next part of God’s character interacting with the story of Christmas comes in 2 verses. And in 2 words “sent” and “from.” (vs 6, 14)

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

In contrast to the Logos, who “was” from the beginning, a man named John (the Baptizer) “came” onto the stage of created history (egeneto), sent by God on a mission (apestalmenos). His purpose in coming was, according to the evangelist, clearly defined—namely, to be a witness (marturian)

These words show God’s DIRECT hand in our salvation. God made this possible. He sent John as the forerunner to prepare people for Jesus and Jesus came from the Father- not of His own volition but in line with the Father’s declared will.

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

John the Witness/Baptizer (1:6) and other servants of God may well be described as being sent “from” God, but there is no comparison between their mission and that of the “only” Son who proceeded directly from the Father. He was the Father’s special agent or representative (shaliach) on earth. This text makes it absolutely clear that the mission of the Logos was unique in the history of the world.

Why would God do that?

Because He loves us.

John 3:16 is not a joke. It is a real statement, made by Jesus- God with skin on- about how God feels about His creation, and especially the humans He made.

God loved us enough to have a plan to redeem us before we ever fell away and He loved us enough to execute that plan at just the right time (Galatians 4:4- Bob Evans quote) And His love continues til this day that the saving power begun in Bethlehem and unleashed from an empty tomb may continue to make humans right with God.

But the final question is why? Why would God do all this? And the answer to that question is found in the third attribute of God revealed at Christmas- known.

Look back at verses 9-18.

Verse 10- the world did not know Him

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

The final clause of v. 10 announces the tragedy of the human situation. The people of the world did not know their Creator when the Logos was among them

Verse 11- So He came…

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

Not only did the people of the world not know the Logos, but when he came to his own historical land (Israel), his own people rejected (“did not receive”) him

And what are the results?

We are children of God- vs 12-13

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

The situation, however, was not regarded as hopeless because some people did receive him, and to as many (hosoi … autois) as had done so (elabon) the Logos bestowed the power on them (or “empowered”; the NIV “gave the right to” is weak60) to become “children” (tekna) of God

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

To be a child of God, however, means to accept personally the incredible reality of the coming of the Logos into the human situation. Clearly to know and believe personally that the power of the universe is able to touch your life means that one can be adopted into the family of the Logos and become a child of God

We see His glory- vs 14

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

As the people of Israel witnessed the glory of the Lord covering the tent of meeting (Exod 40:34), so the evangelist and perhaps some in the community (or their forebears of the tradition) bore witness (“we”) to seeing (etheasametha, “we beheld” or “we have seen”; cf. 1 John 1:1) the glory of the incarnate Logos

We experience grace- v 16

John 1–11 1. The Magnificent Prologue (1:1–18)

Here the personal confession (“we”) seems to be that along with the evangelist the members of the Johannine community had themselves experienced the marvel of receiving from the “fullness” (plērōma) of the incarnate Logos the “gracious mercy” or “loving-kindness” (charis/ḥesed) that is so characteristic of God. The term “fullness” (not used elsewhere in the Gospel) seems to suggest that the full resources of God stand behind the incarnate one

We know truth- v 16

Without God, none of this happens. He is the main character of Christmas and is revealing some of His Character in the advent of Christmas.

What are we then left to do? how could we respond?

Take Him at His Word- His love, His power, His grace, His truth

Follow the path that His Son has made for us