This Sounds a Lot Like Christmas

The first chapter of John is not usually considered a Christmas scripture, however, it definitely speaks of the coming of Christ.

Text: John 1:1-14; Gen 1:1; Isaiah 7:14;9:6

Introduction: (What?)

Normally John 1 is not read during the Christmas season, but it very definitely speaks of of God coming into the world wrapped in flesh. It also connects with creation and with the prophetic utterances of many of the prophets. As many as 350 OT prophesies were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. In this message will will examine John 1:1-14 in light of Christmas.

The word Christmas comes from the marriage of two words. Christ=Messiah, and Mass-celebration. Our Christmas is the celebration of the coming of Messiah into the world. With that in mind, let’s consider something that perhaps you’ve never thought of regarding the birth of Jesus.

Dave Adamson, an Australian social media personality, and devout Christian who heads up YouVersion Australia, presents some food for thought regarding the birth of Christ.

We know that December 25 is not really the day of Christ’s birth. The Roman church set that date back in the 4th century possibly as a way to absorb and replace the Roman winter solstice festivals, like the worship of the sun god Sol Invictus, and the celebration of Saturnalia.

Adamson said, “What if...”

The birth of Jesus came in September during the “Feast of Tabernacles” which celebrates God’s presence with the Israelites during the Exodus.

Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” (which means “God with us”) And in Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

That would mean that His conception took place in December, perhaps during Hannukah, which called the “Festival of lights”. And Jesus is called “The Light of the World”.

He, the “Bread of Life”, was born in Bethlehem which means “House of Bread”.

Jesus was laid, not in a wooden manger with hay in it, but in a stone watering trough which many people of that day had in a cave attached to their house where their animals were kept out of the elements. After all Jesus is also known as being “Living Water” and “the Water of Life” in John 4:13–14 “Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.””

And in John 7:37–38 “On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.””

Examination: (Why?)

Jesus in Creation

John 1:1–5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.”

Jesus is presented here as the “eternal, pre-existent Word (logos), Son of the Father who is Himself God.” He is the life, light, witness, to mankind and the glory of God. John’s statement “All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created” underscores the fact that when Genesis 1:1 said “in the beginning God” it was referring to the complete Godhead...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In common terms, God was the architect, Jesus was the General contractor, and the Holy Spirit was the construction engineer and site developer.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us {Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.””

2. Jesus is Life and Light

John 1:4–9 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.”

The verbs “was coming” stem from the Old Testament prophecies (over 350) of God coming to earth in human form.

When Jesus was nearing the end of His earthly ministry He declared in John 8:12 “Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”” and in John 14:6 “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He identifies as both the life and the light that John referred to in the first chapter.

Someone has written “Jesus is the life. Without Him there is no living. Jesus is the light. Without Him there is no seeing.”

Jesus revealed the Father to mankind. In John 14:8–11 as He was preparing this disciples for His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, we find the following conversation.

““Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.”

3. Jesus, God in Flesh

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The phrase “The Word became flesh” does not mean that God stopped being God, but rather that He presented Himself to mankind in human form and interacted with them as one human to another.

We cannot be certain how God spoke to the prophets of old. We don’t know if He spoke in words they heard, or in thoughts that He planted in their minds. However, when Jesus came to earth, through Him God spoke face to face through Him as one human being speaks to another.

In Hebrews 1:1–3 we find “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

How should we respond to Jesus, Creator, Life, Light, God in flesh?

John 1:10–13 “He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.”

Just as in the day when Jesus walked the earth, “the world (His own people, the Jews) did not recognize (or acknowledge Him) as God,” many in our time do not acknowledge Him as God. What we must recognize is that apart from Jesus we can never know God or experience His presence in us in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Since Jesus (God in flesh) has told us that He is the only way to God, our only hope is to surrender to Him, just as a drowning swimmer surrenders to the lifeguard. To resist Him is to deny Him and to deny Him leads to certain, eternal separation from God. The only place in the universe where God is not is what we call Hell, the place reserved for the devil and his angels...and for those who refuse to surrender to Christ.

However, In John 1:11–12 we have hope; “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,” I urge you, if you have never surrendered to Christ, exercise your right today and become a child of God.