20251207 Christmas: The One Who is Infinite and Finite
Christmas 2025 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Vertical Church
Good morning.
Let Us Continue to Worship God
A Christmas Psalm
The phrase "psalm from ivory palaces" refers to Psalm 45:8, a Messianic psalm describing a magnificent King (Christ) whose garments are scented with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, and who is made glad by music from ivory palaces, symbolizing heavenly splendor, His redemptive work (bitter myrrh, healing aloe), and the joy of His eternal kingdom. It's a rich passage about Christ's glory, purity, and the joy He brings to His people from His majestic, heavenly dwelling.
1 My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe. 2 You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. 3 Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty! 4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your companions. 8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.
Scripture Reading - John 1:1-5
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 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
Introduction: Christmas: The One Who is Infinite and Finite
Part 1 - The infinite Christ of John 1:1-5
Pastor Charles Spurgeon frequently contrasted the finite human condition with God's infinite nature, emphasizing that finite minds can't fully grasp the infinite God, yet God reveals Himself through Jesus, the "finite and the infinite" uniting, and that His infinite mercy and wisdom far exceed our limited understanding, urging believers to trust this boundless divine character.
Spurgeon frequently preached on:
Incomprehensibility of God: Spurgeon taught that a finite creature (human) can no more fully comprehend the infinite God than a gnat can drink the ocean; to understand God fully would make Him finite.
The Incarnation: He marveled at Jesus Christ, "the vast unbounded One, whom earth could not hold," lying as a helpless infant, representing the infinite God becoming a finite man.
Infinite Mercy & Wisdom: Spurgeon stressed God's infinite mercy, which is boundless in forgiving great sins, and His infinite wisdom, which appoints each person's place in the world.
Limitations of Finite Language: Finite language fails to convey the infinite depths of God's nature, love, and justice, requiring faith beyond mere intellectual grasp.
Call to Trust the Infinite: He encouraged believers to think of God as infinite in their thoughts, even within their finite capacity, to fully appreciate His greatness and power.
In essence, Spurgeon used the finite/infinite contrast to highlight God's supreme, incomprehensible greatness and His condescending, merciful love shown in Christ, urging awe and humble trust from His people.
The Incarnation: He marveled at Jesus Christ, "the vast unbounded One, whom earth could not hold," lying as a helpless infant, representing the infinite God becoming a finite man.”
(1) Jesus is the Infinite God
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.
The Immutability of God (Unchangeable)
Again, there is the fact of God’s infinity, which puts change out of the question. God is an infinite being. What do you mean by that? There is no man who can tell you what he means by an infinite being. But there cannot be two infinities. If one thing is infinite, there is no room for anything else; for infinite means all. It means not bounded, not finite, having no end. Well, there cannot be two infinities.
RC Sproul argued "God cannot create another God"
because a second god, by definition, would have to possess the same absolute, self-existent, uncaused being as the first, making God non-unique and contradicting God's own nature as the sole ultimate reality (Aseity), essentially a logical impossibility like God creating a rock too big to lift, as God's omnipotence means He cannot diminish His own essential being or create something equal to Himself, according to Sproul.
Key Concepts from Sproul's Teaching:
Aseity: God's self-existence; He is not dependent on anything else for His being.
Pure Actuality (Actus Purus): God is fully actualized, with no potential for change or becoming; He simply is.
Logical Impossibility: God cannot do things that are logically contradictory, such as making a square circle, ceasing to be God, or creating another being with the exact same nature (self-existent, uncaused, eternal).
Jesus the Infinite second member of the Godhead, was born as a helpless and finite infant on Christmas Day
(2) Jesus is the Infinite Creator
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Creation is a Trinitarian work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person had a role in Creation
But with Jesus we now see the Creator adding flesh to His deity and dwelling among men
And in His life we see the apostles, the Pharisees, the people all marvelling at this what they what an ordinary finite man doing only what an Infinite Gpd could do, calming the sea, healing the sick, and pronouncing to the lame man lowered through the roof that his sins were forgiven
But why did the Infinite become Finite?
(3) Jesus is the Infinite Savior
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
Why did the Infinite become Finite? One of the reasons is given in John 1:4
In Him was life. In Jesus was Infinite life, eternal life, spiritual life
And so into a dark world, the Infinite One who said “let there be light” has come to shine.
Not from a distance like the star that led the wisemen to the manger.
But like the Shekinah glory of the Lord that appeared to the Shepherds and with it the angels who proclaimed Christ the Savior is born.
The Infinite and the Finite has come to earth dwells among men
Let me leave you with this good word
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “There is the finite and the infinite, … the vast unbounded One, whom earth could not hold and the heavens cannot contain, lying in His mother’s arms, He who fastened the pillars of the universe … depending on a creature for nourishment. Oh, marvelous birth! Oh, miraculous conception!”
Let’s pray
May we celebrate at Christmas the one who is Christmas, the One who is infinite and finite, the one who is fully Gd and fully man, the One who brings the gift of salvation to those who receive him by faith and trust in Him for thier salvation, amen
