Prepare Him Room 3
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Students we are finishing up our Christmas series “Prepare Him Room” today
Man I am excited about Christmas time
I love it genuinely
I hope you guys have also enjoyed the series
We have talked about how important it is for us to “prepare Him room” quite literally how we can make sure to keep Jesus at the center of Christmas this year
Week 1 we talked about how we can keep Jesus at the center by relying on the Peace that He provides as Prince of Peace
Week 2, last week, John talked about how Jesus is the very real presence of God and we prepare Him room by focusing on that reality
Today I want to keep it real simple for us
Prepare Him room by:
Remembering why Jesus came
If we want to prepare room for Jesus this Christmas we must remember why Jesus came
There are so many distractions, so many things that stop us from seeking Jesus
Presents, Santa, the Grinch movie (the best one, you know which one), Jingle Bells, Christmas trees
There is so much that clouds up the meaning of Christmas that we end up forgetting why Jesus came in the first place
We can even get so bogged down in the birth narrative of Jesus
How Mary and Jospeh left and went to Bethlehem
There was no room in the inn so they go to a stable
Angels appear to shepherds
Wise men come
Don’t get me wrong those are all VERY important details — but we tend to focus on all of that while forgetting why Jesus came in the first place
So to detail why Jesus came I want to take you to my favorite Christmas passage:
John 1
John 1
John 1:1-5
John 1:1-5
The passage starts out like this:
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 were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Let those words sink in — In the beginning, before anything existed there was God and Jesus was God and was with God
John in verses 1-2 explained the Trinity, in maybe the fewest words possible
John said that Jesus was the word
The greek Word Logos (λογος) is used here and has almost a double meaning — both in the literal meaning of word or something spoken, but also Word as the ultimate divine revelation of God
That Jesus as Word is the full revelation of God
And What did Jesus do?
John told us — He created!
In Him was created all things and without Him was not anything made that was made
John is showing us that in Genesis 1 when it says that God spoke everything into existence that it was Jesus who was speaking it into existence
John then in verse 4 tells that in Him — Jesus — was life which is the light of men
That life is the source of any light leading to any perception by any man.
John here asserts that creation and life came from God’s direct activity in Christ
That without Jesus there would be no life — there would be no living breathing thinking nothing!
That life is a direct result of Jesus which is the light of man
Did you catch that?
John told us that Jesus is the light in Genesis — that we see Jesus in creation, in life
But then John tells us in verse 5 “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it”
The greek word overcome can also be translated as “comprehended” or “understood”
This then also leads to a double meaning here as well:
A) Darkness cannot overcome Jesus — if he dies He will not stay dead. Nothing can stop Him
B) People in darkness (sin) cannot comprehend/understand Jesus
That Jesus as the literal Word of God is with God and is God
That he created everything
He gave life to everything and we see the existence of Him in all of life
That darkness and sin cannot stop Him, but those who are in sin and darkness cannot get to Him
Are you starting to see why Jesus came into the world?
Hopefully its becoming clear
John 1:6-8
John 1:6-8
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
John continues by saying there is a man named John who was coming to bear witness about the Light
John of course is John the baptist who Luke goes into great detail in His gospel
John was the first prophet since Malachi some 400 years earlier — that means that for 400 years no one had heard from God
Now John tells us that JTB is coming into the world to point everyone to the Light! To Jesus
The significance isn’t on JTB or on a prophet to the people — the significance is on the message
The Light is coming into the world
In fact John is supposed to be like the moon to Jesus who is the sun
We only see the moon because it reflects the light of the sun
We only know about John because his entire ministry is spent saying “I’m not the guy Jesus is”
Are you starting to see why Jesus came into the world?
John 1:9-11
John 1:9-11
Listen to how John continues
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
John continues by showing us that Jesus the true light is coming into the world
The Light is coming and He is in the world that He made
He is the one that offers light and eternal life to all is here
The Light that John told us the darkness cannot over come
Yet the great irony?
John 1:10–11 “10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
The world here has not been lifted out of deadness in trespasses and sins to perceive reality. Rather, the world is so darkened within itself that it does not recognize the light, even though the world was made by that very light!
Not only did the world not accept Jesus — but His own people the Jews did not accept Him
The OT is solely focused on Israel and how there is a Savior coming
This savior is Jesus coming and the Jews missed Him
Jesus the Light and hope of everything came and was rejected
John 1:12-13
John 1:12-13
But listen to what John said next
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
The light John said was shined on the world
Sin was made aware and everyone saw Jesus
Many rejected
Jesus even said as much:
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
Yet in verse 12 John said that some people recieved Jesus and believed
They were given the right to become children of God
They are now part of God’s family
Explanation
Explanation
John in these verses gives us the reason Jesus came into the world
The reason that Jesus left heaven to come to us:
Jesus came to save the Lost
Jesus came into the world to save the Lost
When it comes to Christmas we can get so wrapped up in the lights, the baby, the manager, the animals, the shepherd
That we actually forget that Jesus came to earth for one singular reason — to save the lost
Genesis talks about how God created everything — John reminds us of that
He tells us that nothing was made without Jesus
John tells us that Jesu sis the light and that the light overcomes darkness
Genesis tells us how darkness and sin enters the world
We are lost and broken and cannot get to God
That is why Jesus came into the world to save the Lost
Challenge
Challenge
This Christmas celebrate the Jesus coming to save us
The whole point of Christmas was to get to Easter
The point of Jesus coming was to go to the cross to offer us salvation
Don’t get tied down and focused on the tree or the presents
Don’t get focused on all the things that distract us from the reality that Jesus came to save us from our sins
The challenge this Christmas is two-fold
TRUST JESUS TODAY — If you don’t know Jesus as your savior, now is the time! Don’t wait
SHARE WITH LOST FAMILY MEMBERS — You are going to interact with at least 1 family member that doesn’t know Jesus this Christmas — share with them!
The reason for Christmas is Jesus coming to die on the cross for us
Go and share!
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
What are some common distractions during Christmas that make us forget about Jesus’s mission?
How can we practically prepare room for Jesus in our lives amidst the distractions of the Christmas season?
In what ways can we remind ourselves and others about the true reason for Christmas this year?
How can we be 'witnesses' like John and point others to the light of Jesus during our holiday gatherings?
What challenges do you face in sharing your faith with family members who don’t know Jesus?
