Christmas 2025

The Word — God made known to us; hearing

The Light — Life offered to us; seeing

The Son of God incarnate — like us.

Lets look at these a little closer in light of Christmas.

The Word

John 1:1–3 (NKJV) 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 nothing was made that was made.

John begins his message about Jesus from the beginning.

You might ask from the beginning of what?

and John would say, the beginning of creation (vs3)

In the beginning is the same way that Genesis 1:1 starts

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

John is starting his message at the same place the Bible begins — in the beginning.

and he tells us that in the beginning was the Word.

what we find there is that an uncreated world, a world without form and void. Genesis continues to tell us that God spoke and the elements ordered themselves and He created things, light, atmosphere, land, ordering the water, living things, plants and animals were all created by God speaking it.

Now John introduces us to the fact that God’s Word which created all things is a person.

That the Word of God is eternal, was with God, and is God.

describing a distinction that is contained in the Godhead, that existed for eternity, that God is One, but three distinct persons. God the Father, The Word of God, and the Spirit of God(who John describes later for us).

John says, the Word was in the beginning with God.

and through him all things were created,

this tells us that everything that came to be came to be through Him, that the Word created all things.

Now we know that John, when he speaks of the Word, that he is describing Jesus, not some other thing,

He says so in verses 14-18.

This should elevate our understanding of who Jesus is, and have a great bearing on our understanding of Him.

Jesus is eternal, and has existed before time, he has no beginning.

Jesus is creator, all things exist through him.

Jesus was with God, describes an intimate relationship between God and the Word

What John wants us to know about Jesus is that there is no distinction in essence between God and the Word. They are both equal in the Godhead.

Both are equally to be honored, adored and worshipped.

This is what John wants us to understand.

Jesus and the Father existed before all creation existed.

Now from this relationship flows creation, came life, and God created people with whom he made with the capacity to have a relationship with him.

What John reminds us through his allusions to the beginning is that this good creation of God has become corrupt.

when we think ab out the beginning we think about God’s greatness and His good creation, and then we are reminded within a couple chapters that that goodness was forfeit in a moment of temptation and disobedience to the word of God.

Eve and Adam, gave into temptation to disbelieve God’s word to them and it separated them from existing eternally in God’s presence in his good creation.

Their act, would have lasting effects.

They would die in death, and live in a world under the curse.

That what would follow is a world full of darkness.

Now

John goes on

John 1:4–5 (NKJV) 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John tells us that in the Word was life,

One ,he means what he’s just described, that through him life exists.

But John says this to say that Jesus is the source of life for sinful humans.

This life that is in Jesus is the light of man.

Its not a light or a way of understanding our situation,

but the light — the only way of seeing clearly the situation of humanity.

Whats this mean?

It means that the darkness of evil and suffering that exists in the world because of the sinfulness of mankind has been interrupted by God himself entering into the darkness to declare the truth to us.

Jesus’ entrance into creation reveals the darkness of humanity and reveals to the world that He is the only source of true life.

But whats this part about the darkness not comprehend the light?

Some translations say overcome.

The idea behind the word is of mastering it.

The Light came into the world and the darkness did not master it.

think about what it means to master something.

it has a few way it can be used in english.

You could master a thing like a fire by extinguishing it

You could master your fears and keep them from controlling you

You could master a subject, learning to the point of understanding, even able to teach, explored the nuances, the details are know to you…

IF we take these words comprehend, overcome, and master to mind as we think about what John is describing we get the picture

That what we need, the life that Jesus offers, is like light to us.

That we are in darkness and are clueless about it, the world is a dark place and we don’t know what to do about it, it’s the darkness in us we know is producing in us death. Its the saying I hear people say, “I know I am going to hell.”

John says that Jesus came into the world the life that is the light of men and the darkness did not comprehend it, overcome it, master it. That Jesus’ first coming was not extinguished or overcome by the darkness that exists.

This is good news to us, even 2000 years later after Jesus, that the purpose of his coming, the light that he provides, the truth he spoke has not been overcome and continues to shine into the darkness of humanity.

John continues to tell us about Jesus’ first coming…

John 1:6–11 (NKJV) 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 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 His own did not receive Him.

Now John describes the witness of John the Baptist, who was proclaiming that the Light had come into the world, so that people would believe in Him.

John was confused for being the Messiah, and was faithful to say he wasn’t and pointed them to look for the true Messiah, the one they really needed.

The Light that would illuminate the darkness of the world.

Jesus is the light that everyone in the world needs,

He is the creator who became human, to reveal God to us, to reveal the darkness we are in.

He is what every person needs.

JOhn says that Jesus entered the world.

The world is descriptive of creation itself, but here John is using the term world to describe people who are organized in rebellion against God’s rule and claim.

The great tragedy is that Jesus became like us, human, he became like his own creation and he was not recognized.

Even His own people, Israel did not receive him, they didn’t recognize him.

What they did only reflects the condition of the human heart universally.

It reveals the darkness we all share.

John goes on to tell us the good news

John 1:12–13 (NKJV) 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, 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.

Jesus though rejected by the majority, was received by many.

John tell us what Jesus came for.

as many as received him, which is to say believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

who experience a new birth, not like the natural, but are spiritually born again.

Though he was rejected by the majority, there were those who received and believed

received you might thing of in terms of its opposite, to reject or to push away,

those who did not reject the Light of Jesus,

those that did not close their eyes to it, but by it gained understanding, by the Light understood the darkness they were in,

Believed is also descriptive of receiving but to the point of trusting, embracing, accepting,

John describes Jesus as giving a gift, those who received and believed him he gave something, something only he could give as the son of God,

And what a gift it is.

This is what Matthew calls Adam (Luke 3:38)

John is presenting Jesus as creator, stepping into the darkness we created, in order to restore what has been broken, specifically man’s relationship with God.

What was lost in the garden through sin?

An intimate relationship with God. A loving fellowship with Him.

It’s seen in the world and with in today…

all we see when we look around is a lack of love.

What is all the darkness we see? A lack of love.

War? racism? injustice? crime? violence? divorce? broken families? bereavement? grief? sorrows?

Its a lack of love or the the results of a loss of love.

Even at our best we cannot generate love, or at least the type of love that God is.

If were honest, we always think of ourselves first.

We long for love but can truly give it. We want it and need it but we fail to give it.

This is why Jesus became human, so that we could experience the love of God as His children, as Jesus does as the son of God.

what a wonderful thought!

that Jesus came into our darkness to reveal the love of God and welcome those who receive him into it as sons and daughters.

look at John 1:14

John 1:14 (NKJV) 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

He was born as a baby, taking on flesh, he was Son of God yet Son of Man,

He became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us

and we get this picture that God used a human body to be in the midst of mankind,

to draw near, that he might draw us to himself,

to show us what true love and light is,

declare to us who are in