The Son of God has Come
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The Italians have a legend about a woman named Befana who lived along the dusty road that led to Bethlehem. She was her village’s best housekeeper. Meticulous. Which was no small task with all that dust. Late one night there was a knock at the door and she opened it to find three kings in search of the baby born to be King of the Jews, the Prince of Peace. Frankly, what she also saw was all the dust that blew in and the dirt on their boots and clothes.
They asked to rest awhile and invited her to join them on their journey. And she said she’d love to do that but she had to get the house back in order after they left, and there was a load of laundry to be done. “Let me finish up,” she said, “then I’ll be right behind you.” And they told her all she had to do was follow the star.
She worked all night and finally, near dawn, she put on her heavy cloak. She took a little straw doll she wanted to give to the baby, and left her house—spic and span. But the sky had clouded over and she couldn’t see the star. It began to rain and her little doll was ruined. Finally, she gave up and went home. “I’m a foolish old woman,” she said to herself. “I missed my chance to worship the newborn Prince of Peace. Perhaps I will find him someday.”
So the legend is that each year she sets out with a bag of toys, leaving some at every house where there is a child, in hopes one of them might be the Child she missed.
Hoping and praying today that we do not miss Christmas this year or any year. I mean come on... isn’t that the fight every single year. When we start the next year we have prepared ourselves not to be distracted by the things that distracted us last year. And now we are distracted by a whole new set of distractions. In reality some of it is the same, some distractions are like white elephant gifts just in a different wrapper. More and more we are distracted in life by the things of this world. The things in the world even trying to turn the day we celebrate the birth of Christ into something else. Into the very opposite. Greed and worship of self.
Even when we say things like its better to give than to receive… it can be motivated by self-centered self-righteousness. Our job during the Christmas season is not even to reflect and focus in on bettering ourselves and our behavior. During Christmas we look past ourselves, reflect , and focus in on Christ the Lord who has come to bring peace on earth. Remember Jesus did not come to make good people better, he came to bring dead people to life. And all of this is possible because he came and thats what we want to look at today.
And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
Understanding the True God
Union with the True God
The Son of God has Come
The first thing we will look at today is the ability given to us Christ and Christ alone to truly understand the True God. Second, we will explore this amazing principle of theology known as Union with the True God because of our union with Christ. And finally, we will see that all of this was made possible because of this one extraordinary event that we celebrate each year and might I say, every Sunday here at CBC, the gospel that the Son of God has come to save.
Thesis: Though sin, the pattern of this world, and false teachers may cause us to lose sight of the beauty and necessity of the coming of the Son of God in order to give us understanding and union, it is the truth of the scriptures given to us by the true God and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to rest and hope in the certainty of the coming of the Word made flesh and the knowledge of the true God.
I. Understanding the True God
- He brought to us revelation.
A. In this first part, we should look closely into this idea that we can know and we can discern what is real. For a final time the apostle John writes the words “we know.” And this final time John strikes a final devastating blow to his gnostic opponents undermining their entire theology. In Christ alone, we find the beautiful revelation and redemption desperately sought after by all whether we know it or not, believe it or not, receive it or not.
B. This is why this passage was perfectly timed for this time. This holiday season. In light of this letter penned by the Apostle John we find a wonderful picture of the wonderful gospel of Jesus. The Christian gospel is not just concerned with the truth that Christ has given, but that Christ has come.
C. And we know “oidamain”, to be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; or to possess information or knowledge about something. Now remember that john’s opponents, the gnostics, were all about knowledge...the greek gnosis, meaning knowledge. John is talking about the wonderful knowledge that Christ had come into the world and that He gave us understanding. And it is understanding that he gives us. Nothing that we had achieved or did with our own efforts. It is spiritually discerned and if we are not spiritual we cannot understand it. It is the understanding so that we can know.
D. We can know what? Here’s the greek word for John’s opponents ginoskomain. We can gnosis what? So that we can know the true God. So we have certainty in knowing that Christ has come and he gave us understanding so that we can know the true God.
E. Christians have and understanding that non-christians do not have. It is an understanding that the Lord needs to give us. It is spiritually understood and if we do not have life in the spirit then we cannot know it. This is what John means when he said Christ had to give us understanding.
But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
F. So you can see, we can see the kingdom, we can understand what the Spirit means, and we can know the true God because it is Christ who has come to give us understanding. So you see gnostics… it is knowledge that you are looking for but to know the true God you have to have been given understanding by Jesus the Son of God. So as we can see, the Son of God that came gave us the ability to be confident. To be certain.
G. And we live in uncertain times...Joseph Bayly, delightful personal friend now in heaven, was flying from Chicago to the city of Los Angeles. He engaged the woman sitting next to him in conversation. She was a little over 40, well dressed, and quite articulate. He asked, "Where are you from?"
She said, "From Palm Springs."
Knowing Palm Springs to be a city of the rich and famous, he asked, "What's Palm Springs like?"
Being perceptive, she answered, "Palm Springs is a beautiful place filled with unhappy people."
Taking advantage of the occasion, he pressed the question, "Are you unhappy?"
She said, "Yes, I certainly am."
"Why?" he asked.
She said, "I can answer it in one word, and that word is mortality. Until I was 40, I had perfect eyesight. Shortly after, I went to the doctor because I couldn't see as well as I could before. Ever since that time, these corrective glasses have been a sign to me that not only are my eyes wearing out, but I'm wearing out. Some day I'm going to die. I really haven't been happy since that time."
Ladies and gentlemen, these words summarize the feelings of millions of Americans today. We don't want to lose what we have or be reminded that death is coming to us as it is for everyone else in the human race. As someone has said, "The only certainty in life is death."
H. Besides being certain… we can know what is real. And this is a key factor in our culture today. We just don’t really know what is real anymore. Inundated with fake news, illusions, and deceptions. We just don’t know what is true in the sense of something being real anymore.
I. You don't have to pack, deal with security lines, or face jet lag in order to show off your vacation pictures on social media. Just fake it! A Nebraska-based business is offering to bolster social media pages with expertly faked photos of the user on vacations they never took. The company, Fake a Vacation, offers packages starting at $19.99 for a service to superimpose the photos of a social media user in front of famous landmarks at popular vacation spots including Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, and Walt Disney World.
The company’s ad reads “Make your friends envious of where you were and have them thinking of being where you are. Fake vacation is a perfect Meme for bragging to your friends.” The packages also include some facts about each destination to help the customer concoct the story of their fake vacation.
The company cited a study that suggests more than half of Millennials have lied about taking vacations for reasons ranging from last-minute cancellations, the high price of travel, and the desire for social media recognition.
J.
II. Union with the True God
- He brought to us redemption.
A. And Christ has come into the world not just to bring revelation, but also to bring redemption. Vital to understanding our justification we need to understand that it comes from an alien righteousness. Or more specifically, a righteous work done outside of us.
B. All of our righteousness, holiness, redemption, and blessing is found outside of us--in the person and work of Christ. This was the declaration of the Scriptures. But, this "alien righteousness" belonging to someone outside of us would mean nothing if this righteous one remained forever outside of us.
- An illustration might help at this point. In my junior year of college, I went to Europe with some friends and ran out of money. Happily, my parents agreed to deposit enough money in my account to cover my expenses. Was that now my money? I had not earned it. I had not worked for it. It was not my money in the sense that I had done something to obtain it. But it was in my account now and I could consider it my own property.
While none of our righteousness is our own, Christ is!
While none of our holiness belongs to us, properly speaking, Christ does!
The devils know Christ is righteous, but they do not, cannot, believe that he is their righteousness.
C. It is essential, therefore, to point unbelievers and believers alike to Christ outside of their own subjective experiences and actions, but that is only half the story! The Christ who has done everything necessary for our salvation in history outside of us now comes to indwell us in the person of his Holy Spirit.
For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
While our assurance is rooted in the objective work of Christ for us, it is also true that...
And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.
D. John employs this language of union in his Gospel, where Jesus is referred to as a vine, with believers as branches (Jn.15). As the branch is dead apart from the life-giving nourishment of the vine, so humans are spiritually dead and useless and unprofitable unless they are connected to the vine.
E. Paul appeals to this doctrine as the organizing principle for his entire systematic theology.
that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
And of course...
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
F. Thus, this doctrine is the wheel which unites the spokes of salvation and keeps them in proper perspective. "In Christ" (i.e., through union with him) appears, by my accounting, nine times in the first chapter of Ephesians. Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, God has thus "made us accepted in the Beloved." He cannot love us directly because of our sinfulness, but he can love us in union with Christ, because he is the one the Father loves. "In him we have redemption"; "in him we have an inheritance," and so on.
G. Union with Christ is everything.
III. The Son of God has Come
- The Gospel is more than just about what Christ have given, but also that Christ has come.
A. All of this is there and given because He has come. This is what we celebrate here today. This is the reality. This is what we understand. This is what we know. Jesus has come. And when Christ came he brought revelation and redemption. We can know and we can be saved. All of this because he had come.
B. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance...
C. He came to seek and save that which was lost...
I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
Pilate said, “So you are a king?”
Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
D. This is the good news… not only that he has come, but also what he gives and he gave us his life.
E. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried
F. He became sin who knew no sin...
G. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe…All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
H. There is so much more to the coming of Christ than just colorful lights and exchanging gifts. Don’t miss out on the baby in the manger today.