SF113 - BEFORE THE MANGER (John 1 1 14)

John 1:1-14

INTRODUCTION

Christmas; when did it all begin?  Is it simply a pagan custom that we try to spiritualize?  Or is it a spiritual celebration that we have secularized?

The History

Ø      Observed as early as 386 AD.

Ø      Began as a religious celebration commemorating the birth of Christ.

Ø      It would start on December 24 and go through Epiphany, January 6.

Ø      Although the dates have been disputed most accept the December observance.

Over the years secular elements have been added.

Ø      Stringed lights may have come from the Jewish feast of purification.

Ø      The giving of presents was a Roman custom.

Ø      The Yule tree and Yule log are remnants of old Teutonic nature worship.

Ø      In England the celebration became so secular that in 1555 Parliament outlawed the celebration.

Ø      While this is the recorded "history" it does not go far enough.

Christmas is not about a date

Ø      Or customs

Ø      Or celebrations

It is about a Person.

Ø      Jesus Christ

Ø      God Incarnate

To understand the true glory of Christmas we must go back before…

The Angels sang; The Shepherds came; The Star shown; The Wise Men's gifts; Indeed Before the Manger...

1A.      He Was The God of Eternity

1B.      Eternal like God - In the beginning was the Word

Jesus is the Word (1:14)

Logos = the agent behind the action

Jesus has no origin (1:3)

Beginning = the absolute origin of all things.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (Elohim ‑ plural in Hebrew) created the heavens and the earth.

2B.      Equal to God - And the Word was with God

Literally "face to face with God

Ø      In His Person

Ø      In His Power

Ø      In His Priority

3B.      Essentially God

John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “…He who has seen Me has seen the Father…”

We see the Father's unconditional love

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

We see the Father's unchanging life

James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

We see the Father's unchallenged Lordship

Revelation 19:16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

2A.      He was the God of Creation (1:3)

1B.      In the material sense

Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

All things in general

Ø      From the smallest

If the molecules of a single drop of water could be converted into grains of sand, there would be enough sand to build a concrete highway half a mile wide and one foot thick all the way from New York to San Francisco.

Ø      To the largest

The star Antares, could hold sixty‑four million suns the size of ours.

All things in particular

Ø      He made you just like he wanted you

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

2B.      In the spiritual sense

Sin separates us from our creator

Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

He has become our re‑creator, our Savior

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

3A.      He was the Coming King (1:4-5)

1B.      Who would bring life to a world dead in trespasses and sins

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2B.      Who would bring light to a world engulfed in darkness

Darkness of the religious mind

Darkness of the philosophical mind

Darkness of the carnal mind

Darkness of the scientific mind

Darkness cannot win

Comprehended = seize, possess

Ø      At Calvary darkness had its moment of victory but at the resurrection the Light broke forth again and forever!

Application

Before He was a baby in a manger He was the GOD OF ETERNITY

Before He was a baby in a manger He was the GOD OF CREATION

Before He was a baby in a manger He was the COMING KING

Gary McSpadden sums it up well..

Above His name, there is no other name; The one who is eternally the same.  There is no other name.  The First and Last, Beginning and the End, He was the king who made the common man His friend.  There is no other name.