Part 1 - Long Lay the World

Opening

Some have said that John chapter 1 is the most profound page in the entire New Testament. We will look at these verses.

The Christmas grinches are working overtime to take Christ out of Christmas. Let me read you a few things. The New York Board of Education has prohibited any display of a nativity scene in New York City schools. They allow the Jewish menorah and the Islam star of crescent, but there can be no nativity scene displayed.

In Frederick County, Maryland, a school employee was barred from handing out Christmas messages with a Christmas message.

In Tupelo, Mississippi, elementary school students were led to chant celebrate Kwanza, but permitted to sing Christmas carols only after school officials removed any reference to Jesus Christ.

In Covington, Georgia, the ACLU filed suit against the public school district there because its calendar designated December 25 as Christmas, thus advancing a religion.

The Little Rock, Arkansas, City Council changed its annual parade from the Christmas parade to the Holiday Parade, so as not to offend non-religious people or those of other faiths. I hope nobody tells them that holiday means holy day. But that's beside the point.

The truth of the matter is you may try, but you really can't take Christ out of Christmas. To try to take Christ out of Christmas is like trying to take heat out of fire, or wet out of water, or oxygen out of air, or notes out of music. You can't really take Christ out of Christmas. The truth of the matter is that some do leave Christ out of Christmas. They have all of the trappings and all of the other things about Christmas except Christ. It goes on every year and it will go on this year. They will have the beautiful lights and they will have the gorgeous decorations. They will be moving in and out of the stores and they will be purchasing billions of dollars of gifts. They will be giving and exchanging gifts. They will go through all of the activities of the Christmas season, but there will be no room for Christ in their celebration of Christmas. When you take Christ out of Christmas you have what a lot of people have this time of year. All you have is a mess when you try to take Christ out of Christmas.

I want to talk to you during these days of the month of December about the meaning of Christmas. We are going to find ourselves encountering some real mysteries. In the Bible you will discover that the Bible not only tells the story of Christmas, but it also tells the significance of Christmas. It presents Christmas to us from not only the viewpoint of history, but also the viewpoint of theology. It will give you the literal accounts, but it will also give you the spiritual applications. As you study the meaning of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will find yourself encountering many, many mysteries.

We are familiar with Christmas riddles. Kids, I have some for you. Listen! What do elves learn in school? The ''elphabet''! Why was Santa's little helper depressed? He had low ''elfesteem''! What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted flakes! What kind of candle burns longer, a red one or a green one? Neither, candles always burn shorter!

There's a few Christmas riddles, but I am going to also give you some Christmas mysteries.

1 Timothy 3:16 “16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”

There are four great passages in the New Testament which explain to us the mystery and the meaning of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is John 1 which we will consider this morning. There is Philippians 2. There is Colossians 1. There is Hebrews 1. You will discover, as you look at each one of these, that the meaning of Christmas is revealed in their words.

For instance, this passage we are going to look at this morning, John 1. When Matthew and Luke tell us about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ they begin in time. But John begins in eternity. You will discover that we are given a presentation of Christmas from heaven's point of view in John 1. Christmas was not an idea that some philosophers or politicians or some group somewhere on the earth got together and decided it would be a good thing to do. Christmas was an idea that was born in the heart of God from all eternity.

We are going to look this morning at what Christmas means from heaven's point of view. The story of Christmas was played out on the earth, but it was scripted in heaven. Let's look at what John says about the meaning of the birth of Jesus.

Scripture

John 1-18 “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. 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 comprehend it. 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. 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.…”

Body

Number one, Christmas means that,

I. The Language of Heaven

You have the clear understanding here that Christmas means Jesus is heaven's language. These verses tell us who Jesus is. He is given one of His meaningful titles in the New Testament. Jesus Christ is referred to as The Word.

The Bible is the written Word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the living Word of God. When it says Jesus is the Word, it tells us a little bit about the person Jesus and who Jesus is.

What is a word? A word is a vehicle of communication. It is by means of words that we communicate our thoughts and our hearts to someone else. I speak to you and as I use words, I convey what I'm thinking and feeling to your heart and mind. When the Lord Jesus Christ was born, God was communicating His mind and His heart to the world. God was communicating His Word.

Someone said that Jesus Christ is God spelling Himself out in a language which man can understand. Words are made up of letters. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega. That means that He is the A and the Z and all of the letters in between. Christmas means that when Jesus Christ came into the world, He was heaven's language. He was God's Word to mankind.

John 1:1 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

You will notice that these verses also talk to us about where Jesus came from. ''In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.''

Here's what you have to understand about the purpose and the meaning of Christmas. Never think that when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem's manger that it was the beginning of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches what we call, in theological terms, the preexistence of Jesus Christ. That means that Jesus Christ existed before He was born.

In Isaiah 9, verse 6, the Bible says, ''Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. You can't give that which did not previously exist. These verses of Scripture make it very clear to us that before Bethlehem, the Lord Jesus Christ was in continual existence. ''In the beginning was the word.'' Literally that means, ''in the beginning was continually existing Christ.'' That means that Jesus Christ was the preexistent one.

''In the beginning was the word.'' That sets forth the idea of eternity. In the beginning of what? Probably in the beginning of creation. In the beginning of the universe. Genesis 1, verse 1, is very similar. ''In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.''

We really don't know how old the universe is. Some people say that it is billions of years old. Some people say it is millions of years old. Some say it is thousands of years old. We really don't know how old the universe is. But I'm here to tell you, however old the universe is, in that beginning Jesus Christ already existed. He was and is and ever shall be the eternal one. ''In the beginning the word WAS.'' Eternity!

''The word was with God.'' That's Trinity. The Bible teaches that Jesus existed in eternity and does exist and shall forevermore exist with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches the doctrine of the Trinity. Do I understand the Trinity? No. But the Bible teaches the Trinity. The Bible says that God is one God and yet God exists in three persons. I don't understand that, but I believe that.

I believe a lot of things I don't understand. I don't understand electricity. I don't know how electricity causes one molecule to touch another molecule and it makes it possible to put lights in this building. I don't understand electricity but I believe in electricity.

I don't understand how a brown cow can eat green grass and give yellow butter and white milk. But I like butter and I drink milk.

There are a lot of things we don't understand. We can try to understand it. We can go to the world of mathematics and try to get an illustration. In the world of mathematics the Trinity is not explained like this. One plus one plus one equals three. But in mathematics you see a picture of the Trinity. One times one times one equals one.

Or you go to the world of nature and try to understand it. The Trinity is stamped on God's world of nature in the universe. The universe is a trinity. The universe is made up of time, space, and matter. Time is a trinity. It is made up of the past, the present, and the future. We do not understand this and yet the Bible says, ''In the beginning was the word.'' That's eternity. ''In the beginning the word was with God.'' That's Trinity. ''The word was God.'' That's deity.

I like the way the little girl explained the Trinity. She said, ''Three in one and one in three and the one in the middle died for me.'' That's all you need to know about the Trinity. All you have to understand about the Lord Jesus Christ is that Jesus Christ already existed before He was born in Bethlehem.

Who is Jesus? He's the Word. Where did Jesus come from? He came out of eternity. What did Jesus come into the world to do? Look down at verse 18.

John 1:18 “18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

He has led forth Him. He has shown Him. When Jesus came into the world, He came to make visible the invisible God. He came to reveal the Father to us. If you want to know what God is like, you look at the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to know what God would say, you listen to what Jesus had to say. If you want to know what God would do, you look at the things Jesus did. He came into this world to reveal the Father.

That's not all Jesus came into the world to do. Look at verse 14.

John 1:14 “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

He came not only to reveal the Father, but the word was made flesh. For what purpose was the word made flesh?

Think about ''made flesh.'' He already existed and yet the Bible says when He was born in Bethlehem that it was the word made flesh.

There's another statement in Galatians 4, verse 4, which amplifies that.

Galatians 4:4 “4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,”

The reference there is to the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus was born the Bible says He was born of the Virgin Mary. When He was made flesh, He was made flesh supernaturally.

Does it make any difference whether Jesus was virgin born or not? It makes all the difference in the world! Why? If Jesus Christ were not virgin born that means He had a human father. If Jesus had a human father, that means He had a fallen nature. If Jesus had a fallen nature, that means He did not live a perfect life. If Jesus Christ didn't live a perfect life, that means He could not offer a sacrifice for us. If Jesus could not offer a sinless sacrifice, that means He could not be our Savior. If Jesus Christ is not our Savior, that means that Jesus Christ is just a man like anybody else. No man can do for you and me what we need done for us! He was made flesh! The virgin birth.

There's another verse that tells us what He was made for us. Turn to II Corinthians 5, verse 21. ''For he (the Father) has made him (Jesus) to be sin for us.'' Jesus was made flesh. He was born. But Jesus also was made sin. That's why He was born. The meaning of Christmas is that God spoke His language in the person of His Son the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ came out of eternity. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life. Then the Bible says that when they took Him and put Him on that cross outside Jerusalem, in that moment, He who knew no sin was made sin for us, for you and for me. That is what Christmas is all about!

Christmas means that,

II. The Light of Heaven

John 1:4-5 “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 comprehend it.”

John 1:9 “9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.”

Jesus is heaven's language. He is the Word. Jesus is heaven's light. Of course, we know that Jesus is the light of creation.

Every year, in the White House, they get a big Christmas tree and have a big ceremony and the president or the first lady will pull a switch and the White House Christmas tree comes on.

John 1:3 “3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

That simply means that when Jesus Christ spoke, the whole universe came into existence. The whole universe lit up. Genesis 1, verse 3, says, ''And God said let there be light.'' He pulled the giant switch and light was. Jesus is the One who turned the lights on in all of creation.

Jesus is also the One who is the light of conscience. It says in verse 4, ''the life was the light of men.'' In verse 9 it says, ''That was the true Light which lights every man who comes into the world.'' That is saying that Jesus is the light of conscience. That means that there is some light in every person. Every person is born with some light.

Romans 1:19-21 “19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

That is saying that everybody has a little light of revelation. Verse 20 says, ''For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen.'' There is a light they can see. ''Being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead, so that they are without excuse.'' Look at verse 21. ''Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.''

That means that everybody is brought into the world with some light. God has revealed through His creation, His existence, and His eternal power. Yet, the Bible says that mankind has rejected that light of conscience. Now, man is living in darkness. Man is living in moral darkness. Think around us. There is no understanding of right and wrong. Think of the moral problems we face in society.

Let me show you how far we've gone morally. There was an article in the paper this week I want to give you a few highlights. It was about a German computer expert who was charged with killing, dismembering and eating the flesh of an Internet acquaintance. He said he was only doing what the victim wanted. It names the person and says that this man said his fantasies began as a child when he was lonely and imagined killing and eating a younger brother. He sent out on the Internet a solicitation from people who wanted to join him in acting out his fantasy. A man took him up on it. They met and undressed. He said, ''Now you can see my body and I hope you find me tasty.'' He stabbed him, recorded his act on a videotape. He froze some of the dismembered parts, eating the flesh over the following months, then buried others. He says, ''My friend enjoyed the dying.''

Another man applied for that and said he wanted to be beheaded, but when he showed up he decided he wouldn't use him because he was too fat and not talkative enough. Moral darkness! Spiritual darkness!

We are living in a day where people are walking around in this world, otherwise enlightened, otherwise intelligent people. They can converse with you on a variety of subjects. You can talk to them about sports and their faces light up. You can talk to them about the stock market and their faces light up. Then introduce a spiritual subject and you can see the darkness as it covers their face. They don't have a faint idea of what you are talking about.

Jesus is heaven's Light. The Bible says that the true light is shining. It says in verse 5 that the darkness comprehends it not. That means you can't turn it out. You can't take Christ out of Christmas. He won't bail out. He is right in the center and heart of Christmas, and He is turning on the light in people who will open up their heart and life to receive Him as their Savior.

Donald Nixon was a member of the faculty of a high school near where I was pastor a number of years ago. He and his wife were attending our church. Donald was an agnostic. He just didn't believe. Yet, his wife got him to come to church. We were praying for this young science teacher. Over a period of weeks, I preached the gospel and the claims of Christ to him. Along the way, the light of the Scriptures and the light of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit got hold of him. One day he walked into the church and said to me, ''Preacher, I see it. I see it!'' The light came on and he was gloriously converted.

If you really want to have a Christmas like you have never had in all of your life, all you need to do is to open up the windows of your heart and say, ''Lord, let the light shine in.'' When Jesus comes to shine in your heart, you will know what Christmas is all about.

Jesus is heaven's Language, the Word. Jesus is heaven's Light, the True Light now shining.

III. The Life of Heaven

Verse 4 says, ''In him was life.'' We know that's true about the physical universe. Jesus is the source of all life. You look at the beautiful flowers that blossom, and we know that Jesus is the One who gives those flowers life. You look at the trees as they are rammed into the dirt and know that Jesus is the One who gives that life. We know that Jesus Christ is the source of all physical life.

We also know that we are living in a world that is surrounded by death. Death is all around us. Those beautiful flowers so full of life, in a matter of days they begin to wilt and die. That little puppy, wiggling its tail, licking your cheek, dancing around you, rushes out into the street and a car hits it. Your pet is dead. That loved one is so bright, so loving, so good, so kind. They get a little older and they die.

Death puts all beliefs to test. If what you believe is not good to die by, it's not good to live by.

An infidel and a Christian wife had a lovely young daughter who was dying of a terminal disease. She said to her dad, ''Daddy, do you want me to die with your belief or mother's belief?'' Death puts all beliefs to the test.

Physical life overcomes death, but the Bible says, ''You has he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.'' People are spiritually dead. The good news is that Christmas means that Christ can come into your heart and He can give you a brand-new spiritual life. It comes about by a miracle birth. Look at verse 13. It talks about the children of God in verse 12, and in verse 13 it says,

John 1:13 “13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

It is saying that the same God who sent His Son to be virgin born can give to you a brand-new birth experience, a spiritual, a miracle, a new birth by receiving Christ as your personal Savior. He will give you everlasting life.

Closing

Listen, I remember having my wisdom teeth cut out. They had given me some gas stuff and I have never in my life felt like that. You’ve seen people come home so happy from the dentist. I was in another world on a natural high. But it wore off! It kind of leaves a queasy feeling in your stomach.

But this morning, I'm talking about a high that never wears off. I'm talking about an experience with the Lord Jesus Christ that never wears out. It is eternal in nature. It has no unpleasant aftereffects. It just gets better and better and more and more wonderful.

John 1:12 “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:”

Here's how you can get it. You believe ON his name. He didn't say believe IN His name. I would say that just about every one of you in this building believe IN His name. You believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Son of God. But there is a difference between believing IN something and believing ON something.

See this chair. That looks like a pretty substantial, solid chair. I believe this chair would support me. So you could say I believe IN this chair. I don't know. I've been fooled before. I have sat down in chairs that didn't support me. But I believe in this chair, but I never sit in this chair. I believe this chair will support me and hold me up, but I don't know. I not only have to believe IN the chair, I have to believe ON the chair. When I believed ON the chair, the chair held me up.

It's not enough for you to believe IN Jesus. You have to believe ON Jesus. When you do, He'll hold you up.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.