Emmanuel

Good morning. Thank you so much choir. That was wonderful. Before I start this morning, I wanted to just remind you of a couple of things. First, don’t forget that our Christmas Eve service will be Friday night at 6:00. We would love to have you join us. Also, don’t forget that for the next two Sundays, our Sunday morning schedule will look quite different with only one service at 10:00.

Turning Point

A couple weeks ago, I talked about how Tolkien wrote the backstory of the Hobbit and built that universe. I’ve been reading through the Hobbit with Abi, and she said that I clearly have been reading it too much because I talked about it in my sermon.

One of the moments that has caused quite a bit of discussion with her was this scene when Bilbo was escaping from the goblin caves after his confrontation with Gollum.

“Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself. He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried yet. And he as miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart. He trembled, And then quite suddenly in a another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.”

Abi wants to know of course why Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum. She’s in good company. When Gandalf tells the tale of Gollum to Bilbo’s nephew, Frodo, Frodo says, “What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!”

Gandalf responds, “Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need.” He goes on to say, “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not the least.”

For those that have read the Lord of the Rings, or watched the movies, you know that without the pity of Bilbo, Middle Earth would have fallen to darkness. And that’s all I’m going to say, because Abi would be devastated if I spoiled the ending, and also because I’ve given enough hints that now she’s got to know what happens.

As Tolkien reflected on this moment of Bilbo’s pity, he called this moment a eucatastrophe. In a story or fairy tale, the catastrophe is when something unforseen turning point unravels the tale and the lives of the characters. In this way, Tolkien saw the Eucatastrophe as a turning point, a good catastrophe, a joyous turn. He says of this eucatastrophe that “it can give to a child or man that hears it, when the ‘turn’ comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart.”

As a Christian, Tolkien saw the ultimate example of Eucatastrophe in Christ. In the essay explaining this idea he talks about the Gospels containing the greatest of all stories, artistic, beautiful and moving, “and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable Eucatastrophe. This story has entered History and the primary world. The Birth of Christ is the Eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the Eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy.”

A History of God’s Presence

So, for the last two weeks, we’ve been reviewing what you might call a history of God’s presence with His children. Two Sundays ago, we talked about how God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden He had created to fellowship with them in. This perfect relationship was marred by Adam and Eve’s sin, and they were exiled from the garden.

Last week, we talked about the echoes of the garden in the tabernacle and later the temple. Rather than leave humanity to sin and death, God had come to them, calling out a people through whom He planned to bless the world. In these two structures, God was present with His people.

But, there were problems with the temple, and even really with the tabernacle. Both of them were elaborate ways that Israel could draw near to God, but yet, His holiness meant that they still were not completely able to behold His glory, only a glimpse of it.

In Exodus 33, when Moses had gone back up the mountain after the golden calf incident, he asked God to see His glory. God answered,

Exodus 33:19–23 CSB

He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.” The Lord said, “Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock, and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.”

God is so holy that for even one like Moses to behold His true glory would be fatal. Even for the high priest to enter the holy of holies and interact with God in the tabernacle and the temple required a very specific purification process that would need to be repeated over and over again. Hebrews reminds us that the high priest had to make offerings for his own sins before he could make offerings for the sins of the people.

And even this was a barrier. God dwelt among his people in the tabernacle and then the temple, but the people didn’t have direct access to Him. They only had access to God through intermediaries.

And so, just like God promised His presence to Abraham, God, speaking through His prophets promised that there was a better way coming.

To Jeremiah, God promised a new covenant that would fundamentally change the nature of His relationship with His children.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (CSB)

“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration.

“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.

A New Covenant

How different this new covenant that God is promising is! There will be no mediator needed between God and His people. He promises that the reason this new covenant will be possible is because He will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin. The fundamental issue separating God from His children will be dealt with.

And God keeps promising that He will come to dwell his His people. In Zechariah, he declares,

Zechariah 2:10–11 CSB

“Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, for I am coming to dwell among you”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become my people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you.

Then, in Zechariah, God promises that He will be sending his servant, the Branch, and that he will take away the iniquity of the land in a single day. And even more, the Davidic king will come to establish His Kingdom!

Isaiah talks about this coming King, this Messiah, saying,

Isaiah 9:2–7 (CSB)

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness. You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.

For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian. For every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

And he will be born of a virgin.

Isaiah 7:14 CSB

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

Immanuel. God with us. God will draw near and dwell with His people. He will send a son, born of a virgin, a Davidic King, who will establish His Kingdom, and even more, this new covenant that God has promised. There are so many promises, that it gets a little hard to keep track of how in the world God could fulfil all of these. When we studied through Zechariah, we talked about how Jewish teachers wondered if there would be two Messiahs, because it talks about a Messianic high priest, and a Messianic Davidic king. Well, that must be two people then, right? How could all of these promises come to be fulfilled in one person?

Would you join me in the Gospel of John?

John 1:1–18 (CSB)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.

He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”)

Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.

The Word Became Flesh

And so, we come to it. All of the promises, all of the expectations of centuries and millenia of waiting. All for this moment. The last word from God had been through the prophet Malachi. Over 400 years had passed without another word from God. Had God forgotten His promises?A thousand years had passed since his promises to David. More since his promises to Moses. Over two thousand since His promises to Abraham. Even longer since He promised the offspring that would crush the head of the serpent.

All that time, promises. All that time with but the faintest glimpses of God’s glory.

The Turning Point

As I’ve thought about this grand story, reflecting on the garden, and the sanctuaries of God, it strikes me that the Incarnation truly is a turning point. It’s like all of history was on a trajectory. We could not tear ourselves from the path we were on. Since Adam, we were stuck, unable to move from God’s initial evaluation of mankind in Genesis 6:5.

Genesis 6:5 (CSB)

“... the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time ...”

And so we come to a turning point in history. Expectation and hope have centered on this moment when God was going to begin to undo the destruction wrought by humanity, and to begin the process of restoring His creation.

We saw over and over again that we could not return to God, so He came to us. And to restore His creation, God would enter it. This is the Eucatastrophe of history.

In the Beginning

Notice where John starts his Gospel. Two weeks ago, we began our discussion of God With Us in Genesis, and here, John starts this account of Jesus by orienting the creation event in light of Jesus Christ. John hits us with a couple of theological truths here that we don’t have time to really dive into. First, he states that the Word was with God and that the Word was God.

In the years that followed the beginnings of the church, many heresies have sprung up around the person of Jesus Christ. Many of them persist to this day. Modern heresies like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is not eternal, but a created being, just the preeminent one. This of course is an old heresy, with perhaps the most well known proponent being Arius. One historian notes that for Arius, “Instead of Immanuel, God-with-us, we have the highest creature from God with us. Arius’s god has sent an emissary to do his dirty work.”

The Ebionites believed that Jesus Christ was just a man exalted by God. Yet again, a creation. This probably would be what the more charitable secular folks would say about Jesus. Something along the lines of Jesus was a good man, or a good teacher, but as C.S. Lewis pointed out, Jesus claimed to be God, which leaves two options. Either Jesus was nuts, or Jesus is God.

John starts with understanding right off the bat that when he is talking about the Word, the Logos, he is talking about God.

More than that, remember that our inheritance from Adam is death. Jesus is life. John says, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

Let me just briefly sidetrack here. We’ve talked about how the doctrine of creation is under attack. Another Biblical truth that is one of the first to be undermined, particularly by liberal churches is the virgin birth. The virgin birth isn’t just a cool story that fulfils a prophecy from Isaiah, but is ultimately something you can get rid of. No, remember, we inherit our sin through our fathers, right back to Adam. Jesus isn’t in Adam. He doesn’t have an earthly father.

More than that, John is showing us that Jesus was present for all eternity with the Father (and the Spirit) as God. Jesus is life.

John the apostle sidetracks for a little bit to talk about John the Apostle, and how he was pointing to this light coming into the world.

Unrecognized

So John continues on giving a look how this waiting world received him. Remember, God had been pointing towards the Messiah for millenia. And John tells us:

John 1:10–12 CSB

He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,

The creator has come into the world. We’ve talked a lot over the last two weeks that we couldn’t return to God in the garden, so He had to come to us. And here we have it, Creator come into His creation. And those that should have rejoiced at His coming didn’t even recognize Him.

And so we have come to the verse that really is the point of this whole three week sermon series.

John 1:14 CSB

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

God With Us

The Word, which we’ve established is God became flesh and dwelt among us. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been tracking the dwelling place of God. First, we saw God dwell in the garden with his creation, including Adam and Eve, humanity created in His image.

But Adam and Eve sinned, and no longer could dwell with a holy God. They were exiled, with the promises of restored relationship.

God called out a people for Himself, making a nation of them, and then redeeming them from slavery in Egypt. Having redeemed this people He gave them instructions for the creation of a tabernacle, a tent, that God would dwell with His people in. Although only the high priest would have access to the holy of holies, God dwelt within the presence of His people in the tabernacle.

Eventually, Solomon constructs a temple to replace the tabernacle. Like He did with the tabernacle, the glory of God descends on the temple, and God dwells with His people in their midst in the temple. But these people were stiffnecked, stubborn and rebellious, and so as He promised would happen, God cursed His people, disciplining them with exile. As a part of this discipline, God’s glory leaves the temple and it is destroyed.

After 70 years, the people return and build another temple, but although God promises His Spirit will be with them, God’s glory does not return to the temple, instead God promises that will be a future occurence.

And so on this night we celebrate, a virgin gives birth. God has come. In the flesh. With His people, among them. Walking with them once again like he did in the garden. But lest we forget God’s presence with the people, The literal words that John uses to describe this dwelling is that God became flesh and “tabernacled” among us. As the tabernacle was the earthly dwelling place of God, so now has God entered into creation to dwell.

John uses the same word in Revelation when he describes the new heavens and earth in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21:3–4 CSB

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

This dwelling of God is the beginning of a reversal, so that now God is beginning to undo the effects of the curse Adam and Eve brought upon all of creation. As God dwells with His people, death will be undone. Death has no power when confronted with the glory of God.

His Glory

Who could behold God’s glory? Remember earlier we talked about God telling Moses that beholding His glory would be fatal. Yet, John says here:

John 1:14 (CSB)

We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John elaborates further:

John 1:15–18 (CSB)

Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.

John is reminding us that God’s relationship with the people He redeemed from Egypt was a picture of His grace. The law helped the people to know God. Part of that law was the exact instructions for the construction of the tabernacle. Following those instructions allowed the people to enjoy God’s dwelling with them. So, how much more now has grace been layered on, because Jesus Christ has brought us all grace and truth, showing us the Father in all of his glory, all of His splendor, and yes, revealing to us all the extent of His love for us.

The True Tabernacle and Temple

As we continue through the New Testament, we see that just as the Tabernacle and the Temple were pointing back to Eden as the dwelling place of God, in Jesus, we find the perfect fulfilment of those two structures, as Jesus is all that the tabernacle and temple were, yet all that they could not be. While the tabernacle and temple provided access to God, it was a limited access, and one that was conditioned on the obedience of the people. In Jesus, we have access to God, but this new tabernacle and temple was not conditioned on our obedience, but on his.

Just as the tabernacle was a mobile dwelling of God, so too was Jesus (which is probably why John said that the Word tabernacled among us instead of templed among us). Jesus refers to Himself as the temple too. At the beginning of His adult ministry, Jesus went to the temple and cleared it out:

John 2:13–21 (CSB)

The Jewish Passover was near, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting there. After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen.

He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” And his disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume me.

So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

Herod’s temple was empty. God’s glory did not dwell there. No, now God’s glory dwelt in Jesus Christ. Ironically, this visit to the temple, and the others that Jesus made were the only times that God’s glory entered the second temple. At the end of His earthly ministry, the promised return of God’s glory from the eastern mountain happened with the triumphal entry, and yet as Jesus leaves the temple (again to the east), he pronounces that just as the first temple was destroyed after the exit of God’s glory, so too would the second temple.

Matthew 24:1–2 CSB

As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.”

Rejected By Men

Then, the people rejected God’s glory. They not only failed to recognize Him, but they wanted nothing to do with Him, and so they crucified Him. This isn’t the first time that God’s people rejected Him. Really, they had been rejecting Him over and over again from Adam on. But this rejection was different, instead of this rejection resulting in another round of consequences for humanity, this time, death didn’t have the final say.

Jesus was brutally killed on the cross, despised and rejected by men, but as Isaiah said, by his wounds, we are healed. You see, by the creator coming into creation, God in Jesus Christ bore the punishment for sin on Himself. He died the death Adam earned for all of us.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. No, death had no hold on Him. Just as he promised, the temple, the dwelling place of God was destroyed on the cross, and three days later, was raised up again. Death conquered. Life and light for any who would believe.

Will You Receive Him?

So, what is your response this morning? Will you receive Him? You have access to the Father this very day. Jesus Christ came to save you. He came to pay the price for your sin. And He was raised so that you might have new life in the light with Him.

What will your response be this morning? Will you be like those John talked about, who failed to notice God in their midst? Jesus is Emmanuel, God With Us. Will you recognize the creator? Will you submit your life to Him? Will you trust him? Will you be saved? Don’t let another day go by living in separation from God. He has provided a way for you.

God With Us in Eternity

So, if we began in the garden, enjoying God’s presence. So too will those who have trusted in Jesus and become God’s children enjoy His presence in all eternity. Let’s go back to Revelation 21 to see what God’s presence will be.

Revelation 21:22–23 CSB

I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 22:1–5 (CSB)

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month.

The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

The garden restored. Creation renewed.

Revelation 22:20–21 CSB

He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone. Amen.

Let us pray.