“WORTH MORE THAN WE CAN IMAGINE”
John 1:1-14
by Rev. John R. Hannem,
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A few years ago a man named Roy Whetstine purchased a stone from an amateur collector at an
When we think of the Christmas story in the Bible, we usually focus on the first chapters of Matthew or Luke, which record what happened in Bethlehem of Judea about 2000 years ago. Today, however, we will turn our attention to another version of the story, found in John’s Gospel, Chapter 1, Verses 1-14. John gives us important background information that enables us to better understand Christmas. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word. When was this beginning? The beginning was long before Mary gave birth to the Baby Jesus. The beginning takes us back past the creation of the world and even before the dawn of time, to the eternal past. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. So what is this Word? The Jews understood it to refer to the wisdom of God, while Greeks saw it as a term for reason and thought. Yet, it quickly becomes clear that John views the Word as a person. 1:2-4 He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. He was with God in the beginning. He is the Creator and the source of life and light. It is clear that the Word is the eternal Son of God, the second Person of the divine Trinity. That is why in Verse 1, John says the Word was God Himself.
And that, friends, is the background of Christmas. John then summarizes the event this way: 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. God became human. We sometimes call it the incarnation, God taking on flesh. Leaving His heavenly home, the eternal Son becomes a human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. It is impossible for our minds to fully grasp what that means. Any analogy we come up with to explain what happens falls way short. A king becoming a beggar or a human taking the form of an insect just don’t compare. The gap between who the Son of God was and who He became cannot be measured.
The reason for that is because none of us can understand the full meaning of the phrase, “The Word was God.” We know that means He was eternal, there was never a time when God the Son was not. We know there were absolutely no limits on His knowledge, wisdom or power. He was omnipresent, able to be everyplace in the universe at the same time. He was a spirit, with none of the limitations of a physical body. And we know He experienced perfect love and joy in His relationship with God the Father and God the Spirit. Yet, that is just scratching the surface of what it means to be God. Then on that first Christmas night the Word, the eternal Son, became flesh. We often talk about the humble circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus’ birth. About how a baby born in a stable to an ordinary girl, engaged to a simple carpenter, seems like a strange way to save the world. Yet, how Jesus was born is not nearly as strange as the mere fact that He was born. Going from being God to being human is a big transition. Max Lucado notes, “It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment, that was like none other. Through that segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived, heaven opened herself and placed her most precious One in a human womb. The Creator of life is created.”
All of a sudden God has a human body. He has eyebrows, toenails, two kidneys and a spleen. He now needs air to breathe, food to eat and water to drink. He has feet that would get tired, teeth that could decay, and arm pits that would give off an unpleasant odor. He probably had both colds and the stomach flu. He had a body like us. Thus, He was tempted to complain when weary, tempted to overeat when food was good and tempted in all ways as we are tempted. Now, I suspect some people are not real comfortable with that description. Maybe it seems kind of sacrilegious to think of Jesus that way. Yet, remember, He became human. Yes, He was still God. He never sinned. But He was still very much a human being. Fully God and fully man. No, I know the math doesn’t work out on that one, but this is the truth which the Bible teaches.
So we have the eternal, infinite, God the Son, accepting the limitations of a human being. It is the most remarkable thing anyone could ever imagine. In 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, President Nixon at that time said, “This is the greatest event in human history.” The next day the President received a telegram from his friend Billy Graham. It read, “With all due respect, Mr. President, the greatest event in history was not when men landed on the moon, but when God landed on earth in the person of Jesus Christ.
But, why? Why would God become man? Perhaps the shortest answer is one given by C. S. Lewis. “The Son of God became man, so that men might become the sons of God.” The best explanation is one that John gives a couple of chapters later in his Gospel. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. There are a number of reasons why God’s Son came to earth, but the most basic one is so He could die. After 33 years on this earth, He allowed Himself to be crucified on a Roman cross, and by doing so He provided a sacrifice for the sins of human beings. When He died on that cross, He paid the penalty for our sins, so that we could be forgiven, so that we could be freed from our bondage to sin and selfishness, so that we could be delivered from the fear of death and have the hope of eternal life. His death was able to accomplish that for us only because He was fully God and fully human. If He was not a man, He could not have died; He could not have been killed. If He was not God, His death would have been at best a sacrifice for one other person. Only as God incarnate, only as the eternal Son in the person of Jesus Christ, could He bring us salvation. And that is what He has done for me, for you, for everyone on this planet who places their faith, their trust in Him.
And, friends, that is why I said that Christmas is worth far more than we can ever imagine. Without Jesus’ coming to this earth we would, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:12, be without hope and without God in this world. Oh, we could still try to pretend everything is OK. We could still proclaim, “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die.” But the emptiness, darkness and despair of life apart from God would cast a long shadow over our souls. And whether we like to think about it or not, the reality of eternal death, of hell, would face us on the other side of the grave. The difference between life without Jesus Christ and life with Jesus Christ is far greater than night and day.
Friend, maybe you are here today because, well just because it is Christmas. It’s a tradition to come to church at this time. Or maybe you are here because someone else in your family wanted you to come. That’s great. We are glad you are here. Yet, I’m concerned you might be making the mistake of thinking something like this, “Yeah, this Christmas stuff is all fine and dandy once a year, and it’s real special for the kids, but it will be good to get back to life and what is really important.” Maybe you think what is really important is going back to work and making money or back to school and working on your degree. Or perhaps what you think really matters is spending time with family or friends. Or maybe you are looking forward to going skiing, watching a hockey game, going to a movie, or taking a trip somewhere south where there isn’t any snow.
Friend, maybe you are someone who has always done the Christmas/Easter thing, but has never thought that Jesus had much to do with real life. Let me be very frank. You have been mistaken. You are missing out. You are missing out big time. And unless you change your thinking concerning the Lord Jesus, you are going to be missing out big time for eternity. Today, Christmas Day, it is my privilege to invite you to turn to God in a human body, the Lord Jesus Christ, and embrace Him as your Lord and Savior. I’m not talking about becoming religious, joining the church, getting baptized, or giving money to anyone. What you do, as God’s Spirit enables, is stop trusting in your self, stop thinking you are good enough the way you are, and place your faith in Jesus Christ. That is the promise of John 3:16, if you believe in Him, you will not perish but have everlasting life. Or as John 1:12 says, if you receive Him, the Word made flesh, you become part of God’s family, a child of God. So, by God’s grace, turn to the Lord Jesus today. If you are not sure what I mean, come talk with me.
I also want to encourage those of us who are believers in Christ, to realize the infinite worth of the Lord Jesus, and to remember the great value of knowing and following Him. There are many Christians, some in this room, who are struggling in various ways today. Health concerns, financial problems, family conflicts, grief, depression, loneliness, addictions to alcohol, drugs or pornography, too much stress are all things that can knock us down and keep us from experiencing the joy which the Lord desires us to have. Friend, whatever your problem, I encourage you to take it to the Lord Jesus, the One who is God in human body, and trust Him to help you. I cannot tell you how He is going to do that, but I can tell you that if you trust Him and obey Him, He will bring you through whatever difficulty you are facing. Whether it is tragedy or irritations that are robbing you of the joy you want to have, the Lord Jesus is able, as the Apostle Paul says, to do far more for you than you can ever ask or think. To know Him is worth more than you can ever imagine.
William Randolph Hearst once read about an extremely valuable piece of art, which he decided he must add to his extensive collection. He instructed his agent to scour the galleries of the world to find the masterpiece he was determined to have at any price. After many months of painstaking search, the agent reported that the piece already belonged to Mr. Hearst and had been stored in one of his warehouses for many years. Friend, on this Christmas Day, the answer you are looking for, no matter what your question is, is right in front of you. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, God in a human body. He is the One who can give meaning, hope and joy to our lives. He is the One worthy of our faith and confidence. He is the One worthy of adoration and worship. Let us close by celebrating the coming of the Lord Jesus as we sing Joy to the World.