Sermon: The Christmas present (John 1:12-14,18)

The Christmas Present (John 1:12-14,18)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2003

Hunting for gifts can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience at this season of the year, especially dealing with the crowds, which can lead to a more creative method.

It was approaching the Christmas holiday, and the judge was in a cheerful mood. "What are you charged with?" he asked the defendant. "Doing my Christmas shopping early, Your Honor," the man answered. "Well, that certainly isn't a crime," the judge said. "How early were you doing this shopping?" ..."Before the store opened."

For those too young to do their own shopping, there is the more traditional method, although even this can be distressing.

As a little girl climbed onto Santa's lap, he asked the usual question, "And what would you like for Christmas?" The child stared at him open-mouthed and horrified for a moment, then gasped... "Didn't you get my e-mail?"

Thankfully, you need not resort to theft or technology to get the most important gift anyone can receive, The Christmas Present God gave long ago.

Most of us are familiar with the carols and Bible readings we use at this time of year, so much so that we do not need the hymnal and could probably recite the Scripture passages from memory. Still, no matter how familiar we are, we come to this season with another year's worth of experience and reflection that may enable us to appreciate some element of our celebration in a new way. One biblical passage, I have read and reread several times, struck me with renewed force because of the contrast it presents. Please turn to John 1, where the apostle explains how...

I. Jesus offers a gateway (path) to eternity (John 1:12-13).

• Through adoption by God

John 1:12 [T]o all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

You had nothing to say about getting here initially...

A. The first birth was involuntary.

• You had no choice whether or not to enter this world.

a. No one asked: "Would you like to be born?"

b. Your parents made that decision for you.

John says here that it is different the second time...¹

B. The second birth is voluntary.

• God gives you a choice whether or not to enter His kingdom.

a. He presents the opportunity, but it is your decision.

b. He does not force people into His realm who will not go.

It is your choice.

The second birth is not reincarnation, where you get to do this over again in the hope that you will do a better job. The author of Hebrews writes...

Heb 9:27 ...man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.

You only get one shot at this life, which is why you must make the most of it.

The second birth is regeneration, a second chance in this life. It is the ultimate "extreme makeover" that also includes the wonderful promise of a better life. Peter describes it this way:

1 Pet 1:3b In [God's] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.

"Heaven"—that is your eternal destination, not earth for a series of 'do-overs.'

Rebirth is a metaphor of what happens when a person turns to God, and it is a good metaphor, because it illustrates the kind of change that is involved.

• Your first birth brought you into a human family.

• For those who entered a loving home, it was or is a good experience.

• For others, not so fortunate, it was or is less fulfilling.

• Your second birth brings you into the Lord's family.

• No matter what your previous experience, this relationship reflects the perfect character of God.

• It makes you a child of someone who always acts in "grace and truth" (John 1:14, 17), who is good to His word and good to His people.

There is a saying, "You can choose your friends, but you can't pick your relatives." While that is true in the first birth, God allows you to pick your relatives in the second birth.

• You made a host of decisions today:

• What to wear,
• What to eat,
• Which route to travel to get here.

• Some of life's decisions are more significant than others:

• Where to work,
• What to study,
• Whom to marry.

Of all the decisions you make, though, the one John describes here is the most important, because it has the most profound and far-reaching implications.

• It offers you the opportunity...

• To start a new life,
• To become a member of God's family,
• To know God Himself.

No matter what other things demand your attention this season, do not let Christmas pass without reflecting on and rejoicing in this one thing: Jesus' incarnation ensures you a second chance—a second birth—and it is your choice whether or not you will take advantage of it.

In John 1:12-13, John explains how Jesus offers a gateway to eternity through adoption by God. The apostle then goes on to explain, in addition, how...

II. Jesus offers a glimpse of deity (John 1:14,18).

• Through revelation from God

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,² who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.... 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

Moses once asked God to reveal Himself, but God replied, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live" (Exod 33:20). Paul calls God the one "who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see" (1 Tim 6:16). In his revelation, though, John says that those who have a part in the new heaven and new earth God will create for His people will do what no one else has ever done: "They will see his face" (Rev 22:4a).³

There were some in John's day who held to a philosophy called Docetism ("to seem"), which advocated that Jesus, while on earth, did not have a physical body only a phantom one. According to this view, for deity to join with humanity would be defiling,⁴ so Jesus' presence here was merely virtual not actual. John is unequivocal in his rebuttal. He opens his first epistle (c. 90), written soon after his gospel (c. 85), with these words:

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

It is similar to what John says in his gospel, that "the Word became flesh" (v. 14). He also says that the Word "made his dwelling among us," alluding perhaps to Israel's experience when God manifested the glory of His presence through the Shekinah, the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night that led the people in the wilderness. Later, in the first century, God does something similar by manifesting the glory of His presence through the savior.

This is another significance of Christmas, along with a gateway to eternity: It gives you a window onto that future reality, when you will be in the presence of the Lord. Although you are not there yet, you have a preview of it. John says, "No one has ever seen God...but...God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known." Jesus has revealed what you would not, what you could not see this side of eternity—by embodying the attributes of God, those qualities that describe who and what God is.

So, what is it about God that is clear in Jesus? What can we know now about the One we will actually meet some day? ...Many things, like...

• Faithfulness to the promise of a savior,
• Compassion to heal the sick,
• Wisdom in teaching,
• Glory at the transfiguration,
• Power to raise the dead,
• Love at Calvary.

All these and more help you to visualize God.⁵ They provide a partial glimpse now of what no one has ever seen or could see, a flash-forward of what you will see fully later.⁶

How can you be sure of securing a place in eternity with God? ...John explains that too, as he describes another reason for Christmas.

John 3:16 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.... 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in...God's one and only Son.

Our sin has separated us from God, and Jesus came to repair that breach by suffering the penalty in our place.⁷

1 John 4:9b [God] sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

The benefit of his sacrifice, though, only comes to those who believe, who appropriate what he has accomplished for them. If you have done that, if you have said "Yes" to God's offer of forgiveness, you can rest assured that what was once impossible will become a reality for you. You will see God, because you will be with Him...forever.

With all that may catch your eye this season, from the decorations in the mall, to the lights on the tree, to the wrapping on the packages, do not lose sight of the most important thing. However distant your actual meeting with the Lord may seem, you have in the savior a preview of that encounter. Jesus offers a glimpse of deity through revelation from God—of what it will be like to see God.

The comparison at the beginning of life John makes here is like the comparison at the end of life he makes elsewhere.

• In his gospel, John distinguishes two kinds of birth—physical and spiritual.⁸

• These two kinds of birth have a different coverage:

• Physical birth, the union of a person's material and immaterial parts, is universal, in that everyone experiences it.

• Spiritual birth, however, is partial, in that only some experience it.

• These two kinds of birth, despite the difference in their coverage, have a similar consequence:

• Physical birth is positive, having the potential to know God.

• Spiritual birth is also positive; as many of you know, it is a great experience with wonderful prospects, because it fulfills that potential to know God.

• In his revelation, John distinguishes two kinds of death—again, physical and spiritual.⁹

• Like the two kinds of birth, these two kinds of death have a different coverage:

• Physical death, the separation of a person's material and immaterial parts, is universal (like physical birth), in that everyone experiences it.

• Spiritual death, however, is partial (like spiritual birth), in that only some experience it, namely those who have not experienced spiritual birth.

• Like the two kinds of birth, these two kinds of death, despite the difference in their coverage, have a similar consequence:

• Physical death is negative (unlike physical birth), being a product of the fall.

• Spiritual death is also negative (unlike spiritual birth); it is a bad experience with terrible prospects (e.g., no relief), again, for those who have not experienced spiritual birth.

While you cannot change the selection of your birth or the certainty of your death—both physical elements beyond your control—you can determine your direction after birth and your destination after death—both spiritual elements within your control. It is your choice, an opportunity God made possible through The Christmas Present He gave long ago.

For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.