Trinity Baptist Church

 

As you know, we live in a politically correct age. Christmas, as much as anything has greatly been affected by political correctness. For example, I recently came across a political correct Christmas greeting:

 

Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most joyous traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, but with respect for the religious persuasion of others who choose to practice their own religion as well as those who choose not to practice a religion at all; Additionally, a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions have helped make our society great, without regard to the race, creed, color, religious, or sexual preferences of the wishes.

 

You take many of traditional and familiar Christmas songs. Since the word Christmas is exclusive to Christians, therefore it must be removed. And, since it cannot be replaced with the word holiday, which is a version of Holy Day, it must be replaced with the innocuous phrase "day off." Therefore the song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" should be, "We Wish You a Merry Non-Religious-Specific Day-Off in Winter."

 

Since we cannot let any covert references to race be interjected, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" should be, "I'm Dreaming of a Race Immaterial Non-Religious Specific Day-Off in Winter."

 

We definitely can't exclude the physically impaired, therefore "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," should be, "I Sensed the Bells on the Non-Religious Specific Day-Off in Winter."

 

We don't want to forget the secularist, therefore, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" should be, "Oh Come All Ye of Extreme Loyalty to Non-Material Evidence."

 

A person should not feel excluded based on where they live, therefore, "Go Tell it on the Mountain" should be, "Go Tell it on the Preferred Geographical Location."

 

Physical descriptions should be eliminated, therefore "Little Drummer Boy" should be, "Vertically Challenged Drummer Child of Undetermined Gender."

 

We cannot stereotype overweight people as happy, nor make references to a person's age, or apply religious terms. Therefore, "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" should be, "Happy, Plus-sized, Chronologically Gifted, Highly Virtuous Nicholas."

 

Finally, the words, "Over the River and Though the Woods" should be subtitled: "Only after an environmental impact study on the effects of a horse-drawn sleigh upon the woods is conducted. And assuming the gentle vegetarian beast of a horse is not being forced to pull an overloaded sleigh and is doing so on a volunteer basis."

It may not be political correct to put Christ into Christmas, but the truth is, there is no Christmas apart from Christ. As the saying goes, Jesus is the reason for the season. As we enter into another Christmas season, I want us to spend a few weeks thinking about the real meaning of Christmas.

 

In John 1:14 we have in one sentence what Christmas is all about. The Bible says, "And the Word was made flesh." I know of no one single statement that better sums up the meaning of Christmas than that "the Word was made flesh." For a few weeks I want us to think about the Word becoming flesh. First, I want us to think about the Word before He became flesh, then when He became flesh, and last of the Word after He became flesh.

 

Today, let's think about the Word before He became flesh. Before we look at the Word before He became flesh, let me clarify who the Word is. When John said the Word was made flesh he is making it very clear who the Word is. The Word is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word "Word" is a title that is exclusive to the writings of the Apostle John. The title comes from the Greek word logos, which means "to say something."

 

The word speaks of communicating something. The idea is that Jesus communicates or reveals the Father to us. We read in John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." Jesus is the great revelation of the Father. No one has ever seen God directly, but in Jesus we see the Father.

 

 

As we look at the Word becoming flesh, I want us to see what John has to say about the Word before He became flesh. In John 1:1-3 we see the Word before He became flesh. When John spoke of the Word before He became flesh he declares that:

 

We read in John 1:1-2, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." This is one the greatest statements in the Bible concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus. It is a clear and definite declaration that Jesus is God. One of the great tenets of our faith is the deity of Jesus Christ--Jesus Christ is God.

 

The philosopher John Stuart Mill called Him a "preeminent genius" and "probably the greatest moral reformer and martyr who ever existed on earth, the idea representative and guide of humanity." Jesus was more than a "preeminent genius" and great moral reformer and martyr. He was God!

 

In our day and time when doctrine is minimized on the grounds of unity, I think it is important that we as Christians nail down certain belief's and hold them as essential pillars of our faith. One of those truths is the deity of Jesus Christ. I have no patience or tolerance with anyone who decries or denies the deity of the Lord Jesus.

 

As we look closer at the deity of Jesus as declared in our text, let me point out a couple of things that speaks of His deity. First, there is:

 

 

The words, "In the beginning," take us back to the beginning of all things as we know them. They take us back to creation of this universe. They tell us that before all things came into existence Jesus was. They do not declare that Jesus was one of the created beings or that the beginning included the beginning of His existence.

 

They declare that when all things had a beginning, Jesus was. He existed before all things came into being.

 

The word "was" is a word that is often used for deity. It means to be or I am. It speaks of that which is of continuous existence, without beginning or origin. In the beginning we see the One who had no beginning. Jesus is eternal!

 

The Bible says in Psalm 90:2, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."

 

If you could walk back to the first moment of time and there stand on the edge of eternity, and you would find Him. If it were possible to step off that edge and travel eons of time back into eternity you would still find Jesus. In fact, no matter how far back into eternity you travel you will always find Him existing. There has never been a moment when He was not was and there will never be a moment when He is not is.

 

 

 

Furthermore, we see:

 

 

There are two great statements made about the person of Jesus Christ. First, He "was with God," and secondly, He "was God." Both of these statements speak of the person of Jesus Christ.

 

First, take the statement that Jesus "was with God." The word "with" literally means toward or face to face. The idea is that Jesus and God acted together in all things. Their relationship was in all things in perfect harmony, acting as one.

 

Secondly, the statement that Jesus "was God" declares that they are one. When the angel announced to Mary that she would give birth to a son, he said "they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." It was not a case of Jesus being a God, but He was God.

 

When we talk about the trinity, we are not talking about three Gods; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. No, we are talking about one God manifested in three persons.

 

Jesus is God! Before the Word ever became flesh, He was God! Secondly, we not only see that Jesus is God, but we also see that:

 

 

We read in John 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made."

 

His greatness is seen in His power that was evident in the creation of all things. How great is the Lord Jesus? The creation of the heavens and earth testify to His greatness.

 

His creation of all things testifies to His:

 

 

His unlimited power in creation is seen in that out of nothing He brought forth all things. It is hard for us to image a total state of nothingness. We tend to think of a state of emptiness. In our mind we image an empty universe out there absent of any stars, planets, etc. But that would mean there was something--empty yes--but something. No, there was nothing, not even emptiness.

 

There was not a single sound to be heard, no whisper, no song, not even silence, for there was nothing. There was not a single color to be seen. There were no hues of blues and greens, no blends of color. The darkness was not even black for there was no color whatsoever. There were no aromas, either bitter or sweet. There was an absolute state of nothing. But out of that state of nothingness, God simply spoke the word and all things instantly came into existence.

 

In a Slate Magazine interview, Andrei Linde, a physicist at Stanford University said that it wouldn't take much to create a universe. He said all it would take "to get a universe like ours started in a hundred-thousandth of a gram of matter." He even added that we can't rule out the possibility that our own universe was created in a lab by someone in another universe who just felt like doing it."1

Well, in the first place, I never cease to be amazed at the levels of intelligence that we find in our so-called institutions of higher learning. With such comments by one of their professors I understand why parents pay close to $30,000.00 a year for their children to attend such prestigious schools.

 

Furthermore, I would recommend that Mr. Linde try his theory and see if it works. I do not know anything about Mr. Linde but it would not surprise me if he were not one who is dissatisfied with the world we have. I would recommend that if it so easy to create a universe that he go ahead and create a new one. I would also say that if he really thinks it would not be that hard to create a universe, start without having any matter whatsoever. Then I will really be impressed.

 

The simple truth of the matter is that man at his greatest could never create a universe. Man may be able to do many amazing things, but it is far beyond man's ability to create something out of nothing. Only God can do that. Man can take something and do many things with it, but only God and take nothing and make something out it. When the Bible says that all things were made by Him, it is a declaration of his unlimited power.

 

Furthermore, we are reminded of:

 

 

We not only read in verse 3 that, "All things were made by Him," but also that "without Him was not anything made that was made."

 

 

It is like John was saying, "If you have any questions about His power, there would not have been anything made if He had not made it." It is not just a matter of all things exist because He made them, but if He had not made all things there would not be anything.

 

The hymn writer expressed His greatness:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

 

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Yes, Jesus is God! Jesus is great! The extent of His greatness far exceeds our understanding and comprehension. Lastly, we also see that:

 

 

I draw your attention to John 1:14. The Bible says, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." Next week we will consider more in detail the Word being made flesh, but today let me remind you that the Word becoming flesh is a story of grace from beginning to end.

 

When we talk about grace we are talking about what God has done for us. Anything God does for us is an act of grace. I heard Tom Hayes say that any act of God in our direction is grace. That is true.

 

 

 

Furthermore, when we talk about grace we are talking about how we are undeserving of what God has done. Grace simply means that we did not deserve what God did for us, but He did it anyway.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of being Russian spies and treason against the United States in 1951, and later executed for their crimes. In the summation at the end of their trial, the lawyer animatedly said to Judge Kaufman who presided over the trial, "Your honor, what my clients ask for is justice." Judge Kaufman calmly replied, "The court has given what you ask for--justice! What you really want is mercy. But that is something this court has no right to give."

 

God did not give us justice, although that is what we deserved. Instead, He gave us mercy! The Word becoming flesh is a story of His grace.

 

The Word becoming flesh:

 

 

The very fact that the Word became flesh is a message of God's grace. He could have left us in a helpless and hopeless condition, but instead He was made flesh, came into this world to save men from their sins.

 

If you have any doubts about God's love or His grace, look to a manger in Bethlehem. There you see a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes that is the message that "God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16).

 

 

 

John said He was "full of grace and truth." Paul said in Titus 2:11, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." The Word made flesh is a message of God's grace.

 

Furthermore, it:

 

 

If you want to know the length, breadth, and depth of God's grace, look at the Word becoming flesh.

Jesus, "whom God hath appointed heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2) became man.

 

Jesus "by whom He created all things, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers (Col. 1:16) became man.

Jesus "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15) became man.

 

Jesus "the brightness of God's glory" (Heb. 1:3) became man.

Jesus "so much better than the angels" (Heb. 1:4) became man.

Jesus in whom "dwells all the fullness of the God-head bodily" (Col. 2:9) became man.

Jesus the Son of man without sin and the Son of God with power became man.

Jesus, "head of all principalities and power" (Col. 2:10) became man.

Jesus into whose hands God "hath committed all judgment" (John 5:22) became man.

 

Jesus, who in eternity rested on the bosom of the Father without a mother, and in time rested on the bosom of a mother without a father, became man.

 

Jesus, co-equal, co-essential, co-existent, co-eternal with God, having glory with God before the world was became man. He stepped down from the heights of deity to the depths of humanity. He gave up heaven's light for earth's darkness, heaven's grace for earth's guilt, heaven's peace for earth's strife, heaven's love for earth's hate, heaven's wealth for earth's poverty, heaven's clothing for earth's nakedness, and heaven's life for earth's death. The Word being made flesh is declares the message and demonstrates the measure of His grace.

 

Someone has written What a Night:

That night when in the Judean skies

The mystic star dispensed its light,

A blind man moved in his sleep

And dreamed that he had sight.

 

That night when shepherds heard

The song of hosts angelic choiring near,

A deaf man stirred in slumber's spell

And dreamed that he could hear.

 

That night when o'er the newborn babe

The tender Mary rose to lean,

A loathsome leper smiled in sleep,

And dreamed that he was clean.

 

That night when in the manger lay

The Sanctified who came to save,

A man moved in the sleep of death,

And dreamed there was no grave.

 

Oh what a night when the Word was made flesh. Jesus that is God, Jesus that is great, was Jesus that is gracious..