Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text (John 1:14):
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, and dwell among us in the flesh today, and send us the Holy Spirit as we hear your word. Amen.
The message of Christmas hits the core of what it means to be human being!
The message of Christmas is not something for “Christians” only, but is a message for all people. I bring you good news of great joy to all people. Peace on earth and good will to all people. All people everywhere are called to listen to the message of angels, and join the wise-men and the shepherds, and all people are called to come and worship the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, who is their Lord, their God, and their King. All people everywhere are called to take up their cross and follow the baby Jesus from the manger to the cross, and from the cross to the resurrection of the body and to everlasting life.
That’s what we’re here to celebrate today. It’s a great day to celebrate, as we remember and commemorate the birth of our Lord and God Jesus Christ in a small stable in Bethlehem.
And in our reading today from the Gospel of John, we read the following words:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
In the beginning of the bible, in the second chapter of the book of Genesis, we read about when God created the first man, Adam. And we read, that the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
He came out of the dust, he had the breath of life breathed into him, and he became a living creature. Actually the word there is literally, a living soul. Notice that it doesn’t say that God put a soul into the man, but that he became a living soul.
It’s a common thing for people to think that we are split into body and soul in such a way that our body is just a shell for the soul, and that our body is worth nothing. It’s just a bit of dust.
But that’s not what the bible says about us. It says that God made him out of the dust, breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul.
A living soul means that he is one unified human being. One person – not two. Sure, he has a body and a soul, but the bible talks about him as a body who is a living soul. He doesn’t have a body and he doesn’t have a soul. He is a body and he is a soul.
But when Adam and Eve fell into sin, God pronounces his word of judgment on him. He says, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.”
And so here we all are, made from dust, and destined once again to go to the dust. We often say this at funerals, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
That’s what the world is like without Christmas. That’s what the world is like without the birth of the baby Jesus.
Listen to what Solomon says about the world in Ecclesiastes. He says:
I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. (1:13-14). The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. (12:7-8) All is a breath of air, a puff of wind, a bit of dust.
And now at Christmas we read that opposite thing comes about.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Here now, we see the Word. The Word of God. The Word of God who was in the beginning. The Word of God who was with God. The Word of God who is God.
This is such a strange way of speaking for us. And the bible has many strange ways of speaking. But in Hebrew, the word for “a word” can also mean “an event”. A word and an event are the same thing. This is incredibly powerful, because we know that when God speaks, things happen. God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.
And so when God speaks, things happen. But also, this word which he speaks, is not just a word, it’s not just a thing, or an event, but it’s a person, it’s the Son of God.
Our Christmas Day reading today starts with these powerful and mysterious words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And now we learn: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
We see here the opposite of what happened to Adam. Adam was formed out of the dust, and God breathed into him and he became a living soul.
But at Christmas time, we see that that Jesus Christ was true God, God of God, Light of Light, True God from True God, and he became flesh. He was already a living soul – he didn’t need to become a living soul like Adam. But now the true God, the God who made heaven and earth, the Word of God, who was in the beginning with God, who was with God, and is God, became flesh.
Notice that it says, he didn’t become a human being. He did become a human being, but to make sure that we know in what way he became a human being, the text says, “The Word became flesh.”
Christians believe in the Holy Trinity. We believe in the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, but there are not three Gods but one God.
And the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, became a man. He took on human body. He became a man, he became a human being, he became flesh.
The Son of God who didn’t have a human body, became flesh, just like the rest of us, he was born of a mother, and was grew up as a child, and into a grown man.
And just to make sure that we don’t think that he wasn’t a real human being, the text says to us, flesh, flesh, flesh.
The Word became flesh, and he dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. And he is full of grace and truth.
Jesus is true God, but he is also a true man, a true human being.
And now, I don’t know if you have ever thought about this, but when you worship God, and when you worship Jesus, you are worshipping a human being like yourself! You are worshipping a man Jesus, who is true God and true man. You can’t worship one without the other, because they are the same person.
When you look at the baby Jesus in the manger, who is there? God or a baby? Both!
When you see Jesus on the cross dying for your sins, who is there? God or a man? Both!
When you see Jesus sitting at the right hand of God ruling over heaven and earth, who is there? God or a man? Both!
And what on earth, do you think, is God doing, lying in a manger?
What on earth do you think is God doing becoming a baby?
What on earth do you think is God doing being cradled in the arms of a young woman, the Virgin Mary?
What on earth do you think is God doing having his nappy changed? Having a drink of his mother’s milk? What on earth is God doing getting nailed to a cross?
Well, have a look where he ends up: sitting at the right hand of God the Father.
Look where he ends up!
And he’s not ashamed to begin his life just like you! He’s not ashamed to live a life like yours!
The Word of God is not ashamed to become flesh, and live among us.
Because he knows that all this stuff, all this Christmas stuff means, that for those who do not reject him as their Lord and God, will worship the Lamb seated on the throne, with all the angels forever.
You see, when the Son of God became a baby, when the Word of God became flesh, he brought heaven with him. All the angels went to sing and rejoice with the shepherds in their fields.
And when the same Son of God, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, he brings all of the earth with him too. So that the angels are almost scratching their heads when they see that a real human being, human flesh, is seated on the throne of God, and is being worshipped by all creation. This is such a mysterious things, that the angels don’t even dare to look, but they cover their faces!
And here we are this Christmas in the presence of this same Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has been born for us! For us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
To you this day is born a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
What wonderful news! What a wonderful message! Such news brings great joy!
But remember whenever the word of God is spoken, things happen. The word of God is an event, and more than that, the Word of God is a person! The Word of God has become flesh! He is Jesus Christ our Lord!
And when we hear these words, we know that Jesus Christ is the one who is here speaking them! He is the one who is standing here in the flesh speaking to us, breathing out on us his Holy Spirit. When he does this, he makes little humble churches cities on hills which cannot be hidden. When Jesus Christ comes and joins us in our worship, the church becomes the light of the world, just as he is the Light of the World. When Jesus Christ comes to earth, he makes little stables at the back of hotels, smelly old places where people put their animals before they stay for the night – he makes those places the centre of the universe. Stables shine like stars! Churches shine like the sun! And flesh, human flesh, real human bodies, with all their sin and all the shame, shine with the forgiveness of sins, and shine with the glory of God! He makes us citizens of heaven because he has baptised us. Think about what that means!
And so what a wonder it is, what a miracle it is to be with Jesus, to be with the same baby, and to sing with the same angels: Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased! Think what it means to sing with the same angels and archangels and all the company of heaven and sing: Holy! Holy! Holy!
Think what it means that the word of God made a woman pregnant! And you are listening to the same word!
Think what it means that the word of God became flesh, and dwelt among us! And you will eat the same body and drink the same blood, so that he will dwell within you and change your decaying body, into his own glorious body! The bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper are the swaddling clothes, they are the manger where you will find your Lord Jesus. He is called Jesus because he saves us from our sins!
And he does save us from our sins, because he is full of grace! Grace means that he saves us and forgives us even though he knows that we are sinners! And we can be sure of this and we can build our lives on this, because he is full of truth!
And so this Christmas day, we come to the stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary, and say with confidence, and with joy, and with faith:
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and full of truth! Amen.
You are the king of glory, O Christ, you are the everlasting Son of the Father. When You became man to set us free, you did not spurn the virgin’s womb. You overcame the sting of death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are seated at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father. We believe that you will come to be our judge. We therefore ask to help us, your servants, whom you have redeemed with your precious blood. Let us be numbered with your saints in glory everlasting. Amen.
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