Let's take our Bibles and turn to John chapter 1. Before we get to the text, I want to talk a little bit about why we celebrate Christmas on December 25th. The idea originated in the 4th century. Although the day chosen to acknowledge Christ's birth differed from place to place. Christendom at that time was divided in two separate sections. We have this Christianity to the east and the west, east being centered in Constantinople, the west in Rome. And those in the east celebrate it January 6th, which is still celebrated today by the Orthodox Church. And then we have in The Roman in the West was celebrated December 25th. About 350 B.C., 350 A.D., Pope Julius set December 25th as the date to celebrate the birth of Christ. He wanted to eclipse two Roman pagan festivals that were occurring at that time of year. It was first the Roman feast of Saturnalia, the worship of Saturn, celebrated with a sacrifice at the pagan temple to Saturn, followed by private gift giving, excessive eating, drunkenness, and gambling. It was one of the marks of that festival. Another holiday at the same time was the festival of Solus Invicti, meaning the unconquered sun, S-U-N. As you know, this time of year, daylight overpowers the darkness. Days get longer, winter solstice. And that's what it was, a celebration of the god of light, Mithras. that festival. So the church decided to compete with these pagan celebrations and have a holiday honoring the birth of Christ, who, as we'll see from John chapter 1, is the true light, the light that comes into the darkness and the darkness doesn't overcome it. Now no one considered December 25th to be the actual anniversary of the day Jesus was born. They don't know that. But they desired a Christian observance to compete head on with those pagan celebrations. Now Christmas was slow to catch on, both in England and in America. In fact, in the 1700s, the Massachusetts Bay Colony had a law against celebrating Christmas on December 25th. Over in England, there was a law made that you had to work on December 25th. So that was early on. It wasn't until the mid-1800s where it started catching on in both places. And for the next 100 years or so after that, most Americans genuinely appreciated the day and celebrated it as a holy day. Holiday is what really means holy day. But over the decades since, of course, Christmas has become just a secular observance, remembering Santa and the reindeer and snowmen. And even then, I find it amazing when you go into stores, you hear the sacred music of Christmas being played, even words. So there's maybe still some hope. But of course, there is the militant element who desires to wipe out every reference of Christ from society. So in our postmodern times, it isn't politically correct to say Merry Christmas. We need to leave Christ out of it, so it's Happy Holidays. And as far as I'm concerned, all I can say to that is bah humbug. Now some Christian groups minimize or even refuse to celebrate Christmas because of some Christmas traditions that go along with it, like decorated trees, which has its roots in paganism. And I don't deny that that is true, but as in all things, the Lord looks at our hearts behind what we do. Plus, Paul says in Romans 14, that we're going to get to eventually, that such things just don't matter. Romans 14, he says, one person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. So you see, whether you celebrate the day or not is irrelevant. But every Christian should celebrate the fact of Jesus' birth, for it's a historical event that is so essential to our Christian faith. So here in John chapter 1, these verses may not initially appear as being Christmassy, because there's no shepherds or angels or Mary, Joseph, or Bethlehem, but they are the essence of why Christians recognize and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because John here describes several central doctrines about our Lord Jesus. I'll read the first 18 verses of John chapter 1. In the beginning was the word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Notice he's talking about the Word, and then it's a he pronoun. Just in case you don't understand, John uses this as a word for Jesus. Jesus is, the word reveals God to us. That's what the Bible's all about. But Jesus also is the revealer of God to us. So he's God's word to man. In fact, that's what he will say down in verse 18. We're continuing on. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, his name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. The glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried out, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me. For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side. He has made him known. Now these are some of the most powerful verses in scripture about who Christ is, his nature, his humanity, and his deity. His deity is seen in verses one and two in his eternality. He was in the beginning, the Word already was. He already existed in the beginning of time. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. So here we have the eternality of the word, of Jesus Christ. He always was, and this is one of the essential attributes of God. that he is eternal. His omnipotence is found in verse 3 as well as several references throughout this passage. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. Here we have his omnipotence as creator, creating out of nothing, that which we find in Genesis 1, we find here in reference to the Son of God. He's eternal, he's omnipotent, he is also the revealer of God in verse 18. Who can do that? John says, but God. And the Word did that, the Lord Jesus. But then there's verse 14, with its emphasis on Jesus' humanity. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory. The glory is of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace. and truth. And of course, at Christmas time, this is what we sing about. There's a real baby sleeping on Mary's lap. A new person has come into existence that will grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. And it's very important for Christ to be human. And the reason for that is so that he could die. We needed a human representative that could be a true substitute for mankind, who would bear our sins and pay the penalty due them in death. This is what the writer of Hebrews talks about in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17. He had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. So Jesus was born naturally of a natural woman. He was fully man. Yet he was also the perfect man. Perfect in that he was a human without sin. Now how could a man be born without sin? Only one way. He had to be God. God alone is without sin. And that means Jesus' birth was different than anybody else's in history. There are several supernatural and miraculous things about the birth of Christ. We have the supernatural appearance of the angels to the shepherds. We have the supernatural star that appears to the wise men associated with the Christmas story. And of course, there's the miraculous conception of Jesus in a virgin's womb. We've never known a human male. She was conceived of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the virgin birth there is a very important one. But I think the greatest miracle concerning Jesus' birth was that of God. becoming man. This becoming human is what we typically refer to as the incarnation. It has Latin origins. Within the word incarnation we find the root carne, which means flesh or meat. We use this Latin word in cooking. Ever heard of chili con carne? What's it mean? Chili with meat. Incarnate means in the flesh, or to make flesh. And used in a theological context with reference to the Son of God, it means He became one of us. He put on flesh. He became human to identify with us and to truly represent us before the Father, our Judge. With that in mind, then, let's look at John 1, 14. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Let's consider some reasons why this is so amazing. Number one, it is so amazing because it is so contrary to who God is in his essence. God is so very different than all of us. We are flesh. He's spirit. We deteriorate. He's eternally the same. We are finite. He is infinite. We are foolish. He is wise. We are weak. He is almighty. We are sinful. He is absolutely holy. We are created. He simply is. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah 55. If you want a good passage to read this afternoon, this would be one. Read the entire chapter. Tremendous truths in this chapter, but we want to focus in on verses 8 and 9 only. Isaiah 55 and verse 8. Thank you for those of you who have Bibles, by the way, so I can hear when you got there. Those of you who have tablets, I can't hear when you've gotten to the passage, so thank you. Isaiah 55, verse 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. These verses are about what theologians call the transcendence of God. Transcendence means the total otherness of God. He is so different, so other than us, so incomparable. You cannot say God is like and then name something that we're familiar with. He's just not that. He's totally other than us, totally transcendent above and beyond us. And people make a grave mistake in believing that God is like us. just a little bigger, just a little better, just a little more spiritual. And they bring God down to their level or them up to God's level so that they have a God that they can relate to. One that they can pretty much control. But God is not like anything. He is so totally above and beyond all of us. My thoughts are not your thoughts. David says derogatorily toward humankind in Psalm 50 verse one, speaking for God, you thought that I was like you. You're mistaken, you're wrong. Now we are certainly made in His image. as a moral creature. And we also represent Him in the sense that compared to the rest of the created order, we are more like God than plants, than animals. And so in these ways, we are like God. And as Christians, we are even more similar as we grow spiritually in His likeness day by day. But we will never be like God. We will never be divine. Even in heaven, we will not be like Him. He is so much higher, so more glorious than we will ever be. Yet the second member of the Trinity humbled himself and not only took on the physical characteristics of man, he became man in nature. And so He was truly, Emmanuel, God, with us. Turn to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. Here's Paul's summation of this startling reality. Philippians two, verses five through eight. The Apostle Paul says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Isn't this amazing? God the Son left the comfort and perfection of his intimate relationship with God the Father and God the Spirit, and he left it all, willingly, to become one of us. And it wasn't satisfied just to be one of us. He humbled himself even further to become obedient to man, his creature, and even to obedience to the death of the cross. He became man in order to die and save us. That's service. And that's humble service when you consider who he was. He was God, yet also fully man. This is why biblical Christians emphasize Christmas or the birth of Christ. It's not just a time for family get-togethers. It's not just a time for gift-giving, though I think that finds its root in Christmas. It's God giving us his son. We have the wise men giving gifts to Jesus. And so we have the same thing, and you've given gifts to Jesus with the presents under the tree in the entry area. It's a tradition that we have, I think, that has roots here. but rather Christians view Christmas and celebrate it because of the incarnation. That's why God became man and for the purpose of dying and saving us. Don't ever lose sight of the incarnation. God became flesh and dwelled with us. God with us. And he did so according to John 1, in order to bring us grace and truth. When the human race sinned in Adam, the entire race came under divine judgment. The race deserved nothing but wrath. God didn't owe any goodness, anything good to mankind. But in grace, he provides for all of his creatures. Scripture tells us we owe our life and breath to God. The fact that you are breathing right now, you owe to the grace of God through Jesus Christ. If you enjoy good health, that is because of God's grace. If you enjoy the comfort of a home and have things to eat, it's due to God's grace. If you have a job and you work at that, and you have the skill and abilities and the strength to perform it. It is because of God's grace that you have that job, that you have the skills and the abilities and the strength to perform the job. The end is endless. Everything we have, everything we are is because of grace that comes to us by God, through Christ. All the blessings that people enjoy are because of God's grace. but that he chose to become man himself and dwell among them, and that he gave them the truth about himself, that he is so far above them and yet has revealed the truth of how they may have fellowship with him through faith in his Son. That's simply, as John says in John 1, heaping grace upon grace upon grace upon grace. So this Christmas, reflect on the wonderful and humbling miracle that the creator of the universe, who is so far above and beyond us, became one of us so that we might be one day with him. That God will become man is amazing, secondly, because God the Son knew from eternity How he would suffer, yet he came anyway. He knew he would have to endure all the confines of being finite. He knew he would suffer exhaustion, and thirst, and grief, and pain. We have this idea that Jesus growing up as a boy was somehow different than we are. He was just like any other normal boy. except without sin, of course, but he sconed his knees, he fell, he had pain. He knew he would be spatially limited, impoverished, and he knew he would be tempted in every way, just like us. Yet he became man anyway. But there's even more to it than that. I want you to think about it. God is omniscient. He knows all things. He knows everything that is. He knows everything that has happened. He knows everything that will happen. And the Bible even teaches that he knows everything that would have happened had it happened. So we're going to a whole other dimension of his knowledge. And that means that the ill treatment that Jesus suffered didn't surprise God when it happened. He already knew about it, but not just because he's all-knowing. He knew about it from before the foundation of the world because he's sovereign also. And as sovereign God, he planned it to occur that way. Peter speaks of this in the sermon of Pentecost in Acts 2.23, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. It was predetermined in eternity past that Jesus would come and that he would suffer and that he would be treated cruelly by men. Why? Because it was planned that way. God knew about it because he planned it that way. This is what the triune God knew would happen from all time. And yet he came to be man anyway. Why? I mean, here's the triune God in all of their eternal glory, enjoying each other's company in perfect harmony from all eternity, in perfect peace, in perfect joy, comfort, and all the riches of glory. And yet the Son willingly left all of that. all of that perfection, to come to a sin-cursed earth, to suffer at the hands of sin-cursed people who would despise Him, and reject Him, and mock Him, and kill Him? Why? Why would Jesus go through all of that for undeserving, ungrateful, self-centered, sinful, rebellious human beings? Here's two reasons from two different New Testament passages. Look at Ephesians chapter 2. We find the first reason why he was willing to suffer all of that, to leave what he had in heaven to come and become man. Ephesians chapter 2, in the first five verses, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work, and the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved." The reason Jesus willingly suffered all the agony of becoming man is because of what in this verse? Because of God's great love for us. It's amazing. Why love sinners who hate you? How could anyone love people who would ridicule your family heritage, scorn your message, cruelly mistreat you and kill you? How could he love such people? Because his love is unlike any human love. We tend to love people who are good to us. We or we love people for what we can get out of the relationship. But God loves us while we were still sinners. Romans 5, 8. You see, unlike us, God doesn't love to get. He loves so that he can give. He loves His love seeks the good of the person he loves. It's a volitional love, not an emotional one. We humans don't understand this very well because we are by nature so selfish. that the promotion of self lies at the root of everything we do. But the object of God's love, that's what's behind God's love, is the promotion of our welfare. Jesus willingly suffered cruelly from humans so that the people who were chosen by sovereign grace and love from all eternity would be saved from wrath, declared righteous, made sanctified, adopted as his children, and glorified. Such amazing love is what gripped Charles Wesley to write And Can It Be. And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died he for me, who caused his pain? For me, who him to death pursued? Such love is simply amazing, because as he says, oh, it found out me. And so no condemnation now I dread. And above that, Jesus and all in him is mine. Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Another passage we want to look to, not only because of his love, we see in Hebrews 12, another reason for Jesus' willingness to suffer. Hebrews chapter 12, why he became man, knowing he would be treated so cruelly. Hebrews chapter 12, the first three verses. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, that's the cloud of witnesses that he's just revealed to us in chapter 11, the witnesses of faith. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. We're told here that Jesus left heaven to live among us and endure the cross, the shame, and the hostility of sinful men because of what? The joy that was set before him. What was that joy? What joy did Jesus see ahead of him that gave him the desire to be sin-cursed and forsaken of the Father? What joy? It was what he was, as it's described for us here in Hebrews 12, in verse 2. It was for the perfection of our faith. He was the founder, and he was going to perfect it. That was the joy, the perfecter of our faith. The joy that was set before him was our justification. In Isaiah 53, the great passage of the Old Testament where Isaiah reveals the substitutional nature of the Lord's death and of his suffering, he says, God saw his seed, his offspring. And then in verse 11, he shall see the labor of Messiah's soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many. Why? Because he will bear their iniquities. God saw that Messiah's substitutional death would satisfy his holy wrath and appease his desire for justice, thus making believers his righteous seed, his offspring. And that's what inspired Jesus to endure the cross, the shame, the cruelty, so that This is what inspired him to become man for that joy of the perfection of our faith. As man, he could die and do it and bring his salvation, but as God, he can make that salvation effectual. He could bring his church eternal forgiveness, which would in turn make us his righteous brothers and sisters. But the last reason that this is so amazing, that Jesus became man, is because of what it accomplished. It would make peace with God's enemies. And we've already considered one verse from Romans 5, that's important to this discussion, verse 8, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. But two verses later, there's another important verse concerning this matter. Verse 10 says, while we were enemies. We were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Now what does the word reconcile mean? It means to make peace with. Now when do warring enemies make peace? When does it happen? I was listening to a conversation that Pastor Rick was having with Dan and with Dave Reed a couple of weeks ago after the service. And they were talking about one of Trump's appointees, General Mad Dog Mattis. And he quoted something that was piqued my eyes and I couldn't quite tell the idea what it was. So I went online. By the way, that guy is quotable. He's got so many quotes you can find, really cool quotes. Anyway, this is the quote that he was referring to. No war is over until the enemy says it's over. Right? No war is over until the enemy says it's over. In other words, until the enemy admits defeat. Peace comes when the loser of the war makes peace with the victor. That's what happened on the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II. Both the military and government representatives were there and signed the peace treaty. Unconditional surrender by both of them. The loser acknowledged defeat and so there was peace. But that's not what happened to bring peace between God and man. Man would not surrender. The initiative was all on God's part, not man's. And he was the victor. You see, the God who is so far above and beyond us became man so he could make the ultimate sacrifice for man in order to make peace for man with God and get This peace between God and man was proclaimed when Jesus was born, wasn't it? This was the message of the angels to the shepherds. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. Now we hear that phrase, peace on earth, a lot at Christmas. But the world erroneously believes it to be a reference to human peace. where nations should quit their warring, at least on Christmas Day, where people should get along and put their differences aside, get along with each other, make peace with one another, live at peace. But that's not the peace the angel sang about. Remember, they were announcing the birth of Messiah, the Christ, the Savior. And that means that peace between nations or peace between individuals is not our greatest need. Our greatest need is to be at peace with God. God's Word is very clear when it says that fallen man is at enmity with God. Man is not a friend with God. Mankind is at war with God. We didn't want peace. But when the angel sang those words, they added that phrase, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. How can we gain his favor? Romans 5.10 again, we were his enemies, but we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. You see, so again, Only by faith in Christ can the war be over, but we don't want that. And so God sends his spies, so to speak, keeping the military terms, okay, the warfare terms, he sends his spy into our hearts to change it, to cause us to believe by giving us a new nature. And so we fall humbly before him and we surrender, something we would never have done before. But God does it all. The victor makes peace with the loser. He does things differently. And thanks be to God, he does, because we'd still be in our trespasses and sins dead and on our way to hell. But again, remember, this peace isn't because of us. It didn't come because we were smart enough or good enough or strong enough. We didn't deserve it. God did it all. What a miracle this is that God did when he sent his son to be wrapped in human flesh so that we might be saved. Don't ever lose sight of this aspect of what Christmas is about. Now Christmas doesn't save us. It's not the most important event on the Christian calendar. Resurrection Sunday is. That's what gives us victory. But he was born to die. God became man to dwell with us so that he could die for us. He abandoned his sovereign heavenly position. He took a servant's place. He approached a sinful people. He became one of us so that we could be one with him. Paul Harvey illustrates why God became human this way. There was a family, all of them were Christians, except the father. He was a good man, but he couldn't understand why God would lower himself to come to earth as a man. It just didn't make sense. One snowy Christmas Eve, his family went to Christmas Eve service at midnight. He says, it just doesn't mean anything to me. You guys go, I'll stay home. I'll read the paper. So he pulled up a chair in front of the fireplace and began reading the paper. And all of a sudden he heard this repeated thump, thump, thump. He thought someone was at the door. He got up. There's no one there. And he heard it again and realized it was coming from the window. And he went to the window, and there was a flock of birds caught in the snowstorm, seeing the light in the house, trying to get in through the window. And they thump, thump across at the window. The man recognized their plight and he had compassion on those poor birds, so he put on his coat and went out into the cold and tried to chase them away so they wouldn't kill themselves. He ran to the barn and threw the doors open on the barn, turned on the light in there so they'd get distracted and go to that light instead. He tried to shoo them there and he even got to the point where he took, went in the house, got some bread and made bread crumb trail to the barn so that they would follow it there. But stupid birds, they stayed where they were. They kept flying into the window of the house. In a frustration, he said, if I could just communicate with them, if I could just tell them that I don't want to hurt them, that there's shelter in the barn and no need to beat themselves against the glass. I'm a man and they're birds. We don't speak the same language. If I could just become a bird, I would tell them." And in that moment, said Paul Harvey, the whole meaning of Christmas dawned on that man. You see, humanity had been beating itself to death, unable to experience the warmth of God's love. They didn't get it until God became man and showed them the way. That's what happened the first Christmas. He who is fully God laid aside his divine rights, as Philippians 2 tells us. He became man and approached a sinful people in order to not only tell them how to be saved, but actually save them. For he became man so that he could die as their substitute, but that he was still God, made that death effectual. Man's salvation depends on God becoming man. But we don't always see it that way, do we? We come into this world blind. There's an old spiritual, Christmas spiritual that speaks to this, called Sweet Little Jesus Boy. Sweet little Jesus boy, born a long time ago, sweet little holy child, we didn't know who you were. Didn't know you'd come to save us, Lord, to take our sins away. Our eyes were blind. We could not see. We didn't know who you were. That's it, isn't it? We didn't know who he was. but it's the Christian's responsibility to tell the world who he is. Wasn't this what the shepherds did after the angel said, go to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known? And they go, and then what did they do when they leave? They told everybody the news of what they had heard and seen as it was told them. And it is the Christian's duty to tell the world about Jesus, that he is God with us. and then to pray that the Lord will open their blind eyes so that they may see not just a baby in a manger, but God incarnate, God made flesh, the God who would give that flesh as a sacrifice for their sins, to save them from death and bring them into the warmth of God's family. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory is of the only begotten of the Father. full of grace and full of truth.