Christmas Message 2024 - The Word
John 1v1-5
20th December 2024
John 1v1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 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. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it.
Jesus Christ is the Word
At the start of his Gospel John describes Jesus as "The word". He doesn’t mean a single word, like "conkers" or "marmalade". He means Jesus is the "message", just as when we say, "Can I have a word?" we really mean "Can I give you a message?" Jesus is, in Himself, a communication from God. He’s the greatest, most profound, most costly, message God have ever given to us. As the writer to the Hebrews says in the opening of his letter:
Hebrews 1:1-3a
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in
various ways,
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of
all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…
Over the course of history God has sent many people – prophets, Bible writers and preachers – to communicate messages to us, but the day came when God spoke to us through His Son, when Jesus came to live among us. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory. That is, to see God’s glory, look at Jesus. And Jesus is the exact representation of his [God’s] being. So to understand who God is, look at Jesus. Jesus, in the way He lived, the things He said, the way He treated people, is the ultimate description of what God is like.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah and the other Old Testament prophets were amazing channels through which God spoke to us, and we learn a lot about God through them, but Jesus shows us God in a much clearer and much more complete way. We cannot truly understand God unless we study the character, words and actions of Jesus Christ.
Christianity is unique among world religions in several ways. It’s the only religion that’s based on God’s forgiveness, not on our goodness. It’s the only religion that claims that God sent His Son to pay for our sins, the only religion that bases our destiny in the afterlife not on our feeble attempts to be good people and always do the right thing, but on the sacrifice of the Son of God. It’s the only religion that claims that God is Trinity – three in one. It’s the only major religion that claims that God came to earth in human form, so we could really understand who He is, what He’s like, and what His plan is. Jesus – uniquely – is God’s message to humanity.
Jesus Christ is eternal
John tells us about Jesus the Word, the Message. First, he says "In the beginning was the Word".
Genesis 1v1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Most people – not just Christians – most people, including most scientists, believe that the universe came into being at some point in time. Some call this the "big bang". Some doubt the big band theory, but still think there was a moment when the whole thing started. The Bible says that’s right – there was such a moment. And, since the idea that the universe sprang out of nothing is a bit absurd, really, isn’t it? It must have been created. Thousands of years ago, the Bible told us, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Of course He did, there is no other sensible explanation. And when God created the universe, Jesus, the Word, the Message, was there. He existed before the universe came to exist.
Jesus Christ is God
John says, "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." God the Father and Jesus – God the Son, the Word, the Message – were together before the universe was created. They’re infinite: infinite in time as well as in space, infinite in time both backwards and forwards. They’ve always existed, and they’ll always exist. And they’re together in perfect relationship. They always have been, and they always will be. Jesus was not created by God; Jesus is God.
I know it’s hard to understand how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all God. Some very clever books have been written to explain it, and it’s still difficult to grasp. But John confidently asserts, right at the start of this book, both that Jesus was with God and that Jesus is God. I am convinced this is true. John repeats, "He was with God in the beginning." He wants to leave no doubt. Jesus is eternal, because He is God. He always was God and He always will be God.
Jesus Christ is Creator
Then John says, "Through him all things were made". Jesus was with the Father in the beginning, and without Jesus there wouldn’t have been a beginning. You and I, and the world we live in, only exist because Jesus created us. So can we get away from the idea that Jesus was just a great man, a great teacher, a great example? Jesus is God, eternal, creative and all-powerful. In case we haven’t quite grasped it yet, John then says the same thing in a different way, "without him nothing was made that has been made." Do you love the sea, the forests, the mountains, the rivers, the flowers, the animals? Remember to thank Jesus for them all. Without Jesus they would never have existed.
Life is in Jesus Christ
John says, "In him was life". Life is a mysterious thing, isn’t it? Maybe some scientists can explain it to me, but I don’t quite know why animals are alive, scientifically speaking. It’s more than oxygen and blood, I think. There’s something called the "soul", which I don’t think anybody completely understands. I’m sure we’re more than the sum of our body parts. When Jesus the Word of God created the universe, He didn’t just create rocks and earth and water; He created living beings. He could do this because He has life inside Himself, and He gives that life to the beings He’s created.
John says, "that life was the light of men". Genesis 1v26 teaches us that Man was the last creature that God created, and that Man is unique, because he alone is made in the image of God. Genesis 2v7 says that God created man and "breathed the breath of life into his nostrils". I think this means that God gave Man a different kind of soul to the soul of animals, a soul capable of spiritual awareness. John says that the life that was and is in Jesus is the light of men. Why do humans have a conscience? Why do humans have a desire for truth? Why do we have a desire for justice? Why do humans have a desire for God (even if some of us don’t admit it)? Why do humans have the capacity for abstract thought? Why do we care about philosophy, art, music, politics? It’s because the human soul was created by God in God’s image, with these desires and attributes. God shows us right and wrong, good and bad, truth and falsehood, in our souls.
Our education system, our media, our government may try to pretend that good is bad, black is white, faith is unimportant, truth is relative, but something within us knows that good is better than bad, and that morality and truth are absolute. That something that knows is God-given, and it’s always there, even though society, and even we ourselves, try to obscure it. Let us choose instead to give thanks to God for it. We have the light of Jesus.
And there’s an even more wonderful way that the life of Jesus is light to men; Jesus shows us the way to God. Jesus, in His words and deeds, and in His character, teaches us about God, because He is God, and we can read about Him in the Bible. Jesus called Himself "the way, the truth and the life" in John 14v6. He is the way to God. He is the truth about God. In Him is the life of God, and He offers us that life – eternal life.
The light shines in the darkness
John says "The light shines in the darkness". I think that’s why the story of the angels who met the shepherds on the hillside on the night of Jesus’s birth speaks so powerfully to us. They announced light to the darkness, and on that dark Judean night, the glory of the Lord shone around them. There’s a lot of darkness in this world, a lot of cruelty and wickedness, a lot of hopelessness, depression and illness, a lot of death, unkindness, selfishness and greed. But Jesus comes to bring light – love, hope, joy, truth, forgiveness and reconciliation. The answer to this world’s needs is Jesus. He is all-powerful, all-wise, honest, loving and forgiving. And He enables His followers to become more honest, loving and forgiving, too.
But John also says, "the darkness has not understood it". Many people don't understand the Good News of Jesus, the Word of God. Those of us who have understood it have the responsibility to share it with others. Don't we?