Recognising Jesus

Well, good evening, everyone. Great to be in church with you tonight. My name's Steve. I've not met you before, which I can't tell if I have or not. It's all black out there.

I'm the senior pastor here at St Paul's, and in this Christmas season, the last number of weeks for us, we've been really focusing on really the song that we've just sang right at the beginning about preparing him room.

That is a season of actually inviting Jesus into the centre of our life, and the reason for that is that despite the fact that Christianity and Christmas makes an astounding claim, it is in fact believable.

And it's not just believable, but it is unbelievably good when you come to see what Christmas is declaring, because if you can get to the centre of Christmas and the meaning of Christmas, you actually get to the centre and the heart of the Christian faith.

That this is an infinite God who has made all things, who has made himself known to us, and yet fully aware that we're in 2025, and many in our world do not believe this.

And in fact, it's not a new thing.

Back in 1961, the Russian Yuri Gagarin was the first human being to go into space.

At the time he went into space, Nikita Khrushchev was the premier of Russia.

And one of the things that Khrushchev said, which really kind of went global in the media, was that when Gagarin went up into space, he discovered that there was no God there.

He found no God.

He had to look out the window of the spacecraft and he couldn't see God.

And so in response to Khrushchev making that claim, the Oxford professor, C.S. Lewis, wrote an article titled The Seeing Eye.

And so what Lewis writes there in this article is that if there was a God, he said, if there was a God who created us,

then that God would not be discovered by going up into space to look for them.

You could not relate to God in the same way that a human being might relate to another human being, a human being on the first floor,

and the way that they would relate to a human being on the second floor.

He said, because both of them are the exact same beings.

Lewis wrote that for God to relate to humanity, the way that God relates to humanity is the same kind of way that,

for instance, Shakespeare might relate to Hamlet.

Shakespeare is the creator of Hamlet and the world of Hamlet.

And so Hamlet has no way of knowing or acknowledging Shakespeare at all unless Shakespeare was to write himself into the play of Hamlet.

And so Lewis's point is that the only way that we could know if there is a God who exists was if that God was to write themselves into the story,

the history of his world.

And therefore,

not just write himself in,

but write himself in as a character in that story so that other characters could interact with the God who's written himself into the story.

And so the claim of Christmas,

which is really the central claim of Christianity,

is that that is exactly what the God who has made all things has actually done.

God does not just write information about himself and send it to us,

but that he has, in fact, written himself into the very drama of history.

That is the extraordinary claim of Christianity.

It's the story of Christmas.

And it's a story that isn't just,

you know,

good for our heads to get our minds around in some way.

It's actually a true story that happened in history.

And this still leaves us,

even if you were to grapple with that and come to acknowledge it in some philosophical way,

it still leaves us with the so what question.

That is,

if that did happen,

if Christmas is true in any way,

what does it mean for us?

And in actual fact,

to flip that around,

if Christmas isn't true,

we don't just lose the wonder of this time of year.

We, in fact,

lose everything.

Lose everything.

We lose meaning.

We lose life.

We lose good and evil,

even you and me.

So what I want to do in the next little bit of our time together

is look at the story of Christmas,

the alternatives that are out there with that.

And I know it's late at night and maybe your brain like mine is switching off.

So I'll try to be brief.

And I don't assume that I'm going to be able to,

you know,

convince you in this moment.

But just to give you a snapshot.

So first of all,

no news story.

In his global bestseller,

Sapiens,

A Brief History of Humankind,

the Israeli historian Yuval Harari,

what he attempts to do in his book there

is to tell the story of humanity from its beginning.

And what Harari,

as a person,

rejects the claims of Christianity.

He rejects the claims of Christmas.

But he does recognise

the substantial influences it has had

on the history of humanity.

And what he does is he argues in his book

that in fact,

our deepest moral beliefs today

are not self-evident truths

that many in our world want to claim right now.

They're not self-evident truths at all.

He says they are,

in actual fact,

they are beliefs

that are grounded in the Bible.

This is how he puts it.

For instance,

the idea of equality

is inextricably intertwined

with the idea of creation.

If we do not believe

in the Christian myths

about God,

creation,

and souls,

what does it mean

that all people are equal?

Now,

most people

in our society

nowadays

have a sense

that human rights

are good,

that things like racism

are wrong,

anti-Semitism

is wrong,

that men

and women

are equal,

that things like murder

is evil,

and that the rich

should oppress

the poor.

the poor,

but why?

Why do we have a sense

that those things

are good and right?

What Harari says

is that in actual fact,

if there is no God

who has created all things,

he says,

there is in fact

no moral facts

at all.

They are just opinions,

nothing more

than just opinions.

The British historian

Tom Holland

makes a very similar book

in his book

Dominion.

He stopped himself

believing in a God

as a kid,

but after years

and years

as a historian

and as a researcher,

he actually found himself

being drawn back

to the person

of Jesus

as he's portrayed

in the New Testament.

It was mainly

because he found

that many of the values

that he held deeply,

he held them dearly,

were intimately

connected

to the person

of Jesus.

They weren't just

inherent beliefs.

Human rights,

equality,

equality of men,

women,

love for foreigners,

care for the poor,

vulnerable,

the marginalized,

are specifically

Christian beliefs.

And history shows us

that it was only

as Christianity

spread in the world

that these beliefs

became generally accepted

and particularly

became the foundation

and framework

for Western civilization.

Because the ancient world

in Jesus' time

laughed at these ideas.

and yet we exist

in a culture,

in a society nowadays,

where the broad consensus

is that you can actually

keep the values,

but you can get rid

of the God

who's behind those values.

And Harari explains

what happens

when we do that.

As far as we can tell

from a purely

scientific viewpoint,

human life

has absolutely

no meaning.

that is based

entirely on scientific terms,

human life

has no meaning.

Humans are the outcome

of blind evolutionary processes

that operate

with our goal

or purpose.

Our actions

are not part

of some

divine cosmic plan.

Hence,

any meaning

that people

ascribe

to their lives

is just

a delusion.

Any honest

atheist

agrees

with Harari

at this point.

Now,

there are certainly

people

who think

their lives

have no meaning,

but on the most part,

none of us

actually want Harari

to be right

at all.

That meaning

in our lives

is a delusion.

The bad news story

is though

that if there

is no God,

then we are left

with the reality

that we live

and we die

and we decay

and that

is it.

That's it.

But Christmas,

which is why

it is full of

joy

and light

and hope,

Christmas

is the alternative.

The Christmas story

is in fact

the good news story.

So that's where

we want to jump

into that passage there.

If you've got it

in front of you

in John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

you see,

at the beginning

of John's biography

on the life of Jesus,

we don't get,

he doesn't start

with the birth of Jesus,

but he starts

with the birth

of the universe.

And he mentions here

a key figure

who he calls

the Word.

I'll read the first

few verses for us.

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,

that's talking

about the Word,

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 all mankind.

The light

shines

in the darkness

and the darkness

has not overcome it.

And so

what you do

is if you read

John's biography

as it unfolds,

we in fact discover

that the key figure

that he's referring to here

known as the Word

is in fact

Jesus.

You see,

what the Bible teaches

is that the created God

is one God

in three persons,

Father, Son

and Holy Spirit

who have always

existed together

for all eternity

in perfect love

relationship

with one another.

What that says is

what the Christian faith

believes

at the centre

of all reality,

of all ultimate reality

is a God

of perfect love

relationship.

And what happens

on the very first Christmas,

it marks the moment

when God

the Son,

the Word,

the Creator

of all

became a human being

with a very specific purpose.

John's biography

tells the story

of our lives

being part

of a loving

cosmic plan

of a loving God.

I'll read it again,

verse 9.

The true light

that gives light

to everyone

was coming

into the world.

He was in the world

and though the world

was made through him,

the world did not

recognise him.

He came to that

which was his own

but his own

did not receive him.

Yet to all

who did

receive him,

to those

who believed

in his name,

he gave the right

to become children

of God,

children born

not of natural descent

nor of human decision

or a husband's will

but born of God.

And then

we read

right at the end,

the Word became flesh

and made his dwelling

amongst us.

We have seen

his glory,

the glory

of the one and only

who came

from the Father

full of grace

and truth.

And a couple of verses

later it tells us

the one full of grace

and truth

is none other

than Jesus the Christ.

So what that's saying

there is that

Jesus is the

author

of the story

of history

but he's also

the lead character.

The God

who made the universe

who creates

and defines history

enters it,

enters history

in order to

redeem it

and rescue it.

And instead of

being celebrated,

he's rejected.

instead of being

honoured,

he is killed.

And the wonder

of it though,

in writing himself

into the story,

the wonder of it

is his death

was written

into the script

as the central

part of it.

It wasn't an accident.

So if it is true

that there is a God

who made us

and loves us,

then this is

fantastic news.

Christmas

is

unbelievable

news.

There is

in fact

such a thing

as meaning

and purpose.

There is

in fact

such a thing

as good

and evil.

And yet,

if you sit

and you

ponder it

and let it

sink in a little

bit,

you also

start to see

that this

Christmas news

is also

terrible news.

It is

humbling news

because it's

saying that

all of us,

all of humanity,

we need us,

we need

saving.

We need

rescuing.

We need

saving from a

judgement that we

rightly deserve

for living

our day-by-day

life,

trying to

create purpose

and meaning

for ourselves

and keeping

God at

arm's length.

Now,

some of us

are deeply

aware

of our

failures

and our

sin,

even if we

might not

use the

word sin.

If there

is a God

who sees

everything

and knows

everything,

then we

know that

this isn't

good.

Now,

on one

level,

that's

good and

that's

healthy.

The

Christmas

story,

the message

of Christianity

is in

no way

a self-help

message

where we

are told

that you're

kind of

mostly good

enough and

God just

gives you

that little

bit extra

help along

the way.

You see,

every time

we see

Jesus helping

someone in

the biographies,

it's those

who knew

they weren't

enough.

They're the

ones that

Jesus

welcomes.

Those who

were considered

too bad

or too

broken

were the

preferred

company

of Jesus,

the Son

of God.

And that's

us.

You see,

the reality

is none

of us

gathered here

right now

would escape

even a

moment of

embarrassment.

If every

single one

of our

thoughts

and our

actions,

every

motor

heart

was

projected

on these

screens

and live

streamed

for everyone

to see

tomorrow,

the reality

is I'd be

crushed if

it was just

today's

tally was

thrown up

on the

screen.

And yet

this God

sees it

all,

the all

seeing eye.

He sees

it all.

This is

terrible,

but it's

not the

end of

the story.

You see,

the Christmas

story,

we are told

Jesus is

presented with

three gifts.

We sang it

just a moment

ago.

Three gifts

by the

astrologers who

came from

the east,

the Magi.

And one

of those

gifts was

myrrh.

Now,

any new

mother in

first century

Palestine

would have

been thrown

by this

gift of

myrrh.

Why are

you giving

me myrrh?

It's because

myrrh was

used to

embalm

the dead.

Myrrh was

a symbol

of death.

It's like,

you know,

instead of

baubles hanging

on your

Christmas tree,

you know,

hanging little

coffins on

there instead.

Bizarre.

And yet

that's what

Jesus came

to do.

He came

to die.

That's in

fact what

he needed

to do to

bring about

reconciliation

between God

and humanity.

Jesus would

die for the

sins of

humanity.

About 33

years after

his birth,

he was

crucified just

outside of

Jerusalem.

But his

death was

not the end

of the story

because three

days later,

I'm getting

into Easter

here.

Come back

for the

full story.

But three

days later,

the tomb

was empty

and Jesus

appeared to

his followers

and over

500 people

at different

times and

he was

alive

physically.

He faced

death in

order to

defeat death.

He paid for

our sins so

that we don't

have to.

He knows

the deepest

secrets

of our

hearts.

He knows

the failures

and the

shame that

we carry

but he

loves us

all the way

to death

and back

and all

we have to

do is

trust him.

That in

reality is

the answer

to the

so what

question of

Christmas.

That is,

the so what

question is

this good

news story

can be in

fact your

good news

story.

So which

story is

yours?

You see,

the Christmas

story is

part of

God's

story of

time and

eternity

and it

really has

four parts

very briefly

there.

Chapter

one,

the God

who stands

outside of

creation,

who always

existed,

creates all

things by

speaking into

existence.

It's the

only

storyline.

That is,

the Christian

storyline is

the only

storyline of

all storylines

in the

history of

humanity

that declares

that a

divine being

created all

things out

of love.

That was

the purpose

of it.

Chapter

two,

humanity

rejects the

authority and

love of

God.

All people

live life

with no

consideration

for God

and relationship

with God

and with each

other and

with our

world is

deeply

fractured.

All

brokenness

and evil

and carnage

in this

world is

connected to

chapter two.

Chapter

three is

God's plan

to reverse

all this

brokenness

and sin.

That's what

we're talking

about here

in the

Easter and

the Christmas

story.

Jesus takes

the punishment

of God

for our

rebellion.

It's the

death that

we should

have died.

Everyone who

puts their

trust in

him is

gathered back

into

relationship

with God

and with

each other.

Chapter

four is

not really

the end

of the

story at

all.

It's the

beginning of

a chapter

that has

no end.

It's a

chapter where

God, where

Jesus reigns

with his

people in

a world of

perfection and

peace that

is remade.

That's the

good news

story of

Christmas.

Written in

history and

billions of

people over

the past

2,000 years

have found

hope and

light and

meaning and

joy in

that story.

There is

another story

however that's

risen in the

last couple

of hundred

years only.

It's taken

up residence

particularly in

the soul of

Western

civilization

mainly in

a big way

in the last

60 years.

The technical

term for it

is philosophical

naturalism.

It's really

secular

materialism.

It's a

three-chapter

story.

In the

first chapter

it states

that there's

no supernatural

or spiritual

or personal

power that

rules the

physical

universe.

Everything

that can

be seen

and measured

is a result

of an

explosion that

appeared out

of nothing

billions of

years ago.

Chapter

two of the

story is

that against

all scientific

evidence and

even scientific

reason and

even scientific

logic in

any way life

came from

no life

miraculously

and eventually

humanity

evolved from

the prehistoric

suit to be

the dominant

species of

the earth

and therefore

despite every

sense that we

might feel

there is no

such thing

as right

and wrong.

No matter

how much I

create purpose

there is no

such thing as

purpose and

meaning.

Everything in

this world is

an accident

so life has

no purpose

and it's best

therefore just to

make the most

of life,

live it the best

you can because

chapter three will

come and

chapter three is

just simply the

end.

The sun will

burn up,

humanity will

cease to exist,

there's no form

of afterlife or

survival of the

conscious and

the story of

materialism is

that what you

have right now

is as good as

it's going to

get.

The Christmas

story says

that we have

a loving

creator who

has triumphed

over evil at

great cost to

himself to

love each one

of us dearly

and we look

forward to a

day when

everything wrong

in this world

will be made

right and

we'll live with

him in blissful

joy for

eternity.

Whichever

story you

hold to,

it starts with

a premise

where you need

to put faith.

which story

is yours?

The Christmas

story might be

hard to believe

as in fact so

is the secular

materialistic story

but the Christmas

story is

unbelievably good

news.

But to get to

the point of

being good

news, we

must start by

seeing humanity

is that we

are the

villain in

God's story

and Jesus

is the

hero.

So

the

man

is the

one

who

is the

one

who

is the

one

who

is the

who

!