Word Made Flesh | What's in a Name?

to have you as a son-in-law.

So, sit down.

We start a whole new sermon series today,

and I get very excited to start a new sermon series,

and especially one that is going to take us through

the entirety of John's gospel.

And the gospel of John is different than the,

what we call the synoptic gospels,

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and we're gonna get into

a little bit throughout the series of why that is,

but John has almost like a mission

to get us to understand the who, what, when, where,

and why of Jesus.

That it was written that Jesus is always in control

of every aspect of the book of John.

A challenge I have is over the next couple months,

read the book of John for yourself.

See how John writes it in such a way

that it gives all control, kinda honor and glory to Jesus,

which I think we all would agree belongs to him,

but he writes it in such a way that Jesus has control

over the entire part of the narrative,

and as reformed believers, believers that are in the

reformed kind of theological realm,

as a Christian Reformed Church,

that goes right in line with what we believe

about the sovereignty of God.

That God is then in control from the beginning,

is in control even now, and is in control

until we breathe our last and we are with him.

But the question that is being asked

for the next couple months is what's in a name?

And we're gonna explore names, titles,

but then this word, distinctives of Jesus.

That for a lot of us,

distinctives play a huge role in our life.

I liken this to, many of you knew my grandpa Fletcher,

we call him Pa, he passed away now almost five years,

which is crazy.

To think about it, he was one of my absolute favorite people.

I don't know if I ever heard him call my grandma

by her name Judy.

Okay, it was Ken and Judy Fletcher.

He had all of the pet names, right?

All of the lovey dovey names that you could ever call,

even nonsensical names, absolute gibberish

that he would call my grandma.

Duger bear.

Does anyone know what Duger bear means?

I don't either, right?

But he would call it, and he would said

with so much love and affection,

and much like, how many of you when you were growing up,

when you got middle named by your parents,

you knew that they're, oh Larry knows, yeah Larry.

Lawrence, right, is your, no it's not, sorry.

If they called you that, they were talking to someone else.

What is your middle name, Larry?

So when you were called Larry,

you were in trouble, right?

It was James Christopher Holland-Donor.

And my grandpa, the only time we ever heard him

call my grandma by Judy is when she was in trouble.

And it was just Judy.

And we knew that, and growing up, he would always say,

can I see you in the bedroom?

And I thought it was more for because she was in trouble,

come to find out as I get older,

it wasn't necessarily the case,

but we're not gonna go into that.

But understand that names and the way we say things

mean something.

That when, ha, people in the back finally got it.

But understand that the book of John is filled,

starts right in the beginning with a different name for Jesus.

That Jesus not only has the name Jesus the Christ,

Jesus of Nazareth, Messiah, King,

but there is so many more.

Over 120 different distinctives in the Gospel of John

that we're gonna try to cover like 20 of them.

But do yourself a favor, dive into it for yourself.

You'll talk about it in the discussion group,

you'll unpack a little bit, but what does that name,

much like I ask people that come into my office

that need it, what distinctive or what attribute

of Jesus do you need today?

Because Jesus freely gives those.

And by having a relationship with Jesus,

we understand a little more of what those names

mean for us.

That if you're here this morning,

much like I said during communion,

and maybe you're just kind of restarting Jesus,

or maybe you don't have a relationship with Jesus,

and you know him just as that,

you're gonna learn a lot over the next couple weeks

of just who Jesus really is,

and why Jesus is the way that he is.

Because not only did Jesus,

Jesus didn't really inherit nicknames

that all of the distinctives of Jesus,

and here's the mind blowing thing,

and I just had to sit there and I just stared

at that poster for like 10 minutes,

which seemed like forever.

A lot of these names were foretold about him,

or given to him from the Old Testament.

That a lot of these names are actually prophecies

that he is walking in that actually describe him

on a deeper level.

And the first one we're gonna look at is

the word made flesh.

We see that in the very beginning of the Gospel of John.

Now, where's Evan?

Evan knows this as he, well, when do you start Greek one?

Last semester, you've already done it.

So John one, right, is usually the prototypical

Greek starting point.

I'm not gonna ask you if you actually did

because I might be wrong.

But understand that when I took Greek,

this is where we started.

It was all around the word logos, or logos.

That the word made flesh is one of the most important

distinctives of Jesus in the entire scriptures.

That's not my opinion, right?

Though I believe it, that a lot of scholars believe

that word made flesh brings a difference.

That John one doesn't simply introduce Jesus

like we see maybe like in the book of Matthew.

Without looking at your Bibles,

Matthew starts with a what of Jesus?

A genealogy.

I knew a couple of you.

I wasn't gonna put lunch on it this New Year

because I knew a lot of you would get it.

But understand, there's a whole genealogy

of the humanity of Jesus to follow the line of Jesus

to the manger.

But John in John one, not only introduces him,

but declares right off the bat three things.

Eternal nature, divine authority,

and intimate relationship with humanity.

There's a Christmas story in John.

But let's think about it, where's Lisa?

Let's think about John one in light of

if you were gonna try to act that out

with the lighthouse kids.

Luke and Matthew are a lot easier

because you got a lot of characters.

You got your shepherds, you got your sheep,

and we do what we give, make a lot of kids animals

in lighthouse fitting.

But John one, how would you just put word made flesh?

How would you give that to a kid?

Exactly, you wouldn't.

It doesn't make any sense.

Mike, I didn't ask you.

But understand, word made flesh is a Christmas story.

So we're gonna look at three aspects

of the word made flesh.

The first is Jesus as eternal word.

Jesus as the eternal word.

So open your Bibles if you have them.

If not, they'll be on the screen.

And again, we read from the ESV

because I see a lot of new people here today.

The English Standard Version you could bring

whatever version you want, but we do use the ESV.

And John writes, 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.

So John begins his gospel echoing what?

In the beginning, where do we see that?

Genesis, we see that in the book of Genesis.

Before creation, the word or logos,

the Greek word, was eternal and divine.

He was from the beginning.

Now some of us struggle with that.

How was he the preeminent?

How was he preexisting?

Remember, they brooded over the waters in Genesis

that the Godhead was there from the beginning.

A lot of us struggle with that

because we kind of need to see it to believe it.

Well, understand, that's not faith.

That's observation.

It's a lot easier to be able to trust

and understand that Jesus,

that we can physically tangibly see.

But understand, Jesus was there from the beginning.

That Jesus was the eternal word,

the word preexisted creation.

Wrestle with that with me for a minute.

The word God, logos, Christ, preexisted creation.

Jesus is eternal.

He's not created.

He's outside of time.

He is fully divine and he is fully equal with God.

Let's be honest, that's tough.

That's hard to really grasp

because we understand time, we understand life as finite.

We have seen a lot of babies born in the last year.

A lot more who I'm sure will be born this year.

This church on average is about 11 to 13 babies a year.

Fantastic.

Be fruitful, multiply, and you are.

But that is kind of our understanding of life.

We are born, we grow up, and we die.

Finite.

Jesus is not finite.

Because if your Jesus is finite,

then you can figure that out.

Then you have some level of control over Jesus' life.

And friend, that's never been the case.

I love you, but that will never be the case.

That Jesus is infinite, he pre-existed.

And then we see in verse three

that the word created all things.

That all things were made through him.

The same voice that said let there be light

is the voice that speaks life into you and me today.

The same voice that spoke life into you and me yesterday

and barring him coming back and taking his own with him,

tomorrow he will speak life into you.

Think about that.

Let there be light.

Let the light and the darkness separate.

We did that a couple years ago in Genesis,

that sermon series.

That same voice speaks into your heart daily,

speaks into your mind, into your senses, into who you are.

So what does this word give?

It gives us not only pre-existed creation,

he creates all things.

The word gives us light and life.

That Jesus is the source of our spiritual life.

He illuminates our hearts to see God and to see sin.

So let's sit there for a minute.

That voice of Christ allows us

to have that relationship with God.

When that veil tore after he was crucified,

that opened the relationship.

You don't need to have your relationship with God through me.

You can't say I am saved through Jesus

because of Pastor Jim.

That doesn't get you anywhere.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

That Jesus is the intercessor for you and God,

your faith is with him.

He is your light, he is your life.

Couple Sundays every month I'll pray that prayer.

Open our eyes to see what you have us to see.

I know for a lot of us we like that.

Lord give us eyes to see the person in need.

Allow us to see how I can serve you today.

But part of that vision is also to see

where we've fallen short.

Where we're playing hide and seek with God.

Where we just enjoy that secret little sin right over here

and we think someone omnipotent can't see it.

That doesn't make any sense.

That when we ask for God to give us eyes to see,

it's to see the world through his eyes.

And it's one thing we're gonna see

over the next couple weeks and months.

Jesus saw the sin in people.

He called it out.

He desired that the person would cease sinning

and live a life in him.

So where does that connection come from?

Well, one of the things we have in life

and especially as a Christian Reformed Church

and the Reformed tradition, we have a catechism.

It's called the Heidelberg Catechism.

If you maybe don't know that this morning.

That we have a catechism that was written

52 Lord's days, 52 weeks out of the year.

That can help us understand ever deeply the word of God

because the word of God can be a challenging read.

That there's things we can do that can help us.

And question answer 26 helps us with this today

from Lord's day nine.

What do you believe when you say,

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

creator of heaven and earth?

And the answer, that the eternal father

of our Lord Jesus Christ who out of nothing

created heaven and earth and all that is in them

and who still upholds and governs them

by his eternal counsel and providence

is for the sake of Christ his son, my God and my Father.

There's so much in there that helps us understand

what the word means.

That the word made flesh is active, is living

and gives us life and purpose.

So we need to understand that not only does God,

creator, sustainer care for all things

but through Christ he cares for you personally.

That there's that personal connection with Jesus.

The word made flesh shows us that Jesus' divine nature

gives us, and this is a word that some of us struggle with,

gives us confidence that he is powerful enough

to create you, to redeem you and to be with you

even through those trials of life.

Friends, that's the easy sermon, right?

You're going through something,

life isn't how you thought it was gonna go,

maybe anxiety has taken over,

come two weeks from now, go to the seminar,

help with that, but understand Jesus is with you

even in that.

Well then Jesus, just take my anxiety away.

If you're all things, if you're the word made flesh,

just let it go.

Jesus isn't Elsa, right?

It's not a let it go, frozen theology.

Jesus is like, no, we're gonna do this together arm and arm.

I've said this before, I'll continue to say it,

we can't treat Jesus like he's a genie.

We don't get three wishes.

The word made flesh, sovereign God, has a plan for you

and if you're going through it right now, he is with you.

Jesus didn't say at the end, in the ascension,

I'll be with you always to the very end of the age, psych.

No, he means it.

The word made flesh dwells with us.

He's with you in the highs and the lows.

Even when we're in the lows and we cry out to him,

but in the highs when we forget to thank him,

he's even with us then.

Because Jesus is the incarnate word,

that is the second point this morning.

He is the incarnate word of God.

John's gospel takes a drastic turn in verse 14.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us

and we have seen his glory,

glory as the only son of the father,

full of grace and truth.

So we've been going on, but now the word,

it's not just theory, it's not just in the rear view,

the Old Testament, it's the now.

The word became flesh dwelt among us.

Some of you read the message,

I don't really like calling it a translation,

because there's a lot of issues with that,

but the message is something to read and devote on.

I don't teach from it because it doesn't really

pull a lot from the Greek and the Hebrew

and the languages as I was taught,

but the way that Eugene Peterson wrote it,

which I will always remember and I actually really like,

is that he pitched his tent in the neighborhood.

That he took the word became flesh and dwelt among us

and made it very visible.

And I don't think that's a bad way to think.

I don't think it's a bad way to think

that Jesus comes in human form,

as Pastor Derrick brought us last week,

and he is with us in the flesh.

That he pitched his tent, that he is in the community.

One physical way that I can understand that

is that he is here.

Little Old Testament theology,

that he lives in the tabernacle,

but we know that that's not true anymore.

That Jesus in his life, in his death, in his resurrection,

now lives in who?

Okay, 10 of you.

Let's say us on the count of three.

One, two, three.

Us.

That you are the living temple of Christ.

That should excite you and terrify us.

Because let's call a spade a spade this morning,

you might be the only Jesus someone interacts with.

Half of us just got real tight, right?

Half of us are like, oh, I definitely need

the overcoming anxiety seminar now,

because that means something for us.

That if we're supposed to be reflections of Christ,

little Christ, Christian, the word,

and if God is incarnate with us,

if he is dwelling with us and he's showing us his glory,

then we need to be people that point to God's glory.

Now, just think of the last two weeks,

especially those of us that have kids home from school.

Has God always seen in a glorified way in the house?

Going through Christmas, probable sicknesses,

trying to get away from the cold, all of those things,

all of a sudden you wanna leave the house at nine

and it's 9.20 and nobody's ready?

Is the glory of the Lord still seen,

still realized in your life, in your kid's life?

That we have this tension in us,

that God is always at work, and if you are in Christ,

he is with you, he is a part of who you are.

Yet the world is there and sometimes draws

that depravity out of us.

That the word became flesh, dwelt among us,

means three things in our understanding

of the incarnate word, the first, God dwelling with us.

We talked about that.

Just as God's glory filled the tabernacle,

now his glory is revealed in Jesus and in us.

That this helps us understand that Jesus,

fully God, fully man, that he is the one

that lives in that and lived in that tension first,

perfect life, never sinned, so he could be that sacrifice

that we're gonna celebrate Holy Week, Easter Sunday,

when he rose from the dead, something we can't do.

I've said it before, my death on the cross

would have meant nothing for all of you,

just as yours wouldn't have meant anything for me.

But that perfect, fully God, fully man,

sacrifice on the cross gives us everlasting life.

Jesus did not merely appear human,

he became fully human while remaining fully divine.

But pastor, I don't get it, and because I don't get it,

I'm uncomfortable with it, and because I'm uncomfortable

with it, I don't know if I believe it.

Well, friend, if this is something you struggle with,

understand that salvation is based in this.

That to understand and believe in Christ,

fully God, fully man, who fully died and fully resurrected,

that is salvation.

If we confess Jesus' Lord and believe in our heart

that God raised him from the dead,

you can't be raised from the dead unless you actually died.

And understand, Paul wrestles with this

in almost every one of his epistles,

because he knows it's a weird thing

for us to take on faith at times,

because we want that proof, we want that understanding,

we wanna be able to see it.

The hard part is it's 2025, and none of us were there.

But we take on faith the testimony of people

that saw him die, that saw the nails in his hands

and his feet, the spear in his side,

that saw the body go in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea,

and that saw him in risen form, that saw him ascend.

If we don't believe that, then I think you and I need

to have a question about your salvation,

is that is a cornerstone of what it means

to believe in Jesus.

Because if we don't believe that,

if we think that Jesus is merely a theory,

that you can't talk about salvation,

and there was no atoning sacrifice,

then there was no actual reconciliation,

that your debt is still unpaid from sin.

See how important word made flesh is?

And for some of us, we may be at arm's length,

but understand that word made flesh

reminds us of a God who draws near.

The Greek idea of logos is more of an impersonal force

as he is described in the beginning of John one,

but as we continue through John one,

Jesus reveals a personal God who comes close.

So when you're 20, 25, understand that Jesus

is a savior we serve that steps into our struggles.

He experiences our pain, and he redeems our brokenness.

You may be limping into 20, 25.

Understand Jesus sees you, he knows you,

and he redeems you.

He is that mediator between God and us.

He is the one fully God, fully man that draws near to us,

and gives us that new life in Christ.

The catechism helps us understand this as well.

Lord's Day six, question and answer 16.

Why must he, Jesus, be a true and righteous man?

And the answer, he must be a true man

because the justice of God is in him.

God requires that the same human nature

which has sinned should pay for sin.

He must be a righteous man because one who himself

is a sinner cannot pay for others.

Friends, live in that truth in 20, 25 with me.

That this fully God, fully man died for you and for me

because like I said, if it was any one of us,

it wouldn't have meant anything.

That the word made flesh not only brings us to salvation,

deliverance of sin, but that the incarnation

is essential for salvation.

Jesus had to become like us to save us,

and we give him our life.

Because I think that's the right gift to give.

Our heart, our life, everything we are,

our highs, our lows, our struggles, our anxieties,

our everything we give to the one who is everything.

Well then what?

Verse 14 through 18 tells us that Jesus then becomes

the transforming word.

And we start in verse 14.

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

We have seen his glory.

Glory is the only son of 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 the fullness we have all received,

grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses,

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God.

The only God who is at the father's side

has made him known.

So John closes this section with something we need

if we're gonna walk this life out as believers.

We need two things today.

We need two things every day and we need to extend this

to the world around us.

That is grace and truth.

They flow from the word, that means they flow

in and through our hearts.

I love this, grace upon grace, verse 16.

Through Jesus we receive not just the initial grace,

for salvation, but an ongoing grace,

sufficient for every step of our sanctification.

That growing in Christ.

I'm just gonna put it out there this year,

that I just have a feeling that we are going to have

many of our kids stand up and declare their faith in Jesus.

I see the way that our youth ministry,

I see the way that our children's ministry,

our catechism, I see the way you as parents

are building in to your kids.

That one day we're gonna have these kids wake up and go,

this is not just my parents' faith, but this is my faith.

I wanna take hold of this salvation that Jesus gives me

and I wanna walk in this in whatever stage of life,

junior high, high school, college, post college,

and that we all get a part of that dance,

we get to sit in the seats and welcome them

into the body of Christ.

That is one of the greatest days in the church.

That initial grace and that ongoing grace,

this grace frees us from a religion

that is performance based.

I gotta go this many days, I gotta say these things,

I gotta do this, I gotta do that, add a cup of sugar

and I will have salvation.

That's not how it works.

But this grace anchors us to God's unchanging love.

When is the last time someone told you Jesus loves you

in spite of you at times?

That Jesus loves you.

If you need me to say that more to you,

I will happily do it.

Because that is a truth we need to live in every day,

that Jesus loves you.

And he's called you to love others.

That is a truth that transforms, verse 17.

While the law reveals sin, Jesus fulfills the law

and calls us to live in holiness through our faith.

I don't know if I can be holy, Jim,

because I swear sometimes.

I don't know if I can be holy, Jim,

because I think these thoughts,

when that person cuts me off or I get angry really quickly

or I haven't paid taxes for 25 years

or whatever it is, understand that God is meeting you

and growing with you in this.

Now the taxes thing, you'll have to take that up

with an accountant, I can't help you with that.

But understand, you can ask God before you start driving,

give me the mind of Christ.

That instead of saying words that might not be the best

for Christians to say, maybe offer a prayer.

And it's okay to pray that they drive better.

That is fine.

I can take that subjective prayer,

but there needs to be a change in a point of view.

There needs to be a change in our understanding

of how people are going to experience Jesus through you.

And if you're here and you say, you know what, pastor,

I appreciate you giving me a driving lesson,

but I'm still gonna cut people off.

I'm gonna still say all those things out loud

or in my heart or whatever.

I'm gonna say, brother, check your heart,

sister, check your heart, and please don't wear a magnet

that says Munster Church on your car.

But understand that as we walk through this life,

grace upon grace, there's transforming going on.

And I don't care if you've been in church

for the last 88 years of your life.

We are always crying out and growing in Christ.

As we behold Christ, the truth,

then we are transformed into his image.

And the third thing of the transforming word made flesh

is that we get to behold his glory.

That sanctification begins by beholding Christ,

fixing our eyes on his glory, revealed in scripture,

and experienced through worship.

And that's not just for the hour and 15 on Sundays.

That's every day of our life.

So let me ask you some challenging questions.

And I'm asking myself first, as we reflect on a year

that was to a year that will be,

where are you worshiping Jesus in your life?

If you're here on a Sunday morning, great,

you can check that box, but where else?

The savior of the world, the one fully God, fully man,

word made flesh, pitching his tents and all of those things,

he gets an hour?

Hour 15 if I go along?

That's what he, or does he get it every day of your life?

Is your modus operandi, the way you live life,

worship to God, and then everything else falls in place?

Maybe that needs to be our priority.

So as we reflect, as we gaze upon Jesus,

are we growing in that grace?

So one of the things I'm gonna do for this sermon series

is I'm gonna end with three kind of different

application questions, and then this can be talked about

if you go to the discussion group.

If you wanna take the questions for yourself,

they'll always be on the welcome center,

kind of week after week.

But the question I'm gonna ask for each of these names,

titles, distinctives is what does it mean for us?

So the first is for our mind.

Do you view Jesus as distant or near?

Let us meditate on the reality that the eternal God

took on flesh to know you and to redeem you.

So that's for our mind.

How about for our heart?

So for our heart this morning and for our week,

are you receiving grace daily?

Rest in the sufficiency of Christ's grace

instead of striving in your own strength.

And then finally for our hands and our feet,

how are you reflecting God's grace and truth?

Let our actions, let your actions, my actions,

the church's actions this week reveal Christ's presence

in our life.

So friends, word made flesh means a lot.

And as we continue on through this week into next,

Lord willing, we're gonna try to tackle another distinctive.

Word made flesh, now lamb of God.

Again, a title, a distinctive, none of us can live up to.

And that's okay, let's pray.