The Word Became Flesh | Charles Zimmerman | Calvary Church

Well, good morning. Welcome to Calvary

and welcome to the Christmas season.

Now, I know you've been hearing

Christmas music and advertisements and

movies and decorations since Halloween,

but I'm old school. Thanksgiving begins

Christmas, not all the way back in

Halloween. But I want to remind you of

something kind of where we are and where

we're headed. Uh you've heard Brad say

that we just finished the story. And

what we did in that series is we walked

through the entire Bible in six acts.

And one of the things you heard us say

numerous times is that even though the

Bible's a huge book, the Bible has a

point and a purpose. The point is Jesus

and the purpose is to lead us to him.

And that brings us to Christmas.

Christmas has a point and a purpose. The

point is Jesus and the purpose is to

lead us to him. Now, part of the

complication is there are lots of

distractions around Christmas that will

keep us from the point and the purpose.

So, what we're going to do for the month

of December, we're going to take five

installments and look at the Christmas

story from different perspectives. We're

going to call the five-part series

Christmas through the eyes through the

eyes of people that were there for the

first Christmas that kind of had a life

change because of it. So, here's how

it's going to go. Next week, we're going

to look at Zechariah and Elizabeth. You

may say, "Who the heck are they? That

doesn't sound like No, Zachariah and

Elizabeth. They're John the Baptist

parents." And Luke begins to tell us

about the Christmas story by starting

with John the Baptist. Zachariah and

Elizabeth. So, you need to know about

those Christmas characters and Christmas

through their eyes. Then the following

week, we're going to look at Mary and

Joseph. I think you understand those two

and how they fit into the story. Then on

Christmas Eve, we're going to look at

Christmas through the eyes of the

shepherds and angels. And the week after

Christmas, we're going to look at

Christmas through the eyes of the magi,

the wise guys that show up. And uh but

this morning, we're going to look at

Christmas through the eyes of John. You

may say, "Wait a minute, John. He wasn't

there. I don't remember reading John and

H." You'll see how it fits together in a

minute. A question for you as we get

started. What word comes to mind when I

say Christmas? What one word comes to

mind? Tell the person next to you. Tell

the one word quick. Don't think about

it. What What one word?

All right. One word should be done by

now. All right. Good.

So maybe it was movies, music, trees,

food, cookies, or maybe if you hung out

at church, it was one of these words.

Um, yeah, right. Manger, Mary,

shepherds, angels. Maybe it was one of

those words. Well, this morning as we

look at Christmas through the eyes of

John, we're going to look at maybe

probably the most important Christmas

word. And that word is incarnation.

Looking at some of you say it's like

you're getting dental work for

Christmas. Incarnation. What? No. That

is the most important Christmas word. We

uh sometimes talk about absolutes,

convictions, preferences, right?

Absolutes are things you have to believe

to be in the family. Convictions, things

you may or may not believe, but you need

to live in your life. Preferences are

things that you prefer. Incarnation is

an absolute. Incarnation goes in that

center circle. If you don't believe in

the incarnation, you're not really a

follower of Jesus. You may know about

Jesus, but you don't understand and you

haven't been impacted by Christmas. So,

if you have your Bibles, your phone,

your iPad, whatever you want to read

from, turn to John chapter 1, and I'm

John 1 · chapter mention

going to read the first 14 verses of

John chapter 1. And let's look at

John 1 · chapter mention

Christmas through the eyes of John. Or

maybe even a little better. Christmas

through the eyes of God. Here's the big

story.

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 all mankind.

The light shines in the darkness and the

darkness has not overcome it. There was

a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness to testify

concerning that light so that through

him all might believe. He himself was

not the light. He came only as a witness

to the light. The true light that gives

life to everyone was coming into the

world. He was in the world and though

the world was made through him, the

world did not recognize 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 of a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his

dwelling among us. We have seen his

glory, the glory of the one and only son

who came from the father full of grace

and truth. Christmas, the Christmas

story, the cosmic Christmas story from

John chapter 1. So, we're going to kind

John 1 · chapter mention

of walk through the passage and look at

that most important Christmas word

incarnation.

And maybe it's good that we don't have

all the distractions about Christmas the

first week in December as we look at the

point and the purpose which is Jesus.

But who is Jesus and why did he come?

Well, the first thing we need to look at

this is the road to the incarnation. Did

you notice that the first few words I

read in John chapter 1 in the beginning.

John 1 · chapter mention

Now, when I read that, what did you

think of? Don't read the rest of the

verse. In the beginning, where does your

mind automatically go? All the way back

to Genesis chapter 1. The Bible begins

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

with the same exact words. So, John

writes, "In the beginning," the writer

of Genesis, Moses, he wrote, "In the

beginning." But what follows is a little

different. Moses wrote, "In the

beginning, God created the heavens and

the earth." John writes, "In the

beginning was the word and the word was

with God. The word was God." But John

wants us to think in the beginning. He's

calling our attention all the way back

to Genesis. He's not. So, he's saying to

us, Christmas doesn't begin in

Bethlehem. The story of Christmas, the

road to the incarnation, it's not in the

Middle East. The road to the incarnation

is the beginning of the Bible, the

beginning of the universe, the beginning

of the world. Now, what exactly happened

at the beginning? Well, if you were here

for the first couple installments of the

story, you kind of know how that went.

Uh, we won't rehearse all of that. You

can go back and watch those videos

online.

Here's the point in the beginning,

right? God creates the universe. He

creates Adam and Eve. And he says this,

"Don't eat

because I said so. I know your kids hate

that. You hate that when you were a kid,

but that's how it go. Don't eat because

I said so. Now, where does that come?

Well, God, he's the creator. He's the

king. He gets to kind of make up the

rules and call the shots. Don't eat.

What did they do? They ate. Now, you may

think that that's kind of like stealing

a cookie, a little No, it's not.

They are rejecting not just what God

said. They are rejecting his right to

tell them what to do. They're revoling.

This is a revolution. This is a coup.

What happens when two people or two

countries lay claim to one throne?

There's a war. When two people lay claim

to the same piece of property, there's a

war. And when two people, two two

entities all the way back in Genesis lay

claim to the same throne, the

decision-making throne, what happens?

There's a war.

And that war begins all the way back in

the beginning, couple chapters in.

Interestingly though, all the way back

in the beginning, just a couple chapters

in, God makes a promise. And here's the

promise in a nutshell.

One day

I'm going to come. One day the true king

will come and he'll make all things

right. All hell's going to break loose

between now and then. Just letting you

know. One day the true king will show

up. And when he shows up, everything

will be made right. You know what John

writes in chapter one?

The king has arrived. That's what John

says. In the beginning was the word. The

word was So in the beginning, the word's

already there, right? And for verse 14,

it says the word became. That's Jesus

we're referring to at the beginning,

part of creation. Nothing came into

being apart from him. And John says now

he arrived. The promise that God made

all the way back in the beginning that

one day the true thing would come to

make things right. The king has arrived.

That's what Christmas is. The road to

the incarnation is all the way back at

the beginning. And if you don't

understand, it was a revolt. It was a

revolution. It was a coup. Two entities

laying claim to the same throne. That's

a war. What's Christmas? The true king

has arrived to bring victory to the war.

Well, that's kind of the road um to the

incarnation. Well, let's talk about the

reality of the incarnation. Um, we live

in a world where Christmas is full of

fairy tales and fantasy and sometimes

it's easy to begin to think, yeah, you

know, the Christmas story, you know,

Mary, Joseph, Bethlehem, virgins, wise

men, that kind of fits into Snow White,

Beauty and the Beast. Um, you know, it

kind of fits into all of the fantasy

where you have this winning and that

winning. Um, no.

John says,

"The word became flesh and dwelt among

us." Other places he writes, "We saw

him. We heard him. We touched him. We

followed him.

This really happened. This is history."

So this isn't like a fairy tale.

This isn't like a fantasy that you read.

This isn't like Lord of the Rings.

This is Jesus, king of the universe,

becoming a human being. That's history.

But it's not just history. It is

history, right? It's a true story. It's

also theology. Now, here's a here's what

I mean by the you need to Christmas is

all about incarnation. And it's about a

theological term that you need to kind

of know. Christmas is about

substitutionary atonement,

right? Incarnation. But that's what

Christmas is. Now, what's that mean? You

understand, right? Substitute and

atonement. Um, here is our problem that

Christmas solves. Most people think,

most Americans think, most people go to

church think two things. I'm not that

bad and God's not that mad. Isn't that

right? They're like the two chords that

most people think. Yeah. I'm not that

bad. I'm better than my neighbor. I'm

not the I could be a lot worse than I

am. In my mind, I live this crazy life,

but I'm not that bad. And God's not that

mad. It's God's job to kind of love me,

kind of follow me around, protect me.

I'm not that bad. God's not that mad.

Um, you know what? If you live by those

two statements, I'm not that bad. God's

not not that mad.

You don't need Christmas.

In fact, if you're not that bad, I'm not

that bad. God's not that mad. We don't

need Christmas because we then can

change it. We say, "Oh, Christmas is

about Jesus showing up and Jesus is a

good teacher." What do good teach what

do good teachers do? They instruct you

on how you should live and what you

should do. Well, Jesus is a good

teacher, but he's not only a good

teacher. Oh, Jesus is a good example. He

is a good example, but he's not only an

example. Jesus. If Jesus is only a good

teacher who comes to give instruction,

then the ball's in your court. You don't

need a substitute. You can atone for

your own sin. That's self-help. We talk

about that a lot, right? If Jesus is

just an example, he doesn't tell you the

way to live. He shows you the way to

live. Now you go live it. That's a

denial of the incarnation. That's a

denial of substitutionary atonement. The

message of Christmas is you are that

bad. God is that mad. And in order to

solve your predicament, God had to

become a human being as your substitute.

You can't make this thing correct. You

can't follow the rules. You can't follow

his example.

You need rescue.

That's what Jesus came to do. That's

what Christmas is. We are that bad. God

is that mad. And Christmas is about God

solving that particular dilemma. Oh, now

we got a third thing we have to look at.

And maybe this is the point of the

passage. What's the reason for the

incarnation? Um, I kind of like that.

You know, John just lays it out for us,

right? He gives us the road, he gives us

the reality, and then he gives us the

reason. Let me read verses 12 and 13 for

you.

Yet to all who received 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. That's

the reason. Now, let me kind of break it

down for you in this way.

What's the reason for the incarnation?

Well, we've sung about it today. Brad

mentioned it today.

Emmanuel,

what's part of the reason? God is with

us.

But not just with us. God is for us. God

is with us. And God, that's what

Christmas, the incarnate, the reason for

is to show that God is with us and God

is for us.

So, let me uh read a couple of

statements then to kind of back up what

I'm saying about with us and for us.

Jesus shows up as a human being, right?

And here in a sense is what Christmas

says.

Your journey

is my journey.

Your past

is my past.

Your record

is my record.

Your penalty

is my penalty.

Your punishment

is my punishment.

and all that I have and am I give to

you.

That's not a bad trade, is it? We trade

all of our junk and get all of his

glory. We trade our penalty. We trade

our record. We trade our past and we get

his record. We get his person. We get

his access to God. We trade all of our

junk and we get all of his glory. God is

with us and he's for us. He doesn't just

come as a teacher barking orders to

follow. He doesn't come as a model only

saying, "Hey, follow me." What's he

comes as our substitute?

Think of it this way.

If you were drowning in a pool, you

don't know how to swim, and there you

are kind of in 12 feet flailing away,

you're anxious, and you're going down

for like the fifth time. You're

exhausted. Do you really need somebody

on the side of the pool saying, "Wait a

minute. I've got the swimming manual

here. Here, let me show you. Put your

right hand behind your head and move it

forward. Kick your feet." You don't need

somebody standing on the side of the

pool barking orders how to swim, do you?

You don't need somebody say, "Well,

here, watch me." And jump in over here

and what do you You need somebody to

jump in and come grab you and save you.

That's what Jesus does.

He's not uh

on the side telling us how to do how to

live and what to do. He's with us and

he's for us. The second thing that John

mentions and he unpacks in the rest of

his gospel, Jesus gives forgiveness

and deliverance. Forgiveness and

deliverance. Now, I know you know a lot

about names, right? So, let me let me

show you how this works. Uh the name

Jesus is kind of a a Greek way to say

Joshua. And Joshua is kind of an

anglicized way to say Yesua. Hebrew

doesn't have a J sound, right? So Jesus

is Joshua. Joshua. Joshua is Yeshua.

What did Joshua do in the Old Testament?

Do you think that they just kind of that

God just kind of qu Yeah, I really like

how Jesus sound him Jesus. No. There's

there's a there's a route that goes all

the way back. What did Joshua do? He led

the people of Israel into the promised

land, into the place that God had

prepared, into that land flowing with

milk and honey, into the place of

presence and peace. What does Jesus do?

Jesus, the ultimate Joshua, leads us

into the presence of God, into all of

the benefits that come that bring peace.

Isn't peace one of the key words we hear

at Christmas? Right? What did the angel

say? They come to bring peace on earth.

Yeah, Jesus, he's not just he he is a

good teacher. That's not his ultimate

task. He is a model and example. That's

not the ultimate thing. He is our

rescuer who gives us and delivers

forgiveness and deliverance. H one last

thing and we could talk a lot others.

Adoption. This is kind of the main

point, right? To them who believed in

his name, he gave the right to become

children of God.

So, let me say say it like this. We'll

kind of uh thread the needle a little

bit here.

God

ultimately has one natural son. Jesus is

the only natural. That's what it says

here. In the beginning was the word

where and the word was with God. God has

one na father has one natural son and

lots of adopted kids.

We're not natural sons of God in the

sense of Jesus. We're adopted.

Um,

but who is it

that does the adopting?

And who is the natural son, our elder

brother? A lot of the carol writers

knew. So, I'm going to make sure you're

all awake. I'm not going to sing. I'm

going to state some words to a carol.

And then I'm going to stop and you

finish it. Okay. Don't sing it either.

Right. We We want people to hang. How

about this one? Hark the herald angels

sing. Glory to the newborn.

>> Ah, you knew that, right? How about this

one? Oh, come all ye faithful, joyful

and triumphant. Oh, come, O come ye to

Bethlehem. Come and behold him. Born the

>> King of angels, born thy people to

deliver. born a child and yet a

>> joy to the world. The Lord has come. Let

earth receive her.

>> Yeah, we've been adopted

into the king's family. Remember all the

way back to the first time we read in

the beginning, there was a revolt. There

was a rejection. There was a revolution.

God was rejected as king. But he made a

promise. One day the truth king will

come and the true king will pay your way

back. And as followers of the true king,

you can get this thing right and you can

return. You can have access. You can

come back. John says

the king has arrived. And he fills in a

little bit of the details and says

and you

can be adopted into his family.

You know what happens when you get

adopted?

Not only do you get all the privileges

of living in the family, you get the

code to get in the house, right? They

probably give you a key, maybe get to

use the car once in a while if you're

old enough, right? You get all the

benefits of being a Oh, yeah.

And you become an heir.

Not an heir

of someone who doesn't have anything.

we become heirs of the king of the

universe.

So, I want to end with a question. A

question I I want you to keep in mind

and play with the rest of this month,

right? Um I'm not giving homework,

right? You don't have time for homework

this month, but I want this question to

kind of bounce around your head. Um

how should we respond

to the incarnation?

Now let me answer the question

by uh asking another one.

How many of you are parents? Raise your

hand. We got a whole bunch of you. Yeah.

Okay, good. Put them down.

When the kids entered your situation,

did they bring any changes to your life

or no?

A couple things changed, right? Oh,

yeah. I I I made a list the other day.

Here are just a few of the things that

change. Schedule change. You ever notice

that your life is no longer your own,

right? You hit that certain age, you

become chauffeur to all these different

events. Then all of a sudden, one of

them gets a drive. They get that duty,

right? Then you're worried to death what

they're going to do when they're out

there with the car. Um, your budget

changes, doesn't it? All of a sudden, it

used to be, you know, you and your

spouse, you could do whatever you

earned. All of a sudden, now the two of

you were like the last on the list. The

kids have all this stuff they want, all

this stuff they need. It changes the

budget a little bit. How about your

priorities? They're exactly the same,

right? No, no, no. All of a sudden, your

priorities are so intertwined and

wrapped up around the kids that you

can't make a decision without, oh, well,

what are the kids going to do? What are

we going to do for babysitters? Oh, what

are they are they going to be upset? Um,

isn't it? I heard this expression once

um and it rings true every time I hear

it or think of it. As a parent, you are

only as happy as the least happy of your

children.

Ain't that right? When your kids are

born, somehow your heart gets welded to

theirs

and you can only be as happy as your

least happy kid. How about your values?

Do they change? In fact,

everything changes.

A couple little people

enter your life and everything changes.

What has changed in your life? If the

king of the universe stepped into your

life,

I'll say it as nicely as I can.

If the incarnate son of God, King of the

universe

has not made any changes in your life,

I doubt that you ever experienced

Christmas.

If a little kid or two can reorient our

entire lives,

what kind of changes do you think the

King of the universe would make if he

stepped into our lives?

So, one of the questions we're going to

seek to answer each week,

what changes were brought into the

characters lives that were looking at

Christmas through their eyes

and what changes

need to take place in my life if I'm

going to experience Christmas? One big

change that we talked about today.

If in the first beginning

the roles were reversed

and we laid claim to the true king's

throne,

you know what the incarnation means?

You put him back on the throne.

He's the only one that deserves to sit

there and we live in submission and

praise to him. Let's pray.

Father, we give you thanks for um

Christmas through the eyes of John.

And maybe it's Christmas without