Christmas Week 1 • John 1:1-14

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Thanks for listening.

Well, good morning.

Glad that you guys are here with me.

Go ahead and get this out of the way before we get going.

I hope I'm a little bit better than I was last week, as I feel like I spent 90% of the

message coughing.

And so if you notice up here today, I've got my coffee here with me today just to kind of

help out with my throat, and I got a pocket full of cough drops to kind of help battle

whatever this is that's going on here.

But hopefully we can get through the message this morning.

Before we get started, I want to kind of update you guys on some things that are going on.

Number one, be in prayer for our CR missions team that's been in New York City this past

week.

They left Thursday, did some ministry Friday, Saturday, coming back today, giving out all

the coats that we provided for them as a church.

I thought this was really neat.

We had set a goal of about 150 coats from our congregation.

We didn't tell you guys that.

And you guys, in your faithfulness, gave over 170 coats.

And so they were able to go and give those out.

I've been texting with the team the whole time they were up there.

And I do know before they started giving things away for free, right?

Because sometimes you're like, all right, is this this whole bait and switch?

But just in conversations that they were able to have with people on the street as they

were coming by, I do know that Mark Babb, our leader of CR, was able to lead one man to

the Lord standing out there.

And so we celebrate all that God is doing with that.

Also, as you leave, I want to encourage you to stop by our tree.

We got them in building one and over in building two.

And we've got those wonderful paper ornaments on the tree.

And those are the prayer requests for our missionary partners.

And we want to challenge you to grab off one of those, put it on your Christmas tree.

And then as you see that throughout this season, you'll be reminded to pray for those missionaries

and specific with that prayer request.

And then there is a package beside each one of those trees.

And that's not for decoration.

It's there for a purpose.

Instead of us going out and sponsoring a family or an organization,

what we're looking to do during this season is to bless the Stockman family

and Hope Valley Church.

And so if you would have gone and bought a gift or done something like that and then donated

through there, we ask that you just give financially.

And 100% of all that goes into that will be sent to them as they continue on in their ministry

there.

We will be collecting that through Christmas Eve.

So the Christmas Eve service will be the last opportunity in order to be able to give to that.

And last, with our missions of wanting to share this, Rick and Tina Nolan,

who are part of our church family and who are missionaries right now in Athens, Greece,

and they are working with Afghan refugees.

They asked if we could pray for them.

So on December 8th, 9th, and 10th, so coming up this week,

they will be hosting a Christmas party.

Now, how many of you over the course of the Christmas season will have a get-together,

a party at your house, or we'll go to one, right?

Raise your hand, all right?

So they're going to be hosting one, or they'll be hosting three, the 8th, 9th, and 10th.

They've invited somewhere between the number of 300 to 400 Afghan refugees

to come and to partake in a meal and a celebration with them.

Will they have the opportunity to hear about Jesus?

So I don't know about you, but I probably ain't inviting 300 people to my house.

But that's what they're doing is we want to pray for them.

And they just asked, they said, please pray that they'll come

and that their hearts will be receptive.

So with that, I want us to go ahead and go before the Lord in prayer

to pray specifically for Rick and Tina Nolan in their ministry.

So would you join me?

Lord, I thank you for the Nolans.

Lord, I thank you for the call that you placed on their life

and their willingness to go.

Lord, to take their gifts and their talents that you would bless them with

and to use them to make known your name amongst a difficult,

hard-to-reach group of people.

Lord, we pray for these parties that they're going to be hosting.

Lord, we pray for the people who will come.

Lord, we pray for a mighty work to take place.

Lord, we pray for culture barriers,

for language barriers to be crossed for the sake of the gospel

and through the power of your spirit.

And Lord, that maybe men and women and children could come to faith in Jesus Christ through this.

Lord, I thank you for Rick and Tina and the model of obedience that they've shown.

Lord, may they be blessed.

May they feel your presence.

Lord, may they feel your peace.

Lord, may they feel your presence with them as they minister.

And Lord, we thank you so much for what you're doing.

We thank you for the man in New York City who received Christ as his Savior.

We thank you for the Stopmans this morning as they gather together in West Jordan, Utah.

And Lord, as they gather with their church, many of them lost to hear the word of the Lord.

Lord, we pray that lives will be changed.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, I almost forgot this.

If you didn't grab your Lord's Supper elements,

they are back here at the very back of the auditorium.

And so as we get started, not a big deal.

You can stand up, go back there.

At the end of the message, we will be taking the Lord's Supper together.

So if you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

As you turn there, if you were to have looked at the end of the gospel in John chapter 20,

John 20 · chapter mention

you would find the reason why John is writing his gospel.

And this is important for us to see and to take note of as we work through this.

As you turn, I want to read to you John 20, verses 30 and 31.

John 20:30

It says this,

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples,

which are not written in this book.

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

And so John is telling you at the end of this,

so imagine you're receiving this gospel of John for the very first time.

You've began in John chapter 1, like we're going to begin in this morning.

John 1 · chapter mention

You don't know anything about who Jesus is when you begin to read.

And then you get to John chapter 20, verse 30,

John 20:30

and it becomes clear the whole point of everything that he's told.

Every parable that's listed, every miracle that's there,

every conversation that happens,

John says it's for a point.

And the point of all of this is so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God.

And so a couple things as we get into this that's going to be very important for us

in understanding John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

So everything that John writes, number 1, is inspired,

which means this, it's given to him by God.

It's not John sitting down and trying to be creative and come up with things on his own.

It's not John forming a group and saying,

okay, what do we need to talk about?

It's John writing through the power of the Holy Spirit,

the Word of God from God,

so that we can read and so that people can be saved.

Number two, everything that John writes is intentional.

It's intentional.

I think this is really important.

John says he left some things out.

He left some things out.

So what John's saying is,

there's going to be some other things that you may read,

that you see that there's these other miracles that are there

and I left them out of mine and that's okay.

So as John is working through all of this,

he's writing in his mind for an intentional reason

and an intentional purpose

because he believes that all of these things communicate who Christ is.

And all of it matters.

He's intentional.

It's not happenstance.

And then lastly, it's firsthand.

It's firsthand.

For the most part, there are some accounts that he has to share,

but for the most part, John is sharing with you what he saw,

what he experienced and who he knows Christ to be.

And so John is being very deliberate

and being inspired by God in writing and saying,

you know, I saw this, but here's what I want to focus in on

and here's what I want to do in this.

And so let's begin reading in John chapter 1, verse 1.

John 1:1

John says,

And so what I want us to see first is here is Jesus is the Word.

Now, we're going to read verse 14 later,

but I want to jump down real quick.

In fact, it's not going to even be on the screen and read it to you.

And it says,

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

and we have seen his glory,

glory as of the only Son from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

And so from 14,

we can see who John is talking about when he says the Word.

It is Jesus.

And so Jesus is the Word.

Now, it's kind of peculiar as we read through this.

There's four Gospels that start things in very different ways.

Now, again, I want you to put you in the audience

of someone who is receiving this letter,

and you open it up,

and you see,

In the beginning was the Word.

Huh?

The Word?

And the Word was with God.

Again, what is this Word?

And the Word was God.

And he, okay, so it's he was in the beginning with God,

and all things were made through him,

and without him was not anything made that was made.

Why did John choose the Word?

Remember, John's being intentional with this.

Remember, John's inspired in this.

So why not just say Jesus?

In the beginning was Jesus,

and Jesus was with God,

and Jesus was God.

Why not just say that?

Why say Word?

And I believe it's very important that John says Word.

This Word for us here,

a literal translation of that Word,

the Word is logos,

is spoken Word.

And so in the beginning was the spoken Word,

and the spoken Word was with God,

and the spoken Word was God.

When we think about the story of Scripture as a whole,

God speaking has been a very key aspect

of the narrative of Scripture.

In Genesis 1, God speaks creation into being.

In Genesis chapter 2,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

God speaks to Adam about the fruit of the tree

that he's not supposed to eat.

And we begin to see this pattern

of what God is doing as he speaks to people.

God spoke to Noah and said,

build an ark,

the spoken Word of God,

to save people.

God speaks to Abraham

to tell him that he will create from him

a great nation,

the spoken Word of God

that will create a holy people.

God speaks to Moses

and tells him to return to Egypt

and lead God's people from captivity,

the spoken Word of God

that sets people free

from what enslaves them.

We see God speaking and creating

and causing things to fall into place

according to his plan,

not by the written Word of God,

but by the spoken Word of God

being the very means

by which these things would take place.

But then God also in Scripture

needs to speak to his people.

And we largely see God

speaking to larger groups of people

using a group of individuals

called prophets.

And so God would speak to the prophet

and the prophet would then deliver

the message to the people.

Some examples of those,

Moses was a prophet

who took the message to Pharaoh.

Nathan was the prophet

who took a message to King David.

And there are many, many others

that we see in Scripture

in the accounts that are listed

about writing about the prophets,

the Word of the prophets,

from Isaiah to Malachi.

Sixteen books of the Bible

are prophets who were given a message

from God to an audience.

and there are more than just these

in the Old Testament.

And so we see that God

is continually working and moving

by using the spoken Word of God

to put into place

and to call his people to himself.

But following Malachi,

God stopped.

And God was silent.

And God was silent,

not for a moment,

not for a minute,

not for a small season,

but for 400 years.

And then the story

that we're going to talk about,

the story that we're going to think about

in all of these things,

Jesus is born.

And then before the public ministry

of Jesus,

there's this crazy guy

in the wilderness.

in John the Baptist.

And he's a prophet

who calling people to repent

because the Messiah

is coming.

And so what John,

the writer of the gospel,

not John the Baptist,

he captures this moment.

And he says,

we've been hearing about

the spoken Word.

What's being delivered to us

has been the spoken Word.

When we study the prophets,

we read about

the spoken Word.

When we hear about

Moses and Noah

and God's faithfulness,

we hear about

the spoken Word of God.

But now,

now what God

has sent to us

is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and everything

which embodies in him

is the spoken Word

of God.

He's all of it.

He's every aspect.

He's every detail.

He's every moment.

He doesn't need

to send Moses

to set the captives free

because Jesus

is what sets free.

He doesn't send Noah

to build an ark

where you can run

into the ark

to find salvation

and to find life

because you'll find it

in Christ

and in Christ alone.

It doesn't need

to be from Abraham

because God's people

are going to be

a different people

bought and purchased

by the blood

of Christ.

So in this very

first verse,

John's going to take

what everything

is going to be about

in the entire

gospel narrative

of John

and he says,

I want to point you

to this

so that you can see

all that this book

is going to talk about

so that you can place

your faith

in Jesus Christ

as the Son of God.

So what does it mean

that Jesus is the Word?

Jesus is the Word

and the Word

is eternal.

John says,

in the beginning

was the Word.

Jesus always was

always is

and always will be.

He is not defined

by time

as He is before time.

He is different

than us

in that He is not created.

Church,

to say that Jesus

is eternal

is this,

that in salvation

Jesus is not

the backup plan.

Right?

Maybe a lot of you

watched football yesterday.

I watched some.

We all know

my team didn't play

yesterday, right?

Maybe one day,

but not right now.

When I coached football,

one of the most

important things

that we had,

a time frame for us,

it was important

of what we would

take care of

during the course

of the week,

but as the game

got started,

things would need

to be adjusted.

And so what was

important for us

is to go in

at halftime

and say this,

I know we planned

this all week long,

but fellas,

it ain't working.

So instead,

for this second half

of the football game,

this is what

our plan was,

but now for the

second half of the game,

we're gonna scrap this

and we're gonna go

forward with this.

And we've got

about 10 minutes,

I know we've spent

12 hours doing this,

preparing for this,

but now we've got

10 minutes

to plan

and to prepare

for this.

That's not Jesus.

Jesus isn't

a simple

halftime

adjustment.

Jesus is

the eternal

will,

the eternal

word of God.

And only is Jesus

the word eternal,

but Jesus is the word

and the word

is creator.

That all things

were made

through him

is what John writes.

In the work

of creation,

he is the means

by which we all

exist.

And if he is

the means

of the creation

and we are

the creation,

then we exist

for him

is what scripture

tells us.

Because creation

belongs to him.

And this is gonna

be so important

when it comes

to giving your

life to Christ

and receiving

Christ as Savior.

That he is

mine,

but I am his.

That he is

the creator.

God,

the word is

creator,

but then also

Jesus is the word

and the word

is divine.

scripture says

the word

was with God

and the word

was God.

The beautiful

mystery of the

doctrine of the

trinity that

begins to unfold.

The word was

with God,

but also the word

is God.

Father,

son,

and what we'll

begin to see

later,

the Holy Spirit.

And that he has

relationship with

God,

but yet he is

God.

He perfectly

reflects all

that God

is and

deity,

but in a

distinct person

of Christ.

So that as we

look and as we

see this life

of Jesus,

we are seeing

a man,

but we are

seeing God

in him

and through him

of every fiber

of who he is,

100% man,

100% God,

and the divine

nature of Christ.

And so let's keep

reading as John

begins.

And he says,

and 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

whose name was

John.

He came as a

witness to bear

witness about the

light that all

might believe

through him.

And 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.

And so now

John shifts

a little bit

from the word

to the light

and what we see

here,

not hard to figure

out this point,

Jesus is the

light.

Jesus is the

light.

What is the

light a symbol

of?

The light is

the symbol

of hope.

Of hope,

right?

Think about it.

How many of you,

let's be honest,

we're doing a show

of hands today.

How many of you

at some point

in your life,

maybe even still

today,

we're not going

to call you out,

but at some

point in your

life,

you were afraid

of the dark?

Raise your hand.

Anybody?

I was.

I was petrified

of the dark,

right?

And what brought

you hope,

right?

It was that

little teeny

tiny nightlight

that your parents

would put into

your room.

Or like what I

loved is my

door had to

stay shut,

but there was

about a gap

about that big

underneath my

bedroom door,

and my parents

would leave the

hallway light on,

right?

And then right

before they went

to bed,

it was my goal

to be asleep

before they

did because

they cut

off the

light.

And if they

cut off that

light and I

was still asleep,

there was no

sleep for me

that night,

right?

Because I was

petrified of

the dark.

But the

light brought

hope,

and the

light took

away the

fear.

And this

is what

Jesus brings

as light

here for

him is

hope.

Now you

and I,

we need to

think about

hope a little

bit differently.

Hope is not

what we often

think of when

we think of

biblical hope.

Here's what I

would describe

it as.

I don't know

about you,

but I remember

being in school

and I was a

procrastinator.

I was a

delayer.

And I'll never

forget,

we'd have those

times where the

teacher would

say,

we're going to

have a test

tomorrow,

so make sure

you study.

And then I

would get home

and my friends

were ready to

play football.

My friends

were ready to

play basketball.

There was a TV

show that I

wanted to watch.

And so I was

like,

absolutely,

I can study

later.

And so I would

go and do all

of those things,

right?

And then I'd

get home and

now it's time to

go to bed,

so I'm going to

go to bed.

But it's okay

because I can

study in the

morning and I'd

get to school

early in the

morning and then

my friends

want to hang

out and talk.

And so I

would sit around

and hang out

and talk and

all of a sudden

class would

begin and I

haven't studied.

And I would

have hope that

maybe,

just maybe,

the teacher

would forget

that we're

supposed to

have a test,

right?

That never

happened.

Not one time,

but I always

hoped for it.

That's not

what this

hope is.

It's not

just simply

a desire

for something

beneficial for

us to

happen.

But biblical

hope is a

confident

expectation

that good

will come

because of

what we know

to be true.

I read this

this week and

I found it

very interesting

that in the

Bible,

whenever hope

is mentioned,

doubt is

never attached.

Doubt's

never attached

because there's

confidence in

this.

And so as we

see as John

talks about

Jesus coming

to be the

light,

that Jesus

is our

confident hope,

that from the

darkness of

this world

that the

light is

there,

the light

of life,

we begin

to understand

that our

biblical hope

is not a

feeling,

but our

biblical hope

is the

reality in

Christ.

John,

place your

faith in

him,

receive him,

believe in

him,

and become.

Look at

verses 10

through 13.

It says that

he was in

the world,

and the world

was made

through him,

yet the world

did not know

him,

and he came

to his own,

and his own

people did not

receive him.

This is the focus

of verse 12.

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

of the will

of the flesh,

nor of the

will of man,

but God.

And so as

John lays

the foundation

of who Jesus

is,

not only is

Jesus the

word,

not only is

Jesus the

light,

but Jesus

is also the

way.

Jesus himself

will say

this in

John 14,

when Thomas

comes to him,

doubting Thomas

that we know

of in scripture,

the same Thomas

that says,

I will believe

it is you,

Christ,

if you show

me the holes

in your hand

following the

resurrection,

and Jesus

does that.

Well,

as Jesus

is telling

them about

the place

that he

will go

and prepare

for them,

he begins

to describe

eternity

with them,

and Jesus

is saying,

this is where

I'm going

to go,

and then Thomas,

I love Thomas,

I see so much

of myself

in Thomas.

Thomas is like,

well,

hold up,

Jesus,

if you're

going there,

I want to

go there,

and I don't

know how

I'm going

to get there.

How do I

get there,

Jesus?

And Jesus

says,

it's me.

Jesus

says,

I am

the way,

I am

the truth,

and I am

the life.

No one

comes to

the Father

except through

me.

And it's

what John

is communicating

here.

but to

all

who did

receive

him,

who

believed

in

his

name,

he

gave

the

right

to

become

children

of

God.

In

Scripture,

in Acts,

the early

Christians

weren't called

Christians,

they were

called

followers

of the

way.

because

even

they

would

have

acknowledged

the

claims

of

Christ

where

he

says

that

he

is

the

way

and

Jesus

is

the

only

way

of

salvation.

And he

gives

this

beautiful

picture

here

of

what

this

looks

at,

three

parts,

but to

all

who

did

receive

him,

who

believed

in

his

name,

he

gave

the

right

to

become

children

of

God.

So

what

does

it

mean

to

receive

Jesus?

What

does

it

mean

to

receive

Christ

as

your

Lord

and

Savior?

I

think

this

is

an

important

thing

for

us.

It's

a

phrase

that

we

use

often.

So

let's

talk

about

this.

To

receive

Jesus.

When

Jesus

offers

himself

to

you,

you

welcome

him

and

you

welcome

him

for

who

he

is

and

not

who

you

want

him

to

be.

So

when

Jesus

says

I'm

your

savior,

you

welcome

his

salvation

of

grace.

When

he

says

that

he

is

your

leader,

you

receive

the

leadership

that

he

is

bringing

to

you.

When

he

says

that

he

is

your

provision,

you

welcome

his

provision.

When

he

says

that

he

is

your

counselor,

you

welcome

his

counsel.

When

Jesus

says

he

is

your

protector,

you

welcome

and

receive

his

protection.

When

Jesus

says

he

is

your

authority,

you

welcome

his

authority.

When

Jesus

says

he

is

your

king,

you

welcome

him,

his

rule

in

your

life.

Not

based

on or

determining

what we

want it

to be,

our

interpretation

of it,

but who

Jesus

is.

You

see,

it's

not that

you

just

receive

salvation.

It's

that

you

receive

Christ

and

you

receive

him

in

his

rule

and

reign

in

our

life.

You

see,

there

is

no

I

just

want

the

get

out

of

hell

free

card.

That

doesn't

exist.

What

I

want

is

Jesus

and

I

receive

him

and

his

rule.

But

then

also

he

says

that

we

believe.

That

we

believe.

Now

what

does

it

mean

to

believe?

Well

for

us

believing

is

merely

an

intellectual

agreement

to

the

truth

that

Jesus

is

the

son

of

God.

Demons

believe

that.

No

one

knows

who

Jesus

is

more

than

Satan.

He

knows

and

understands

and

believes

in

those

aspects

of

him.

But

believing

in

our

mind

that

aligns

with

the

surrender

of

our

heart

so

that

we

no

longer

live

for

our

praise

for

our

glory

and

for

our

name

but

for

his.

That's

the

depth

of

belief

that

this

believing

has

transformed

who

I

am

in

my

action

so

that

in

this

we

become

children

of

God.

I'll never

forget,

some of you

have heard

of this

guy,

a guy

named

Francis

Chan.

And this

was

a

long

time

ago.

Like

pre,

Aaron

and I

were

married

but

freshly

newly

married,

no

kids.

And we

were out

at a

conference

in Atlanta,

Georgia,

and we

had this

guy Francis

Chan

that was

speaking

to a

group

of us.

And he

got there

on stage

and I

have a

clue

who he

was

but I'll

never

forget

his

message

because

he

talked

about

rights.

And he

says

we

as

followers

of

Christ

are

guaranteed

two

rights.

Two

rights.

He

said

number

one

we

have

the

right

to

suffer.

And he

preached

through

that

for us.

And then

he

jumped

right

here

to

John

chapter

one

and he

said

we

have

a

right

to

be

called

children

of

God

because

that's

who

we

are.

That

when

we

receive

and

when

we

believe

that

we

become

and

that

we

become

a

part

of

his

family

because

of

who

he

is

and

because

of

what

he's

done.

And

then

lastly

in

verse

14

it

says

and

the

word

became

flesh

and

dwelt

among

us

and

we

have

seen

his

glory

glory

as

of

the

only

son

from

the

father

full

of

grace

and

truth.

And

that's

why

we

celebrate

this

season.

That's

why

we

put

up

Christmas

trees

in

our

house.

That's

why

we

put

nativity

scenes

out.

That's

why

we

get

up

and

put

lights

on

the

front

of

our

homes

and

hang

reeds

on

our

door.

It's

why

we

do

and

celebrate

all

that

we

have.

It's

why

we

place

packages

under

the tree

for us

as

believers

because

we're

not

just

celebrating

a

holiday

but

we're

celebrating

what

is

happening

and

what

has

taken

place

of

who

Jesus

is

of

who

God

is

that

Jesus

became

flesh

and

dwelt

among

us

and

we

have

seen

his

glory

glory

as

of

the

only

son

from

the

father

full

of

grace

and

truth

and

so

as

John

is

writing

this

what

he

wants

us

to

understand

is

that

Jesus

is

with

us

God

himself

in

flesh

when

he

would

come

on

this

earth

born

of

a

virgin

laid

in

a

manger

the

earthly

son

of

a

carpenter

not

of

affluence

came

from

not

the

best

part

of

town

lived

and

struggled

through

his

life

went

through

a lot

of

the

pains

that

we

all

go

through

that

began

a

point

in

time

in

his

life

where

he

set

out

on

an

intentional

ministry

where

men

and

women

would

come

to

follow

him

where

he

would

call

for

himself

a

certain

core

and

inner

circle

of

disciples

that

would

go

everywhere

he

went

that

would

see

everything

that

he

would

do

that

would

hear

everything

that

he

would

say

and

from

that

inner

core

one

would

turn

and

betray

him

with

a

kiss

with

a

moment

of

a

gift

of

affection

and

that

Jesus

would

be

led

to a

trial

and

would

be

condemned

for

death

and

would

stand

there

and

take

the

punishment

even

though

he

didn't

deserve

it

because

the

world

had

been

would

be

and

is

filled

with

everyone

else

who

does

deserve

that

punishment

he

would

be

beaten

he

would

be

mocked

he

would

be

stripped

naked

he

would

be

hung

on a

cross

in

between

two

criminals

he

would

have

a

spike

ran

through

his

feet

and

one

through

each

wrist

and

he

would

be

hung

on

a

cross

and

left

there

to

die

where

his

organs

would

begin

to

shut

down

because

of

the

trauma

that

would

be

experienced

in

his

death

and

in

his

crucifixion

and

he

would

cry

out

and

death

would