John 1:1-5 "The Need for the Incarnation"

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

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I love Christmas.

Singing these songs that we've heard and love, enjoying these beautiful decorations.

Thank you, ladies.

Mostly ladies.

I think there were a couple men who helped.

It's wonderful.

People especially celebrating the life-changing, history-altering entrance of God into this world in human flesh.

That's what we're celebrating, right?

As we often do, I want us to focus for a few weeks in our sermons on Christmas.

And this year we're going to use John chapter 1 as our starting point.

John 1 · chapter mention

Over the next few weeks we're going to leave John 1 and jump into a few other passages from time to time.

But that will be our focus, where we'll be getting our themes.

It's this glorious prologue to John's gospel.

Talking about the glory of Christmas.

We'll read it in a couple of minutes.

But as you'll see here in this really nice graphic that Eli made for us,

the focus, the most Christmas part of these 18 verses is there in the middle.

The Word became flesh.

This shocking statement that John has for us.

One that no Jew or Gentile, no one would have had categories for this.

The Word became flesh.

If that's true, that God became man, that the material, the immaterial actually became material

and walked among us, then it changes everything.

If that happened, that can't be ignored.

Nothing else could possibly be more important than that.

That's why we need to spend some time thinking about the incarnation.

The Word became flesh.

I'll use this as a working description of the incarnation for our time together.

What the essence of Christmas is over the next few weeks.

You know that Christmas means the coming of Christ, right?

That's what the Word means.

So we'll talk about the incarnation as the intentional entrance of the divine Son of God

into our fallen world in human flesh to secure our redemption at the cost of His life

because of His great love.

Nothing fancy or complicated in that, but it is glorious.

We're going to look in the next few weeks at all the aspects of that description,

but right now I especially want to point out the uniqueness of the incarnation.

This is a one-time event in history that we cannot replicate.

The divine Son of God becoming man to accomplish redemption.

And you may say, yeah, well, we know.

That's what it's all about.

I say that in part because part of my heart in this series is that we would understand

and learn for ourselves a few things about how the incarnation impacts our lives.

How it changes the way we live.

The pattern in that the way Jesus relates to people can be for the way we relate to others.

Jesus is sometimes referenced biblically as a pattern for us, an example for us.

Now, that's not the point of John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

It's simply not there.

But we'll see it in some other passages as we read in the next few weeks.

And I want you to know something as we see that.

I want you to know how important it is that we not see the incarnation primarily as an example

for us to replicate.

First and foremost, it is the unique, unrepeatable event by which we are rescued, not merely redirected.

So we're going to talk in the next few weeks about the sacrifice of the incarnation.

What Jesus gave up.

The pain of the incarnation.

What Jesus endured.

The motivation for the incarnation.

What drove Jesus to become flesh.

And in all of those, we're going to learn important principles for our lives.

How we relate to God and those around us.

How in some ways, as Jesus says in John 17, 18,

as God sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world.

There's connectivity there, right?

There is a pattern going on.

But we're going to end by coming back to the uniqueness of the incarnation.

The one and only Son of God who became man.

You got that?

Am I belaboring this point at this point?

We're going to focus on the incarnation of Jesus.

On Him.

The glory and the uniqueness of Jesus' incarnation.

Celebrate it.

Worship Him for it.

And learn, where appropriate, how He's a pattern for us.

This morning, we'll focus on the need for the incarnation.

The first few verses of John 1.

I'm going to read this whole beautiful prologue this morning.

Why don't we stand together and give our attention to the reading of God's holy word in John 1.

This is the word of God.

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.

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.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.

He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.

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 of God.

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.

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.

And from His 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,

He has made Him known.

Thus far, God's holy Word.

Father, pray with me.

Father, for Your Word, we give You great thanks.

And we beg this morning that You would teach us,

not just lessons for our heads,

but that You would help us to experience Your truth,

to know it in the depths of our beings,

and to have it transform us that we might be different people,

that we might worship You,

and know You,

and serve You.

To that work, we pray,

by Your Spirit, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please be seated.

If you've ever been on a tour deep into a cave,

where they get you in the middle of the tour,

and then turn all the lights out,

and you can't even see your hand in front of your face,

then you know what darkness feels like.

My family took a trip this fall break up to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky,

and went on a tour like that in this huge cave.

And while we were in the dark part of that cave,

at that part of the tour where they turn all the lights out,

the tour guide told us the story of a man who decades ago

had been on a tour like that.

And he forgot his hat early in the tour,

and so he asked if he might be allowed to go back and get his hat.

And they allowed him to, in fact,

gave him a lantern to take with him to go back and find his hat.

And they were going to meet up later.

He found the hat and went back to look for the tour group,

but took a wrong turn and couldn't find them.

He thought perhaps he saw them coming

and thought he would see the light of the tour better

if he blew his lamp out.

So he blew the lamp out,

only to find himself alone in utter darkness,

stuck, no way to turn the light back on.

He sat down, and as the hours passed,

he, as you can imagine, began to get pretty frantic.

He thought he heard footsteps coming nearer to him

and began to call out and to bang rocks together over and over.

And the closer the footsteps got,

the louder he would bang the rocks.

And nobody showed up.

It was late the next day, in fact,

before a rescue team finally found him.

And when they found him,

they said, you know,

how have you been doing?

How's it going?

And he said, well,

people were close so many times.

Were you all in this part of the cave overnight?

They said, no, no one's been near here.

Those footsteps you thought you heard,

do you know what those were?

That was his heart.

That was his own heart beating in the darkness,

in the silence.

It was so confusing,

so disconcerting,

that he didn't even recognize his own heart beating.

He was stuck.

Trying to get out of the cave by himself

would have ended in certain injury or death,

falling into something that he couldn't see.

All he could do was sit

and wait for light to come.

I tell you that story

because it's a good picture

of what darkness feels like and is like.

We've been talking already this morning

of the darkness of our lives

and the light of Christ.

It's the kind of darkness

that John describes Jesus bringing light into.

Jesus' incarnation is necessary.

It's so needed

because of the darkness of this world.

That can't see my hand in front of my face

kind of darkness.

Can't take a single confident step

in the right direction.

Darkness.

Desperate for light.

Look at verse 4.

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's in these verses

a connection of light and life.

And so what we see is that

darkness is quite the opposite.

There's death associated with darkness.

The absence of life.

The Word, the light, is with God.

Connected to Him in relationship closely.

But the darkness is not.

You can feel the distance

from the light of life.

No connection to God whatsoever.

The world into which Jesus entered

was marked by the violence

and debauchery and idolatry of Rome.

Having nothing to do with Yahweh,

the God of Israel.

In fact, it's very similar

to the darkness of Babylon.

In that famous prophecy from Isaiah 9,

we've read a couple of times already

this morning,

verse 2,

the people who walked in darkness

there in exile in Babylon,

those people have seen a great light.

Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

darkness on them has light shone.

The darkness of exile in Babylon

featured a nation in control

who was totally opposed to Yahweh

and everything that He stood for.

Notice as well that feeling of distance from God

was not just true for that nation,

not just true for the Romans

and the Babylonians.

It was true as a feeling

for the people of God

in Babylon

and in John chapter 1, right?

John 1 · chapter mention

They were feeling that distance from God.

In Babylon,

away from the promised land,

feeling neglected,

not knowing where to go

or what to do.

By the time of the incarnation,

John chapter 1,

John 1 · chapter mention

God's people have been hearing what?

Silence from God

for hundreds of years,

generations,

not knowing if He's still there,

if He can still be trusted.

Darkness for God's people too.

Of course, darkness in the Bible

involves this element of moral confusion as well.

It's not just being separated from God,

but the people in power in Rome

and in Babylon,

they seem to do whatever they want.

They live however they please.

Maybe it's okay.

Where does obeying the commands of God

get one anyway?

Apparently not very far,

they might be thinking.

Perhaps right and wrong is,

you know,

it's more difficult to define

than we thought.

It's really quite confusing.

There's a word in verse 5,

the light shines in the darkness,

but the darkness has not overcome it.

Overcome.

That word there means

to grasp or seize something.

Sometimes physically.

So like it's translated here,

it would mean the darkness

has not overcome

or defeated the light.

Sometimes it means

hasn't been grasped

or seized mentally.

Hasn't been understood.

The thought hasn't been mastered.

It rejects it offhand

as later in chapter 1

we're going to see

the darkness just rejects

the light.

Just utter confusion

about what truth

would even be.

Sometimes that's because

of willful blindness.

Like what Jesus describes

in John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

This is the judgment.

The light has come into the world

and people loved the darkness

rather than the light

because their works

were evil.

Why did they prefer

the darkness to the light?

Everyone who does wicked things

hates the light

and does not come to the light

lest his works

should be exposed.

Because of our willful choice

of these evil deeds,

I don't want the light

to expose the darkness.

darkness.

You're in that cave

and the right way out

is not just a 50-50 guess

this way or that way.

It's one of a million passageways

will get you out

but most of them

you'll fall

to your great injury

or death.

You can't see which step

has clear footing.

And even if you could,

perhaps you're not sure

you'd want to get out

that way.

You've kind of grown accustomed

to the darkness.

I'd rather stay safe here

than risk moving in that direction.

Moral confusion.

Finally, perhaps the most prominent aspect

of the darkness described here

is its utter helplessness.

If you try to find your own way

to safety in the darkness,

you're only going to hurt yourself.

You can provide no light.

All you can do

is sit there in the dark

with your heart pounding

and wait for light,

for help to come to you.

It's like Paul telling us

we're spiritually dead,

completely unable

to move toward light,

hopelessly stuck, right?

We've got to feel

the weight of this darkness

in the world

before the incarnation.

The darkness into which

Jesus as the light of the world

would come.

There's no help

for those walking in darkness,

for those in a land

of deep darkness.

No one else in the darkness

can help.

Sadly, it's not just

the pagan nations of old

or the people of God

in Babylon or Rome

who have felt darkness

like this, is it?

Relational distance from God.

moral confusion.

Utter helplessness.

Felt any of that lately?

Thought any of those things

recently?

Would you sometimes

describe the darkness

of the world

in which we live

as tangible,

as palpable?

I can feel it

everywhere I look

and everything I do.

You can feel the weight

of it all around you,

can't you?

We've been reminded daily

in recent months

and again this week

that we live in a culture

where we think

we have some special

kind of light,

but celebrities,

those lives that we follow

and idolize

and watch closely,

sports or entertainment figures,

they're openly acknowledged

to be distant from God

and regularly found

to be empty

and debased.

A culture where

moral confusion

is so epidemic

that even the most

basic issues

of right and wrong

can hardly be established.

We can't agree

on almost anything.

A culture where

elected leaders,

far from helping us

sort through

our deep confusion

and see virtue

and the right path

more clearly,

are the exemplars

in many cases

of this present darkness

displaying

and at times

even defending

their own corruption.

What makes it hard

for us to feel this

the way Israel

would have in Isaiah

or the Jews

in John 1

is that we now

within the church

of Jesus Christ

are shielded

from all of that.

The darkness

never comes in here.

We're immune

from those struggles.

Right?

Who are we kidding?

We certainly feel

oppressive darkness

around us,

but usually,

if we're honest,

we also feel it

inside of us.

Don't we?

In some ways,

we've been called

to be a light

in a dark world,

shining the light

of God before men.

But we too,

even in the church,

have neglected

God's Word so much

that He does feel distant.

And the path of righteousness

does seem unclear.

We too fail to love

each other faithfully.

Even the ones closest to us

whom we have

particularly promised

to love,

we fail to love.

We too experience leaders

preying on the vulnerable

and demonstrating

their own idolatry

and moral confusion.

And so,

because of these things,

we ourselves

often approve

of the darkness.

Why?

Why?

Just like in John 3,

we approve of the darkness

so that our own evil

is not exposed.

So we don't have to deal

with the ugly reality

we see in our own hearts

and in our own relationships.

Or we're at times

guilty of avoiding darkness,

hiding our light,

rather than putting the lamp

on a stand

where Jesus has called us to.

We keep to ourselves

thinking,

aha,

we will avoid darkness

altogether.

We'll just stay in here.

The completely nonsensical

opposite

of what our Savior

has done Himself

and called us

to do.

But some days,

you look around

and the darkness

just feels

too strong,

doesn't it?

Feels ever-present

around us,

too.

Are you starting

to feel a little bit

of why we need

the good news

of Christmas,

of the incarnation?

Why we need God

to break in

with light

to our darkness?

Back in the 11th century,

a theologian

named Anselm

asked that very question,

why did God

have to become

a man?

In Latin,

he said,

cur Deus homo.

Why the God-man?

And he gave us

a great start

on the answer

to that question.

Now,

Anselm understood

this dynamic

that even though

men ought

to be the one

to make the payment

to satisfy

divine justice

because men

were the debtors,

the ones who

owed that debt,

even though men

ought to pay it,

only God

was capable

of paying

the infinite debt,

of satisfying

the perfect standard,

and so God

had to become

man.

That's why

God had to

become man.

In my words,

human flesh

must be

divinely

perfect.

That's what

had to happen.

God created

humanity

to live in this

perfect relationship

with Him

where we trusted

Him

and obeyed Him

and reflected

His image.

He commanded

us to be

what?

Holy.

Just a little

bit holy?

No,

as holy

as He

is

holy.

Human

flesh,

divinely

perfect.

That's what

was necessary.

But then in our

rebellion,

we found ourselves

in the darkness.

Distant from

this close

relationship

with God

we were

created for.

Contradicting

His commands.

Without hope

and without

God in the

world.

Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

The darkness

of this world

leaves everyone

alone

and hopeless

and helpless

stuck,

right?

Unless,

unless light

comes

and finds

us.

Unless

light

moves into

our darkness

and shines

there.

and so

the Word

had to

become

flesh.

The light

had to

come

shine

in the

darkness.

God

Himself

had to

come

find

us.

Have you

been there

in the dark

cave

on one of

those tours

when the

light comes

on?

Usually it may

even just be

one flashlight

or something.

It doesn't

just light up

a little spot

in the

huge empty

cavern,

does it?

Very quickly

the light

fills the

entire space.

The people

of God

failed over

and over

and over

to be a

light to

the nations.

And so

God promised

to send

one

to bring

them

light.

Even more

than bringing

light just

to God's

people,

that one

was going

to be

a light

that would

light up

and bring

light to

the nations.

Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49:6

verse 6.

Not just

for the

tribes of

Jacob and

the preserved

of Israel,

but a

light for

the nations

was this

one who

was coming

to fill

the entire

world

with light.

This is

what Jesus

offers to

all of

us.

The

light

of

life.

John

John 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

Jesus

says it.

He spoke

to them

and says,

I'm the

light of

the world.

Here's

why I

came.

Whoever

follows

me will

not walk

in darkness,

but will

have the

light of

life.

Later in

John

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

I have

come into

the world

as light

so that

whoever

believes

in me

may not

remain

in darkness.

That's

why he

came.

God

may seem

very

distant

to you

this morning.

I know

there are

some of

you for

whom

life

seems

purposeless

and

confusing

and you're

thinking

the best

way forward

is to

escape

from it.

Others

of you

have

failed

in such

humiliating

ways that

you just

feel like

there's

no hope

for you

at all.

Some of

you have

been harmed

in such

dark,

devastating

ways that

you think

there's no

way forward.

There's no

hope for

me.

Others

of you

have felt

the emptiness

of success

and you've

gotten there

and it

didn't

fulfill

and you're

feeling

nothing

left

to live

for.

And I've

had the

privilege

of seeing

some of

you in

all of

those

situations

hopeless

and stuck

and with

no way

forward

and to

find

God

show up

to see

Jesus

bring light

and meet

you in

those dark

places

and bring

life

and to

see you

rejoice

in that.

Jesus

says

no matter

how thick

the darkness

you feel

he brings

light

and life

into that

darkness.

That's the

message of

Christmas

that Jesus

has come

to be the

light of the

world that

whoever knows

him will

have the

life of

light in

you.

Will no

longer walk

in darkness

that there is

something on

the other

side of

where you

are right

now that

there is

deliverance

from that

pain and

hopelessness

that you

feel.

Because Jesus

comes as a

man who has

a perfect

relationship

with God.

The word

was with

God.

The word

was God.

And all

through the

life of

Jesus it's

not just

in his

birth we

see him

and we

hear him

talking with

the father

seeking the

glory of

the father

always doing

the will

of his

father.

He loves

and trusts

him as

we were

always

supposed

to.

No

relational

distance.

Absolute

intimacy

and knowledge

and trust.

That's why

Jesus has

life and

light.

And then

he provides

the perfect

righteousness.

He lives

as a man.

Human

flesh being

divinely

perfect.

Keeping all

the father's

commands.

Always

obedient even

in the great

temptations.

Even in

the agonizing

situations.

All the

way to

the cross

obedient.

He has

come to

do the

will of

the father

and to

finish his

work.

John 4

34.

This is

why we

need the

incarnation.

We needed

someone to

come do

that for

us.

The perfect

obedience.

The perfect

relationship

that we

were created

for.

Except it

gets even

better than

that.

God

because Jesus

doesn't just

come to

show the

way.

He doesn't

just walk

in and say

here's how

you can

do it.

Here's how

you can

relate to

God.

Here's what

obedience

looks like.

He doesn't

merely show

us how to

relate to

God.

And how to

obey the

father so

that we

could maybe

find our

way to

light and

life.

No.

He is the

help that

we really

need.

Because of

our utter

helplessness.

That's why

there's hope

for every

one of us.

No matter

how thick

the darkness

you feel

is, there's

hope because

of this.

I want you

to imagine

for a minute

that you're

that person

stuck in

the darkness

of the cave.

You're utterly

helpless.

Just imagine

you've fallen

down to this

place and

broken both

of your

legs.

Is it

any use

to you for

someone to

show up and

say, hey, I

know the way

out.

If you climb

up this

really tall

rock face

and get to

the top of

it and turn

left and go

down that

passageway

about 500

yards and

then, that's

no help to

you at all.

In fact, it's

almost just

heaping a

heavier burden

on you,

taunting you

that you can't

do and get

out the way

that you've

been told

you could.

Those kinds

of directions

are not

enough.

Imagine you're

lying there

in utter

darkness,

stuck on

the floor

of the cave

and all

of a sudden

the ceiling

of the cave

starts to

shake and

pull apart

and light

comes crashing

in and a

rescue team

reaches down

and plucks

you up and

pulls you up

into the

light.

light.

That's the

vision you

need to have

in your head

of what the

incarnation is.

See, Jesus

has broken

through heaven

and earth

to come into

your darkness

and not just

shine a little

light in the

corner, but

to come flooding

in with light

to grab you,

to rescue you

and bring you

into light

and life.

Not merely to

show us where

rescue can be

found, but

truly to

rescue us,

to give us

that perfect

righteousness,

to restore

that perfect

relationship with

our Father.

Did you know

you could know

that?

Did you know

as you trust

Christ that's

the relationship

that He's

invited you

into?

He's done all

that we were

supposed to do

and He comes

to restore

true life

to those of

us stuck in

the death

of darkness.

Not to put a

heavy burden

on already

confused and

helpless people,

but to give

you life.

In fact,

God breaking

in to be the

light in the

darkness is not

over yet.

He rescues

so thoroughly

that He brings

life forever

as the eternal

light.

Isaiah tells us

what it's going

to be like.

Chapter 60,

darkness shall

cover the

earth in

thick darkness.

The peoples,

we know that

condition,

but the Lord

will arise upon

you and His

glory will be

seen upon you

and nations

shall come to

your light and

kings to the

brightness of

your rising.

Where's the

light coming

from?

The sun shall

be no more

your light by

day, nor for

brightness shall

the moon give

you light, but

the Lord will

be your everlasting

light and your

God will be your

glory.

Your sun shall

no more go

down, nor your

moon withdraw

itself, for the

Lord will be your

everlasting light

and your days of

mourning shall be

ended.

There's hope.

Those dark days

are over.

John actually

sees a picture of

it in Revelation.

Here's what it's

going to be like.

The city has no

need of sun or

moon to shine on

it, for the glory

of God gives it

light and its

lamp is the

Lamb.

By its light will

the nations walk.

The kings of the

earth will bring

their glory into

it.

That's how great

this light is.

An eternal light

for the people of

God and all the

nations who in the

midst of their

darkness cry out

even today for the

light of Jesus, the

light we know only

he can offer.

it's for us, yes.

And it's for all the

nations.

May Christmas remind

you of something.

May you remember

when you think of

the incarnation and

you think of

Christmas that there

is a light powerful

enough and passionate

enough to break into

whatever darkness you

feel no matter how

thick it is.

Would you remember

that there's hope

because of that?

That there's life

on the other side

of where you are

because the light

has come in and

broken into our

darkness.

And would we not

rest until we have

shared the good news

of that light with

every nation and

every person who

needs to know there's

hope in Jesus.

Let's pray.

Jesus, thank you.

You have broken into

the darkness for us

to find us.

Come now,

day spring.

Come and cheer our

spirits by your

advent here.

Disperse the gloomy

clouds of night and

death's dark shadows

put to flight.

Jesus, we need you

to come.

We know what that

darkness feels like.

Many of us feel it

weighing us down this

morning and we beg

that you would come

and we rejoice that

you have come.

Might we glory in the

light that you have

given us and might you

come again quickly,

Lord Jesus, to bring

us into your eternal

light where you are our

light and you are our

life forever.

Thank you.

Amen.

Amen.

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