Christmas 2022

December 25, 2022 Pastor: Hardin Crowder Series: Christmas

Topic: Christmas, Advent

Scripture Reading: 

  • Isaiah 52:7-10
  • John 1:1-14

Opening Prayer:

Father God, as we gather here on this Christmas morning I want to thank you for the birth of your one and only Son. I thank you for sending your Son into this world to save sinners like me, to free us from the bondage of sin and death, and to give us new life. May we live in gratitude for the amazing gift we have been given through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Introduction:

Let me begin this morning by wishing you all a Merry Christmas! I know many of us are out traveling to visit family and friends, but I am grateful for those of you who are able to come and join in our celebration. I know Christmas is a hectic time for many, but I hope you found time this year to stop and reflect on the reason for the season. Even if you haven’t been able to do so, I hope this morning will give you the opportunity to rest and reflect on the great gift we have in Jesus Christ. 

Good News

Our passage from the book of Isaiah begins with the image of a messenger bringing good news to Jerusalem. He comes with a threefold message of peace, happiness, and salvation all wrapped together in the declaration “Your God Reigns” (Isaiah 52:7). This news is first heard by watchmen looking out on the horizon. These watchmen were the ones who hoped against hope to hear good news. They kept their eyes open, hoping for any sign of God’s favor. We are told that upon receiving the good news, they sing for joy and call the rest of the city to join in their singing because “The Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:9).  Remember that the people of Isaiah’s day were living through an era of conquest and exile. They had seen their homes destroyed and their people scatter, but Isaiah looks ahead to a coming day of restoration. Eventually that day would come when Babylon fell to the Persian army and the exiled Israelites were allowed to return and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. 

But why are we reading this passage on Christmas? As Christians at Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Son of God who came to seek and save the lost. Just as the messenger in Isaiah’s prophecy brought a message of peace, happiness, and salvation wrapped up in the good news that “Your God Reigns!”, so do we bring a message of peace, happiness, and salvation bound together in the good news of Jesus Christ. 

In his letter to the church in Rome, the Apostle Paul used this very passage from Isaiah to remind us of the good news we are called to bring to all peoples: 

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 

Romans 10:14-15, ESV

But what exactly is the good news of Christ? Billions of babies have been born in the two thousand years since that first Christmas night, but we do not measure time in categories of before and after their birth. What makes Jesus so special? For that answer we turn to the Gospel of John. 

In The Beginning Was The Word

I always think it is interesting how different gospel authors chose to begin their accounts of the life of Jesus. Mark skips the Christmas story altogether and begins his account at the start of Jesus’ public ministry, when he was baptized by John in the river Jordan. Matthew begins with a genealogy from Abraham leading up to Christ, followed by an account of Jesus’ miraculous birth. Luke focuses on how the angels foretold both the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus, and how their parents responded to the news of their birth. The strangest opening to any gospel, in my opinion, is John’s prologue to the gospel. 

Whereas Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus, Matthew begins with the lineage of Jesus, Luke begins with the announcement of Jesus, but John begins before anything began in eternity past. 

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 any thing made that was made. 

John 1:1-3, ESV

This opening almost sounds like a riddle doesn’t it? It certainly grabs my attention right away. It feels grandiose and epic. John is making a point here, the good news of Jesus is not just the story of one man’s life. It is the story of all stories. 

We are shown Jesus as God, the Second Person of the Trinity referred here to as “The Word.” This was not a small claim to make. John depicts Jesus as existing in the beginning, just as the book of Genesis declares “In the beginning was God” (Genesis 1:1). Jesus did not begin to exist on Christmas day, rather he always existed. He is uncreated, and if there was any confusion about what this means, John simply states upfront that “The Word was God” (John 1:1).  John then goes on to say that “all things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3), and since creation is the work of God alone, the Word must be God. The author of Hebrews would pick up this same point when they wrote: 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Hebrews 1:1-2, ESV

Let’s not rush too quickly past this point. At Christmas time we celebrate the day that the Creator entered into his creation. The Creator of the universe and heir of all things, stepped out of eternity and into the world he created. He who is eternal and holy, humbled himself to take on humanity. This is an amazing truth that is beyond comprehension, and yet we would do good to reflect on the amazing mystery of it all. Listen to how the earliest Christians wrote about this amazing truth, again the author of Hebrews writes: 

It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honor,

putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Hebrews 2:6-9, ESV

And Paul writing to the church in Philippi, wrote:  

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11, ESV

There is much to be said here, but I want you to see that the birth of Christ was no ordinary birth, it was a moment when reality fundamentally changed. The God we could not reach, reaches down to us even to the point of taking on flesh and walking among us. When we sing Christmas carols, we are not just singing “Happy Birthday Jesus songs. We join in the song that the messenger of Isaiah brought to Jerusalem, a message of peace, happiness, and salvation all bundled up in the person of Jesus Christ!

I also want you to see that the birth of Christ is inseparable from his life, his death, and his resurrection. When we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we are celebrating how God took on the fullness of humanity, including our suffering, our grief, our pain, and our death. When we think about the wood that made up the manger in which the newborn baby Christ was laid, let’s remember the wooden cross upon which he would die for our sins. When we think about the swaddling clothes in which the newborn baby was wrapped, let’s remember the grave clothes that we left behind at his resurrection. 

The Life and Light of Man

John then writes that: 

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…. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 

John 1:4-5, 9, ESV

Christ came into the world to give us life. When John writes about “life” he means something more than just the chemical process that keeps our bodies functioning. He was talking about true life in relationship with God. Jesus not only showed us what it looked like to live a full life in true relationship with God, but through his death, he enabled us to inherit the eternal life that he earned! 

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself… yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

John 5:26, 40, ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10, ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6, ESV

But Christ, whose birth we celebrate this day, did not come just to give life. He also comes to be the light of men, who shines light into darkness. In John’s gospel, evil is synonymous with darkness, in that it tries to blind people from seeing or knowing what is good and true. Jesus came to expose the works of darkness and provide a light to guide us on the path of righteousness. 

At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

1 John 2:8, ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12, ESV

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

John 12:46, ESV

The World Did Not Know Him

Sadly, the greatest moment in history went largely unnoticed by most of 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. 

John 1:10-11

While Jesus would be rejected by many in his life, when I read this passage at Christmas time I think of people like the innkeepers and visitors of Bethlehem who would not share their room for an expectant mother, resulting in the savior of the world being born in a manger. I think of King Herod and the residents of Jerusalem who heard from the Wise Men that a King had been born, but rather than celebrating they were greatly troubled. King Herod even going so far as to try to have the Savior of the World slain in his childhood so that his earthly kingdom would not be threatened by Christ’s Kingdom. 

The good news is that no opposition against Christ and his Kingdom can succeed. As our Isaiah passage prophesied, 

The Lord has bared his holy arm

    before the eyes of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth shall see

    the salvation of our God.

Isaiah 52:10, ESV

Just as no obstacle or adversary could prevent the birth of our Savior and Lord, so too can nothing stop his Kingdom from bringing salvation to the nations in all ends of the earth! 

While many did not receive Christ, there were those who did receive him and who did follow him in faith. As John declared: 

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 1:12-13, ESV

This is the good news of Christmas! God, through Christ, took the initiative in making salvation possible. When we read about “glory” we should remember that we are reading about the splendor and majesty of God. It is the radiant power of the Creator appearing in creation. It is the radiance of God that no human eye could behold, but which became visible to humans in Jesus Christ. 

If God did not come to us in Christ, we would never have been able to approach Him. If Christ did not earn our salvation on our behalf, then we would never have been able to earn it ourselves. We cannot be saved by our heritage, or by our strength, or by our own good deeds. We are saved by adoption into the family of God, a receive adoption by placing our trust in Jesus Christ. All are welcome in the family of God, and all of God’s children experience a new spiritual birth through faith in Jesus. This is why we celebrate Christmas. 

Prayer of Decision: 

Father God, we thank you for the gift of Christmas. When we reflect on the day that Jesus Christ was born, let us remember that we are celebrating more than just a mere birthday celebration. We are celebrating the day that the world changed. We are celebrating the day that you sent your Son into the world to save us from our sins. We are celebrating the day that the Kingdom of God shifted from a future promise to a present reality. Help us to be messengers of this good news in the coming year, so that we can welcome even more brothers and sisters into the family of God. 

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