John 1:1-18
By Brian Lam
Fort Bend Community Church
Christmas Message
2015.12.20
Introduction
1. Merry Christmas to you. When I searched the internet on Merry Christmas, the number one site shows up in Bing is merry-Christmas.com. It is a website where you can write letters to Santa, North Pole, to ask for gifts you want for Christmas.
2. Here is a letter to Santa from Emy J
Dear Santa
all i want for christmas) PLEASE this is all i want is for Mrs.Santa to have a baby child and name it after ME!!! PLEASE oh PLEASE i know i have been very good latley. I think you need a kid sooooooo....... please i want you to have a baby!!!!!!!! Love Santa Jr. P.S, next christmas i want to see him, or her if you don't i will be very mad! Just Joking with you big guy!!!!!!!!!! LOL
P.S.S I also want a WII......!!!!!!
3. What do you want for Christmas?
When I was a kid, I spent every Christmas with the church since the age of two. To me, Christmas is not about presents. It is about the story. In the church I grew up with, we played out the Christmas story every year. All the children got involved in the play. I was a lamb one year, an ox one year... then I got to be a shepherd boy for a few years. I was one of the magi... I was Joseph. I was an angel. I was never a Mary. And no one got to play the baby Jesus.
The Christmas story is the most fantastic story--"the greatest fairy story ever told."(Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories," in Tree and Leaf, pp. 3-80.)
We are "narrative animals": we define who we are, and what we ought to do, on the basis of what story we see ourselves in.
Today, I want to tell you again the wonderful story of Christmas. And it is a global story. It is story for everyone, from every hill and molehill of Mississippi to the crowded mega cities in China and India, from the ISIS war zone to the financial districts of Wall Street, from the suburbia of Riverstones to every home in the world. The Christmas story is a global story.
The angels said on the first Christmas, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will among men." (Luke 2:14) (LITV)
4. And the global Christmas story begins like this, "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3) (ESV).
The Christmas story begins with the Creator of the universe, the eternal Son of God, the One everything through Him, by Him, and for Him, now becoming flesh to dwell among all of us.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16) (NASV).
God so loved the world--the whole world that He sent His Son.
5. Christmas as God intended is about God's plan for the whole world. It is a global story. Therefore in order to have a merry Christmas, it is not only merry Christmas to you and to your kin. Merry Christmas is about God's love for all the people of the world.
John goes on to tell us two things about the global Christmas story. 1) Jesus is the Light that shines on everyone, John 1:4-5; 9-10. 2) Jesus is the One who offers grace to all people, John 1:14; 16-18.
I. Jesus is the Light that shines on everyone, John 1:4-5; 9-10
1. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4) (ESV). The word, "men," literally means mankind. The self-exiting life of Christ is the light of mankind. There is that global perspective. Jesus is the light of all people--all of mankind. This statement is repeated twice (v. 4 and v. 9.) Verse 9 said that He is the true light that shines on everyone.
‘Life’ and ‘light’ are almost universal religious symbols. So what does it mean that Jesus is the Light that shines on everyone?
It is talking about specific revelation to the whole world bound up with the coming of the Son becoming flesh. No one has seen God. The birth of Christ, the Christmas story, is God's specific revelation to the world. He is revealing who God is to the whole world.
3. The verb is in the present tense, which means it is an ongoing process; Christ is still shining on everyone through the Christmas story. Today, the Christmas story reveals who God is to us. He is loving everyone, seeking everyone, wooing everyone, showing everyone who God is through the Christmas story.
4. Illustration: Two years ago, I was in Xinjiang (新彊）I met a Uygur（維族）, a Chinese size Caucasian with black hair and blue eyes. He first heard the Christmas story in a Christmas party as a college student. He said that was the first step on his journey toward Christ. It took him six years intensely discipled by a Korean missionary to accept Christ. He was disowned by his family, kicked out of his house, and was treated as dead. But he kept following Christ. He led his bride to Christ--the second Christian in his community and started a church in his own home with him and his wife and eventually grew to have six people. Jesus is the light who shines on everyone.
5. Today we live in the secular age. Belief in God is just one option among others, and frequently not the easiest option to embrace. For the first time in history a purely self-sufficient humanism came to be a widely available option. There is no final goals beyond human flourishing. There is no allegiance to anything or anyone else. Man stands alone in this ever-changing world without a destiny. To many the Christmas story becomes just a fantastic fairy tale--a story they don't believe to be true but wish it to be true. They don't believe in God yet they miss Him. That is the landscape of the secular age today.
Illustration: In his biography of Apple founder, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson recalls a scene near the end of Steve's life that exemplifies our secular age:
"One sunny afternoon, when he wasn't feeling well, Jobs sat in the garden behind his house and reflected on death.... He admitted that, as he faced death, he might be overestimating the odds out of a desire to believe in an afterlife. "I like to think that something survives after you die," he said. "It is strange to think that you accumulate all this experience, and maybe a little wisdom, and it just goes away. So I really want to believe that something survives, that maybe your consciousness endures." He fell silent for a very long time. "But on the other hand, perhaps it's like an on-off switch," he said. "Click! And you are gone." Then he paused again and smiled slightly. "Maybe that's why I never liked to put on-off switches on Apple devices." (Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011, pp. 570-71.)
In other words, Jobs was asking, "Is that all there is?" Jesus came to the world to shine on all mankind and answered these fundamental questions: "Who am I?" "Is that all there is?" "Why am I here?" "Where am I going?"
The answers and the revelation Jesus gave with His birth still shine on all mankind. Yet, believing in Him is now getting harder and harder. It is not that there is another viable option that shines a different light on all mankind. It is just that we are so used to not believing anything, that the result of lack of faith does not seem to bother us anymore.
Yet the light is still shinning on all mankind. It does not matter whether you are Buddhists, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostic, Cathodic, or Hindu. God loved the world that He sends His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Faith does not come by easily these days. But if you have faith, you will have eternal life. That is the light of Christmas Jesus shines on all mankind.
6. Verse 5, "The light shines in the darkness." Or literally translated "the light is shining on even in the darkness."
The world we live in is getting into more and more conflicts and more and more divided, not merry at all.
- The San Bernardino shooting scares all of us. We could never understand how a father and a mother of a 6-month old baby girl would abandon their own daughter to kill someone's fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. Evil.
- In 2015, in 11 months, we have 355 mass shootings, killings of four or more people. Almost everyday we see shootings, gun violence in the news. Crazy.
- In 2015 60 million people is forced to flee war and become refugees. The number is a all time record. In a global context, that means that one person in every 122 has been forced to flee their home. Tragic.
- Some of us rushed to buy guns for protection, teaching our children to shoot a firearm.
- FBCC is considering a drill for the unlikely event of a shooter coming into our facility.
- Those who run for the president play on people's fear to draw support.
Jesus shines light on all mankind. The Light shines in darkness. The darker the place, the greater is the need of light. We need the presence of Christ in the world. Darkness will not overcome the light. Peace on earth and goodwill toward man. That is the Christmas light.
7. Let me pause for a minute and speak to you personally. I know Christmas is not always easy for some people. Sometimes it's actually a time where people experience darkness and brokenness. Maybe the darkness in your own heart, the darkness in your family, the darkness of difficult relationships, or the darkness of grief and loss overwhelms you. Let me say that maybe this verse is for you this morning as well, not only for some far off places, but for you. Maybe some time during this service it is appropriate for you to pray, "Lord Jesus, you're the light of the world. Shine your light into my heart. I need your light in my heart. I got some dark things that feels like they are overcoming me. Would you come into my heart and would you shine on me, and may the darkness never overcome your light within me." Maybe that is a prayer you need to make this morning.
Let this be truly a merry Christmas to you. Jesus is the light which shines on all mankind.
II. Jesus is the One who offers grace to all people, John 1:14; 16-18
1. There is a second part to this global Christmas story. Jesus is the light that shines on everyone. He also offers grace to everyone.
Verse 14, "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."
God’s Word, his Self-expression, has become flesh and dwelt among us. This is the supreme revelation. If we are to know God, this is the way. The author of Hebrews said, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son" (Heb. 1:1–2).
Jesus, God’s very Self-expression, who was both with God and who was God, became a man. What Jesus has shown us is God's glory in all the earth--God's global glory, the 3G.
2. God's global glory is the theme for the upcoming Chinese Mission Convention in about 8 days.
God's glory is his nature and his attributes. John uses the phrase, "full of grace and truth," to describe God's global glory. Full of "grace and truth" in John's Gospel alludes to the OT phrase "loving-kindness (hesed 慈愛) and truth (emet 誠實) (Exod. 34:6; cf. 33:18-19).
God's grace is His love for the world. His truth is His truthfulness and faithfulness. He never lies, He is going to do what He said He would do. This faithfulness found the ultimate expression in God's sending of his one and only Son.
Verse 16, "16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known."
4. This is what the Christmas story has shown all of us. God's global glory in full display of His love and truthfulness manifested in the birth of Christ. When you see the baby Jesus in the Christmas story, you have seen God's love to you and God's faithfulness to you and your kin.
5. Today we live in a divided and subjective world. I say one, you say two, and he says three... You are Hindu, I am Christian, and he is a Muslin. It is all the same. Religion becomes a personal preference. Just last month, a 3-4 year old Muslim minority group child would say to us, "I am a Muslim. Don't talk to me about the Bible and your religion." Sharing our faith is harder and harder.
In the world out there, the Muslim is fighting the enemies of Islam in Jihad. And we fight the terrorists who threaten our peace and security. The Shiites is fighting the Sunnis. The pro-life and the pro-choice are at war. The world is deeply divided. People can hardly talk to each other with any common grounds.
The Christmas story is still the same. It is the full display of God's loyal love and faithfulness for everyone.
6. For a global merry Christmas,
- Let the weak and wounded sinners, come to Jesus. Come to Jesus and live.
- Let those who are heavy burdened, come to Jesus. Sing to Jesus and live.
- Let those who fall and fail, fall on Jesus and walk again.
- Let those who are lonely and filled with pain, if your sky is dark and the rain is pouring, cry to Jesus. Cry to Jesus and live.
- When the love spills over, when music fills the night, and when you can't contain your joy inside, then dance for Jesus. Dance for Jesus and live!
- When death arrives with your final heartbeat, fly to Jesus. Fly to Jesus and live!
God is loving and faithful. He is here for you. Jesus is the One offers grace to everyone.
7. Let me pause for a moment and speak to you personally. Besides the fear we have, there maybe hatred and anger in our heart. Since 9/11 to Bin Laden's death, we spent over 1.3 trillion dollar in war on terror. During this time period, we have launched two wars in the Middle East. Over half a million people died. Violence begets violence. Maybe your fear has turned into hatred. Maybe your view of the world has turned bitter. Jesus was born also in a violent world. Rome had been ruthless. Caesar Augustus forced everyone to register in their own town--a massive forced displacement. Yet the birth of Christ is about love and faithfulness. He came to offer grace to everyone. Therefore pause for a moment and say a prayer to God. "Lord, fill my heart with love. Replace fear with hope. Replace hatred with love. Give me peace. Offer me grace."
Conclusion
We are the witness, John 6-8, 15, 19ff.
1. Verse 6-8 "6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light."
So are you and I. We are called to be the witness. We are the key to the global Christmas story. And for the world to have a global merry Christmas, you and I are the key.
3. Here is what you are going to do in response to the message this morning.
1) Fear not yourself in this crazy world. The Prince of Peace is here. He holds the key. If the world is going to have peace, let it begin with you.
2) Let me encourage you to pray this prayer during this Christmas season. "Lord, send me. Send me. I am not the light, but I want to bear witness to the light. Lord, send me." You may have no clue what that's going to mean; no clue where he is going to lead you; no clue who you are going to talk to. But start praying, "Lord, send me today. Send me to somebody today. Send me some place this week where I can love somebody in the name of Christ, where I can pray for somebody that is far from God." Pray the same prayer for the church. "Send us. Make us a truly global church." Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with us.
Let There be Peace on Earth and Let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me,
Let this be the moment now.
With ev'ry step I take
Let this be my solemn vow;
To take each moment and live
Each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
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