The Incarnate Deity - John 1 Vs 14-15

Good morning, everyone. Good to see everyone on this almost Christmast Eve. Hope you guys are having a good Sunday, but another Sunday nonetheless to praise God. We'll start with some announcements today.

First two will be the fact that there is no prayer meeting this Sunday and There will also be no other continuation of Bible study until next year in January 15th. Next we have missionary of the month, which is Darcy Berglund.

She serves with ethnos 360 in Indonesia. She works as a Bible translator there. So just pray that her efforts within the ministry that we support are Fruitful and that they have an internal impact on those of which that they encounter.

Next we have baptism Sunday on December 29th. If you guys are interested in being baptized Please let any of the elders or pastors know. And then lastly we have the annual business meeting which will take place next year as well.

This will be on the last Sunday of January January 26 so that'll take place after the service and we'll come together as a congregation to review the a Lot of business aspects of the church. So please feel free to join that if you're available.

And that'll do it for announcements today if you guys will join me in prayer before we head into worship and sermon. Dear Lord, thank you for this day given us. Thank you for allowing us to be here to fellowship in your name.

As we know what Christ has done already for us on the cross that that we remember. It's in our lives as we move forward here today as we get ready for worship and sermon prepare our hearts Lord so that they are focused on you Lord and That we can learn more about your character through the sermon and your word here today Lord, you know, I'm praying Jesus name.

Amen.

We have about five Christmas carols that we'll be singing this morning. Three of them were originally written either in German or Latin Translated into English and then the last two that we have of the day were written in English.

The first one is how great our joy. So stand together with me as we sing. How great our joy as we think about our Lord coming to earth for us.

We have heard on high taken from Luke.

2 verses 13 and 14 where this scripture says. And suddenly there were with the angels a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the highest. Look at the chorus there. It says glory in Excelsis deo.

Is that English? That's Latin and it really what do you think deo means? God and Excelsis is in the highest. So it's saying in Latin glory to God in the highest. So I thought we didn't want you speaking in tongues.

You know, we wanted you to know what you're singing. So another it's another song a carol for glory to the God in the.

Scripture reading today is in Exodus.

34 verses 4 through 9. We pray that the Lord would add his blessing to this word. So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai as The Lord had commanded him and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and Proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abounding in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin By no means clearing the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation.

So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. Then he said if now I have found grace in your sight. Oh Lord let my Lord, I pray go among us even though we are a stiff-necked people and Pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us as your inheritance.

This next song is oh come oh come Emmanuel and if you look at the words, a lot of them are dealing with Israel, but it's.

Really.

Christ's birth is relating back to Israel as well as Christ's birth relating forward to you and I. So there's a lot of good words in this. I think this one was written back in the 1700s also and Probably originally in Latin, but it has some good Promises that the Lord has kept.

So stand together with me as we sing. Oh come oh come.

Emmanuel God with us in the fact that this song was written by a lady named.

Elliot raised in Brighton England during the Industrial Revolution when all the kids were working in the factories and she was starting Sunday schools trying to reach the kids and Tell them about the Lord that somebody loved them.

She wanted to teach them that she loved them and that the Lord loved them. And so she wrote this song trying to reach these kids.

Victor that I'll be preaching from John 1 14 through 18. And as I'm writing the sermon, I realized we'll be here all day if I preach even those four verse. What? Five verses. So I'm only going to be preaching from John 1 14 through 15.

So let's all turn to John 1 Verses 14 through 15. John 1 Verses 14 through 15 and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and We beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.

John bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom I said he who comes after me is Preferred before me for he was before me. This is the Word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father we're grateful that we worship a God not far away, but a God who came down to us down from his heavenly throne from his highest glory and We got to behold his glory When he was lifted up on the cross.

Help us To know that we have a God who dwells with us. Help us to appreciate delight and help us to worship him in Jesus name. First I would like to thank you for your generous and gracious Christmas gift.

Lauren and I are very grateful for your Support not just in a financial way, but in every way. I know many of you do pray for us. Pray for each member to write not just us. Some might even pray for our cats.

And I would you think it's a joke, but I know there are some who really like our cats. And we're just grateful for how warmly you received us from the beginning. It doesn't seem like it, but it's been.

It's been a couple of years since we got here, too.

And.

We're grateful for how kindly you treat us even Week to week not and I feel like the love you've shown us hasn't grown cold since we got here in 2021 and It is no wonder that our son always wants to go to church.

It doesn't matter how many people are gathered as long as there some. Whether it's the Bible study or Sunday evening prayer night Or the Sunday worship service when we are gathered. He is excited to be with the church and we're grateful for all of you.

And we we hope you have a blessed Christmas celebrating the birth of our risen Savior. Now with this I enter into John 1. John 1 Verses 1 through 18 is the prologue to the gospel according to John and it is some of the richest I mean words.

You can find some of the richest theologically deepest verses in these 18 verses. In fact, I I would like to thank my New Testament professors DA Carson and also Stephen Bryan.

For.

Taking a long time to unpack each part of the prologue. I Took a class just on John at during the last semester with Stephen Bryan. Who was who was also influenced by DA Carson because he went to the same seminary.

Stephen Bryan spent multiple class periods just to unpack the first 18 verses. And we zoom through everything else, but that's how theologically rich this portion is. This prologue establishes how we must read this gospel account and it Summarizes who Jesus is.

Although we don't get to hear the angelic announcements as we did in Luke We don't get to see the baby also in Luke and Matthew. John's prologue richly unpacks the significance of Christ's incarnation.

Christ's incarnation is the true reason for celebrating Christmas. God became flesh and dwelt among us and Matthew calls it Emanuel, which means God with us. The doctrine of incarnation is crucial and without it we don't have salvation.

If it is not God who came down to die for our sin, then Jesus death is meaningless and without incarnation. We don't have Christ. What does it mean. The invisible God the uncreated God became flesh. That's what incarnation literally means.

It is the in flesh meant of God. Again another lot Latin term right carne means meat. The untouchable God became touchable and Dwelt among us. That's precisely how verse 14 starts. The word became flesh.

And why is this important? Ever since Genesis 3 the beginning of history. Humanity and God have been separated by sin. In fact, the rebellious wicked people do not want to be anywhere close to the holy God.

God's purity and righteousness actually become threatening to sinners. Ever since Genesis 3 it has always been God who initiated to restore the broken relationship from calling out to Adam and Eve who hid themselves and to the instruction of the tabernacle to dwell among Israel and When Christ entered God assumed humanity to dwell with them and finally die for them.

John's prologue. John's prologue is rather confusing and this is because it is jam-packed with the Old Testament allusions and In order to understand Christ's redemption of the world We must understand the Lord's redemption of Israel and it's exactly as Victor said.

We need to know the history of Israel in order to know what God had done to save the whole world. Although I will be preaching from only verses 14 and 15. This section alone has multiple references to Exodus the second book of the Bible.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory full of grace and truth. The law was given through Moses. These are all references to Exodus God redeeming Israel from their enslavement. And we must understand how God redeemed the ancient Jews from Egypt in order to understand how God Ultimately redeems the world from sin through Christ.

John 1 was not written in a vacuum. It's written with the context of what God has already done. First after the Israelites left Egypt God shows up. He shows up on Mount Sinai. They do not see a figure.

After all the invisible God does not take on any image. But rather God comes down from heaven in his word. God's presence is in the very word that came down on to Mount Sinai from The highest heavens the word of course is the law of God.

God.

Graciously gave Israel his law in order that God may dwell among Israel. The law was a gift to Israel. Oftentimes we think the law is burdensome. But rather the law when was when first given to Israel was a gift to Israel because Israel did not earn it.

It was given by God and this leads to the second point. The law's purpose was not for Israel to be snobbish and snooty. We have the law but you don't. But rather it made it possible for the Holy God to dwell among a sinful people.

Israel of course was not perfect. Yet, how are they to reflect God's glory? Unless they knew how to be Faithfully obeying God and that is the second grace. The giving of the law, which was gracious already Was so that God would dwell among them the greater grace God's very presence.

This makes sense with Exodus structure. The law is given from chapters 20 to 24 the 10 commandments chapter 20 and the case laws following it and the remaining book is Focused on the construction of the tabernacle God's very own dwelling tent.

His own portable palace so that the Lord would be with Israel wherever they end up. The law allowed for God to dwell with Israel. The law was a gift for Israel so that they may experience a greater gift, which is God's very dwelling presence.

And.

This concept is important for us today. Because we are given something greater than what Israel received on Mount Sinai 3 ,500 years ago in Jesus Christ we are given the greatest gift of all and that is a more Personal and a permanent dwelling presence of God.

And we find that dwelling place not in a structure not in a building not in this building, but in the person of Jesus Christ. And That is precisely what we're celebrating on Christmas. The person whom God has given.

So that God himself would dwell among us. The main point of today's text is that Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the prophesied presence of God. Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the prophesied presence of God.

First. Jesus dwells with us by manifesting his divine glory. Jesus dwells with us by manifesting his divine glory. Verse 14 starts Rather cryptically. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. For many of us the word or any word is abstract.

What word? Who is this? But when we remember the Exodus context we understand. Just as the law came down on Mount Sinai. So that God would dwell among Israel. The word came down from heaven to dwell among God's people.

In fact the term to dwell can literally be translated as tabernacled or tented. John is making an explicit connection to Exodus here. The Messianic Jewish translation the tree of life version actually caught on this.

They actually translate it this way. The word and the word became flesh and Tabernacled among us. The modern Jews have it, right? The tabernacle was the first official consistent portable dwelling place of God among God's people.

Before the tabernacle God would show up here and there years apart. Only certain individuals. Right, even even the good faithful Abraham didn't get to just Go into God's presence whenever he wanted. There were years apart.

Sometimes In and through the tabernacle God dwelt among his people. And what is John telling us here? The Word of God Jesus Christ. The person of Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the law in the tabernacle.

The law allowed God's people to experience God's life-giving presence. Now Jesus will allow God's people to experience God's life-giving presence. Not by building a new tent, but by being the new tent.

Now Jesus will allow God's people to experience God's life-giving presence. Not because he's some different law the Torah 2 .0. But rather he is the fulfillment of it. What that means is the law? Pointed to Christ.

Not only that because he is God man God's very presence is found in him. He is both the tabernacle and the law. Jesus is not just the means of God's presence, but he is the very presence of God. Jesus is not just another prophet telling God's people how to approach God.

He is God whom you approach.

In.

Christ is the fullness of God's glory in Christ the very presence of God dwells. Hence John tells us this. And we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.

And those who have seen Christ have seen God's glory and This echoes the Exodus account that was read this morning by Wayne all. Throughout Exodus God's glory comes down. Moses. Encountering the burning bush.

God's glory came down on Mount Sinai. Starting with chapter 19. God's glory came down Chapter 34 when Moses is dejected. God's glory came down Chapter 40 when the tabernacles finally built. God's glory came down and dwelt there.

So much so that even Moses could not enter the tent yet. Here John tells us that Christ physically reveals the divine glory of the Father. He is the one and only son of the Father there is no one like him.

Yes, angels are sometimes called sons of God and Christians are called sons of God. But there's only one type That is solely Christ. Only Jesus is uniquely the pre-existing Son of God. What that means is if you have seen the Son you have seen the Father.

And This has a background in Exodus, which I'll unpack more here. After God gave Moses the law Moses comes down from the mountain Mount Sinai. In Chapter 32 Moses sees a filthy abominable idol worship of the golden calf.

Not only did his brother not stop them he is the one who facilitated it. Moses at that moment drops the Ten Commandments which God has given him the tablets shatter and Oftentimes I thought why would he shatter the tablets?

It makes sense because then there was no purpose for the law. When Israel has quickly so abandoned the God who was willing to dwell with them. They didn't need the life. They were just if they chose another God.

It wasn't Moses being dramatic. Moses knew. How could the Holy God dwell with us now? What's the point of the law? When they have quickly so turned away from the Lord who Redeemed them now before even the law Could be given to Israel so that God would dwell with them.

Israel decides to worship a false God. They chose a created image over the invisible God. Now Moses who is distraught He goes back to the Lord. Moses does not think Israel can actually be led to the promised land at this rate.

Yet he knows that it is possible if God's presence still goes with them. So Moses asks the Lord, please show me your glory show me your glory. Exodus 33 18 to this God answers that he will only show his backside the goodness of God and As Moses is covered in the cleft of the rock God will cover him and as the Lord passes by he will announce his name that is his glory passing by and He announces the Lord the Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth and This side of God's glory is what convinces Moses that Israel could in fact make it to the promised land not because Israel Repented so well, but rather Moses is assured Despite the sinfulness of Israel.

After he sees the partial presence of God who passed by he sees that this God Is able to forgive after all doesn't it start the Lord the Lord merciful and gracious. It doesn't start just an unforgiving.

It doesn't start Pure and utterly holy, but rather when he passes by and announces his name is merciful and gracious long-suffering Patient he endures it he endures much more than our short fuse can and He's up in goodness and truth.

Not just some not just a sample. But abounding now, what's the difference between what Moses beheld and what Jesus revealed? Moses beheld the partial glory of God and that was still abundant in grace and truth.

Those who have seen Jesus have seen the full glory of God. Full of grace and truth as John translates. When you have seen Christ you have beheld the full glory of God. This is why in in verse 18, I'm not preaching from there.

John says no one has seen God. That's true even Moses didn't get to see God only partial but If you've seen Christ The one who was in the bosom of the father you have he has revealed him. You've seen God if you've seen Christ First this is actually very richly trinitarian all throughout the Old Testament.

There's only one God and all glory belongs to God alone. He is the Lord who shares his glory with no other Isaiah 42 8. But what does John say here? Yet the Word of God fully manifests the glory of God the Father.

God the Son perfectly represents and reflects the glory of the Father and Nobody else can who could the Son be? How could God the Father share through his divine glory with the Son. Unless the Son himself were the Son is God.

The Father is God second. This is theologically significant. When you fast forward to John 14 one of Jesus disciples whom Jesus spent Some years with discipling him personally he says Show us the Father and that is enough for us.

Mind you this is the Last Supper. This is the Last Supper. They're gonna have together and Philip says Jesus. Could you just show us the Father I? Can see that you're going somewhere. I Have a request.

Could you show us the Father. And Jesus doesn't say hold on. Let me get my father on the line. Rather Jesus rebukes him. Philip's supposed to know if you have seen me. Mr. Philip you have seen the Father.

What does this mean? Jesus fully reveals his father. He is the Word of God who reveals the invisible God. After all when you read the Old Testament if you read really any of the prophets. How does it start the Word of God that came to profit blank?

The Word of God and the impact is fully divine the Word of God shows up and It's as if God showed up and John says here if you've seen the Word of God person of Christ. You have fully seen God's glory.

Do you want to know what God the Father is like? Look to his son receiving the rejects. Do you want to know how gentle God the Father is? Look to Christ embracing the little ones. Embracing sinners touching the lepers.

Healing the blind the famous Christmas song Mary. Did you know has it right? Mary when you kiss your little baby you have kissed the face of God astounding now. When have we beheld his glory. When you track the term his glory in the gospel according to John you will note that it picks up from his first public miracle turning water into wine and John tells us he manifested his glory there and after that he will show about seven miracles and What it points to ultimately is that each miracle points to the crucifixion and resurrection.

By chapter 8 Jesus reveals that it is his father who glorifies him. Jesus does not glorify himself. It is his father father God. Then we get to chapter 17. He is by himself praying fervently. Right before his death and what's his request.

And Now father glorified me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. The request is that God the Father would reveal his glory in the Sun that Jesus glory will be revealed to the world and On what platform is the public declaration of God's glory, but you don't have to look further a Few chapters ahead John 19.

Jesus is lifted up. He is exalted. He is highly exalted and It is not the throne that you think it is. It's the cross. When Jesus is hanging from the cross, he is ultimately glorified. When Jesus bears our sin and suffers God's wrath on our behalf He reveals the full glory of God.

15 years prior to Christ Moses was assured that the Lord God could potentially forgive these idolatrous Israelites after the Golden Calf disaster. Only when Moses beheld the partial glory of God passed by the backside the Lord the Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth.

And 2 ,000 years after Christ. We can behold even the full glory of God when we look to the cross and. And how much more of the assurance we have of God's perfect pardon and full forgiveness. For those who have beheld the full glory of God.

We beheld his glory full of grace and truth. Partial. But the fullness of it the fulfillment of it. That's how we can be assured even more so that your sins are forgiven in the person of Jesus Christ in his Divine dwelling presence.

We have the full assurance of God's mercy and grace upon a sinful people. Not much different from the idolatrous Israelites. Now, how is the dwelling presence of God's glory different than on Sinai? The dwelling presence of God's glory in Christ is the eschatological fulfillment of the Old Testament promises.

Many people find verse 15 rather out of place. Read ahead verse 15. Some translations make it a parenthetical comment. Mind you the ancient Greek did not have parentheses. Oh. The Apostle John is just reminding us of John the Baptist from verse 5 because you know John the Baptist will show up in the Old Testament and he will show up in the New Testament.

He will show up in verse 19. That's how they would argue. I don't think so. I Don't believe John the Baptist. John the Apostle had a memory lapse. And I also don't believe John the Apostle thought the readers had a memory lapse.

Rather verse 15 perfectly fits the argument that the Apostle John has been making already. John this is the Baptist bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom I said. He who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me.

Sounds like a tongue twister. But let's unpack here. Consider the Apostle John's Argument up to this point the Word of God Jesus is the fulfillment of the law in the tabernacle. He is the final culmination of the dwelling presence of God's Word and his dwelling place.

The question on any Jewish mind must be how can we be sure that Jesus fulfills the law in the tabernacle? After all, isn't it God? Himself who gave Israel the law in the tabernacle. Which later became the temple?

Did not the glory of God filled the tabernacle after it was built and later on God's glory filled the Solomon's temple then Apostle John by what basis can we say that Jesus fulfills both of God-given gifts after all.

It's it's a troubling place to be for a Jew to say. The temple is no longer The dwelling place of God. But rather it's a person. That's that's a rather troubling thing to say for a Jew. Not only that the law That was were written on the stones.

That actually points to a person. They would have stoned you for that the Apostle answers. John bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom I said. He who comes after me is preferred before me.

For he was before me. What is answer to John. God has testified beforehand the coming of Christ the only way it makes sense for the temple and both of the tabernacle and the law to be ultimately fulfilled by Jesus Christ is If God actually promised that they would be fulfilled in the future if God has said in Scripture that The law and the tabernacle or the law in the temple will once.

Be.

Wretched it up and further lead into its intended purpose in the eschatological future. And this happens in two ways. First John the Baptist bears witness of Christ. This was he of whom I said he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me.

A rather mysterious testimony, but nevertheless crucial. John is speaking of Jesus when he says he who comes after me. After me signifies time. Jesus is the one who came after John the Baptist. Temporally Jesus incarnation happened after John the Baptist conception.

Right. Jesus was born after John the Baptist. Jesus ministry started after John the Baptist ministry.

Yet.

Just because Jesus came later does not mean he is lesser. In fact, John the Baptist says he is preferred before me because Jesus takes prominence. Due to his pre-existence Jesus is more prominent than John the Baptist because he is the one who has pre-existed John the Baptist.

Again, it shows the divinity of Christ just because he took on flesh at a point of history. Doesn't mean that's when he was created. He existed before because he existed before he's more important than John the Baptist who is According to Jesus the greatest man who's ever been born.

Second John the Baptist testimony is grounded in the Old Testament prophecy. John the Baptist is not some Jewish man randomly crying out in the wilderness. In fact all four of the gospel accounts. Make it clear that John the Baptist is the fulfillment of Isaiah 40 verse 3.

The voice of him who crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Here's the question. If John is the voice that cries in the wilderness and prepares for the way of the Lord then.

Logically he who comes after me in John 1 15 must be the Lord himself. The Word of God is none other than Yahweh. The Word of God has returned to his rebellious people to restore The Word of God has come back to dwell among them.

Consider when The prophecy that Isaiah wrote was written. Isaiah the Prophet prophesied this in the 8th century BC 700 years before Christ. The Solomonic Temple was still standing. This is before the Babylonian exile.

The Ark of the Covenant was not missing. It was still in the Holy of Holies. The law was still in place and who knows maybe the Ten Commandments the tablets were still in the Ark.

Yet.

God through Isaiah Promises that there will be a day in which he will return to dwell with them. That priest presupposes that he is no longer there at one point with them. And when that day comes God will send a herald to proclaim the coming of the Lord.

What does this mean? It means God's revelation on Mount Sinai even in the Old Testament Was not the final Destination. God promised through Isaiah even 700 years before Christ's birth that there will be a greater revelation of himself and a more intimate dwelling presence among his people that is more significant and more spectacular than what happened on Mount Sinai and when the tabernacle was built.

After all it wouldn't have made sense for Isaiah who has the beautiful Solomonic temple that he could look after. Didn't he also experience God's presence in Isaiah 6 there in the very temple. Yet he says in verse 40 The Lord's coming back.

There's a voice in the wilderness and he's going to declare the Lord is coming back. Consider Mount Sinai. God audibly spoke So that a close to a million people on the foot of the mountain heard and trembled.

Yet God says You have not beheld my full revelation yet. Thus verse 15 is the answer. Jesus the Word of God is the promised full Revelation of the Lord who came to restore his wayward people. God has declared that he will come back and his revelation will be fuller than ever.

Compared to whatever came before rather Mount Sinai tabernacle Solomonic temple and Now in during Jesus time it would have been Herod's temple. Those will not compare when the voice of the one crying in the wilderness comes.

He is preparing for the very coming of the Lord. And John says This was God's plan not mine. This was prophesied 700 years before. That's why the Word of the Lord Came down and was made flesh and dwelt among us.

When we celebrate Christmas this morning, we're celebrating nothing less the coming of the Lord Yahweh. We are celebrating God's gracious return to the fallen world to restore Christ. Incarnation is the very answer to the ongoing problem between sinners and God.

Sinners do everything to avoid God's presence yet God's life-giving presence is precisely what they need in order to live. That is a massive dilemma. Sinners don't want God, but they can't live without God.

In order to save sinners. God himself took on flesh and Tabernacled among us. In order to save sinners. Jesus became approachable to sinners. God himself became vulnerable. In order to save sinners. God himself became Mortal in order for God to dwell with sinners.

He also took care of what makes us sinners what makes us hide from God sin. He took it upon himself and Bore it on the cross and died the death that we deserved.

And.

Because he is God he did not stay dead But rose from the dead and through his death and resurrection Jesus provides a more personal and Enduring presence that we could have ever hoped for. God became man To die for you so that he may dwell with you for all eternity.

With this in mind The second verse from Hark the Herald. Angels sing comes alive Christ by highest. Heaven adored Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold him. Come offspring of the Virgin's womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased with us in flesh to dwell Jesus our Emanuel. Jesus is God with us. Let us pray father. We're grateful That Jesus is with us and that his dwelling presence is assured and Secured because His death and resurrection for our sake help us To delight in what he has done and who he is.