Grow With Pastor Joe

            Christmas time is upon us. You are probably either a Grinch or a Cindy Lou Who right about now. We’ve barely gotten the taste of Thanksgiving turkey out of our mouth, and it is time for Christmas cookies. I know that the season is supposed to be one that is merry and bright, yet for many, me included, we aren’t feeling so holly jolly. However, all of us must admit that the Christmas season is one that has many sights to behold that make the season filled with wonder, hope, or even just plain nostalgia. What is more peaceful or glorious than the fresh fallen untouched snow? Can anything make your eyes glow like the bright twinkling lights of trees and yard decorations? How about the sight of seeing a young child’s anticipation as they tear into a present or perhaps the love in the parent’s eyes as they watch their children with joy? Christmas is a time for beholding. I believe that whatever we behold will capture our attention, even for a moment. We can behold the sorrows of Christmas past, the pain of Christmas present, or the uncertainty of Christmas future and end up feeling hopeless this holiday. I believe that Christmas is an opportunity for each of us to behold the glory of God. When we behold His glory, His glory captures our mind’s attention and heart’s affection so that we may glorify His name. The true wonder of Christmas is that God came to man veiling His glory, yet you and I who behold the glory of Christ in His coming can by faith reflect back to Him His glory that radiates out to us. The glory of God in Jesus Christ is man’s greatest problem and purpose. Because of His glory we have a problem. We aren’t glorious and we can’t behold His glory while we are still lost in our sinful condition. However, God’s grace makes God’s glory available to all who call upon Him in faith. This then turns our greatest problem into our greatest purpose. The purpose of man is to know God in the fulness of His glory in Christ by the Holy Spirit through the scriptures so that we would give Him the glory and honor due Him.

            Ultimately, you can’t behold the glory of God without beholding the glory of Christ. If you want to learn of God, know God, and glorify God it is only in Christ that this can happen. In “God Shines Forth” written by Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves, they write of this saying, “In the radiance of Jesus, we not only are learning something about God but are receiving God himself. Jesus is not only glorious in a descriptive way; he is God’s Glory in a definitive way.” (pg. 27) Then they say later that, “God’s presence, name, face, and glory are all in a person. Jesus Christ is in himself the radiant display of the reality of God. Moreover, he is to us the gift of God’s very self.” (pg. 34) As we turn our attention to behold His glory this Christmas season we have to look beyond the manger and into eternity to behold Jesus in all of His glory. The infinite glory of God came to us in an infant sized gift. While Matthew and Luke’s gospel accounts give to us manger or nativity scenes, John looks past the manger and into eternity so that we may see the fullness of the glory of the newborn king. To behold His glory, you must look eternally backward and forward to see the true wonder of His glory wrapped in flesh in the nativity story. The whole thrust of John’s gospel flows from the prologue found in John 1:1-18. Throughout the gospel of John, the whole gospel account will uniquely paint a portrait of the person and work of Jesus Christ from eternity to eternity so that all who behold His glory on each page, in each chapter, and verse would believe on Him (John 20:30-31).

Today, we will behold His infinite glory in John 1:1-5 which says,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² The same was in the beginning with God .³All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ⁵And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

            We will study these opening verses to behold His glory by looking at His existence and expression. God exists and expresses Himself fully and finally in the coming of Jesus Christ to this world for sinners. We will examine this fully over the next few weeks so that our mind’s attention and heart’s affection would be turned to the infinite glory of Christ. This Christmas, I want you to behold the infinite infant lying in a manger. I want you to see that God’s glory and grace sought your eternal good by the coming of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God’s eternal glory on full display. This is God’s glory and grace wrapped in flesh. Let’s behold His glory seen so radiantly in the infinite infant, the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Behold the glory of His existence. God exists. The Bible opens up with this as does John’s gospel. There is no argument. There is no debate. God is. He simply, yet powerfully and profoundly is. John opens up his gospel by pointing us back not to the manger, but to the beginning of all things. John 1:1-2 shows us the glory of His existence saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²The same was in the beginning with God.” The Bible opens up with the same phrase of “in the beginning.” This beginning is not referencing John’s gospel or even the earthly life of Christ, it is pointing back to the dawn of creation in Genesis 1-2. There are several things about the existence of Jesus, the Word made flesh that we see in this first verse.

First, we see Jesus’ preexistence. The opening verse says, “In the beginning was the Word.” Notice the importance of the word “was.” This shows that the Word already was. What is the Word? Or better yet, who is the Word? John uses the word logos which is our capitalized Word. This word for Word was used both by Jews and Greeks, but each of them had their own understanding. Simply, logos or Word is divine speech, self-expression, or revelation. The Jews associated the Word of God with God Himself. They equated the word of God with His being and work; or the sum of His attributes expressed through His actions. The Greeks however viewed logos as the source of reason, power, logic, rule and order in the universe. Both Jew and Greek though viewed the logos to be the source of all things and sustainer of life. Jesus is the Word of God or as John will also put it, the Word made flesh. God has revealed Himself in, by, and through His Son Jesus Christ who preexisted before all things. Jesus’ beginning was not in Bethlehem but in eternity past. The Jews and Greeks are right that the logos is before all things, however, they are both missing that it is Jesus the true logos who is preexisting before all things. The Jews and Greeks alike believed Jesus’ origins to be in Bethlehem then growing up in Nazareth. They believed that Joseph and Mary were his parents, but little did they realize that Jesus was preexisting long before Mary, Joseph, or anyone else in Bethlehem. As S.D. Gordon put it, “Jesus was God spelling himself out in language humanity could understand.” Yet, many still do not understand as they are blinded by their own self-righteousness or false doctrine. As Mary touches her baby’s face, she is touching the preexistent Son of God, who has always existed as God. We see this idea connected in Exodus 3:12-15 as God reveals Himself to Moses as the “I AM.”

The passage says, “¹² And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. ¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? ¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you .¹⁵ And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”

God is the preexisting, self-existing, self-sufficient, self- revealing God. God is the I AM because He always was, is, and shall be. In John 8:49-59, Jesus is being questioned and He Himself declares His preexistence.

The passage says, “⁴⁹Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. ⁵⁰ And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. ⁵¹ Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. ⁵² Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. ⁵³ Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: ⁵⁵ Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. ⁵⁷ Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? ⁵⁸ Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. ⁵⁹ Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”

            Many say that Jesus never claimed deity, yet to claim preexistence before Abraham by using the same phrase “I am” would prove otherwise. Jesus could claim deity and preexistence because He is the eternal Word of God. He is the logos who was before all things. How incredible that the infinite preexisting God of creation would become an infant to save sinners?

Second, we see Jesus’ coexistence. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” Here we see not just that Jesus preexisted but coexisted with the Father and Spirit within the Godhead throughout eternity. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Jesus shows us the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Spirit who throughout eternity enjoyed face to face infinite intimate fellowship. Jesus claims this throughout His earthly life and ministry. At the young age of 12, He claims that He and His heavenly Father are in eternal relationship and that His earthly responsibility was to do His Father’s will (Luke 2:42-52). Throughout His earthly life, Jesus continued in intimate fellowship with His Father. Then, in Jesus’ prayer recorded in John 17, He describes the fullness of this fellowship saying in John 17:1-6, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: ² As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. ³ And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. ⁴ I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. ⁶ I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” Notice the fifth verse in particular that clearly shows Jesus’ preexistence and coexistence. Many struggle with the doctrine of the Trinity or the triunity of God. We must see that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are coeternal, coexistent, yet distinct in person. The Trinity is not 1+1+1=3; but rather it is 1x1x1=1. Jesus coexisted with God because He is God. He enjoyed all the privileges of His glory and then lovingly chose to lay aside those privileges to be born a baby of a virgin mother. When we see the baby in a manger, we are looking at the preexistent coexistent infinite God of all things. Jesus didn’t have a spark of God or become God. Jesus is God in His essence and nature. He was, is, and forever shall be God. Jesus chose to come to this world to put on flesh so that He could give up His life a ransom for sinners. Christmas is not just a cute story about the birth of a baby, but it is the glory of Jesus’ preexistence and coexistence within the Godhead. Jesus was preexistent and coexisted with God so that when He put on flesh so that He would be God with us (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23). Beholding His glory is an eternal gaze so that as we see this child of Christmas, we would know that He came to us and for us.

Third, we see Jesus’ self-existence. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Just in case you don’t have it nailed down yet, Jesus is preexistent as God, coexistent within the Godhead, and is self-existent because He is God. This is His identity. This is His essence. Jesus is God. His self-existence also implies His self-sufficiency. God needs nothing. God needs no one. However, everything and everyone needs God. Jesus, who throughout eternity depended upon nothing and no one humbled Himself to be born a baby and need the nurture and nursing of His earthly mother Mary. Jesus’ self-existence shows us that everything that we can know or say about God can be said of Jesus. James Montgomery Boice writes, “Everything that can be said about God the Father can be said about God the Son. In Jesus dwells all the wisdom, glory, power, love, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth of the Father. In Him, God the Father is known.” There in that little baby is all the wisdom, glory, power, love, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth of the God. All of God’s glory is wrapped up in Jesus. The self-existence of Jesus means that all that God has Jesus has. All that God does Jesus does. All that God is Jesus is. This is the glory of Christmas, that the preexistent, coexistent, self-existent Word of God who depended upon nothing or no one who would be born a baby to redeem lost man. John 1:2 ties everything together saying, “The same was in the beginning with God.” This reminds us of all three phases of His existence that the first verse proclaims. When we think of the Christmas story, we must think eternally. Christmas doesn’t begin in Bethlehem with a baby, it begins before there is a beginning. Christmas is eternal because Christ is eternal. When we realize that Jesus’ existence is more about His infinite identity than His infant identity it changes how we view Christmas. Christmas was eternally on God’s mind for your eternal good and His eternal glory. As we seek to behold His glory, we must first behold His infinite glory that is declared in the infinite existence of the Word made flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.

            To behold His infinite glory, we must not only behold His existence but now behold His expression. John 1:3-5 expresses to us how God has expressed Himself to us in Jesus saying, “³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Off the bat we must understand that the glory of God (His attributes and actions) seeks the good of others. He is life and light. His glory shines out into darkness to reveal Himself in His light and life; but also, to reprove the darkness. This will be a theme that John develops throughout his gospel, but it is especially seen in the prologue. God’s glory always speaks out and shines out in order to save souls lost in darkness. Jesus is the expression of God’s existence and eternal glory. God is not silent. His glory in Christ speaks loudly. In these verses we see that God has expressed Himself in Christ through creation to consummation. Everything from eternity past to future is connected by Christ. Everything from the creation to the consummation of a creation either await or announce the glory of God in Christ. Jesus is first expressed and expressive not in Bethlehem but in the act of creation itself. Jesus is the cause of creation. Colossians 1:15-17 says, “¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: ¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Jesus makes the invisible visible. He expresses Himself and the Godhead in that all things are created by, through, and for Him. Everything that exists only exists because of Christ’s infinite existence and expression. Everything that exists only exists by and for the glory of God. Notice as well that Jesus is the source, sustainer, and subject of true life and light. All of life comes from Him. All light (knowledge, revelation, understanding, righteousness, or salvation) comes from Him. There is no life or light without Christ. He Himself is our life and light. In the birth of Jesus Christ, we see that He is born into darkness so that those in darkness (all of mankind) would see the light of His glory to be saved out of darkness. However, the darkness couldn’t comprehend Jesus when He came. Still today they do not comprehend His existence or expression. Those in darkness have not and cannot behold His glory. The word “comprehend” also has the idea of overcoming. Simply, Jesus overwhelms everything by His radiant infinite glory. Jesus was born to overthrow darkness, and He lived, died, rose again, and will soon return in victory and glory.

            To bring this all together, let’s read Heb. 1:1-4 which says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, ² Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; ³ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: ⁴ Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” To behold His infinite glory, we must see Jesus’ glorious existence and expression. Christmas is to remind us of the glorious truth of who Jesus is, what He has done, is doing, and has promised to do. If you want to know God in all of His glory, then look to Christ. The infinite glory of God is found in the infinite infant, Jesus Christ. My desire is to know and be enthralled by the glory of God in Jesus Christ at Christmas and every day. The glory of God is all consuming, but sadly, this Christmas we will be consumed with everything but the glory of Jesus Christ. Christmas is for the lost to be found and for the saved to get serious about their walk in Christ. Do you know Jesus? I’m not asking if you know the Christmas story or even believe, but do you have a personal saving relationship with Christ? If not, that is why He came. If not, His glory can be seen by His grace if you would but believe through faith in Christ. If you do know Him, are you enthralled by the glory of God? Are you distracted by the hustle and bustle? Perhaps as we think about the wonder of Christmas there at the nativity scene, we faithfully look beyond Bethlehem and into eternity. Jesus is there. Jesus is here. Behold His infinite glory this Christmas.