Exordium
We learn from Scripture and see in the examples of the prophets and the apostles that the believers’ life on earth is not just filled with joy and happiness, but that there are often difficult and dark hours and days. Every Christian will come to experience this if he lives long enough. The troubles can seem to dim the light, which the Word gave him, but it cannot rob him of it! Yet, there are times in the Church Year when it seems that the appointed portions of God’s Word put away every sorrow, and bring God’s joy right into our ears and into our hearts! As we sing (ELH 150:6)
“The cross shall never take away
My joy and praise undying;
for when the heart is most opprest,
The harp of joy is tuned the best”
The festival of our Savior’s birth is such a time. The angel proclaimed, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people!” You are one of those people! There is nothing more fitting for us than to be joyful. Otherwise, it would mean that we did not understand or did not believe the message.
For the babe lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, is your Savior! He is the One who has come to take away your sin, your sadness, and take you to heaven to live with him there! So then, in spite of sin and Satan and sorrow, let us meet our Savior with joy and with thanksgiving in our hearts and sing and confess His birth! Let us rise and sing our festival hymn #142, “Rejoice, rejoice this happy morn!”
Rejoice, rejoice this happy morn!
A Savior unto us is born,
The Christ, the Lord of glory.
His lowly birth in Bethlehem
The angels from on high proclaim
And sing redemption’s story.
My soul,
Extol
God’s great favor;
Bless Him ever
For salvation.
Give Him praise and adoration!
John 1:1–14
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. 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. (ESV)
In Christ, the Word made flesh who has come to bring life and light to all people, dear fellow redeemed!
The Gospel of John is the favorite book of every beginner Greek student. It is the simplest Greek in the whole New Testament. While the grammar and syntax of John is easy enough to understand, the message he conveys is beyond any human thinking or reason. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word was Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity, who was with God, and was God. The One held in the arms of his nursing mother, Mary, was the creator of all things, “without Him was not any thing 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.” That is beyond our human reason.
That’s a nice and concise history of the world. God created the world, but then came darkness—the fall into sin. While some might disagree that God created the world, there is no one who can deny the darkness of this world whether they define it as sin or not. Sin entered the world with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. There in God’s perfect creation, the serpent of old came tempting Eve to eat of the fruit which God had forbid them. The devil tempted Eve by saying she would be like God by eating the fruit. No doubt, Eve would forever wish that she did not gain the special knowledge of sin—to sin, to be sinned against, to know murder, and the anger of God. Of course, this sinful world is tough on all of us. It wears us down. But imagine knowing what it was like to live in perfection and know God and then lose it all?
But God did not leave Adam and Eve in the dark. Right after the fall, God promised them a Savior who would crush Satan’s head and deliver them from sin and death (Genesis 3:15). Adam and Eve had God’s Word that he would not punish them forever. Like a loving father consoles his child who broke a precious family heirloom, on a far greater scale, God the Father consoled Adam and Eve that he would not abandon them. He would rescue them from the damage that they had done. Even as they faced the consequences of living in a sinful world, what a comfort it was for them to have God’s promise—his Word!
All the Old Testament believers put their hope in God’s Word. You and I are blessed because God’s Word has been fulfilled! We do not need to wonder how God thinks and feels about us. Jesus became man and has come to our aid!
A few months ago, my three-year-old daughter was calling me to help her with something in the kitchen. I was holding our four-month-old, Daniel, and so I set him down in the living room to go help her. As I was walking over, Daniel let out a cry. My daughter, who had been calling for help, quickly forgot her own needs and ran to him calling out, “Daniel! I’m coming Daniel! Don’t worry!” What a blessing to have a sibling, someone on your side, who at a moment’s notice, drops all their needs and runs to your aid!
This is but a glimpse of God’s love for us. Look at the lengths that God went to come to our aid! Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man! “The Word became flesh,” that he might become our Brother. Jesus was born poor and lowly to rescue us from sin and death. The angel proclaimed, “Peace, good will toward men!” God heard our cry for help, he saw us in our need, as we sing:
’Tis Christ, our God, who far on high
Hath heard your sad and bitter cry;
Himself will your salvation be,
Himself from sin will make you free.
Of course, not all siblings get along. There are sibling rivalries. One brother must prove himself better than the other. But not with Jesus. He did not come to impose his power over us. Rather, he took the burden of the kingdom upon himself.
Jesus came to do for us what we failed to do for him. We can’t blame the troubles of this sinful world on everyone else. We see hatred in the world, but what about the hatred in our own hearts? We see envy and covetousness in this world, but how often do our own eyes look for what we want rather than looking for ways we can help our neighbor? Have we broken promises? Have we spread gossip that hurt our neighbor? Have you looked with lust a woman or a man who is not your spouse? We must acknowledge our own responsibility and guilt.
Now here is God’s Son. But Jesus doesn’t come to give you what your sins deserve. He comes in peace. He doesn’t hide himself from you so that you are unsure of how he feels toward you. He is in the manger—a helpless little baby, but he is the almighty God who has come to set you free. This innocent and pure babe born in Bethlehem will face your sins for you. Jesus offered up his holy life up on the cross for sinners like me and you.
We refer to Jesus becoming man—the Son of God conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary—the incarnation. The incarnation is a beautiful facet of the diamond we call the Gospel. The incarnation teaches us about salvation by Grace Alone. God came to us because we could not go to God. He did it all. And this is how it had to be!
God is holy and righteous. Sin cannot be in his presence. Sinners cannot stand before a holy God. This is why the people of Israel were terrified of God at Mt. Sinai and asked Moses to serve as their intermediary. No matter our best efforts or good intentions, we could not earn favor with God. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). We could not go to God, which is why God came to us.
Here are two reasons the incarnation is a comfort for you and me. First, Jesus became man, bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. He is on our side—coming to us in our moment of need. The one who is coming to judge the world, is your brother who gave himself for you. Second, the One who has come to your aid is no mere man. John beheld his glory, “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus is true God. He can help us in our need. He doesn’t merely offer us words of comfort, though he does comfort us, but he does something about. He lays down his life for us. With God in the balance of our salvation, we have no need to fear.
While there are those who are offended by Jesus in the manger and by the cross, John says, “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.”
The joy of Christmas is that Christ became man so that we could become children of God. Not because we deserved it or earned it, but because he loved us. To those who believe in his name he promises grace, mercy, forgiveness, and new life. You have comfort and peace not only in this life, but the life to come. For this baby is our Savior!
What harm can sin and death then do?
The true God now abides with you.
Let hell and Satan rage and chafe,
Christ is your Brother—ye are safe.
(ELH 154:4).