John 1: 1-14

Introduction: Ready?!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you be of good cheer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year

It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap-happiest season of all

There’ll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There’ll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
There’ll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It’s the most wonderful time of the year

There’ll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There’ll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
There’ll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It’s the most wonderful time
Yes the most wonderful time
Oh the most wonderful time
Of the year

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I want to point out a few things from John 1:1-14 that speaks about who is the author of the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Transition: First of all, The Christ of Christmas was / is:

1. Divine in Nature – 1:1-2

In reference to the history and development of Logos, the Gospel of John mentions two phases: creation and revelation. The Word reveals Himself through the mediation of objects of sense and also manifests Himself directly. Therefore, in this part of the prologue (John 1:3-5), a threefold distinction also occurs.

(i) He is the Creator of the visible universe. “All things were made through him”–a phrase which describes the Logos as the origin of the entire creative activity of God and excludes the idea favored by Plato and Philo that God was only the architect who formed the cosmos from previously existing matter. 

(ii) The Logos is also the source of the intellectual, moral and spiritual life of man. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” He is the light as well as the life–the fountain of all the various forms of being and thought in and by whom all created things live, and from whom all obtain understanding. 

(iii) The climax of Divine revelation is expressed in the statement, The Word became flesh,” which implies, on the one hand, the reality of Christ’s humanity, and, on the other, the voluntariness of His incarnation, but excludes the notion that in becoming a man the Logos ceased to be God. Though clothed in flesh, the Logos continues to be the self-manifesting God, and retains, even in human form, the character of the Eternal One. In physical creation, the power of God is revealed. In the bestowal of light to mankind, His wisdom is chiefly manifested. But in the third especially is His love unveiled. All the perfections of the Deity are focused and made visible in Christ–the “glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Transition: The Christ of Christmas was/is:

1. Co-Existent in Creation – 1:3

 Christ is the exact representation of God the Father, having the same nature (Hebrews 1:3). There is some sense in which everything the Father does, the Son and Spirit also do, and vice versa. They are always in perfect agreement at every moment, and all three equal only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). Knowing that Christ is God and has all the attributes of God aids our understanding of Jesus as the Creator.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). There are three important things in this passage about Jesus and the Father: 1) Jesus was “in the beginning”—He was present at creation. Jesus had existed eternally with God. 2) Jesus is distinct from the Father—He was “with” God. 3) Jesus is the same as God in nature—He “was God.”

Hebrews 1:2 says, “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Christ is the agent of God’s creation; the world was created “through” Him. The Father and the Son had two distinct functions in creation yet worked together to bring about the cosmos. John says, “All things were made through [Jesus], and without [Jesus] was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3, ESV). The apostle Paul reiterates: “There is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:6).

The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, was also an agent in creation (Genesis 1:2). Since the Hebrew word for “spirit” is often translated as “wind” or “breath,” we can see the activity of all three persons of the Trinity in one verse: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). After a thorough study of Scripture, we can conclude that God the Father is the Creator (Psalm 102:25), and He created through Jesus, God the Son (Hebrews 1:2).

Transition: The Christ of Christmas was/is:

1. Bearer of Life & Light – 1:4-5

Light and life are two essential features of creation in Genesis 1. But through his incarnation, Jesus has brought about more. John tells us that “life” was “in him.” As the Word, Jesus is not only the creator of physical life but also the source of eternal life.

Transition: The Christ of Christmas was/is:

1. Beyond (Human/Natural) Challenge / Comprehension – 1:5

‘The darkness can never extinguish it.’
Katalambano = to seize, lay hold of, overcome! To attain with mental or moral effort.

Literally, ‘the darkness is unreceptive and does not understand it….’
And
‘the darkness will never be able to eliminate it!’

Application: Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch and others have tried but it will never happen! It can’t and it won’t.

1. Unrivaled
   1. Unequaled
   1. Unchallenged

Application: We sing that song…He has no equal, no rival,…

Transition: The Christ of Christmas was/is:

• 1:12-13 ‘But to all who believe…’
• 1:14
• Glory – 1:14b

Identity

Demonstration