Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
At Faith Presbyterian Church we are seeking to exalt Jesus Christ the King and to exhibit and extend his Kingdom through worship, community, and mission.
Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
John 1:1-14; The Gift Beyond Gifts
Jason Sterling December 8, 2024 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL
Bulletin
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The following message is from Faith Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Join us on Sundays for our 815 and 11am worship services. For more information, visit us online at faith-pcaorg or download the Faith PCA app. Thank you for tuning into Faith's podcast ministry.
Speaker 2:The sixth reading is from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, verses 1 through 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 anything 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 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 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.
Speaker 3:One of the things I listen to lots of things in the car but one of the things I like to listen to is sports radio, particularly Kentucky sports radio, the KRS radio network. I listen to a lot when I'm in the car and this past week KRS was traveling from Lexington, kentucky, all the way out to Seattle, washington, and they would stop all along the way. They would make these stops in different cities and they would set up their live broadcast in a restaurant or whatever. And they are making their way to the Kentucky-Gonzaga game, which was last night the basketball game, and their final stop was on Friday in Salt Lake City, utah. And they're setting up their live show and getting ready and someone comes up and says something to the effect. A local comes up and said I'm so sorry, our city is beautiful and if you've ever been to Salt Lake City, they're surrounded by mountain, it has a lot of natural beauty. And this person says we have a beautiful city, it's surrounded by beauty and glory, but you can't see it because of the smog and pollution. And yes, salt Lake City is known for its natural beauty, but what you might not realize is Salt Lake City is known for its natural beauty, but what you might not realize is Salt Lake City is also called Smog Lake City because of the bad air days that they have. And on those bad air quality days, a visible blanket of smog fills the air and it keeps you from seeing the beauty and the glory of the mountains that surround it. And, as I heard that, it made me actually think of Advent, believe it or not, because this time of year we're surrounded by beauty. We're surrounded by the beauty of the incarnation, god taking on flesh in the person of Jesus and coming into the world to dwell among us. And though we're surrounded by beauty, a blanket not of smog but of stuff Often good stuff tends to fill the air around this time of year Parties and school programs and cards, gift giving and running all over Birmingham trying to find just the right gift and being stuck in 280 traffic Fills the air and if we're not careful, it causes us to miss it, to miss the beauty and the glory of Christmas.
Speaker 3:This Advent season, we're going to be studying John, chapter 1. We're just going to stay in John 1 over the next couple of weeks and we're going to take a couple of verses at a time and in this passage, and we're going to see a little glimpse of it this morning. We're surrounded by glory. We're surrounded by the beauty of Jesus, as one commentator says. I love this. As John begins his introduction. The force of what he says is so staggering that the words almost seem to bend under the weight they were made to bear. My hope is that over the next couple of weeks, as we approach Christmas, that by God's grace we wouldn't miss Jesus, that we wouldn't let the air of the stuff of this season and the busyness of the world cloud Jesus from us and keep us from seeing him.
Speaker 3:This morning we're looking at one verse briefly John 1, verse 1. It's been read. I'll read it again. If you have a Bible, you're welcome to turn there.
Speaker 3:John 1, verse 1,. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. I want to just simply ask a few questions of that one verse this morning. The verse begins In the beginning. Question one why does John begin his gospel in this way? Every Jewish person perhaps you picked up on it as well when they heard the phrase in the beginning, they would have immediately gone back to where Genesis, chapter 1. In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. You see, we might think Jesus appeared on the scene for the first time in a manger in Bethlehem. No, jesus has always been. No, jesus has always been. Jesus was with God, the Father, as the living word at creation. There has never been a time when Christ didn't exist. Jesus was the word active in creation and John is signaling to us. He's beginning his gospel this way because he is telling us that the coming of Jesus is so cosmic. It is even more significant than creation because it's recreation.
Speaker 3:The Chronicles of Narnia I'm not sure if you're familiar with that, it's by CS Lewis the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And Narnia is this magical land that is trapped by a deep freeze because it's under the control of the White Witch. And it's said of Narnia that it's always winter. Think about this statement it's always winter and never Christmas. What a ble this statement. It's always winter and never Christmas. What a bleak statement. What a joyless statement. Think about winter. When we're in the middle of winter, it's dark, it's cold, it's icy. You don't even want to. When it's really cold, you don't even want to get out. It's winter and never Christmas until Aslan, the Christ figure in the story comes on the scene. And when he comes on the scene, winter begins to thaw and spring arrives and life starts to break forth. This is what John is saying when he uses the phrase. In the beginning it's been winter, but the Messiah is here. Jesus comes and he brings recreation and winter begins to thaw and there starts to be life where there was death and there starts to be life where there was death and there starts to be light where there was darkness.
Speaker 3:Second question how do we know that Jesus is the word? We assume that a lot and we just say, yeah, Jesus is the word. Let's don't assume. How do we know? Well, the Bible tells us so. John 1, verse 14, context, remember says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word is the one who became flesh, who became flesh, jesus. It gets even clearer in Revelation, chapter 19, verse 13, which is written by the apostle John as well. It says he, meaning Jesus, is clothed in a robe dipped in blood and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And so the Bible. And we could go on. But the Bible is very clear that Jesus is the Word. Third question why does Jesus get the title the Word. Well, because Jesus is everything that God wants to say to us. Jesus is God's final, decisive message to the world.
Speaker 3:Hebrews, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2,. Long ago, god spoke His word by who? The prophets, but now, in these last days, we're living in the last days. Now, in these last days, god has spoken his word through his son, in other words, jesus. The son is the word, jesus is God's speech to us. And so then let's ask the question what does that mean, like why does that matter for us this morning? Well, we live in a day, don't we, where people are always asking and wondering what God might be saying to them, if God is speaking to them, and always trying to figure out what God is saying. You want to know God this morning. You want to know Jesus this morning, you want to grow closer to God this morning, you want to know what God is saying to you. Open up the Bible and look at Jesus. Jesus is the center of the Bible, and Jesus and it's not just what Jesus said, not just the red letters, it's who Jesus is and it's what Jesus has done. Jesus is everything God wants to say to the world in a person.
Speaker 3:Fourth question what does God want to say to us and to the world through Jesus? Well, we could say lots of things, but very simply, god wants to say come to Jesus and live. Come to Jesus, because Jesus is the final and in Jesus our sins are finally and fully forgiven. It's through Jesus that you can have peace with God. God's response to our sin, god's response to Genesis, chapter 3, we read that scripture this morning the brokenness of the world. God's response is not a thing, it's not an institution, it's not a process or a program. God's response he knew the only thing that could fix us was himself coming into the world in the person of Jesus. His response is not a thing, it is a person the Lord, jesus Christ. The gospel is not. Jesus teaches us the right way to live and says okay, now go obey my teachings. That's part of it. That's an outworking of the gospel. Yes, absolutely. But the gospel is that God gave himself for us. He lived the life that we couldn't live. He sacrificed himself and died the death on a cross that we deserve. Jesus is our substitute, he's our rescuer. That's why we make such a big deal out of Christmas. That's why Christmas is so, so good. I'll close with this.
Speaker 3:A good friend of mine named Ricky Jones. He was an RUF campus minister. I've known him through RUF for many years. He's now a pastor in Tulsa, oklahoma. He wrote a book called Too Good to Be True. It's obviously about the gospel and in the book and I've heard him tell this story before he talks about when he was really little, elementary school age he had older siblings, always at Christmas time. They're older and so they have a car. They can go buy their mom a gift. They're making a little money. They have money to buy their mom a gift. They know how to wrap Christmas gifts. And he's disappointed because he has none of those things. And so he's disappointed. His mom can see his disappointment. She asks him what's wrong. He tells her I really want to buy you a gift, but I have no means or no way to buy you a gift. And she looks out the back window and she says you see all those sticks in the backyard. You pick those up. I'll give you $10. So he goes, picks up the sticks. She gives him $10. He takes it, hides it in his desk drawer.
Speaker 3:The next time his mom goes to the store he goes with her to the store. They're walking through the store, she sees this necklace for $8. And she says you see that necklace, I really would like that necklace for Christmas. So Ricky finds a way to get that necklace for $8. He brings it home. He's so excited. He goes to the back room when his mom's doing something else and he finds the wrapping paper. He starts to wrap up the gift. He can't wrap a gift. He has no idea what he's doing. It's a complete train wreck. So he starts to cry. His mom hears him cry. She comes back and says what's wrong? He he says I can't, I don't know what to do. And so she wraps the gift and she takes the gift and she puts it under the tree.
Speaker 3:Christmas morning comes Ricky's the first one up and it's the first gift given. He gives his mom this gift and she's full of delight, she's full of joy. She opens it and she says oh, ricky, how did you know what I wanted? She says this is so beautiful, this is the most beautiful necklace in the world. She puts the necklace on and she gives a big smile and she gives Ricky a hug.
Speaker 3:That's Christmas, that's Advent, because you see, in a similar way, god has done it all in the giving of the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3:That's the wonder and the beauty of Advent.
Speaker 3:It has nothing, nothing to do with what we have done.
Speaker 3:Jesus has done it all.
Speaker 3:We can't afford this gift.
Speaker 3:We have no money because of our sin. And Jesus says I will pay for this gift in full, with my life. Why? So that he can have the joy and the delight of being with you forever. And so, in the midst of the craziness, in the midst of the busyness and all the things that fill the air during this time of year, by God's grace I pray that we don't miss the beauty of Christmas, that we don't miss the glory of God's gift to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, let's pray. Gracious God, we thank you for the good news of Christmas and I'm asking you for each person here, I feel this, but I'm asking that you'd clear the air, that you'd clear the air in the next couple of weeks, that you would, by your grace, through your Spirit, allow us to slow down and see the beauty and the glory of Jesus and what he has done. Give us humility to see it and to see what you have done for us, so that we might celebrate this Christmas like never before. In Christ's name amen.