He Has Made Him Known John 1:14-18
INTRODUCTION Google the phrase “Christmas miracle” and you’ll find that this time of year there is no shortage of movies. In fact, you might be surprised at how many different ways you could tweak the title in order to maintain an ounce of originality. Here’s a sampling: Christmas Miracle, The Christmas Miracle, A Christmas Miracle, Once Upon a Christmas Miracle, A Christmas Eve Miracle, A Christmas Tree Miracle, A Merry Christmas Miracle and of course everyone’s favorite Miracle on 34th Street. (Personally, I’d prefer to watch the How the Grinch Stole Christmas). There’s something woven into our consciousness as a society that tells us Christmas is a time when the unexplainable happens. Something that could only happen by divine agency.
Well, today we celebrate what is the greatest miracle of all time - the fact that Jesus Christ took on human flesh. Or as John puts it, “the Word became flesh.” When He came, the invisible became tangible. The infinite became finite. The transcendent became imminent. That which was far off became near. That which was beyond the reach of the human mind became accessible to us. As A.W. Pink put it, “Here we are permitted to see through a veil that, which unveiled, would have blinded us.” Never ceasing to be God, He became man. If all of this is true, then everything about Christianity hands together and all kinds of miracles are possible. But if it isn’t, then Christmas has no point, and the claims of Christianity crumble.
Not only is the incarnation of Jesus Christ the greatest miracle of all time, it remains the greatest mystery of all time. That the eternal Son of God would take into union a human nature is beyond our capacities to comprehend. That He would be conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary does not register with our finite understanding.
So what are we to do with the miracle and the mystery of Christmas? The one appropriate response is that of worship. My aim is that by meditating on five, brief verses we would be profoundly moved to marvel at the fact that God became a man. That the weightiness of Christ’s coming down to earth would lift us up in praise of his glory. Listen to what he says in verses 14 through 18 of John 1:
READ JOHN 1:14–18….
Trans: This advent season we’ve been slowly working our way through John’s prologue to his Gospel account. And we come now to the culmination of John’s magnificent description of Christ. As we examine this passage, I want to show you why the humanity of Christ is important. And from there give you three reasons for why the incarnation of Christ is the greatest miracle of all time.
Jesus’ True Humanity (14a) The beginning of our text reads, “The Word became flesh.” We could spend the rest of our time on that statement alone. Those four words string together a number of theological truths and doctrinal implications. And when he says, “The Word,” he’s referring to God. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word is the pre- existent Christ though whom all things were created. The Word is also the light. Jesus said I am the light of the world. And this world, which is characterized by darkness can’t stand up to the light. Jesus will be victorious. And those who receive the true light will become children of the light, heirs of eternal life. That’s the Word – the Word that came to us.
But what does it mean to say that the Word became flesh? Let’s first state what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that Jesus Christ came to dwell in a man. Nor is John implying that Jesus merely put on the appearance of humanity. Jesus didn’t put on a body in the same way a person puts on a suit or a bow tie. Jesus didn’t change into flesh, or humanity, ceasing to be divine. Instead, Jesus Christ became flesh. He took on human nature, but at no point did he ever cease to be God. He assumed human nature, body and soul, into union with himself.
The apostle Paul perhaps describes it best in Philippians 2. He says that Christ, who was and still is “in the form of God” has now taken on “the form of a servant.” Fully man, and fully God. And more than becoming the flesh and blood of a human body - everything about humanity became His. Hunger, thirst, weariness, pain - and even death, he experienced it as do we. While maintaining his full divinity, he took on full humanity. And here’s why this is important:
#1, He knows our weaknesses. Inherent in the word flesh is the idea of weakness. Christ, the Word, understands the most extreme circumstance you have ever faced. He became a man, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” one whose body was “pierced for our transgressions,” one who could say that “My soul is troubled, even unto death.” a great High Priest, who is not unable to sympathize with us in our weaknesses but who has been tempted and tested in every point as we are yet without sin. Another way to put it is this: he’s walked in our shoes. And because he’s walked in our shoes, he now assures us that victory over sin and temptation is possible through his strength. #2, We know he love us. Biblically speaking, love is demonstrated by actions. The fullness of love was displayed when Jesus came into the world to die. God sent him to be the atoning sacrifice of our sins. And when we look at the manager, we need to keep looking to the cross because these two events are not unrelated. God loved the world in this manner, that he would send his only son to die. Had not Jesus become a man, we could not have died. According to JI Packer, we should view the incarnation “not simply as a marvel of nature, but rather as a wonder of grace.” #3, There is hope for our flesh. It would be a mistake for us to think that after the crucifixion and resurrection that Jesus then dropped his humanity. On the contrary, he still is fully God and fully man. Nothing will change that. And because Christ was victorious over death, there is a hope for us to one day experience life in the resurrection.
TRANS: The incarnation is the greatest miracle to ever happen. And as the text continues on, I see three reasons why this is true for us….
1. Because Christ came we can see the glory of God (vv. 14b) John continues in verse 14, “…and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father….” The word translated “dwelt is an important term. John uses it only one other time (7:2), when he’s referring to the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles. The word literally means to pitch a tent. God took up residence. He used to dwell in the tabernacle and the temple. God commanded for there to be a tabernacle in Exodus built so that he could dwell with his people. But now, John wants us to know that God has made himself known in a much more personal way. Christ coming into the word fulfills this. No longer is God’s presence accessible to his people in a specific place. He is certainly not confined to this building. Rather, God’s dwells, through the Holy Spirit, in the lives of believers and his church. But this isn’t possible without Christ first coming and pitch his tent among us. He did this so that we could know him more personally and fully.
One can’t help but think of Exodus 33 and 34 where Moses would setup of the ‘tent of meeting.’ In the tent, Moses would go and speak to God as a man does face to face. Moses heard the word of God, and wrote the word of God on stone tablets. And now, this word, this self- expression of God has become flesh.
And Jesus’ coming into the world displayed a sort of glory. Namely, the glory of God. The glory of God is a visible manifestation of himself. Of the excellence of His character. When the Israelites were wandering through the desert, A pillar of cloud led them by day and a pillar of fire by night. And when the cloud settled on the tabernacle it was filled with the glory of God. But, when the Jews looked at the tabernacle, they would see a partial and incomplete picture of God’s glory. So, what John is saying is that when he saw Jesus —when he came to dwell with us —the glory of God was seen in it’s fullness. And you and I can see the glory of God in these pages of Scripture. Why? Because the glory of God is displayed in the miracles, the signs, and wonders performed. We can see the glory of God in the person of Christ, whom we know and love.
Trans: Because he came, his glory is displayed. That’s the first reason. The second is that…
2. Because Christ came we can experience the grace of God (vv. 14c-17) Look at that last part of verse 14 and following: “…full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
From his fullness we have received grace upon grace. In other words, endless grace. Now keep in mind, the Old Testament anticipates, paves the way, and prepares us for Christ. God, in the OT, gave us the law by grace. It was gracious because it prepared us for Christ. It reveals to us God’s righteous demands. It by no means saves us, but it does reveals our need for a savior. You see God has always desired that his people respond to him in faith, which manifests itself in obedience to his word.
So what was gracious about the law is that it point to Jesus, where we find even more grace. The grace of God was seen in the law everywhere the shadow of Christ fell, whether in the Passover or in the temple sacrifices. But when Jesus came, the light of Christ revealed completely what the shadows had revealed in part. Thus, Jesus is the definitive act of God’s grace. Out of God’s fullness, his character, God sends his son Jesus Christ as the definitive act of grace. And John says that “we” have received it. When he says “we” he is certainly speaking of himself, and those who were with him. But you and I are included in that we when we believe and receive him.
The ultimate act of grace came when Christ was crucified and died. There was immense glory in that death. The glory you can’t do without. But it was this act of grace that summed up his coming to earth. And without it there would be no way to the father.
Trans: Because Christ came we can see his glory, we can experience his grace, but we can also…
3. Because Christ came we can know the invisible God (v. 18) Verse 18 poses a big problem. Namely, that God is invisible. John says, “No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father’s side. I once heard a story about a mother who found her daughter drawing a picture one afternoon. When the mother asked her what she was doing,
the little girl said she was drawing a picture of God. Her mother, rather gently told her that no one really knows what God looks like. To which the daughter replied, “Well they will once I’m done!”
God is invisible. We can’t see Him, we can’t draw Him. Even Moses only saw a small glimpse of God’s glory, but he did not see God. Isaiah saw a glimpse of God’s robe and that was enough to make him say, “woe is me”!! And so here is the problem? How do you get to know a God you can’t see?
The Answer – You get to know Jesus. Why? He has made him known. Christ has made him known. That’s John’s whole point. Christ has made him known. Jesus, God’s only Son, who is like him in his character and attributes is the revelation of God. And if you get to know Jesus, you will know God. In the last phrase of verse 18, John uses a word that gives the idea that the whole story has now been told. Jesus came to share the whole story the whole story of God and his perfect plan of redemption. In Jesus Christ the story of grace is perfectly and fully explained.
CONCLUSION How then should we respond? Praise is the only natural response. Josiah Condor once wrote a hymn, in reference to this passage, the first stanza goes like this.
Thou art the everlasting Word, The Father’s only Son; God manifestly seen and heard, And Heaven’s beloved One. Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou That every knee to Thee should bow.