Who and Why?
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I believe the most important question anyone can ask has a great deal to do with Christmas.
The most important question anyone can ask has much do to with really every corner of life, but this question—the most important question anyone can ask—is certainly something we must deal with at this time of year.
There’s no more important question to ask than, “Who is Jesus?”
“Who is Jesus?”
TIME Magazine once asked, “Who Was Jesus?” on their front cover. They went on to ask these questions in the article:
How is Jesus to be understood? Did he stride out of the wilderness 2,000 years ago to preach a gentle message of peace and brotherhood? Or did he perhaps advocate some form of revolution? When did he realize his mission would end with death upon a cross? Did he view himself as as the promised Messiah? Did he understand himself to be both God and man?
These are important questions to ask and answer. A simple reading of the Bible would easily answer most of TIME Magazine’s questions, but that’s not really the point.
“Who is Jesus?” This is the question—the most important question you can ask.
Many people are hesitant to commit to saying there is one absolute truth. To many, Jesus was a philosopher. Others view Jesus as a good man with some important things to say. Still others view Jesus as just another prophet who came to point us to God.
There was a movie a few years ago where the main character, race-car driver Ricky Bobby, says grace before a meal and he prays to Jesus, and says: “Dear Lord, baby Jesus…”
His wife interrupts him to say, “Hey, um, you know, sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don't always have to call him ‘baby.’ It's a bit odd and off-puttin’ to pray to a baby.”
To this Ricky Bobby says, “Well, I like the Christmas Jesus best and I'm saying grace. When you say grace, you can say it to grownup Jesus or teenage Jesus or bearded Jesus, whichever you want.”
With that, Ricky Bobby resumes his prayer: “Dear tiny Jesus in your golden-fleece diapers, with your tiny, little fists pawing at the air...dear 8-pound, 6-ounce, newborn infant Jesus, don't even know a word yet, just a little infant and so cuddly, but still omnipotent, we just thank you for all the races I've won and the 21.2 million dollars—woo!”
It’s a ridiculous movie, and a ridiculous prayer. But it might represent a view some people have of Jesus, especially at Christmastime.
That Jesus is just a sweet little baby, come to make our seasonal decor a tad cuter. “I like Christmas Jesus best…he doesn’t say anything or ask anything of me. He just lays there, all cuddly and quiet. Who is Jesus? Just a baby born a long time ago…”
This is why the first words of the Gospel of John are so vitally important; these first verses answer the questions, “Who is Jesus?” and “Why did He come to earth?”
If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to the Gospel of John. If you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!
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You see, the Gospel of John calls us to pay attention, calls us to focus upon one thing, One Person, the One who came to save us.
John sets out in his prologue—the opening verses—to provide what many rightly call a “biography” of Jesus.
J.I. Packer tells us that John’s prologue (John 1:1-18) is read every single year by the Church of England “as the gospel for Christmas Day, and rightly so.”
Packer states, “Nowhere in the New Testament is the nature and meaning of Jesus divine Sonship so clearly explained as here.”
Christmas isn’t merely the story of Jesus being born in Bethlehem, little baby Jesus sleeping in a manger, swaddled up all nice and warm; Christmas isn’t about a magnificent baby who is perfectly silent— “no crying He makes” —as some sing.
Christmas is about a Jesus who is so much more than a baby.
In Matthew, the Magi “from the east came to Jerusalem and asked [Herod], ‘Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews?’” When they got to the place where the child Jesus was, “they were overjoyed.”
“On coming to the house, they saw the child and His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him…they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
When the Magi looked at Jesus, they saw a King worthy of their worship.
In Luke, an angel appeared to some shepherds keeping watch over their flocks at night. The angel tells them not to be afraid.
The angel brings them “good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.”
The shepherds go and see Jesus, reporting the message of the angel. As the shepherds returned, they were “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard.”
When the shepherds looked at Jesus, they saw a Savior; they saw the Messiah, the Lord.
When we look at the nativity, when we see Jesus, do we see a baby? Or do we see something more? Do we see that Jesus is more than a baby?
Part of getting Christmas right is realizing who Jesus is and who He has always been.
This is where John’s gospel, the prologue to the book of John is so helpful for us. It’s here that John gives us Jesus’ biography.
What John writes about Jesus is meant to show us the divinity of Jesus—He is very God and very man.
Jesus Christ is God.
We are meant to see that Jesus is God and always has been God. Jesus is eternal, everlasting. Jesus is Creator. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is life and light to all mankind.
John makes and important connection for us: The God who created the universe is the One found lying in a Bethlehem manger.
John wants us to know that the “Jesus” he introduces is, in fact, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.
More than this, the Jesus who is Messiah is the Jesus who is God.
Our Lord did not “begin to be” in Bethlehem. Neither did Jesus have His origin in Genesis when God created the world.
Jesus was there. Jesus already existed when the world was created.
Jesus was there with God. He was there—God Himself.
(Verses 1-2):“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”
JESUS IS THE WORD
JESUS IS THE WORD
“In the beginning was the Word.”
Words are powerful; if you disagree, you’ve been out of school for too long. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words, well, words can kill.
Words, when spoken, are powerful. No words are more powerful than the words of the Lord.
Ps 33.6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
Gen 1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”
Ps 107.20 “He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.”
Creation and salvation both come through the word of God.
In verse 14, “The Word” will be identified as Jesus, “the one and only Son who came from the Father.”
John’s Gospel is the only Gospel that begins with the story of Jesus Christ not as he appears on the earth, but as he existed before time. John calls Him the Logos, “the intelligence” of God, who gave birth to everything that exists and who also became “the Word” (v. 1) “explaining that intelligence which is undiscoverable except through His word and works.”
The term “the Word” (Gk. Logos) conveys the notion of divine self-expression or speech. God’s Word is effective: God speaks, and things come into being (Gen. 1:3, 9; Ps. 33:6; 107:20; Isa. 55:10–11); by speech God relates personally to His people (e.g., Gen. 15:1).
There is no greater revelation of the character and nature of the Father than through the person of Jesus.
“Jesus reveals God’s mind. Jesus expresses God’s will.
Jesus displays God’s perfections. Jesus exposes God’s heart.” A.W. Pink
Jesus is “the Word”—the expression and speech and personal relation of God to man.
God has expressed Himself in His Son. He sent Jesus to earth to be God-with-us. “In the last days, God has spoken to us by His Son.” -Hebrews 1:2
Jesus is the effective expression of God—God the Father is known only through Jesus.
God relates to His people (to us) perfectly and personally in Jesus Christ: He lived among us, He died for us, He brought the redemption and salvation we needed.
JESUS IS ETERNALLY EXISTING
JESUS IS ETERNALLY EXISTING
“In the beginning”—aren’t those words familiar?
John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, echoes the first words of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
John is connecting Jesus Christ with creation, claiming Jesus existed before creation.
Jesus is eternally existing.
Before the beginning of time, there was the Triune Godhead—God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells the Jews in John 8:58 “Very truly I tell you…before Abraham was born, I am!”
This was an unbelievable claim for Jesus to make, that is, unless it was true.
Before Abraham, before Adam, before the creation of creation, Jesus was.
And the Old Testament fleshes this out and makes it clear. The man Job, who lived long before Jesus was incarnated as a baby in Bethlehem, Job believed and proclaimed, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth.” –Job 19:25
If we were to hit the rewind button on history, we could take it back to the very beginning, when God created the world out of nothing. And there, we would see Jesus. In fact, we could rewind before God began creation, we would see Jesus, existing with God.
Before the world existed, Jesus was.
God is uncreated. Jesus is uncreated. He has always been.
If you think this is a truth that doesn’t matter, you’re very wrong. This isn’t even accepted among some people who call themselves Christians.
A good friend was just telling me about a conversation they had with a family member who said Jesus was created.
That’s an ancient heresy called Arianism. It’s commonly believed today, and it’s just plain wrong.
Jesus is eternally existing—in the beginning was the Word.
“…and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”
Jesus has existed eternally in a relationship—an interpersonal relationship—“with God.”
Jesus, “the Word” who “was God”, is the same God who created the universe.
These are the building blocks to understand the doctrine of the Trinity: the One true God consists of three persons, they relate to each other, and they have always existed.
Many people down throughout the ages have gotten this wrong, from Arius to T.D. Jakes to the Jehovah’s Witnesses—many people who don’t hold an orthodox belief in the Trinity.
When Jehovah’s Witnesses meet to discuss their religion, they pick up their book, “The New World Translation.” If you opened their book to John, found the first verse, the last phrase would read: “and the Word was a god.”
They say, “a god.” We say, “The Word was God.”
The “God” that John is talking about (“the Word”) is the One true God who created all things.
Jesus is “the Word”—eternally existing: “In the beginning was the Word”
Jesus is “the Word”—ever-with God as part of the Godhead: “the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
Jesus, the baby lying in the manger, is no mere baby; He’s the Word of God, forever and always with God as the second person of the Trinity.
JESUS IS THE CREATOR
JESUS IS THE CREATOR
(Verse 3): “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
This is the consistent pattern of Scripture: God the Father carried out His creative work through the activity of His Son.
“There is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” - 1 Corinthians 8:6
“For in Him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things have been created through Him and for Him.” – Colossians 1:15ff
“In these last days, [God] has spoken to us by His Son…through whom He made the universe.” – Hebrews 1:2
Jesus is the Creator. “Through Him all things were made.”
“All things” includes, well…all things; everything. Jesus created the entire universe and everything in it.
Jesus, the Creator, routinely showed Himself to have power over all created things, over all the stuff He created.
He turned water into really good wine. He walked on water. He spoke, calming the wind and the waves. He healed the leper and the paralytic and cast out demons. Jesus, with a word, gave life to Lazarus. At His word, a fig tree withered to nothing.
Jesus is the Creator. He was with God in the beginning, with God at the moment of creation.
Genesis 1:1—“In the beginning God” translates the Hebrew: Beresheet bara Elohim
“Elohim” is plural. That is, “In the beginning, the Triune God created the heavens and the earth.”
Jesus, eternally existing, was with God at creation, creating all that has been created. The Godhead created. The Creator— God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit— created.
Jesus is the Creator. He has made all things. Nothing that is made was made apart from His making it.
Jesus, the baby lying in the manger, is no mere baby; He’s the Creator of the universe, the Creator of all things.
JESUS IS LIFE AND LIGHT
JESUS IS LIFE AND LIGHT
(Verses 4-5): “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John keeps borrowing words from Genesis, doesn’t he?
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Darkness was over the surface of the deep. And God—Elohim—said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
And now, in the fullness of time, at just the right moment, the Godhead has said, once again: “Let there be light.”
“In Him [Jesus] was life, and that life was the light of all people.”
After 400 years of silence from God, God has spoken in His Son. Just before Jesus starts His ministry, a prophecy is fulfilled:
“The people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
Jesus came as light to all those living in darkness.
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all people.”
When Jesus, “the Word”, came into the world, the world was in a state of spiritual chaos. And a weary world rejoices.
When “the Word” appeared, He was the light that illuminated the darkness—revealing the righteousness of God, exposing man’s sin.
Jesus is life and light.
Jesus came into the world as the true light, but lost men were not able to grasp it. Jesus came into the world, shining a light on its sin and its need for redemption, and what did the world do?
They rejected Him. They opposed Him. They sought to overcome the light. But they could not.
This light could not be overcome. This light could not be extinguished. This light could not be put out. They couldn’t shut it up, couldn’t get rid of it. Try as they might, they couldn’t keep this light in the grave.
Jesus is the lone light in a world of darkness. Jesus is life—eternal life—in a world of death.
Without Jesus, we are dead in our sin.
Jesus came to give us life, to reconcile us with God, changing our present condition and our future destination. How do you receive eternal life? But placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Why did Jesus come into the world? To be light and life.
Without Him, the world would remain in sin and darkness; death and dying. Without Him, mankind would be enslaved to sin. Without Jesus, there would be no hope.
Jesus came to call people from death to life.
Jesus is life—abundant and everlasting. Jesus is light to all people.
The Good News is that you no longer have to wander about in the darkness and despair of sin, but you can enjoy the light of righteousness through Jesus Christ.
Jesus came into a very religious world—a world where the religious leaders had every word of the OT memorized. Yet, they were in darkness. They attempted to please God throughout their religious activity and self-righteousness.
It’s a losing battle. And a battle many people still try to win.
Friends, here me: You will never please God or make yourself right with God through your religious activity. You will NEVER be okay with God because you’re a mostly good person.
It will never work. But it doesn’t have to!
Give up the game. Stop trying to do for yourself what only Jesus can do.
He is Light and Life. Light and life have come to us, in the person of Jesus, the baby lying in the manger is the Creator, the Word, the Eternally-Existing God.
He is the One we need.
He’s here.
Bow down and worship Him.
Jesus, the baby lying in the manger, is no mere baby; He is life and light.
Part of getting Christmas right is realizing who Jesus is and who He has always been.
Jesus is “the Word”
Jesus is the Creator
Jesus is Life and Light
The Jesus we will see in the nativity scenes around town and in our homes, is a baby. That’s true. He humbled Himself and took on flesh and made His dwelling among us.
Jesus came as a lowly baby. But Jesus is and always has been much more.
He is the humble expression of a mighty God; Jesus is “the Word”
He is the One who made everything—including you and me; Jesus is Creator
He is the One who shines in the dark and offers true life; Jesus is Life and Light
You see, the Gospel of John calls us to pay attention, calls us to focus upon one thing, One Person, the One who came to save us.
The truth and the wonder and the joy and the glory of Christmas is this: the baby in the manger is the Second Person of the Godhead; the Creator of the world, come to dwell among men as Light and Life, come to bear the sins of the world.
This is who He is and why He came.
More—much, much more—than a baby.