This sermon was preached at Peace Hill Christian Fellowship on December 24th, 2017.

Based on the Gospel of John, Chapter One.

The incarnation is the greatest miracle and the most profound mystery in human history. Without the incarnation there is no point in even talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is not even all that unique without the incarnation – it is not the first rising from the dead in the Bible. But the incarnation is the momentous happening in history. All that we believe hangs on the incarnation. This morning, I want to make run at trying to understand, in a small way, something of the revelation and mystery of the incarnation.

The Incarnation Is Both Revealed and Mysterious.

There are Some Things About the Incarnation We Know:  When John begins to talk about the incarnation of Jesus Christ, in words that are far too familiar to us, he speaks in very metaphorical language. We are used to reading these metaphors and picking out the things that make sense to us.

• “In the beginning was the Word” – We understand that the world was created by Jesus.
• “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.”  We understand that Jesus’ life, words, teaching, actions, death and resurrection give us a true understanding of God. Jesus is the clearest, central revelation of God in the Bible.
• ”The Word became flesh” – clearly means that Jesus, God’s Son, became human.

We also understand, from the Gospels, some of God’s choices about how to live…

• That Jesus chose to be born in humble circumstances.
• That Jesus taught the things God wanted to communicate to people.
• About what God is like
• About the Kingdom of God
• About our need for repentance and new life.

We understand, also, what God is like by looking at Jesus – God’s power and holiness and goodness, through Jesus’ compassion, his healing, his life and teachings, and his sacrificial death.

But There are Some Things About the Incarnation that are Mysterious:  John uses metaphors to describe something about the effect of the Incarnation.

• Metaphor of “light” used 6x in the first nine verses of John 1 – 25x in John’s Gospel.
• Metaphor of “dark” or “darkness” seven times throughout his gospel.

John’s use of the metaphor’s of light and darkness have to do with this idea of “glory” a word he uses in one form or another 22x in his Gospel – A major theme. What does it mean?

• True understanding and consequent belief?  Yes.
• Holy character?  Yes.

But “glory” means something more. Luke 2 is helpful in understanding…

• Glory means God is present: “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” (Lk.2:9).
• Glory displays the exalted nature of God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven” (Lk.2:14).
• Glory displays a particular beauty or praiseworthiness in God’s people: “…my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Lk.2:30-32). Jesus is the one who makes Israel glorious.

We see all three of these in Jesus’ transfiguration (Lk.9:32).

The Greek Fathers, understood the coming and incarnation of Jesus to be the beginning of the restoration of human beings as “glorious” creatures… that the goal of salvation would be this transformation of darkened people into people who would display…

• God’s presence – through a kind of glory or “light of being” evident to those around them, and
• God’s praiseworthiness – through holy and honorable lives that would bless the world. Their understanding was that God became human in order to create a new kind of human being – a glorious kind.

Their conception of this came out of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. When Jesus went up on the mountain and began to radiate light, that, for the Greek Fathers, was Jesus’ display of what human beings were created to be. It gives a whole new meaning to Paul’s comment that “We have all fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom.3:23).

John is trying to express something of this glory in verse 14 – “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  John is saying more here than just that Jesus shows us the right way to think about things – he is saying more – something mysterious and glorious about incarnation.

Our Response to the Incarnation is Both Revealed and Mysterious.

We Respond to What is Revealed:  How do we respond to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ?

• Jesus was born in humble circumstances – we respond by humbling ourselves.
• Jesus taught about God’s love and holiness and justice – we respond by loving even our enemies, and pursuing holy lives, and practicing justice.
• Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God – we respond by  giving our allegiance to God’s Kingdom.
• Jesus talked about repentance and healing from sin – we respond by repenting of sin.
• Jesus talked about not judging others, not serving money – we respond by following these teachings.

How we respond to the things Jesus taught and exemplified is a measure of how we follow Jesus. It makes no sense to say that we follow Jesus if we judge people, hate our enemies, don’t care about justice, or loving others, or repentance from sin in our lives, or forgiveness. Part of the point of the Incarnation is that God has come and told us what he intends us to be like – how to live. If we ignore the clear teaching of Jesus, as the Gospels say, we do so at our peril.

We Respond to the Mystery of Incarnation by Receiving and Becoming:  But there is another, more mysterious, aspect of responding to the Incarnation which has less to do with our active response to teaching and more to do with our openness to receive. This is the language that John uses – “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become…”. 

• There is a glory (an inner light of peace) that we receive when we are willing to accept that God is present with us – graciously, lovingly, personally with us.
• There is a glory (a revelation of who we are and who God is) that we receive when we pay attention to and honor God. Exalting God for who God is.
• There is a glory (a kind of nobility and joy) that we receive when we accept the fact that, to God, we are God’s image, and God invests everything in us and delights in us.

This light can actually be seen in us at times. This is Incarnation – Jesus became something – fully God and fully human – so that we could also become something – “children of light” (1Jn.2:1) “children of God” (Jn.1:12), “the light of the world” (Matt.5:).

What We Become Shapes How We Respond to What is Revealed: Incarnation, then, is the beginning point. Before we can “do” or “act” or “live out” as children of light – we have to receive! 

This morning we will practice communion with this understanding. Jesus gave us his body, not simply to seal a legal agreement to get us off the hook for sin – but as a radical way of sealing our new identity as children of light – partakers in the divine nature. As you eat and drink this morning, choose to receive the gift – ask for the gift of grace that will enable you to become a child of light.