1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,040 Good morning, my friends. It's been a while since I stood in this pulpit. Thank you for 2 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:20,840 your invitation, for me to open God's Word this morning to you. Let me wish you a very 3 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:26,600 blessed Christmas and a very providential New Year. You might think Christmas is gone, 4 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:33,360 that's only for the Western churches. Apparently, today is Christmas for the Eastern Orthodox 5 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:45,640 churches. Calendars. Who can live with them? But one thing is cemented for sure in time and 6 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:54,040 calendar and history, the Lord's Day. It's always on a Sunday. And so here we are to celebrate the 7 00:00:54,040 --> 00:01:03,920 Lord's Day together, opening up the Lord's Word to us. Let's bow our heads and ask God to come 8 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:15,520 and be found with us. Father, open our hearts and our minds as we peer into your Word. Open 9 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:24,960 your Word to us through the ministry of God, Holy Spirit. Enable us to appropriate it, hide it in 10 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:35,480 our hearts, carry it with us as we go about our daily living. Enable us never to forget what Christ 11 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:45,360 has done for us. That even now in His name, we can gather and in His name proclaim Him and enjoy 12 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:51,160 His presence through God, Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, we ask for this grace. Amen. 13 00:01:51,160 --> 00:02:10,360 How many of you have heard of Helen Keller? Ah, good to see some hands up. She was a very vehement 14 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:19,760 supporter of disability, disabled people in two centuries ago. Not just in our times when we hear 15 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:27,480 that so often. She was born towards the end of the 1800s and passed away in 1960, if I'm not 16 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:36,080 mistaken. When Helen Keller was 19 months old, she contracted an illness that left her blind and 17 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:46,560 deaf for life. It was not until she was years old that she began to have any meaningful communication 18 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:55,400 with those around her. This occurred when a very gifted teacher, and I think she was Aussie, Anne 19 00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:07,520 Sullivan, taught her to say water as Anne spelled water on the palm of her hand. From that pivotal 20 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:18,880 experience, Helen Keller entered the wonderful world of words and names and it transformed her 21 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:29,240 life. Once Helen was accustomed to the new system of communication with others, her parents arranged 22 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:37,200 for her to receive religious instruction from a very eminent Boston clergyman by the name of Philip 23 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:46,840 Brooks. That was common door-says. Christianity was cultural as well. One day during her lesson, 24 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:57,760 Helen said these remarkable words to Philip Brooks, I knew about God before you told me, 25 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:08,760 only I did not know his name. What profound statement. You know, I read the story in one 26 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:15,320 of Warren Beardsby's books as I was looking at hymns for myself this Christmas season. So forgive 27 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:22,200 me, this is partly my personal musings of what the year holds for us, holds for my family, for myself, 28 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:27,640 and I trust this will be beneficial to you. So looking at the hymns that we normally sing, 29 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:36,880 I came across this hymn, At the Name of Jesus by Carolyn Noll. Now there's a stanza in that 30 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:47,360 hymn that goes like this, Humble for a season to receive a name from the lips of sinners unto whom 31 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:57,560 he came. Faithfully he bore it, spotless to the last, brought it back victorious when from death 32 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:06,760 he passed. So it's no wonder I've been musing on the incarnation, what it means for me and hopefully 33 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:16,160 for you too as a church when we look at the incarnation, not only just for the moment today, 34 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:26,200 but remembering the incarnation in our daily living. You may consider it like a theological 35 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:36,040 construct and just leave it in the books, but the incarnation is real, Jesus is real, Jesus is present, 36 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:44,720 and when he says I am, it's also for the present, not just the past or the future. So we must not 37 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:52,400 lose that relationship that comes from the incarnation. So that's why my thoughts are 38 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:58,840 going to John chapter 1 verses 1 to 18. I'm not going to be exegeting the whole passage, 39 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:05,040 you know, I'm totally aware how out of depth I am when I come to it. There's someone who said 40 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:10,920 John's gospel, particularly even the prologue of his gospel, so what we're looking is like a 41 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:20,720 lake where birds can swim but elephants drown, and he already meant that, and we mean it too as we 42 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:29,120 read through the gospel. But after the busyness of Christmas and New Year gatherings, when everything 43 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:36,320 seems to have slowed down and we go back to the routine of life, I suppose all of us will be 44 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:43,920 asking ourselves what is that we expect and look forward in the year ahead? What is that we desire 45 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:52,680 most for the coming year? Others may ask in another way, what is that God wants for me to do this 46 00:06:52,680 --> 00:07:02,360 coming year? I know what I want for myself in this coming year, and I hope you know what you want 47 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:09,800 for yourself. As an individual and even as a family, what we desire most, my friends, is the 48 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:20,960 relational presence of God with us. Getting to know Him more and more, resonating with Paul when 49 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:26,060 he says, I want to know Him. Towards the end of his line, the Philippians letter, that's what he 50 00:07:26,060 --> 00:07:33,840 writes, I want to know Him. I want to know the power of His resurrection and dare I say even the 51 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:45,000 sufferings of His life. It's been a tough year for us with many unexpected things happening, 52 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:57,640 and we need His relational presence with us. And that is what the prologue of John's Gospel is 53 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:07,960 about. Who is this person you're going to have a relational presence with? Who is this person that 54 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:15,280 you commune with, engage with, and get to know more and more? If you look into the Bible as a whole, 55 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:26,520 it is obvious that what the triune God desires most is to have a personal encountering relationship 56 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:35,200 with His people. That's at the core of the Bible. It's at the core of the covenant. I will be their 57 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:43,200 God and they will be my people. It's a relational thing. It's a relational construct. And to 58 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:51,920 facilitate that relationship, He has even entered into creation to enable it. That is what we 59 00:08:51,920 --> 00:09:03,280 celebrated at Christmas. That is what we call the incarnation. Isn't that an awesome thing? That God 60 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:11,560 loves you and wants to have a relationship with you and has gone to such limits to make that a 61 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:21,600 possibility. Isn't that awesome? Isn't that wondrous that God wants this for us, not whether we desire 62 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:28,480 it or not, but this is what God wants for His people and this is what He has pursued throughout 63 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:38,840 the scriptures. Why did we start in Exodus this morning? I just want to make a few comments on 64 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:46,800 that passage. There's much we share in common with God's first congregation in the desert of Sinai. 65 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:59,680 You know, we may be separated in time, but in human nature, we are the same. At least that is 66 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:06,800 what the Apostle Paul thought too. Not just us as we study the scriptures. We just had to read 67 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:13,360 chapter 10 of his first letter to the Corinthian Church and we note there in chapter 10 all the 68 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:22,360 parallels he makes between us, upon whom the end of the ages has come, and those first people in 69 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:29,400 the congregation in the desert. We noted the predicament in our Old Testament reading, didn't 70 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:39,040 we, from Exodus 33 this morning? You find that a lot of echoes in John chapter 1 verses 1 to 18, 71 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:49,920 with the Old Testament, especially in Exodus 33 and 34. They're in deep trouble. These people 72 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:58,520 who left Egypt and came out with Moses, they were in deep trouble, my friends. God had rescued them 73 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:06,960 from bondage in Egypt. God had saved them, brought them out of the mighty hand, and they have so far, 74 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:16,080 when these words were written, camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. A lot of things happened while 75 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:23,760 they were at the foot of Mount Sinai, the worst being the Golden Calf Incident, where they blatantly 76 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:31,240 rebelled against the God who saved them in the first place and worshiped other gods to their 77 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:43,160 detriment. So God commands them, guys, it's time to move out to the promised land. But this one thing, 78 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:57,640 God was not going to go with them. What? He who led them out of Egypt with fire and smoke, fire 79 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:03,800 and clouds, he's not going to go with them. And he tells them why he's not going to go with them. 80 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:13,120 You read Exodus 33 verse 5. God describes them as a stiff-necked people, as a stubborn-hearted 81 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:25,360 people, and I'm not going with you because I might destroy you on the way. They did not recognize the 82 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:40,520 holiness of God. They were so self-centered that they forgot or didn't understand who this God was 83 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:51,760 that saved them in the first place. Wonder of wonders, God still condescended and met with Moses. 84 00:12:51,760 --> 00:13:02,320 Obviously, he did not participate in the rebellion and he agreed to meet with him in the tent of 85 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:16,520 meeting outside the camp. Moses continued to intercede for God's people and noticed persistence 86 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:23,640 at seeking God's favor, not only for himself but also for the people. God always uses the first 87 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:30,720 person in that interaction with Moses. I am pleased with you. I will go with you. I will look after 88 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:38,120 you. But Moses on the other hand says, Lord, us, don't forget about us. Don't forget about us as 89 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:50,440 a people. Let me read chapter 33 verses 13 to 16. You'll get the picture there. Moses answers God, 90 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:59,880 if you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with 91 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:13,000 you. But remember that this nation is your people. The Lord replied, my presence will go with you and 92 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:25,640 I will give you rest. Then Moses said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not send us 93 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:34,600 up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you 94 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:45,120 go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of 95 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:52,040 the earth? Isn't that the same problem that we have today? You meet as a church, you gather to 96 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:59,640 study the scriptures, you long to know Jesus and walk with him. Why? Because you want the rest of 97 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:09,360 the world to come to know him. That is my desire too, to know him and make him known. That was the 98 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:19,760 desire of Moses and the first people in the desert. And just like the people needed an intercessor 99 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:29,480 like Moses, we also need an intercessor who is greater than Moses. We'll find that out a little 100 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:37,480 later. Wonder and wonders, as I said, God condescends. They needed the presence of God amongst them as 101 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:46,120 much as we need his presence with us. If we are going to negotiate our lives today with contentment 102 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:59,120 and joy. This holy, intense, powerful presence of God is foundational to God's covenant promises to 103 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:05,880 his people throughout the scriptures. It appears to Moses in the burning bush and on Mount Sinai to 104 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:13,120 his people and then this shekinah enters into the tabernacle, the tent of meeting which becomes a 105 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:23,280 tabernacle and later even into the temple so that God can dwell among his people. But because of 106 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:29,960 indwelling sin, this has been a rocky road for God's Old Testament people. A rocky road indeed. 107 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:38,240 Now I'm not talking about the chocolate. Their sin and disobedience led to many a banishment from 108 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:51,840 God's presence. God departing from the temple, the kabod, Israel's exile from the land, their 109 00:16:51,840 --> 00:17:00,120 captivity in Babylon. And in the midst of this however, grace upon grace, God never gave up on 110 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:06,520 his people. The fortunate people were the ones who went into captivity, not those who are left 111 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:13,600 behind in Jerusalem. I had to talk about this to my son when he left home this time. In the midst 112 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:19,240 of this, God never gave up on his people. He continued to reach out to them through his prophets 113 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:29,960 and finally fulfilled his promises in the Gospels. When Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us appears, the 114 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:38,840 incarnation my friends brings to a climax the relational presence of God. The theme that drives 115 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:48,960 the whole Old Testament story. The fulfillment of his promise that I will be their God and they will 116 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:56,200 be my people. So this is the burden and purpose of the Apostle John in the prologue of his Gospel, 117 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:03,680 which he then flushes out more in detail the rest of his Gospel. And as I said, we note many echoes 118 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:13,440 which after 33 of the book of Exodus. I'm only going to make some observations mainly from John 119 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:24,800 1 to 5 and the latter part of the prologue verses 14 to 18. They're just observations and I trust 120 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:35,000 you will just follow me as I muse along. That's a privilege we get. In John chapter 1, 1 to 5, 121 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:47,720 the Apostle makes it very clear who Jesus is and why he has come to earth. As we read earlier on, 122 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:58,400 John 1, 1, we note the similarity of the phrase in the beginning to the opening phrase of Genesis 123 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:10,360 1, 1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Yet in contrast, the in the beginning 124 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:21,040 here in John's prologue goes even further back than the creation of the visible world. You should 125 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:35,640 note that even before time and place existed. So in verses 1 to 3, John refers to Jesus as the word. 126 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:43,760 The only time we know that the word is really Jesus is later on in the prologue. When he, 127 00:19:43,760 --> 00:20:03,800 I think it is in verse 17, you find that John links up the word with who Jesus is. Until then 128 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:17,840 it's the word. It is he or him. And he says in verses 1 to 3 that he was with God and was God. 129 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:28,120 John establishes the deity of Jesus even in his pre-existence. He shared in the same divine essence 130 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:37,440 of God. That's what John is saying. No, Jesus did not become God. As some people like Arius in those 131 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:44,160 days in the early first centuries and the Jehovah's Witnesses these days, all Aryan in their thinking, 132 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:57,680 they add the word a God to that verse and confuse the whole issue. So if you read the 133 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:02,480 New World Translation, it goes in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the 134 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:12,120 word was a God. Where you get that a from? I don't know. It doesn't appear in the great text. They 135 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:22,520 have their own convoluted way of arguing this from the semantics. But that is the point that 136 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:36,000 John is making. That Jesus is holy God. He did not become God. He was and is and will always be God. 137 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:45,160 Having declared that the word is God and proclaims divine essence, John goes on to prove his divinity 138 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:52,440 from his works. And what are the works? They are the works of creation. Through him all things were 139 00:21:52,440 --> 00:22:02,040 made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. So you look around at yourself and the world 140 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:10,880 you live in and others and you see and you have to realize that Jesus made us all including the 141 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:19,600 world, including creation. He made everything. Even the guy who throws rocks at you or spits out bad 142 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:34,160 words at you. He was made by Jesus and he was made in God's image. Crippled or not. He is God's, 143 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:45,880 he or she is God's creation. God made everything. As someone once told me, God made neighbors. We 144 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:58,880 make enemies. And how profound that was. In verses 4 to 5, John tells us why Jesus came to earth. Why 145 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:09,560 did he come to earth? He says he came to give both life and light. If you look at Genesis 1-3, God's 146 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:17,480 first creative act was light. Let there be light, he said, and there was light. Light in turn makes 147 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:29,400 it possible for life to exist. So on day 5 and day 6 of creation, God made animate life and inanimate 148 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:37,600 life to populate both the waters and the dry land, culminating in the creation of human life. 149 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:50,720 Without light, there is no life. Anybody who knows biology 101 can attest to that. John asserts that 150 00:23:50,720 --> 00:24:00,040 life was in him, Jesus. He's the source of life, both physical and spiritual. He's the one who 151 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:08,800 enables people to walk in the light. Light that enables people to be what? To be images of God. 152 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:19,320 So it's not just that you are created an image of God. Ask yourself, am I an imager of God? That's 153 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:32,440 what God wants us to be, his imagers in a broken world. And darkness which filled creation before 154 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:42,840 light, everything was tohu wa bohu, everything was chaos. The darkness which filled creation before 155 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:52,120 light came has not overcome the light. I think overcome is a better translation of that Greek word 156 00:24:52,120 --> 00:25:01,680 there. In John's gospel, darkness pertains to the world estranged from God, dominated by Satan. And 157 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:13,160 Satan has not overcome the light brought into humanity by Jesus the world. Just pause for a 158 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:22,960 moment and think about the reality and the truth of all things. Who we are and what the world is. 159 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:34,600 These are profound words. Elephants can drown in them. So in verses 6 to 13, John the apostle, 160 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:40,360 in a parenthesis I would say, in brackets, describes that testimony of John the Baptist in 161 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:45,840 regard to Jesus as the true light and the outcome of all who accepted Jesus as the true light of 162 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:55,720 the world. They, he says, those who accept Jesus, they become true children of God. And who are the 163 00:25:55,720 --> 00:26:07,360 children of God? Images of the God who created them. That is the intention of verses 6 to 13. 164 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:19,080 Then we come to verse 14. Oh boy. Really verse 14 can take over from verse 5 and you can forget 165 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:28,560 about the brackets in between. It uses the same words. It could be seen as a natural extension or 166 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:39,120 conclusion of verse 5. And in verse 14 we read this profound statement that this pre-existent word 167 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:55,400 became flesh. This word became flesh. Now this is shocking even to the Jewish ears. I've later 168 00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:01,840 been reading some word works around Judaism of Jesus' time and it may not be alien to that. 169 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:09,960 People have gone to Greece and all this to pick up connections. We don't have to. But that the word 170 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:22,280 of God which John says is Jesus becomes flesh or something. Oh what? God entering this world? This 171 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:30,600 flesh? You know John, rather than using words such as human, became human or took on a body, 172 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:41,520 John here uses the most crude term flesh. Flesh here denotes all of the human person in creaturely 173 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:47,800 broken existence as distinct from God. That's how Kastenberger puts it. I think it's a great 174 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:59,020 definition. Paul uses flesh for the body under the control of Satan. If you read his letters, 175 00:27:59,020 --> 00:28:07,480 he doesn't talk about the Soma. He talks about Sarkozy, flesh. So think for a second. The powerful 176 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:20,840 word of God has been born into frail broken humanity. You can only fall down and worship 177 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:32,240 that the God of creation should condescend to this level and become what he became. The word 178 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:40,040 became does not mean changed into in the sense that Jesus by becoming human ceased to be God. 179 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:51,640 No, he was always God and always will be God. Only that he has got a body now. My professor in 180 00:28:51,640 --> 00:29:00,800 Trinity tells me something that I'm still working through. The Trinity has changed since Jesus came 181 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:17,480 on earth. He's got a body now. He's got a body now. Not as becoming flesh means that Jesus appeared 182 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:27,080 human or even took on humanity. No, the main point in this statement is that God has now chosen, 183 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:35,880 he has chosen to be with his people in a more personal way than ever before. This my friends 184 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:42,240 is the fulfillment of the relationship presence, the relational presence of God, which was so 185 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:56,360 eagerly desired in the Old Testament context. And we see this further on when John says that he made 186 00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:02,280 his dwelling amongst us. That's the NIV translation. We see in that phrase and made his dwelling 187 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:11,000 amongst us. A Greek word that is used and translated dwelling, which is more like he pitched his tent 188 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:22,240 amongst us. It's like you've gone on a holiday and you go and pitch your tent somewhere, throw 189 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:28,680 your swags down and have a holiday in that place. Jesus has pitched his tent with us. That's what 190 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:36,000 that word means. That's the word used for the tabernacle throughout the Old Testament days when 191 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:42,800 they were in the desert. This rare term is used elsewhere in New Testament only in the book of 192 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,400 Revelation. And I'll suggest you go and look it up. You'll find this recurring in Revelation, 193 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:58,880 but nowhere else, not in the gospels, except in John. And it suggests that in Jesus, God has come 194 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:07,160 to take up residence amongst his people once again. He's come to take up residence. That's 195 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:14,720 his tent and it's amongst us. The house next door, the house down the road, the house in our backyard. 196 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:24,640 And he's done this in a way even more intimate than when he dwelled in the midst of Israel in 197 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:34,080 the wilderness. This is more intimate. Moses met God and heard his word in the tent of meeting. 198 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:44,000 Now people may meet God and hear him in the flesh of Jesus. That's what John is saying. This 199 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:52,160 dwelling amongst us or pitching his tent amongst us is related to his incarnation. That is Jesus 200 00:31:52,160 --> 00:32:04,960 being made human flesh. So Jesus, according to John, literally, John is saying he took the place of 201 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:14,280 the temple in Jesus' time. And this comes out explicitly in John chapter 2 verses 19 to 22. 202 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:27,520 Let me just read that because this is quite mind blowing. You know, when they're arguing about the 203 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:34,480 temple, that became the focus of everything in Jesus' time. And how often was he accused of 204 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:41,920 speaking against the temple? Of not, of even going in and clearing out the temple? What right has he 205 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:49,600 got to do that? That is the place of God's dwelling. And he goes there and makes a whip and drives all 206 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:56,520 the people saying, you guys have turned it into a marketplace. And in the context, Jesus answered 207 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:03,200 them, destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days. He probably pointed to himself. 208 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:11,680 The Jews replied, of course, they missed the point. It has taken 46 years to build this temple and 209 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:19,280 you're going to raise it up in three days. But John adds, but the temple he had spoken of was 210 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:27,680 his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they 211 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:37,960 believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. There are profound things that happened 212 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:47,360 when Jesus was walking this earth. Again, in echo to what Moses experienced and even more profoundly, 213 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:56,720 John exclaims that we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the Father, 214 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:03,280 full of grace and truth. Of course, this refers to John and the apostles who were the first 215 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:12,280 eyewitnesses. Probably he is recalling the Mount of Transfiguration when John and Peter and James, 216 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:19,800 have you, were there with Jesus and he was transfigured before him. It's almost as though his flesh, 217 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:27,400 the light within him shone through the flesh. This is a different story, but it's worth meditating on. 218 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:35,280 They saw who Jesus really was. Who is this man that he had been eating and drinking and walking with? 219 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:46,560 They were the first eyewitnesses. We are year witnesses of the gospel. I know there are stories 220 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:51,760 where people have said they met Jesus. I don't know how he looks. I don't know how Jesus looks 221 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:59,800 like. We don't have any pictures of him. Even that lovely Scandinavian man with beautiful hair and 222 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:08,560 deep blue eyes. I was told that he was Jesus when I was growing up. You know that. If you take the 223 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:16,640 Middle Eastern approach, it could not be him. But let's not forget that. If we belong to Jesus, 224 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:31,280 if we belong to Jesus, we may be the only Jesus the world will ever see. So as John concludes in 225 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:41,600 verse 18, no one has ever seen God, but the God, the one and only, this one kind of a unique God, 226 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:47,280 monogreous is another word. There's lots of ink spelled. Many people thought it comes from the 227 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:53,920 Greek root of begat. So and so begat, so and so gnaw. But then they found out no, the root word 228 00:35:53,920 --> 00:36:02,520 of it is genus, kind. So when I go and tell my Muslim friends, Jesus, God's only son, they say 229 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:17,160 what? God had a wife? No, what we mean is that he was this one of a kind, unique person. He said 230 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:24,840 this one of a kind, unique God. Actually, that text argues for monogreous theos for those sitting 231 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:34,160 here rather than monogreous he was. One of a kind, unique God, who said the Father's bosom, the 232 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:40,520 Father's side, he has made him known. And that word is the word we use for exegesis. He has 233 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:49,720 explained him to us. That's what John is trying to say. The point is this, even Moses only saw 234 00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:57,600 the afterglow of the divine glory, the afterglow of the divine glory. But this was equated in the 235 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:05,640 scriptures to God speaking to Moses face to face. John says more profoundly that Jesus is the unique 236 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:14,760 one kind of a God who was at the Father's side has made him known, has explained him to us. In other 237 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:22,560 words, Jesus has broken the barrier that made it impossible for human beings to see God and has made 238 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:35,960 God known throughout the Gospels. Or let me put a big hermeneutic. If the Old Testament is about who 239 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:44,240 is the Messiah, who is the Messiah, who is this person, the New Testament is really about who is 240 00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:53,480 the Father. Everybody thought they knew God, particularly the Pharisees, teachers of the law. 241 00:37:53,480 --> 00:38:00,360 But Jesus come back to them and said, you don't really know my Father. You don't know my Father. 242 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:07,040 And so often it opens up the rest of the thing. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father, he said 243 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:21,920 to his first disciples, how awesome, how wondrous. That 33 years when he was on earth. No, I wouldn't 244 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:34,560 want to be there. Why? Because I'm a man of little faith. Even those who are eyewitnesses had 245 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:42,160 problems finding out who Jesus is. What about me, a year witness? How many doubts come into our heads 246 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:49,320 and our hearts? That's why we always got to remind ourselves, go back to the Scriptures. 247 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:57,400 Scriptures are life to us. They're not empty words. They carry life to us. They bring light to us. 248 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:03,520 And in His light, we see light as we read the Scriptures. So what does the incarnation, 249 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:09,000 let me close with this. What does it mean for us, those who desire the relational presence of God? 250 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:15,560 First, since Jesus has come in the flesh, we are in a more advantageous position in biblical 251 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:22,520 history than our Old Testament counterparts. Think about this. If Jesus did not become man, 252 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:30,600 He could not be tempted as we are. If Jesus did not become man, He could not be an example for us 253 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:42,320 to follow, to emulate. If Jesus did not become man, He could not die as we do. So the writer of the 254 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:48,560 Hebrews sums this up so wonderfully in chapter 2 verses 14 to 18. He says, since the children, 255 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:55,800 those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ, have flesh and blood, He too shared in their 256 00:39:55,800 --> 00:40:03,440 humanity so that by His death, He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the 257 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:12,800 devil, and free those who are all their lives held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it's 258 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:20,720 not angels that He helps, but Abraham's seed, Abraham's descendants. And we are Abraham's 259 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:26,560 descendants if we share the faith of Abraham, as Paul so clearly hammers over and over again. 260 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:35,680 For this reason, Jesus had to be made like His brothers in every way in order that He might 261 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:42,720 become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement 262 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:51,720 for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help 263 00:40:51,720 --> 00:41:03,520 those who are tempted. My friends, Jesus has come, He has died for us and was raised, and Jesus will 264 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:12,360 come again. Until then, let us relish His relational presence through God, Holy Spirit, and explore 265 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:18,760 further what it means to be His people on earth. And that's my prayer for you as a church. Explore 266 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:28,020 Him, study the Word, grow to know Him, walk with Him, and share Him with those around you. To know 267 00:41:28,020 --> 00:41:35,040 Him and make Him known, may that be your motto this coming year. That's going to be my motto too, 268 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:42,720 as well as his. Father, thank you for this moment to gather around your Word. We just flabbergasted 269 00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:49,360 as we read your Word. Thank you for God, Holy Spirit, who enlightens us, who illumines us, 270 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:59,000 opens your Word to us, that we can peer into things that our flesh will not allow. Help us 271 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:07,960 to be less and less self-centered, and more and more Christ-centered. Help us to be a church that 272 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:16,320 is Christ-centered and grace-driven, as Jesus showed so much grace, grace upon grace. Help us 273 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:24,000 to be such a church, Lord, that will attract people to the person of Jesus Christ. Keep us 274 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:34,800 together. Walk with us this year. Enable us to see more and more of you as we walk with you. 275 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:54,640 In Jesus' name, amen.