Word of God. Speak. Amen.
Last weekend my wife and I were in Minnesota to take care of some business there, but also
to visit with our grandchildren. We had an early Christmas with them, and it was fun
to see Christmas in their eyes, as it always is fun to see Christmas in the eyes of children.
Our granddaughter is now six years old, and she is missing a front tooth. This is her
first one that's been gone. It was just fun to share that time with her as she's learning
to feel what it's like to stick your tongue through that hole in your teeth. You remember
that? I remember when I was about seven years old, I had two of them gone, and I just about
wore my tongue raw, sticking it out through the hole in my teeth. It was about that same
time that there was a Christmas song that became sort of a standard at Christmas time,
and it says, all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, so I can with you a merry
Christmas. Remember that? Cute little song. Well, my Christmas list actually got a little
more sophisticated as I got older. I wanted a red rider outfit and a Daisy BB gun. Remember
those? Can you believe when we were kids we had BB guns? What were our parents thinking?
You know how it is you grow up, then your list gets different, and when you have kids of
your own, then your list includes things like underwear and socks and shirts and ties and
those kinds of things because they get the priority, right? And then as you get even
older, you find that your Christmas list really doesn't contain many needs at all.
In fact, as my wife and I thought about it this year, what do we need for Christmas?
And we concluded that, frankly, our needs are very, very few. We have a hard time putting
anything on the list that we really need. But you know that's not true of us as a human
race collectively. We as a human race have many needs, especially spiritual needs. We
don't like to admit those needs, but we all share them because we're all a part of the
human race. These needs that I'm thinking about correspond to four perilous problems
that we all have because of our spiritual condition. You'll find some blanks there in
your notes and you may want to fill them in as we go along. First of all, we have this
problem and it is that we are ignorant of God. Now I understand that there are, most
people have some kind of an idea about God, even those who deny there is one. We have
notions about what we think God is or who God is, but the fact is we're really ignorant
about the God of the Bible. And so we have a need on our list, and that need is to know
the truth. We need the truth. We're ignorant. Now ignorant is not the same as stupid. Ignorant
means that we're unaware. We don't really know, and therefore we need the truth. We
also are blind, spiritually blind, and we need sight. How many times have you talked
to somebody about Jesus and you present the gospel to them and they say, I just don't
see it? They're absolutely telling you the truth. They don't see it because we are blind
and we need sight. We are guilty and we need forgiveness. People try to deal with guilt
in lots of different ways, from medication to psychiatry to substance abuse. But the
fact is what we really need is forgiveness of the guilt that we have and we know is inside
of us. We are also spiritually dead, spiritually dead. We have no life, and what we need is
spiritual life. The Bible says that we are darkened in our understanding and separated
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in us due to the hardening of our
hearts. That's what God says about us. This Christmas time, we as human beings have a
list of needs that we're desperate to have filled, just as parents know the needs of
their children. God, our Heavenly Father, sees humanity's needs. In the Christmas story,
we see God going about to address the very needs that we're talking about here. God wants
everyone to know Him. He does not want us to be ignorant. He wants everyone to know
Him, so He did the most amazing thing. He came personally into the world. He created
us to know Him so that there is a part of each one of us that is innately aware of,
shall we call it, transcendence or of the supernatural. We are aware that something
is missing, but we're ignorant of what or who it is. And whatever understanding of God
that we naturally have is marred and flawed. In fact, the writer of Romans, Paul quotes
from the Psalms, and he says, there is no one who understands, that is, understands what
is right and who God is, no one. It might be said that we are not an enlightened people.
We are an endarkened people. Now, I realize there's not a word like that, but let's make
one up that fits. We're not enlightened. We're endarkened. We need the truth. Now, it's not
that God was silent prior to His coming into the world to tell us the truth. In fact, He
wrote the truth into the creation. Into the very creation itself, God wrote the truth
that we might know He exists. Look at this verse from Romans chapter 1, verses 19 and
20. Let's read it together.
What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them, for
since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature
have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without
excuse. Notice that God has made it plain to them. What? The fact of His existence, the
truth about Him. It says His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen.
So even before He came into the world, the truth has been available, because God wrote
the truth into creation. He also revealed the truth through His providence in history.
That isn't just the way that history unfolds. The way that God provides for our needs even
on a daily basis, God reveals Himself to us. We have that knowledge of the truth. Look
at these verses from Paul's sermon in Acts chapter 14. It says,
The living God made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, He let
all nations go their own way, yet He has not left Himself without testimony. He has shown
kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He provides you with
plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. Paul says that God in doing this has
showed Himself to you, whoever you are, of all the nations of the world. God has spoken
the truth in His providence. There's another text listed in your notes that we're not
going to take time to look at this morning, but in Acts chapter 17, Paul talks about the
unfolding of history itself. God has revealed Himself and the truth to all of humanity.
So even before He came, God was making the truth available. Thirdly, I want to say that
He spoke through spokesmen or prophets to Jewish generations before Christ came. Hebrews
1-1 begins this way. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at
many times in various ways. Now this book is written to whom? The Hebrews, that is Jewish
people, Jewish believers. And it says in the past, God spoke to our forefathers, the Jewish
forefathers, through the prophets at many times and in lots of different ways. But then
He goes on to say He has spoken in these last days through His Son. But before the Son,
in the past, God spoke through the prophets. But now, now at the culmination at the right
moment in the most unexpected, imaginative, miraculous way possible, God did something
more. He spoke through the Son, S-O-N. There are three passages in the New Testament that
focus upon Jesus Christ and tell us a lot about Him. One of them is Hebrews 1, another
is Colossians 1, and the third is John, the Gospel of John, chapter 1. And it's there
I invite you to turn with me in your Bible this morning to John, chapter 1.
Like the book of Hebrews, the Gospel of John begins with a focus upon the Son of God, only
here it uses another name for Him. It says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word here is
Logos. Word is Logos. Logos was a, and is a Greek word. It was used of the Greeks and
the Gentiles in that day in a particular way to describe what is an unspoken word. It was
sometimes used also of spoken word, but especially it focused upon what was in the mind. The
Word that was unexpressed, the Word that was in the mind, the thought, the concept. And
what it says here is that all that was in the mind of God, the Word, He brought out
in His Son. The Jews also use this term by the way for God, and so as John is writing
his Gospel, he's drawing upon a word that both Jew and Gentile would recognize, although
each would have a little different twist on the meaning of it.
What we can say about the Logos is this, that the Logos is the perfect and full expression
of all that God is and wants to say. The Logos is the full and the perfect expression of
all that God is and wants to say. The Logos possesses all of the qualities that make God
God. But at a certain point, the Logos entered into time. He existed forever, it says here.
He existed forever. Notice in the beginning, the Word was. In the beginning, that is when
God spoke the universe that we know into existence. In the beginning, the Word was. That means
He was continually pre-existent before the beginning. The Word was as far back as it's
possible to trace and beyond that. Secondly, it says to us that there is a distinction
in the existence between the Word and God. It says, and the Word was with God. Now it
begins here to move into the realm of the mystery of God's trinity, His triunity. And
it says that the Word was with God. It goes on to say, and the Word was God, showing us
not only is there a distinction of existence between God, as we would say, God the Father,
and the Word. But there is a co-equal existence with God. The Word was God. The way that John
writes this, you could actually put an equal mark in there instead of the Word was, because
what he's saying is the Word equals God. That's why I'm saying that the Word, the Logos, is
the full and the perfect expression of all that God is, because the Word was God. He
tells us that the Word was associated with the works of God too. He was with God in the
beginning and through Him, all things were made. When God created, how did He do it?
He spoke. He spoke. And so the Word was involved in the creation of all things in the very
beginning. But as I said, having eternal existence, He nonetheless entered into time at a certain
point. And it's at this moment in history that the Creator Himself entered into His
creation. How did He do this? Well, He became man. He became human. Verse 14 picks up this
thought by saying, the Word became flesh. The Word became means that there was a transition
here. The Word became something He was not before. Now, He always existed. He always
was. And He existed with God and He was God. But at a certain point in time, there was
a transition. Something new happened to the Word. The Word became flesh. Now, the Word
flesh here means fully human. We held in our hands a few moments ago the elements of communion,
reminding us of the body and the blood that Jesus offered up as a sacrifice for us. But
this means more than the fact that He inhabited a human body. That is true, but there's more
than that. It means that He also united Himself to human nature in that human body. So it's
not just that the Word who was forever existing stepped into a suit of human flesh and put
it on Himself. More than that, He united Himself to our very race, to our humanness as He put
on our flesh. The Word became flesh. St. Augustine, a leader of believers in another
century, said it this way, God became man for this purpose. Since you as a human being
could not reach God, but you can reach other humans, you might now reach God through a
man. And so the man, Christ Jesus, became the mediator of God and human beings. God became
man so that following a man, something you are able to do, you might reach God, which
was formerly impossible for you to do. What is he saying? He's saying that when you and
I follow Jesus Christ, when you and I get to know Jesus Christ, what we are doing is
getting to know God Himself. God made Himself supremely knowable by coming into the world
as one of us. In another sermon, Augustine said, God so loved us that for our sake He
was made man in time, although through Him all times were made. He was made man who made
man. He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He
cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence
is mute. I love that phrase. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word.
He became a human. That's how the Word came. He came, secondly, to express God to the human
race. John 14, verses 9 and 11 says, Don't you believe that I am in the Father, Jesus
speaking, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather,
it is the Father living in me who is doing His work. John chapter 14, verse 24 says,
These words you hear are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me. Now, those
are just examples of places where Jesus says, What I am speaking to you are not just my
words. They are the very words of God. And when you hear them, you are hearing God speak
to you. That's the reason He came. He came to reveal God. Jesus is the truth that you
and I need to have to solve our ignorance of God. And there is truth in no one else
as it is found in Jesus Christ. For He was able to say of Himself, I am the way, the
truth and the life. I am, He said, the truth. Whatever misconceptions or lies you and I
may have in our ignorance, He's the correction to that because He is the exact representation
of God's being. And God having spoken through His Son has sent no other prophets after Him
for none is needed. God said fully all that He wanted to say through His Son, the Word,
Jesus the Christ. He came to express God to the human race. Third, His words bring life
to those who listen. John 5.24, 25, I tell you the truth Jesus says, Whoever hears my
words and believes Him who sent me has, what? Everlasting life and will not be condemned.
He has crossed over from death to life. In other words, John, Jesus is saying in the
Gospel of John, when someone hears my words and believes on Him who sent me, at that very
moment He crosses over from death to life. It's not something that we wait on. It happens
at that instant of time. It's a done deal at the moment of our faith. Jesus says in John
6 and verse 63, The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. In John
chapter 10, He says, My sheep, listen to my voice. I know them, they follow me. I give
them eternal life and they shall never perish. What am I saying? The words of Jesus bring
life to those who listen. Jesus said, My sheep, hear my voice and they listen and I give them
eternal life. It is the truth that is revealed in Jesus Christ alone that brings life. There
is salvation in no other. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. His life, life rather, comes through Jesus and the words He gave us alone.
But there is a corresponding truth to that. It is that His words bring judgment to those
who refuse to listen. We're talking about the word now. And what we understand from
the Gospel of John is that the words of Jesus bring judgment to those who refuse to listen.
For example, in John chapter 8, Jesus says, I know you are Abraham's descendants. He's
talking here to a Jewish crowd that is rejecting Him. And He says, I know you are Abraham's
descendants yet you are ready to kill me because you have no room for my Word. I'm telling
you what I have seen in the Father's presence and you do what you have heard from your Father.
Jesus says, you and I have different fathers. He says, I'm telling you what the Father told
me to say to you but because you have a different father you want to kill me. And He goes on
to explain that their father is whom? The devil. Abraham is our father, they answered.
If you were Abraham's children, Jesus said, then you would do the things Abraham did. As
it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from
God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works your own father does. Notice
the emphasis here. Jesus says, I'm giving you the words of my Father. If you receive
them, He says, you will have life but if you do not receive them, if you refuse to listen,
it will bring, these words will bring judgment to you. In John 12, He says, as for the person
who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him for I did not come to judge
the world but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept
my words. That very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. Judgment is the
other side of salvation. Refusing to listen is the other side of listening and receiving
the words of Jesus. So God came. And in Jesus, He expressed everything that He had to say.
The question is, who is listening? Who is listening? Jesus answers the question for
us. Did you notice it? John 5, 24, He said, the one who hears my word and believes him
who sent me has everlasting life. What does it mean to listen to the words of Jesus? Believe
me, it is more than coming to church and sitting through a sermon. To listen to the words of
Jesus means to believe on Him. It means to have your ignorance taken away and to perceive
the truth about who you are and who God is and how you can have a relationship with Him.
But understanding that truth, then, to believe it, to place your faith, your trust in that
word. I can remember when my brothers and I would get into some tussles at home and my
mother would correct us. And there were times when we didn't listen and we would continue
to squabble. Now, I realize that that's not true of your family, but that was true in our
family and my experience. And my mother would say to us, are you listening to me? And of
course, the answer was, we hear your voice, but we're not listening. Because you see,
when we listen, we respond. Who is listening to the voice of Jesus, to the Word of God,
the one who believes? It's important to understand that belief is active, not passive. It's much
more than merely hearing the Word of God. It's doing the Word of God. Belief is active,
not passive. It requires a response from us. Belief, secondly, is continuous, not just
historic. It's not just something we do in the past. It's something that continues on
in our lives. You see, there is a kind of belief that seems to turn the corner, that
seems to receive God's Word, and yet in the end, it goes the other way. What happens?
Well, that belief wasn't really an active, saving belief. Because belief that is genuine
is continuous. The New Testament makes it clear that if we continue believing, we are
saved. The one who believes is the one who is listening. But let's personalize this
a little more by asking this question. Are you listening? Are you listening to the words
of Jesus? I'm not asking if you've read your Bible. I'm not asking if you've listened to
this message or some other message in church. I'm asking if you have listened to Jesus.
You say, what must I do to listen? Well, first of all, you must be quiet to listen. You must
be quiet. We can't listen and be doing something. We have to be quiet. We have to be focused.
You must also be open to listen. I can hear things without my heart being open, but I
cannot listen to the Word without my heart being still and open to Him. How important
is it? Let me put it this way. Everything's a stake. Everything. Jesus sums up the end
of history this way. He says, I tell you the truth, the time is coming and now has come
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Now,
it was there in that day in the sense that Jesus raised some physically from the dead.
He says, as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in
Himself and He has given Him the Son authority to judge because He is the Son of man. Do
not be amazed at this, He goes on to say, for time is coming when all who are in their
graves will hear His voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to live and those
who have done evil will rise to be condemned. Now, Jesus is not here giving us a detailed
explanation of how the last days are going to fall out. He's simply pointing us to the
end times and He's saying, in summary, in general, here's what's going to happen. He
says, all who are in their graves are going to hear the voice of the Word who came in
human form and gave to us the words of God. All are going to hear His voice and those
who have listened, those who have heeded, those who have believed will hear His voice
and be raised to life. But He says, those who have not listened and who have not believed
and the works of their lives demonstrated, He says, they too will hear My voice and be
raised to judgment. You see, in the end, there are only two destinies for the soul. Your
soul will spend eternity either in life or in judgment, in heaven or in hell. And what
determines your destiny is what you do with the Word who came in human form. Whether you
listen to His words and place your faith in them, have you done that? There's no one
who can say, if at all is said and done, there's no one who can say, I never knew. I never
knew. Never had access to the truth because you see, God has given us the truth in many
different ways, most fully and completely in His Son. There's an ancient presupposition
that all people involved in law know it is this, ignorance of the law is what? No excuse.
People might say, well, I'm ignorant and it's true, but it's no excuse because we have the
truth. We have the truth. The question is, are we listening to the truth? Christmas is
about God sending the logos, the Word into the world that we might know who He is, that
He might meet our need of ignorance by revealing to us the truth. God wants you to know Him,
God wants you to have a relationship with Him. That's what Christmas is all about.
King Abdullah II of Jordan is a very popular monarch, perhaps more popular outside of his
country than in some parts of his country, but nonetheless, he is a man who leaves with
a certain mystery about him. He's unusual. For example, King Abdullah dressed as an ordinary
old man. He put a white beard on himself and he went out dressed in typical Arab street
clothing and went down to a government building to wait in a long line with the common people.
While he was there, he engaged them in conversation because he wanted to listen to their point
of view. Now, that wasn't the only time that he has done this. He has also circulated around
Amman driving a taxi cab and picking up people and talking to them. He passed himself off
on another occasion as a television reporter because he was trying to find out what people
think. I think that's marvelous for the king to do that. I commend him for doing it. But
it's not what our king did. You see, our king didn't need to come down here to listen to
us to find out what our needs are. He knows our needs. But our king did come. Our king
came dressed humbly in our likeness that he might tell us the truth because he knew that
was our greatest need. And he wants us to know the truth and to believe the truth so
that we can have a relationship with him again. For when we persist in our lives in darkness,
we eventually die in our sin and are separated from God forever. Are you listening? Yesterday,
I met a man who was brought into my office by some family members. He's had a hard life.
He fought in Vietnam a couple of years. That left some burden. Through his life, he has
experienced a lot of alcohol and substance abuse. He's had a very hard heart toward God.
He would not listen to God. But about a month ago, some things happened in his life that
caused him to come to live with some family members who are part of our church. And he
came to their home different. There was something about him that was broken this time. And he
began to listen to them as they shared Jesus. And as he has listened over the last few weeks,
he had come to the point of realizing that he needed Christ. And so yesterday in a very
simple prayer, he simply believed on Christ. And at that very moment, that man passed out
of darkness into light. He passed out of ignorance into the truth. He passed out of death into life.
And now Jesus is going to be at work in his life, making him a brand new person. That's what
Christmas is all about. That's why Jesus came. That's why the Word was spoken to you, that you
might know God. Will you trust Him today? Let's bow together. Father, I pray that there's some
friend here who has maybe heard many times but never listened. He or she would listen today.
And in listening come to know Him who is the Word. Father, we thank You for Jesus who is the
living Word. We thank You for all the truth that we have in Him. And I pray that we will live each
day listening and believing and following. I pray that following Jesus will bring about the
kinds of changes in our lives that you so desperately want us to experience. Lord, so often we're busy.
We live in a noisy world. We're not quiet enough or open enough to hear Your voice. So in this
moment we quiet ourselves and we open our hearts. So word of God speak. Speak to us. Give us the
grace to believe and to listen. Amen. If you would like to pray with someone today about how you
might listen to the Lord.