During Christmastime in 2012, in the middle of
Times Square where millions of people walked
and shopped and where so many would gather to
watch the ball drop to usher in 2013, there was
a billboard that said, keep the merry, dump the
myth. Above the words keep the merry was a picture
of Santa Claus. Above the words dump the myth
was a picture of the crucified Christ And this
billboard was put up courtesy of a group called
American atheists Is something that strikes a
little bit closer to home The assistant to the
bishop of a major Protestant denomination Who
himself was an ordained minister? Was once commenting
on the biblical accounts of Jesus birth when
he stated in his blog I Believe the stories are
made up They are myth We expect atheists to reject
Jesus, but we have to shake our heads in amazement
as some who call themselves Christian pastors
not only question the virgin birth, but also
reject the Bible's truth outright. However, this
sort of rejection of Jesus is nothing new. In
his own day, Jesus had to contend with the Pharisees
and the teachers of the law, those who should
have best known the signs of the promised Messiah,
calling him a heretic and a liar. and trying
to undermine his ministry and his teaching in
every possible way. Within the early church,
there were those who really did not understand
who he is. In the third century of the church,
for example, the divinity of Christ was being
challenged by a heresy known as Arianism, which
wrongly taught that there was a time when he
was not. The Arians claimed that Jesus was merely
a created being, a most excellent created being
to be sure, even godlike in some respects, but
not true God. And it was because of this false
teaching. that concerned Church Fathers gathers
together at Council in Nicaea to address the
deadly heresy of Arianism. If that teaching continued,
it would possibly destroy the foundation of the
Christian Church. And so they wrote a beautiful
confession defining the person of Christ, the
union of his divine and his human nature. It
is something that, as I sadly just demonstrated
to you, can sometimes become rote. It's just
something we say in church. But in reality, if
you look at their words, if you look at the Apostles'
Creed that we all confess together this morning,
those are the very answer to the question. When
somebody says to you and me, Who do you say Jesus
is? We don't have to stumble for an answer We
can say along with them That we believe in one
Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God
Begotten of his father before all worlds God
of guide God light of light very God of very
God begotten not made Being a one substance with
the father who for all men, for all men in our
salvation, he came down from heaven and was incarnate
by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was
made man. Even if you stumble through it just
a little bit, that is still the answer of what
we believe as to who Jesus Christ is. That is
the answer that you have to provide to the world
when they raise that question. These modern and
historical examples of unbelief acknowledge the
truth of God's Word recorded by the Apostle John.
The light shines in the darkness, but the world
has not understood it. The light of the world
baffles the darkness. It baffles the atheist.
It baffles the liberal theologian. It baffles
the non -Christian religious leaders. It baffles
the outside observer. God in the virgin's womb.
God born just like you and me. God beaten, bleeding,
and crucified. God dead and buried. Words, water,
bread, and wine. We see God in these things?
in our own darkness, in our weak and sinful human
wisdom, we struggle to grasp it sometimes, to
understand Jesus, the Christ, the Word made flesh.
So it is good for us to have and to believe the
clear confession of faith that the Church Fathers
crafted for us under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. And in a way, it's good that things like
this billboard and this blog happen each Christmas.
It's good to be confronted by the atheist's anger
and the myth mongering. It's good to have to
deal with the majority of the world who do not
believe that the Bible is God's holy and unchanging
truth. And they try to twist it into what they
want. for their own purposes. It's good because
it causes you and me to think more deeply, to
focus more clearly and then to speak boldly about
our God. And what better time is there to do
this than during the Christmas season when the
world has just tried to celebrate something they
don't understand and now that it's three days
later has already put it away in the boxes in
the attic. three days ago. What better time is
there than this time when we as believers celebrate
the miracles of God on that first Christmas morning?
And yes, you did hear correctly, I said miracles,
plural. There are two great Christmas miracles
presented in this text from the Apostle John.
One, is that the Son of God became man. And the
other is that because He did, men can become
the children of God. At Christmas, we celebrated
the day mankind first heard about the arrival
of a long -awaited Messiah on the earth, the
day God's promise from the Garden of Eden was
fulfilled, the day God began his revelation of
himself through his beloved son. And every day
since, God has been revealing himself to us through
his word and through his son. Today, we hear
God remind us that he sent light and life into
the world. And it is confirmed in those marvelous
words from our gospel text. The word became flesh
and made his dwelling. Among us The word became
flesh The word who was in the beginning the word
who was God The word who was with God the word
through whom all things were made The Greek word
that st. John used for this word is logos Greek
philosophers thought of logos as the principle
underlying and unifying the universe and giving
it order. John borrowed that thought from Greek
philosophy and used it in a totally different
way. He took that term and he transformed it.
He tells us that what holds the universe together
is not a principle, rather it is a person. It
is this one that he calls the logos, the word.
It is this person of the Trinity distinct from
the Father and yet one with the Father in the
Godhead. It is he who created and upholds everything.
Our Lord Jesus Christ. The word made flashes
much more than he would appear to the human eye.
While he is fully man. The word bears all the
attributes of deity wrapped up in the physical
nature of a man. Jesus is all of the things that
John tells us he is and necessarily so because
this is what we need. Hebrews 2 tells us since
the children have flesh and blood, he too shared
in their humanity. so that by his death he might
destroy him who holds the power of death, that
is the devil, and free those who all their lives
were held in slavery by their fear of death.
For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers
in every way, in order that he might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in service
to God, and that he might make atonement for
the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered
when he was tempted, he is able to help those
who are being tempted. Only God could rescue
us from our plight. Only the one who is true
God and true man could accomplish our salvation.
Those who say that it is only a myth that God
was born as a little child and grew up to be
our Savior by suffering and dying on a cross
and then being raised from the dead. Those who
shout their skepticism at the top of their lungs
or plaster their opinions of unbelief on billboards
for all to see are completely wrong In fact,
they are dead wrong They are dead in their sin
dead in their unrighteousness dead in their denial
And that is not what God wants for any man or
woman God loves all human beings and he desires
that they should be saved from that death by
hearing his word of truth And by coming to the
saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior of their lives And so he calls people
like you and me to faith by the power of his
holy word and his Holy Spirit and he calls us
to proclaim this truth to a darkened world. So
it is good that we are given this opportunity
at Christmastime to share with those who are
still shrouded in darkness that a great light
has come into the world. It is good that we have
this opportunity to bear witness to our wonderful
Savior, this Word Become Flesh, who loves them
yesterday today and always It is good that we
have this opportunity to tell the world that
Christmas is not only about the Son of God being
born as a man It is also about the sons of men
being born as children of God This passage of
John is perfect for us to share with others during
this Christmas season nowhere else are these
Profound mysteries of the Christian faith expressed
more deeply and Yet more simply than they are
here in this passage For here we find that wonderful
astonishing truth of what really happened on
Christmas Day The eternal God who created all
things came in the flesh to be the Savior of
all men There is nothing more profound and mysterious
than this. And yet it is put so plainly in John's
Gospel. It is like the greatest Christmas present
in the entire world being wrapped in a brown
paper wrapper. So I encourage you to memorize
these verses and be ready to share this gift
with those around you who are still in darkness.
Help them to unwrap and to enjoy this great treasure
of life so that they will know this miracle is
for them. That because of the great love and
the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Word made flesh, they too can become the children
of God. Amen. And now may the peace of God which
passes all understanding keep your hearts and
minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.