[0:00] Let us again turn from the portion of scripture with read Joan chapter one.
[0:13] As I said, I'm going to look the glory of incarnation according to Jones gospel.
[0:24] There were gynostic and stoic philosophers when Joan wrote his gospels and they were claiming that the matter is evil.
[0:35] All universe and all in it are absolutely evil. Because it is evil according to them, God who belonged to the transcendent wall, non-material wall or spiritual wall would never associate with it.
[0:54] In other words, the heavenly would never associate with earthly evil matter. Along the same line, theism claimed that God once created the wall but he no longer takes interest in the affairs of the natural wall.
[1:16] One of the purposes of Jones gospel is to refute these kinds of philosophy. When we read Jones gospel over against these views, it makes tremendous sense what Joan is saying in his gospel.
[1:32] Joan is claiming that God is definitely interested in the materialistic wall and he certainly takes interest in it.
[1:43] Despite the wall is in rebellion with God, despite the wall is in enmity with God, the God has not abandoned the wall.
[1:54] And if you ask a proof of this claim with Joan, he would certainly point to the incarnation of God who came into the realm of humanity, who came into the realm of sinful men and women in a form of a man.
[2:12] God became man. In verse one, Joan takes us to the eternity past and reveals three things about the divine world.
[2:24] He first said the world is pre-existent. In the beginning was the world. Secondly he said the world has intimate communion with God.
[2:36] The world was with God. And thirdly, the world was divine. The world is divine. The world is God. And this transcendent world in which life resided and who is the source of knowledge, source of wisdom, source of revelation has come down and became man.
[3:00] And the world became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the Father full of grace and truth.
[3:15] So the world is a metaphor for the pre-existent Christ before he became man. Notice Joan is not saying that the world has changed into a human being.
[3:29] We know God is not changeable. So in the incarnation there is no metamorphism like a larva transforming into pupa and pupa into a mature butterfly.
[3:42] What happened in the incarnation was this, the divine world took on humanity. That is to say the humanity and divinity joined into one person of Jesus Christ.
[3:57] The divinity came and took on humanity and joined into one person of Jesus. The invisible God became a visible man in Jesus.
[4:11] And notice Jesus represents from both sides. He represents the divine side because he is God and he represents a human side because he is man.
[4:24] This is why he is called, he is 100% God and 100% man. He is called the God man. So in Jesus, heaven and earth permanently joined together.
[4:39] Heavenly and earthly permanently joined together once for all. And it is always, it always remain because Jesus is still human in heaven.
[4:53] We either see two verses from the Old Testament which predicted the incarnation of Jesus. The first one is in Genesis 9, 27, if you would like to turn.
[5:07] Genesis chapter 9 verse 27. This is the prediction of Noah. Noah blessed his two sons and cursed one of them.
[5:21] And he blessed like this in Genesis 9 verse 27. May God in large jeffet and let him dwell.
[5:33] Notice the word let him dwell in the tens of shame and let canon be his servant.
[5:44] Let him dwell. May God in large jeffet and let him dwell. Who is the reference of him? Is it jeffet to dwell or is it God to dwell in the tens of shame?
[6:00] I think it is the prediction of God coming and dwelling in the midst of mankind. And interestingly the nation of Israel descended from shame.
[6:13] The shame is the father of the nation of Israel. And this suggests that one day God will come and dwell in the tens of shame.
[6:24] That is the house of shame and we know Jesus came in Israel which is the fulfillment which fulfilled in the incarnation of Jesus when he came and dwell in the midst of Israelize.
[6:38] And this is precisely what Joan claimed. The word became flesh and remember the word dwelt. He dwelt among us.
[6:48] The second verse I would like to look is Jakaraya chapter 2 verse 10. Jakaraya chapter 2 verse 10 it says like this sing and rejoice O daughter of Zion for behold I come and I will dwell in your midst declares the Lord.
[7:09] This is another wonderful prophecy of the glory of the incarnation. This again in your midst and Joan alludes this picture in your midst.
[7:22] He used the same language in verse 14 and Jakaraya 2 10 is a words of Yahweh speaking through his prophet.
[7:32] Yahweh declares that he is coming to dwell in their midst. But who came to dwell? It is Jesus Christ who came to dwell in the midst of them the second person of the Trinity.
[7:49] So what Joan is doing here is he identified he identified Jesus with Yahweh. This is why Jesus is equal in power in majesty and glory with God the Father.
[8:05] And if you see the executive used by Joan for one and only son or the begotten son this refers Jesus being one and the same kind of the Father.
[8:20] Not a similar or like the Father but one and same kind revealing Jesus's genetic identity with the Father.
[8:32] It is such a wonderful thing to know that God is coming to dwell with humans. And Jakaraya reminded the people of Israel to sing and rejoice because their God was coming to dwell amongst them.
[8:48] The nation of Israel had to prepare themselves for the visitation of the Lord. And Joan said that Jesus was not welcome neither by the world nor by his own people.
[9:03] And we know Jesus was a Jew who came to the nation of Israel but his own people did not receive him. Verses 10 and 11 he was in the world and the world was made through him yet the world did not know him.
[9:20] He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. Jesus was fully aware that the world was not prepared for his arrival and the term world was used over 50 times in Joan's Gospel and it is always used it is virtually used to show that the world is in enmity with God the world is in rebellion with God and despite it God came into the material realm to associate with the matter and to make peace with the hostile world for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son who so ever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
[10:13] I would like to point three great messages God is giving to the hostile world through the incarnation of Jesus three great messages God is giving through the Christmas the first thing God is saying is the wall is save evil the second thing God is saying is the world is reconcilable and the third thing God is saying is the world is redeemable so the first thing the hostile world is save evil Jesus identified with humanity when he incarnated as a man he represent each and every human in the world both Christians and non Christians he represents the whole human race whether they are evil to the utmost level or moral to the highest degree just like every human being is created in the image of God Jesus represents each and everyone in his humanity whether they are from China Nepal Scotland
[11:28] Finland England doesn't matter they are all people in the world are not out from God's save able purpose and Christ taking a human form proves this claim and this is what Paul said in a fast Timothy chapter 2 verse 3 and 4 he said like this this is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our savior who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth God desires to save each and everyone from the world and this is why the author to the Hebrew says Christ became man he did not became an angel if he had become an angel the angel fallen angel would have salvation but he is saying Christ became man he is here in our humanity to identify human and to reveal God's saving purpose for humanity if you explore Hinduism Buddhism Islam and other religions of the world they all will tell you all sort of things that you have to do to find God and his salvation you have to take an initiative to find God this religions and faith will show you to the ways of their God by sharp contracts what is unique and what is distinct in Christianity is this God came down God came down to seek and to save the lost he took the initiative to reach to you he made a move to come and touch you despite the world hated him despite the world turned their back to him he made himself available for atheists for agnostic for pagan for idolaters for murderers and all sort of bad people so that they can receive him and have life in him and this is the reason why God became man so that he could reach to sinful men and women notice save able is different from being saved all are save able but not all are saved I'm not preaching here the universal atonement I'm not saying all are going to heaven and Bible over and over says that without believing in Jesus there is no life and salvation there is a condition God has put to believe in Jesus and to have life in full but despite that all world is save able they can respond to the grace and be saved and this is the reason why God became man secondly God is saying the hostile world is reconcilable one of the greatest gift God gave to the nation of Israel was the temple it is through the temple that people are reconciled to God and temple plays central role in reconciling process and without it without it there is no possibility of reconciliation between holy
[15:01] God and sinful world and God is telling to the hostile world that he is ready to kill the enmity between him and the wall this is why he gave Jesus and Jesus is the new temple of God in Jesus the sinful people can be reconciled to him and how do we know Jesus is the new temple and we see this also in verse 14 the word became flesh and he dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth the word became flesh and he dwelt see the verb zone is using literally means to pitch the tent to tabernacle and the verb is shakhan and we get the expression shekaina glory and the shekaina glory is the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud that guided the Israelite in the wilderness journey and shekaina glory dwelt on the ark of the covenant between two cherubim in the holy of holies in the temple and the shekaina glory is exclusively used this expression is exclusively used when whenever God dwelt in the temple in the Old
[16:32] Testament when King Solomon dedicated the temple and when he prayed God literally came down in the form of the cloud and the shekaina glory filled the temple and this is the same picture John is painting here he used this verb which is exclusively used for God he used for Jesus and that is really incredible John is saying that the human body of Jesus is a temple in which God reside in his fullness and it is very interesting Judaism believe that one day the glory cloud the shekaina glory will return back when the Messiah will come and according to John the shekaina glory has ended return back but no longer in the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud but in the form of the human Jesus Jesus is the embodiment of the shekaina glory he is the incarnation of the temple by which man are reconciled to God and we see in John chapter 2 verse 19 and 20 Jesus said this destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up the Jews then said it has taken 46 years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three days and what John commented he said Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body and when he rose from the dead the disciple remember that Jesus had said this and remember very interesting Mary Magdalene was weeping outside the tomb and she stood down to see inside the tomb and she saw two angels one sitting at the head and order at the foot where Jesus's body was laid in John chapter 20 verse 12 and she saw two angels in which sitting where the body of Jesus had lain one at the head and one at the feet there is a wonderful reality in this little verse where do we see two angels flank it is on the arc of the covenant in the holy of holies so what John is claiming here is Jesus is the embodiment is the personification of Shekinah glory the visible manifestation of God and earth Jesus rose as the embodiment of the Shekinah glory this suggests that Israelite what Israelite saw in the Old Testament was Jesus's glory and this is why on Mount Sinai
[19:27] Moses could not see the full glory what Moses saw was an afterglow of Jesus's glory because in Jesus fullness of God's glory has been revealed and this is what John said that Isaiah saw Jesus's glory in John chapter 2 12 verse 41 and this is why Jesus is called Immanuel God with us because Jesus is the incarnation of the temple of God and in the gospel frequently it records that Jesus was often mingled with sinners with tax collectors and went to meet even lepers in the wilderness and see these people were regarded as unclean and they were prohibited to come into the temple premise but Jesus went to them and opened the way to the father reconciling them they cannot reach to God but the leaving temple came out to touch them in Jesus all temple requirements had been fulfilled God can now be accessed in and through Jesus and this is what Jesus meant when he said in John chapter 14 verse 6 I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me when people heard this for the first time they knew that God is found in the temple and when
[21:06] Jesus said I am the way I'm sure they understood that Jesus is the temple he is making the way to the father so God is saying this to the hostile world despite the people had greatly offended him he is ready to reconcile the world to himself he had drawn near to the world through Jesus through this temple to preach peace to those who built who rebelled against his Creator and Paul picked up this language in second Corinthians verse chapter 5 verse 20 Paul says this therefore we are ambassador for Christ God making his appeal through us we implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God if you haven't been reconciled to God I beg you to do it now through Jesus you are reconcilable to God whoever you are wherever you come from God has sent this wonderful invitation to you would you response to God's invitation in this Christmas thirdly and finally God is saying the hostile world is redeemable in the ancient world three kinds of people were redeemable first slaves they can be bought back and they can be free freed secondly captives in the war and thirdly death row inmate these kinds of people these people can be redeemable in the ancient world slaves captives in the war and death row inmate so in the sight of God the people of the world are like the captives in the war who will soon face the death penalty and they are like the death row inmate who is waiting for execution and they are enslaved to sin who cannot set themselves free from the misery and judgment and God is saying that he longs to redeem the wall because the world is redeemable and remember this is precisely what an angel told to Joseph with regard to
[23:42] Jesus in Matthew chapter one verse 21 and the name Jesus means a savior the angel said like this she will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins because he will save his people from their sins in ancient Roman world there were many horrible forms of capital punishments we know crucifixion was one of them there was another horrendous form of capital punishment and this goes like this a criminal would be tightly tied to a dead corpse and after a while maggots from the corpse would slowly shift onto the victim's body they would start to eat flesh and drink the blood of the criminal while he would be alive and this would last for a couple of days and eventually the criminal would die in horrible pain in the sight of God the world is like the criminal tied to a corpse the maggot is the maggots of sin is eating it minute by minute and the people cannot help themselves because they are bound to sin and they are under devil's control and this is a similar kind of torment Job suffer didn't he scholar believe that there were maggots in Job's body however he believed that God will redeem him from his horrible plight in Job's 1925 he said like this for I know that my redeemer leaves and at the last he will stand upon the earth it's very interesting that Job use Job the word Job use for my redeemer is a same word for Kingsman Redeemer you know the expression Kingsman Redeemer from the Old Testament don't you in the ancient
[26:00] Israel if a man cannot pay death he had to self himself as a slave but according to the law of Moses a near relative of this man must redeem him from his slavery and this near king man this near king is called a Kingsman Redeemer who had to buy his clothes relative from his slavery we see this clearly in the book of Ruth Boaz was the Kingsman Redeemer who redeemed Ruth and in 19 Job's 1925 is definitely the prediction of the incarnation of Jesus that Kingsman Redeemer for mankind because he shared in our humanity he became like one of us one of the terrifying statement Jesus made with regard to sin is in John 8 24 he was warning the Jews who did not believe in him as God and as a redeemer he said like this I told you that you die in your sins for unless you believe that I am you will die in your sins but God has given a Kingsman Redeemer who can redeem us from sin and misery and from all its consequences God has given provided Jesus who is the Kingsman Redeemer to the hostile world he made he took the initiative he came down and made available this Kingsman
[27:46] Redeemer who will redeem from the horrible plight from the horrible judgment from the slavery of sin and this is what Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 32 to 36 Jesus said this the Jews said this first we are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone how is it that you say you will free you will become free and Jesus answered like this truly truly I say to you everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin so if the sun sets you free you will be free indeed so if the sun that is Jesus sets you free you will be free indeed Jesus can set one who believes in him free from the slave free from the slavery of sin and torment despite the wall is sinful and hated God God still love the wall not only he not only he loved the wall in speech but he loved the wall in action by giving a savior and this is a wonderful Christmas message isn't it God is saying to the hostile world to embrace Jesus who is the savior who is the temple and who is the Kingsman Redeemer in whom the world can be saved reconcile and redeem and this is the true meaning of Christmas our majesty the Queen Elizabeth delivered the sweet message of Christ birth like this she said God sent into the world a unique person neither a philosopher nor a general important thoughts they are but a savior with power to forgive it is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God's love let us pray father we thank you for the glorious reality of Jesus becoming man Lord you haven't abandoned the world despite it hated you to the utmost level you still love the wall and you still wills to save the world because you have created and you are merciful and kind God and we see that mercy and kind embodied in Jesus Christ you have prepared a salvation in eternity pass and in the fullness of time Jesus made that salvation realized to us and it was not easy it was very costly to Jesus for it causes life but when he gave to us he gave absolutely free of charge we didn't do anything we didn't earn our salvation but Jesus earned and gave free of charge only by believing we have that all benefit of Jesus we thank you a lot that proves that you are good God you are merciful
[31:26] God and you you don't take in the death of the wicked but you love the world and you wish to save them so Lord help us to convey this message to the world who are dying in their sins we ask Lord that you reveal this message through the churches as Christmas is ahead we pray Lord that you make this message known to the world that the world may know that we have a savior who has been given to save the world from misery and from death so Lord be with us as we convey this message and days ahead in Jesus name we ask Amen.