CHRISTMAS PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE
Christmas is finally here! One of my favorite movies to watch at Christmas time is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in 1843. In the story, Mr. Scrooge is visited by 3 spirits – Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. I think that Dickens was on to something. To truly understand Christmas you must see it through these 3 perspectives as well.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
1. Christmas Past – vs. 1-4
To understand Christmas you have to start at the very beginning. The book of John starts with a declaration that is a little hard to fully understand. It says that the Word (Jesus) was not only WITH God in the beginning but WAS God. What does this mean?
a. Jesus is eternally God – in the beginning was the Word
Jesus was not a created thing like the earth or angels or you and me. His existence is not finite but infinite. He has always existed and will always exist. Jesus is eternally God. There has never been a time when Jesus was not.
John 8:57 "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham !" 58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
b. Jesus is equally God – the Word was God
Not only did Jesus always exist but He is also equally God. That means that Jesus and the Father are both equally omnipotent in terms of their authority and power. They stand as equals in terms of their substance and nature.
John 10: 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one." 31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,
c. Jesus is essentially God – through Him all things were made
Not only this, but Jesus is also attributed with all the work and character of the Father. He was involved in creation and together with the Father rules over creation. They are equals in terms of their character and divine attributes.
Col 1:15 He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together .
Though separate from the Father in his personhood, Jesus was one with the Father in His existence and essence. The same above can also be said of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the trinity. There is no way to adequately explain this in human terms. As finite beings our minds are unable to comprehend the infinite. Have you ever thought “what lies beyond the universe?” The idea that you can go as fast as you want in any direction and never ever reach the end cannot fully be understood by the human mind. The trinity is not the joining together of 3 distinct entities. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinguishable as persons but one and inseparable in nature.
"Deny the doctrine of the Trinity and you'll lose your salvation; try to comprehend it and you'll lose your mind." -- Anonymous
What I am trying to say is that the wonder of Christmas is that more than 2000 years ago the almighty God of creation came to earth and became one of us. The majestic eternal God was born a helpless baby in a stable.
Is 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
But why did he do that? Why did God have to become a baby born in a manger? He did it so that we could know God and so that we could be set free.
Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian of another century, tells the story of a prince who was running an errand for his father one day in the local village. As he did so, he passed through a very poor section of the town. Looking through the window of his carriage, he saw a beautiful young peasant girl walking along the street. He could not get her off his heart. He continued to come to the town, day after day, just to see her and to feel as though he was near her. His heart yearned for her, but there was a problem. How could he develop a relationship with her? He could order her to marry him. It was in his power to do so. But he wanted this girl to love him from the heart, willingly. He could put on his royal garments and impress her with his regal entourage, and drive up to her front door with soldiers and a carriage drawn by six horses. But if he did this he would never be certain that the girl loved him or was simply overwhelmed with his power, position and wealth. The prince came up with another solution. As you may have guessed, he gave up his kingly robe and symbols of power and privilege. He moved into the village dressed only as a peasant. He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked their language. In time, the young peasant girl grew to know him, and then to love him.
The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God. -- C S. Lewis
There is no way to adequately explain the depth to which God stooped in becoming one of us. I remember visiting the church in Bethlehem which suppose to have been built over the cave that Jesus was born in. To enter the room you had to stoop down. How much farther did Jesus have to stoop down for us when He laid aside his divine nature and glory.
He clothed himself with our lowliness in order to invest us with his grandeur. -- Richardson Wright
2. Christmas Present – vs. 5
Today we live on the other side of that first Christmas. There are still billions of people who have not received or accepted the message yet. This passage says in verse 5 that “the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it”. That describes so well the state of or world today.
The word here for UNDERSTAND is the Greek word KATALAMBANO which comes from the verb LAMBANO which means to TAKE. In other words – the world has just not gotten it. They misunderstand who Jesus is. They have missed the message.
There was a wealthy European family that decided to have their newborn baby dedicated in their enormous mansion. Dozens of guests were invited to the elaborate affair, and they all arrived dressed elegantly. After depositing their wraps on a bed in an upstairs room, the guests were entertained royally. Soon the time came for the main purpose of their gathering: the infant's ceremony. But where was the baby? No one seemed to know. The child's governess ran upstairs and returned with a desperate look on her face. Everyone searched frantically for the baby. Then someone recalled having seen him asleep on one of the beds. The baby was on a bed all right—buried beneath a pile of coats, jackets, and furs. The object of that day's celebration had been forgotten, neglected, and nearly smothered. The baby whose birthday we celebrate at Christmas is easily hidden beneath the piles of traditions and cultural observances of the season. We need to enter every Advent season asking, "Where's the baby?" Where is Jesus is all the celebrations?
Two women walked by a department store and saw in the window a manger scene with shepherds, angels, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. “How about that?” said one of the ladies. “The church is trying to horn in on Christmas too.”
It should not be a surprise to us that 2000 years after His birth there are still many who have not received the truth. At that first Christmas there were those who came to worship and there were those who remained home. Christmas is a day of decision.
Harold wanted to be in the annual Christmas play which was always a big production in his town. But Harold was not the top student in his class and seemed to have a lot of problems. The directors of the children’s play did not want to hurt Harold’s feelings, but they were worried about whether he could handle a part. They finally decided to give him the part of the Inn Keeper. All he had to say was, “I’m sorry, there is no room in the Inn.” Well, the night of the big play came and the church was packed. At the precise moment Mary and Joseph came and knocked on the Inn door. The whole village of Bethlehem shook as Harold tried to open the cardboard door to the Inn which was stuck. At last he got the door open, and the pitiful young couple was standing there looking all too real to Harold, but with a little coaching he blurted out the words: “I’m sorry, all the rooms are full, and there’s no room for you here.” The couple turned sorrowfully away and began to walk off stage when all of a sudden the door of the Inn swung open again, and Harold ran up to the couple and said in a loud voice so that everyone could hear, “Wait a minute. Come back. You can have my room.” It was a great addition to the play, even though it was not in the script.
3. Christmas Future –
One day Jesus is going to come again. The nest time He comes it will not be as a helpless baby but as an almighty conquering King coming to take us all home to be with Him forever in heaven. One day every knee is going to bow. One day every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge eventually has to deal with his own mortality. He is taken to a cemetery and finds a grave with his name on it. Each one of us has a grave with our name on it. Unless Jesus returns, one day all of us here today will die. On that day we will all have to stand before God and give an account.
Rev 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse , whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
I heard a story about a dad who found a way to mix truth and grace one year at Christmas. It was the time of the year they put out their Nativity scene on the table by the front door. One by one each of the little statues were in place: Mary, Joseph, the Baby in the manger, the Angels, the Shepherds, and various barnyard animals. Then their son Scott came out carrying one of his favorite toys: a fierce Tyrannosaurus Rex, King of the dinosaurs. It towered over the Nativity Scene, looking fierce, big, green … and certainly out of place.
The dad tried to explain to Scott that Dinosaurs existed thousands of years before the baby Jesus was born. He told him that Prehistoric beasts just don’t belong in a Nativity Scene. But the little boy looked so heartbroken that the dad mixed grace with the truth. The truth was, a Dinosaur didn’t belong there, but out of grace, the dad put the beloved toy behind the scene. So, the fierce Tyrannosaurus Rex hovered over the Manger and everyone else.
When the pastor of the local church came for a visit he noticed the dinosaur right away. Before the family could explain he said "Oh yeah, I understand. Very clever. Rev 12 right?"
It wasn't until after he left that the family got out to the bible to see how a dinosaur and the birth of Jesus could possibly be connected. The Menacing Beast hovering over the manger was not as out of place as they thought.
Revelation 12 describes the birth of Christ this way: “A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” Revelation 12:1-5
The truth is that a dinosaur hovering over the manger is more appropriate than we might realize. For each of us there is a menacing character that threatens to rob us of all our joy. But at Christmas we can remember that the tiny Baby in the manger is stronger than all the dragons in your life or mine. God has given us the Victory through the Gift of his Son.
I recall a fascinating part of John Bunyan’s book Pilgrims Progress where Interpreter leads Christian into a place where there is a perplexing sight. He sees a fire burning beside a wall. It continues to burn under extraordinary circumstances. There is someone standing beside the fire who is continually throwing water on the fire in an attempt to extinguish it. But instead of the fire going out, it only burns brighter and hotter. Then Interpreter takes him behind the wall and shows him what he could not see before. Behind the wall is another man who is continually feeding the fire with oil. Christian cannot understand the whole thing until Interpreter explains to him that the man putting water on the fire represents the devil. He is always trying to dampen and extinguish the work of God in the world. But what he and the others on that side of the wall cannot see is the man on the other side of the wall who represents Christ. He is continually fueling the fire with the oil of his Spirit, and the devil can never put it out.
The meaning is clear. Those of us on this side of the wall only see the discouraging signs of what the evil one is doing to extinguish the work of God in the world. What we do not see with our natural eyes is that Christ is stoking the fire of God and causing it to burn hotter and brighter in spite of all the enemy is trying to do.
Getting ready for Christmas means not just waiting – it means there are things to do before it comes! There is lots to do before Jesus comes again. There are still many people who are wandering in the darkness that need to be introduced to the light.
There is a story about how the caverns north of Yellowstone National Park were discovered. As the story goes, one of the original explorers was walking along the top of that mountain and fell through a hole, and he dropped down several hundred feet into this cavern and was stuck in almost total darkness for over a week, no food, no water. He cried out every day, “Help me!” Hoping that somebody would hear his voice and figure out that he was down there. Sure enough a guy came along and heard this faint sound and looked around and found the hole. They dug him out and that’s how they found this giant cavern. They asked him, “How did you hold on to hope day after day after day in the dark without giving up?” He said, “There was one little pinhole ray of light that was coming through and I just kept focused on that ray of light.”
For many around us they are like that man down in the cave. They are in darkness looking for a way out. Jesus is the light of the world. He is still shining today. Let us do everything we can to help people to take hold of Him.
Jesus came to the earth and was born in a manger. He died on a cross for us. He is here with us today. Someday soon he will come back and take us to be with him forever.
This Christmas there are still many people who have missed the message. Even though the light of the world is shining in the darkness, the darkness has not been able to comprehend it. Perhaps there is someone in your life that needs to hear the true message of Christmas today. Maybe you are here today and for the first time you “GET IT”. You have finally understood. We want to pray with you this morning.
