God With Us

Good evening, church. How are we doing? It is good to be with you as always. In fact, I think since I saw you last, I had a bit of a surgery done. So if I sound like I’m underwater, I had the full “Roto-Rooter” done to my nose. Unfortunately, they only fix the inside and not the outside, so I’m told if I just keep doing this for twenty years, it’ll straighten out. If I sound a little bit nasally, it is because I am still recovering a little bit from surgery.

My name is Mike. If I have not had the privilege to meet you, I’m one of the teaching pastors here alongside Brad and the rest of our staff. It’s a privilege for me to get to open the Word of God with you. We are going to be in John chapter one tonight, though we’re going to take a bit of a scenic route getting there.

The Sense of Wonder

As you make your way to John chapter one, I just want to ask you a question. Specifically in this season, what is it that causes you to wonder? As you think about awe—things that just blow your mind in life—what are those things that maybe you’ve seen, heard, or experienced that are just category-blowing for you?

For me, I got to experience one of those things this summer. I checked off an item on my bucket list, something I’ve always wanted to do. Coming from Texas, where it’s pancake flat and we don’t have the wilderness and the outdoor stuff like we do here in Fresno, I went on a three-day backpacking trip. I was with a group of buddies who are “level 11” crazy. We did 15 miles in one day, hiking with all of our gear on our backs. It was literally the hardest thing I have ever done physically. In the midst of this journey, I’m asking myself, “Why am I doing this? Why am I hiking this mountain and sleeping by this lake at 11,000 feet without a tent?”

Who sleeps without a tent in the wilderness? My buddies. They don’t believe in tents. They think they’re not helpful because they block the stars. So, of course, you don’t want a tent, right? But as I was laying down to go to bed, looking up at the stars at 11,000 feet, I was in this bowl surrounded by majestic mountains. There was this gorgeous lake that we swam in at night—and by the way, lakes are cold at 11,000 feet. Not recommended. But when you are looking at the stars and there is not a man-made light for a hundred miles, you have not seen the stars until you’ve seen them in that environment. It was like you could reach out and put your hands on the Milky Way. It was incredible. I thought, “I know the guy who made those.”

Maybe you’re an outdoorsy person and you connect with that. My wife’s a beach person, so sitting on the shore and hearing the waves crash causes a sense of awe in her. Maybe for those of you wired relationally, it’s sitting with friends and having deep, intimate fellowship where you belly laugh together and realize, “God, you’ve made us for community.” I remember the birth of my first child. I remember coming out of the operating room, holding Madison in my hand like Mufasa of old, showing her to my parents like, “This is Simba! Look what we made!” I was so proud. There are moments in our lives where we’re just struck by such wonder that we can’t even put words to how majestic they are.

The Struggle of the Season

Honestly, I think about that specifically in the season of Advent. We’re called to wait for the arrival of the Messiah, the baby who will deliver the world from her sins. It’s supposed to cause in us an expectant, anxious waiting. But if I’m honest with you guys, I’m horrible at that. I stink at this Christmas season because I find so many things that occupy that space in my heart and fight for my allegiance.

I’m worried about where my wife’s Christmas present is right now. It’s been canceled three times by the company I ordered it from. I sent a nasty email yesterday that I may have to repent of on Monday. I fight stuff like that. I have to ask, “Lord, where is my heart in the midst of all of this?”

I’ve tried to pause and ask what it must have been like to be at that first Advent—where Mary, Joseph, the angels, and the shepherds were eagerly awaiting what the Old Testament had promised for two thousand years. I want to remind us afresh of the awe and wonder that this season caused in them. Remember, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would conceive a child through the greatest miracle in human history.

Luke 1:31-33 (NASB)

’And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ‘He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’

Mary is told she is going to have a virgin-born child who is a King—and not just any king, but one from the line of David whose throne is eternal. This must have been mind-blowing. She understood that the Messiah was in her womb. Joseph also had an encounter with an angel in a dream.

Matthew 1:20-21 (NASB)

But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ’Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ‘She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’

Joseph was affirmed that Mary was on the up-and-up. Her son’s name would be Jesus, which means “Yahweh saves.” That is his purpose on earth. They realized this was no ordinary child. And as the story unfolds and the shepherds relay the message of the angels, the text says that all who heard it wondered at the things told to them.

Luke 2:11 (NASB)

for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Treasuring and Pondering

But it’s Mary’s response that really caught me off guard and convicted me regarding the condition of my own heart. It says that Mary, upon hearing all of this, treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. She took what she held most dear and held it closely because of its immense value. She meditated on it over and over. She thought about the significance of the fact that what had come out of her was no ordinary boy.

She was so blown away that she wrote what we call the Magnificat, an expression of gratitude to God. She quotes the Old Testament, and I wonder if Isaiah 7 came to mind—the prophecy that a virgin would bear a son and call his name Immanuel. The author of Hebrews says that in these last days, God has spoken to us through His Son. Of all the ways the Author of the Universe could have expressed Himself, He chose to show us who He is by giving us “God with us.”

This child had to be the most unique child to ever exist. In the Old Testament, we see a sacrificial system where a sheep or a goat could be a temporary substitute for sin. But the blood of bulls and lambs could never permanently take away sin. If this child was going to save the world from its sins, He had to be completely unique. This brings us to John chapter one.

The Theology of the Word

John makes two radical arguments about who Jesus is. He argues that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man in the same person. Now, if you’re like me, that math doesn’t add up. But I don’t want to appeal just to our heads; I want to appeal to our hearts. I want us, like Mary, to have a sense of awe at the uniqueness of our Savior.

John 1:1 (NASB)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Every gospel writer has a different “on-ramp.” Matthew starts with genealogy; Mark starts with public ministry; Luke starts with an angelic announcement. John goes back to the beginning. Those first three words—“In the beginning”—are the exact same words as Genesis 1:1. John is taking us back to original creation to show us that the “Word” was already there.

Why does he call Jesus “the Word”? In the Old Testament, the “Word of the Lord” was powerful. By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made. The Word brought revelation to prophets and deliverance to the suffering.

Psalms 33:6 (NASB)

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.

Psalms 107:20 (NASB)

He sent His word and healed them, And delivered [them] from their destructions.

John is saying that in the beginning—when God created time, space, and matter—the Trinity was already present. The Son of God was pre-existent. There was never a time when the Father, Son, or Spirit was not.

John 1:2 (NASB)

He was in the beginning with God.

He wasn’t just “with” God in proximity; He was in a perfect, loving relationship with the Father. And John tells us that this Word is the agent of creation.

John 1:3 (NASB)

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Everything from a brick to nitrogen was brought into existence through the Son. Paul says the same thing to the Colossians.

Colossians 1:16-17 (NASB)

For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Is that not mind-blowing? When we think of creation, we might imagine an old man with flowy white hair speaking the world into existence. While that is partially true, John says the Son was the agent through whom everything came into being. This is the same person who was laid in a manger.

John 1:4-5 (NASB)

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Jesus is the source of all life, both physical and spiritual. He would later claim this Himself, saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He is also the Light. When He comes into a dark world, His mission will not fail. Darkness and evil will not overcome the Father’s will for His Son.

The Word Became Flesh

For centuries, the early church fought to protect this truth. They convened councils to affirm that if you don’t believe Jesus is God, you are outside the circle. But John goes further. He says Jesus is also fully man.

John 1:14 (NASB)

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is the Incarnation—God taking on flesh. The Word became human and “dwelt” among us. That word for dwell means He “tabernacled” in our midst. It would have reminded the Jews of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, where God’s presence lived right in the middle of the camp. Jesus isn’t a ghost or a hypothesis; He is God standing in front of us.

Philippians 2:6-8 (NASB)

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is the “hypostatic union”—He is 100% man and 100% God simultaneously. Why was this necessary? Why did He have to be both? Friends, there is no beauty in Bethlehem if we don’t talk about Calvary. There is no point to the manger without the mission of Easter.

Jesus had to be fully God because no ordinary human life is valuable enough to pay for the sins of billions of people made in the image of God. But if the Creator Himself chose to become human and give His life, that sacrifice becomes infinitely valuable.

He also had to be fully man to represent us. He had to know what it was to be thirsty, hungry, and tired. He had to understand temptation. James tells us that God cannot be tempted by sin, so when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He didn’t use His “Superman coat” of divinity to ward it off. He faced it in His humanity, yet without sin. He felt the full brunt of temptation that we often give in to. He did what we could not do: He said no to sin and yes to the Father for thirty-plus years. Because He was fully man and fully God, He could offer a perfect life as a substitute for ours.

The Chasm Bridged

How does God become a man? It’s absurd. I don’t have an illustration that fully works, but let me try this: Imagine you were the creator of a colony of cockroaches. You made them, and oddly enough, you love them. You made a beautiful habitat for them with mountains, tunnels, and food. You told them to be fruitful and multiply.

Then one day, those cockroaches rebel. They say, “We don’t trust you. We don’t even think you’re there. We think we just accidentally evolved into this habitat.” As the creator, you could walk away. Or, you could choose to redeem them. But the only way to redeem them is to become a cockroach yourself. And not a “King Cockroach,” but a lowly, overlooked, nobody of a cockroach. You live among them, you show them who their father is, and eventually, they deny you and kill you. You lay down your life for them.

That is an absurd illustration, and yet the chasm between a human and a cockroach is infinitesimally smaller than the chasm between Holy God and sinful man. This is what Mary treasured. This was the awe—that God’s Son was in her womb to redeem the lost.

Psalms 8:3-4 (NASB)

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?

The God who created the Milky Way also loves you enough to know what’s going on in your heart and to send His Son for you. This is the beauty of the Incarnation.

I don’t know what causes you to pause or what blows your categories. There are so many things that can steer us off track in this season. But I am trying to carry this posture of wonder with me. I want my mind to be blown by the uniqueness of a Savior who is fully God and fully man, who came to deliver us from our greatest enemy: sin. He simply asks us to believe. Will you put your faith in that? Will you trust Him?

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank you for your Word and for the absurdity of what you were willing to do. You were willing to send your Son off the greatest throne in history to rescue and redeem mankind. Thank you that even though this seems incomprehensible, you did not hesitate. This was your plan from eternity past to demonstrate your love for us. Thank you that in the person of Jesus Christ, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us so that we could know the heart of a good and loving Father. Thank you for the Gospel, the greatest of good news. In Jesus’ name, amen.