WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.039 A reading from the Gospel according to John. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.600 Chapter 1. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:26.359 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:29.659 Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:32.299 This is the one I meant when I said, 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:37.099 A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.560 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:43.500 was that he might be revealed to Israel. 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:46.260 Then John gave this testimony. 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:50.560 I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 00:01:51.240 --> 00:01:56.100 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:59.840 The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.820 is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:08.759 I have seen and I testify that this is God's chosen one. 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:11.400 This is the Gospel of the Lord. 00:02:12.200 --> 00:02:13.640 Praise to you, O Christ. 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:14.599 You may be seated. 00:02:21.779 --> 00:02:25.579 Good evening, Christ Church, and Merry Christmas to you. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:31.360 What a gift it is to be able to gather in person together this year. 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:37.300 Some of us were at a warehouse parking lot this time last year on Telegraph Avenue, 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:40.380 and that was sweet, but this is sweeter still. 00:02:41.180 --> 00:02:44.980 And we are so thankful to God for vaccines, 00:02:44.980 --> 00:02:51.240 and we're thankful to be able to travel and welcome special family and friends to be with us tonight. 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:54.439 And if you're visiting with us, we're so glad you're here. 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:59.140 If you're tuning in with us online, we're so glad that you have joined us as well. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:06.120 There was a kindergarten teacher who was observing her classroom as children drew pictures. 00:03:06.980 --> 00:03:09.719 And the teacher would walk around to see each child's artwork, 00:03:10.020 --> 00:03:14.340 and so she approached one little girl who was working especially hard 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:18.460 and asked her what her drawing was, and the little girl told her, 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:19.900 I'm drawing God. 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:25.759 But sweetie, the teacher replied, no one actually knows what God looks like. 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:29.020 And automatically, the little girl continued drawing and said, 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:30.300 well, they certainly will in a minute. 00:03:30.300 --> 00:03:38.680 The Gospels are each drawings of Jesus that are meant to show us what God is like. 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:44.740 And there are four Gospels with different angles on the one Jesus and the one story of Christmas. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:49.220 And in Matthew's Gospel, we see Christmas through the eyes of Joseph. 00:03:50.200 --> 00:03:53.100 We get his dream that reveals Jesus' identity. 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:57.700 We meet the wise kings that came from Arabia in the east, 00:03:57.699 --> 00:04:01.759 Herod and his slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem, 00:04:01.819 --> 00:04:06.899 and Joseph, Mary, and Jesus' escape as refugees to Egypt. 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:08.419 That's Matthew's Gospel. 00:04:08.539 --> 00:04:10.500 And Luke's Gospel, which we heard earlier, 00:04:10.579 --> 00:04:13.159 we get Christmas through the eyes of Mary. 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:17.139 Gabriel's visit to Mary where she says yes to God. 00:04:17.159 --> 00:04:21.459 We get those beautiful songs, the Magnificat and the Benedictus. 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:25.139 We get the birth of John the Baptist, the shepherds, the angels. 00:04:25.139 --> 00:04:27.939 We get the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:33.740 In the Gospel of Mark, he's in such a rush that he skips right over Christmas 00:04:33.740 --> 00:04:35.740 so he can jump straight into Jesus' ministry. 00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:39.199 So I think about that as kind of the bah humbug evangelist. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.060 Didn't really stop to celebrate Christmas. 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:46.240 But the Gospel of John, we get this cosmic Christmas. 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:49.680 John expands the dimensions of the story, 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:54.300 reaching back way before Christmas morning in time 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:58.079 and reaching forward in time way after the cradle of Christ. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:00.800 And every year, we just cycle through each of the four Gospels. 00:05:00.900 --> 00:05:03.500 So tonight, we're looking at the Gospel of John, 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:09.000 looking at John's drawing of Jesus that's meant to show us what God is like. 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:13.860 And John tells us that Christmas is about the God who has come, 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:16.560 keeps coming, and will come. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:23.579 Christmas is about the God who has come, keeps coming, and will come. 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:28.360 Think for a moment about Christmas and this God who has come. 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:31.579 John says he was coming in verse 9. 00:05:31.699 --> 00:05:35.740 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:40.060 It would be a mistake to think that the first time God came into the world 00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:42.439 was when he was born into it as Jesus Christ. 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:47.079 For long before he came into the world at Christmas in the incarnation, 00:05:47.699 --> 00:05:51.120 he was continuously coming into it. 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:54.920 Verse 10 tells us that he was in the world, 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:56.480 and though the world was made through him, 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:58.740 the world did not recognize him. 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:02.139 John's telling us that nothing in the universe exists 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:04.300 apart from Jesus Christ. 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:07.159 And he's remained in the world since creation. 00:06:07.300 --> 00:06:08.579 He never left. 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:10.519 What does this mean? 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:15.079 What does it mean to say that Jesus is the true light that enlightens everyone? 00:06:16.019 --> 00:06:22.259 It is to say that all beauty, all truth, all goodness comes from Jesus Christ, 00:06:22.359 --> 00:06:28.259 that any light that was in the world in any culture before the time of Christ 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:33.819 was pouring forth from Jesus as the source of all light, 00:06:33.919 --> 00:06:37.339 for he's the one who made and sustains all things. 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:41.779 Now, that is a bold claim for this baby in the manger. 00:06:42.719 --> 00:06:44.079 But John doesn't stop there. 00:06:44.119 --> 00:06:47.159 He says he was coming, and then he came. 00:06:47.219 --> 00:06:50.539 In verse 11, he came to that which was his own. 00:06:50.659 --> 00:06:52.719 Now we've hit Christmas morning. 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:53.979 Now we're at the incarnation, 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:59.659 where he who had been coming into the world to all people at all places and all times, 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:04.420 now came to Israel, his special covenant people. 00:07:05.140 --> 00:07:11.340 He who had been coming incognito into a world without being recognized 00:07:11.340 --> 00:07:13.460 in his pre-incarnation history, 00:07:13.460 --> 00:07:17.640 now came in person visibly and openly in the flesh. 00:07:17.660 --> 00:07:19.300 That's what verse 14 is all about. 00:07:19.400 --> 00:07:23.400 The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:26.359 John is telling us that this baby in the manger, 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:29.939 who's crying in order that someone might feed him, 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.279 who's crying in order that someone might change his swaddling clothes, 00:07:33.679 --> 00:07:35.979 this baby is the eternal logos. 00:07:37.019 --> 00:07:40.359 He's the eternal word and wisdom of God. 00:07:41.239 --> 00:07:44.659 We talk about the natural order and all those physical forces 00:07:44.659 --> 00:07:46.819 that hold everything together. 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:50.659 We talk about the moral order and right and wrong, 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:55.680 justice and injustice, what gives meaning and purpose to things and to life. 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:00.220 Well, what is the glue that causes all those things to cohere? 00:08:01.320 --> 00:08:05.080 The natural order, the moral order, John says, it's this baby. 00:08:06.060 --> 00:08:07.720 That without this baby in the manger, 00:08:07.940 --> 00:08:11.140 you and I and everything else would fall apart. 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:13.740 Well, why did he come? 00:08:14.520 --> 00:08:16.500 Why did he bother taking on flesh? 00:08:17.440 --> 00:08:19.340 This baby in the manger grew up, 00:08:19.339 --> 00:08:24.560 and his cousin John would go around telling people who he is and why he came. 00:08:24.659 --> 00:08:26.779 And John says in verse 29 that, 00:08:27.179 --> 00:08:31.319 look, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:33.899 That's a breathtaking statement. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:36.319 Because what is sin? 00:08:37.319 --> 00:08:40.199 Sin is when you are at home and you go to make a sandwich 00:08:40.199 --> 00:08:44.379 and you reach down past those first three or four pieces of bread 00:08:44.379 --> 00:08:46.939 to get the good bread, right? 00:08:46.940 --> 00:08:49.820 And you make yourself a sandwich and you get those matching pieces 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:51.660 and you leave all the rest of the bread for your family. 00:08:52.760 --> 00:08:55.920 Sin is when you use the last of the toilet paper 00:08:55.920 --> 00:08:58.820 and you don't fill up the bathroom before you leave. 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:01.220 These are two examples from my house just this week. 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:06.600 John is telling us that all the accumulated guilt 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:09.760 of thousands of years of human self-centeredness, 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:12.639 of looking out for numero uno, 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:17.000 of rebelling against our creator God through our greed, 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:20.899 our malice, our deceit and envy, 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:22.620 our slander and cruelty, 00:09:23.319 --> 00:09:27.179 this baby in the manger came to take all of that away. 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:30.580 And the reason this baby took on flesh 00:09:30.580 --> 00:09:33.059 was so that he could die 00:09:33.059 --> 00:09:35.259 as our God-given substitute, 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:38.359 as the sacrificial lamb in our place 00:09:38.359 --> 00:09:40.799 who would bear our sin and shame, 00:09:40.939 --> 00:09:43.379 who would bear our curse and condemnation, 00:09:43.719 --> 00:09:45.099 who would take on himself 00:09:45.099 --> 00:09:49.299 the justice and the judgment of God instead of us. 00:09:50.359 --> 00:09:53.679 John is telling us with this cosmic Christmas 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:55.859 that if you want to understand this one in the manger, 00:09:56.619 --> 00:09:58.479 you have to see him as the true light 00:09:58.479 --> 00:10:00.779 that gives all truth, beauty and goodness. 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:04.439 You have to see him as the eternal word of God 00:10:04.439 --> 00:10:06.759 that's holding all things, including you together. 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:09.539 And you have to see him as the lamb of God 00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:14.000 who takes away all that which separates us from God. 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:18.279 We have to see his cradle under the shadow of his cross. 00:10:19.459 --> 00:10:20.959 But John tells us that Christmas 00:10:20.959 --> 00:10:23.480 is not only about the God who has come, 00:10:23.579 --> 00:10:26.139 but it's about the God who keeps coming. 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:28.459 Because for many people, 00:10:28.579 --> 00:10:30.100 Christmas is just a nice story 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:31.300 that happened long ago 00:10:31.300 --> 00:10:34.440 that's completely irrelevant for us today. 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:36.259 But John says, 00:10:36.420 --> 00:10:39.820 he who was coming and who came is coming still. 00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:44.700 This baby in the manger of past history 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:47.740 is also a person of present significance. 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:50.779 That this historic Jesus 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:53.040 is also the contemporary Christ. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.480 And that he who came 2,000 years ago 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.919 as a tiny crying newborn 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:01.019 in a cave in Bethlehem 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:03.039 still comes to have a relationship 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.879 with me and with you. 00:11:06.599 --> 00:11:08.919 And that's what verse 12 is all about. 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:12.099 Yet to all who did receive him, 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:13.779 to those who believed in his name, 00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:16.699 he gave the right to become children of God. 00:11:17.339 --> 00:11:19.399 Children born not of natural descent 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:21.500 nor of human decision or a husband's will, 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:23.200 but born of God. 00:11:24.299 --> 00:11:27.059 This baby in the manger would soon learn to talk. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:29.779 And over the last two millennia, 00:11:29.899 --> 00:11:32.100 this one who's called the Word of God 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:36.200 has been calling out the names of individual people 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:40.059 and giving them the ability to receive him 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:41.440 and to believe him. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:43.500 And when you do that, we're told, 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:46.360 he, the Son of God, 00:11:47.020 --> 00:11:49.120 makes you a child of God. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.820 That he, the one who was born on Christmas, 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:58.600 makes you to be born from God, 00:11:58.680 --> 00:11:59.900 to be born from above. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.940 You see, Christmas is not only about 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:04.000 Jesus' birth as the Son of God, 00:12:04.040 --> 00:12:05.580 it's also about our birth 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:09.220 into a new life as the children of God. 00:12:10.280 --> 00:12:12.900 There's a great book that I commend to you 00:12:12.900 --> 00:12:13.980 called Knowing God. 00:12:14.860 --> 00:12:17.300 And J.I. Packer, in this book, 00:12:17.400 --> 00:12:18.759 he talks about the difference 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:20.620 between knowing about God 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:21.860 and actually knowing God. 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:23.379 And he says, 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:24.360 what is a Christian? 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:26.860 The richest answer I know 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:28.139 is that a Christian is one 00:12:28.139 --> 00:12:29.800 who has God as Father. 00:12:31.040 --> 00:12:32.180 But cannot this be said 00:12:32.180 --> 00:12:33.920 of every person, Christian or not, 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:35.240 emphatically know. 00:12:36.079 --> 00:12:37.979 The idea that all are children of God 00:12:37.979 --> 00:12:39.819 is not found in the Bible anywhere. 00:12:40.939 --> 00:12:43.159 Sonship to God is not a universal status 00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:45.539 upon which everyone enters by natural birth, 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:47.159 but a supernatural gift 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.639 which one receives through receiving Jesus. 00:12:50.819 --> 00:12:53.099 The gift of sonship to God becomes ours 00:12:53.099 --> 00:12:54.279 not through being born, 00:12:54.819 --> 00:12:56.459 but through being born again. 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:00.419 You sum up the whole of New Testament religion 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:02.519 if you describe it as the knowledge of God 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:04.319 as one's holy father. 00:13:05.439 --> 00:13:06.259 For in adoption, 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.399 God takes us into his family and fellowship. 00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:12.840 He establishes us as his children and heirs. 00:13:13.199 --> 00:13:16.299 Closeness, affection, and generosity 00:13:16.299 --> 00:13:17.960 are at the heart of the relationship. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:20.579 To be right with God the judge 00:13:20.579 --> 00:13:21.500 is a great thing, 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:24.899 but to be loved and cared for by God the father 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:26.939 is even greater still. 00:13:26.940 --> 00:13:30.880 And how does this baby in the manger enable us 00:13:30.880 --> 00:13:33.340 to become children of God? 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:35.400 John tells us in verse 33 00:13:35.400 --> 00:13:40.220 that he came to baptize us with the Holy Spirit. 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:43.340 This baby in the manger came not only 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:46.100 to eradicate all the stains of our past 00:13:46.100 --> 00:13:49.040 and to bundle away into oblivion 00:13:49.040 --> 00:13:50.920 all the skeletons in our closet 00:13:50.920 --> 00:13:53.720 and to write off all of our debts to God 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:56.320 and to give us a clean slate and a fresh start. 00:13:56.420 --> 00:13:57.480 He did all those things. 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.480 And he came not only to make us a child of God, 00:14:01.980 --> 00:14:03.120 born from above, 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:04.379 to call God our father. 00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:05.740 He did those things as well. 00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:07.440 But John tells us he goes further. 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:10.899 He came to baptize us with the Holy Spirit. 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:13.800 That is to put the Holy Spirit into you 00:14:13.800 --> 00:14:16.379 and to bring about a radical, 00:14:16.980 --> 00:14:19.100 inward spiritual regeneration 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:21.700 to give you a new life. 00:14:22.180 --> 00:14:23.820 That is to give you the divine, 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.659 eternal, abundant life of God himself. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.840 He came so that God could be dwelling in you, 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:33.860 transforming you, 00:14:34.740 --> 00:14:37.100 making you more and more willing and able 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:39.379 to live as God made you to live 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:42.500 and to come to bear the family resemblance 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:44.060 of your father. 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:46.940 You see, Christmas is an invitation 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:48.620 from this God who came, 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:50.740 but who keeps coming. 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:53.500 That if you're estranged from God, 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:57.080 this Christ of Christmas came to reconcile you 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:00.020 into a father-child relationship with God. 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:03.640 And if you feel defeated 00:15:03.640 --> 00:15:07.980 by that wide gap between who you want to be 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:09.200 and know you ought to be 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.440 and who you actually are, 00:15:12.180 --> 00:15:13.840 this Christ of Christmas came 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:16.700 to empower you with the Holy Spirit 00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:18.960 to live a whole new life. 00:15:19.820 --> 00:15:22.620 That's why this baby in the manger came 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:25.220 and that's why he keeps coming still. 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:28.360 But I also want to say that Christmas 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:30.200 is about the God who has come, 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:31.160 who keeps coming, 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:33.500 and finally, who will come. 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:35.720 And I'll end with this. 00:15:35.800 --> 00:15:37.440 Later in the Gospel of John, 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.320 Jesus is giving this farewell discourse 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.200 and he's teaching his disciples 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:43.800 in this upper room the night 00:15:43.800 --> 00:15:45.800 before he's to be crucified 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:47.899 and he's preparing them for what lies ahead. 00:15:47.959 --> 00:15:49.819 And he says this to his disciples. 00:15:49.959 --> 00:15:50.259 He says, 00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:51.539 In my Father's house, 00:15:52.299 --> 00:15:53.439 there are many rooms. 00:15:54.719 --> 00:15:56.039 If it were not so, 00:15:56.120 --> 00:15:57.059 I would have told you, 00:15:57.459 --> 00:16:00.120 I'm going there to prepare a place for you. 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:02.699 And if I go and prepare a place for you, 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:04.659 I will come back and take you to be with me 00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:08.139 that you also may be where I am. 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:11.039 And that is the reason he came 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:13.699 and made his home with us 00:16:13.699 --> 00:16:16.480 is so that after this baby 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.740 who came in the manger on Christmas morning 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:19.639 grew up, 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:22.319 he could eventually take us home 00:16:22.319 --> 00:16:25.080 to be with his father. 00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:28.220 We receive him when he comes to us 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:29.139 through the Holy Spirit 00:16:29.139 --> 00:16:31.159 and then he will receive us 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.659 in his final coming in power and glory. 00:16:34.659 --> 00:16:38.519 And then he will complete the salvation he has begun. 00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:41.059 For those of us who've received 00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:42.519 and believed in him 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.480 and had our sins taken away by the Lamb of God 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:47.719 and been born from above 00:16:47.719 --> 00:16:49.240 to call God our Father 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:50.679 and been filled with the Holy Spirit 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:54.360 if we've already been redeemed in our souls. 00:16:55.019 --> 00:16:56.159 On that day, 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:58.500 the word who became flesh 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:00.779 will deliver our flesh 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:03.059 and our bodies from pain, 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:05.099 from senility, 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:07.019 from handicap, 00:17:07.399 --> 00:17:09.839 from sickness and disease and death. 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:11.779 And we will be liberated 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:12.839 from all of those things 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:15.519 which mar our flesh and our bodies 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:16.799 and we will be vested 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.819 with new and wonderful powers 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:21.180 and a new creation 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:24.599 where righteousness and justice reign supreme. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:25.399 And my friends, 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:27.119 that is why God came. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.799 That's why he took on flesh 00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:31.479 in the womb of Mary. 00:17:31.579 --> 00:17:33.119 It's why he took on a body 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:36.579 as a baby vulnerable in his manger 00:17:36.579 --> 00:17:38.539 so that he could come again 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:42.259 to heal and enliven our bodies 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:45.699 for an abundant everlasting life 00:17:45.699 --> 00:17:47.679 at home with him 00:17:47.679 --> 00:17:50.739 in his father's house. 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:53.680 If you're like me, 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:54.940 this cosmic Christmas 00:17:54.940 --> 00:17:56.640 is much bigger than 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:58.900 perhaps you dared to imagine. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:00.000 In fact, John tells us 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:00.799 we don't really know 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:02.039 what Christmas is all about 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:03.680 if we just leave off 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:05.120 at this cute, cuddly baby 00:18:05.120 --> 00:18:06.319 in the manger 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:07.559 for we must see him 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:09.640 as the true light 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:11.980 that enlightens everyone. 00:18:12.120 --> 00:18:12.880 We must see him 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:14.339 as the eternal word of God 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:15.779 that's holding all things together. 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:16.740 we must see him 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:19.839 as the one 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:22.579 who came to be the Lamb of God 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:25.099 and take away the sins of the world. 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:27.920 And we must trace the story 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:29.420 from his manger 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:30.899 all the way to our story, 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:31.799 from his birth 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:33.559 to our new birth, 00:18:33.639 --> 00:18:34.559 our second birth 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:35.200 as children 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:37.059 who call God our Father. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:39.180 And we must follow 00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:40.039 that golden thread 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:40.799 all the way 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:41.759 until we're at home 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:43.399 in the Father's house. 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:46.120 So brothers and sisters, 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:48.740 I want to invite you tonight 00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:50.640 to praise this Jesus, 00:18:51.180 --> 00:18:52.420 this Christ of Christmas, 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:54.280 this cosmic Christ 00:18:54.280 --> 00:18:57.080 with a full and a glad heart tonight. 00:18:57.960 --> 00:18:59.600 Let us celebrate his birth 00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:01.140 with everything that we've got. 00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:02.480 Let us live out 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:05.060 a cosmic Christmas this year 00:19:05.060 --> 00:19:05.780 as people 00:19:05.780 --> 00:19:07.980 whose sins have been taken away, 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:11.000 who call God our Father 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:12.400 and we get to call ourselves 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:13.100 his children 00:19:13.099 --> 00:19:14.619 who are filled 00:19:14.619 --> 00:19:15.619 with the Holy Spirit 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:17.679 and who have the sure 00:19:17.679 --> 00:19:18.819 and certain hope 00:19:18.819 --> 00:19:20.659 of an eternal home 00:19:20.659 --> 00:19:22.959 to have bodies 00:19:22.959 --> 00:19:24.579 like this one 00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:26.059 who was born in his manger 00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:28.039 and then one day 00:19:28.039 --> 00:19:29.480 was raised 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:30.980 from his tomb. 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:33.339 In the name of the Father, 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:34.379 Son, and Holy Spirit, 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:35.659 Amen. 00:19:35.659 --> 00:19:35.839 Amen.