I've come up with a new TV show.
Yeah.
It's called Soul Care Pastor.
Soul Care Pastor.
And what is basically is these episodes of a guy named Pastor John
who is treating various kinds of soul sickness.
And this show kicks off in Christmastime.
And the first episode is, Tis the Season.
Pastor John gets a call from a frantic wife.
Her name is Lisa.
Something's wrong with my husband, Steve.
Will you help?
Pastor John says, I'll be right there.
Because Soul Care pastors make house calls.
Pastor John shows up.
Knock, knock, knock.
Where's Steve?
Lisa, he's in his man cave.
And so Pastor John starts walking down the stairs to the basement man cave where he'll find Steve.
And the first thing he sees is Steve's hands in his easy chair facing a screen.
And he knows right away, based upon his right hand, what's going on.
He's got remote hand.
It's a vice-like grip on a remote control.
It comes from excessive binging.
Pastor John looks back and he says to Lisa, Lisa, I think we've got a case of indoxia.
That's right.
What?
What's that?
Lisa asks.
Pastor John says, well, you've heard of insomnia, chronic not sleeping.
Indoxia is chronic not glorifying God.
Because on a side note, doxa is the Greek word for glory as in doxology.
Praise God for a moon.
So this guy looks like he's got indoxia.
Pastor John, being the seasoned pastor he is, he asks this question.
Lisa, who's been buying all the Christmas gifts for your family?
Lisa says, well, Steve has been.
Can I see his wallet?
And as soon as Pastor John touches his wallet, it is ice cold.
Because his credit cards, they've got this thing called greedy burn.
It's like freezer burn.
It desensitizes your spiritual sensitivities.
It's a kind of materialism.
Run amok.
And it results in indoxia.
Remote hand.
Greedy burn.
Pastor John says to Lisa, Lisa, I just need you to watch.
I need to watch Steve's eyes as I read this scripture from Isaiah 9, 6 and 7.
Pastor John pulls out his Bible and into Steve's ear he says,
To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder.
And his name shall be called.
What's he doing, Lisa?
He's rolling his eyes.
Whatever.
Pastor John says, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.
What's he doing, Lisa?
He's rolling his eyes.
Of the increase of his government and of peace.
There will be no end.
What's he doing?
He's rolling his eyes.
Pastor John, what are you going to do?
I need 100 cc's of Jesus awesomeness stat.
We need an IV drip of John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18.
We're going to let some truth about Jesus get into this man's soul.
So he goes from endoxia to doxology.
To give him praise and glory to Jesus.
When you see the glory of the one and only Jesus, the only way to respond is to believe and marvel.
When you see the glory of the one and only Jesus, the only response is to believe and to marvel.
And so this morning, I want to help you experience John chapter 1, verses 14 through 18 as an IV drip for your soul.
To give you life.
To make your heart cry out, show me your glory.
So children, if you're in the room and you've got one of these bulletins, here's what I want you to do.
You go to the back side of your bulletin, and I want you to write five things down on the left margin.
I want you to write this.
His presence.
And then I want you to write this.
What is the next one?
His glory.
And then His person.
And then His grace.
And the last one is His revelation.
We're going to look at five reasons why you must believe in the one and only Jesus so that you can see, believe, and marvel.
Because we all have endoxia.
In some measure, right?
Okay, let's look at the first reason why we must believe in the one and only Jesus Christ.
It's in chapter 1, verse 14.
We read this.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Billy, a couple weeks ago, helped us understand what that word, Word, meant.
God's authoritative announcement.
Thus saith the Lord.
The Greek word, underword, is the word logos.
And in addition to, if you had an Old Testament background and you're reading John chapter 1, you would know right away, okay?
This is thus saith the Lord who's going to take on flesh.
But if you didn't have an Old Testament background, and let's just say you were a Greek,
that word logos would actually mean something.
It had a philosophical meaning.
And it would put something like this.
The logos is what explains all things.
It's the explanation for all things.
So a Greek would understand, with no Old Testament background,
when he would read John writing,
in the beginning was the logos,
he would understand it or she would understand it as,
in the beginning was the explanation for all things.
And the explanation for all things was with God.
And the explanation for all things was God.
He, the explanation for all things, was in the beginning with God.
John is making a huge claim.
The explanation for all things is a person.
So this word became flesh.
When you read that word flesh,
it's what theologians call the incarnation.
Has anybody had carne asada before?
Yeah, I see that hand.
Carne asada, carne is Spanish for meat.
And so it's a very crude way of describing kind of humanity.
And that's John's point.
John is saying the word in all of his glory
became meat, human flesh,
in all of our humanity,
with the exception of the sinful nature.
The word became flesh.
And the next word is really important.
And dwelt among us.
It actually means to pitch a tent.
To tabernacle.
And if you are familiar with the Old Testament,
you'll remember Exodus 25 or 33
where God commands Moses to build him
a fancy tent called a tabernacle.
And then what Moses would do,
he pitched this tent,
and then God would come down in a pillar of cloud,
and he would dwell with his people.
John is intentionally riffing off that
when he says the word became flesh
and tabernacled among us.
Because what he's saying about Jesus is this.
He's better than a tent.
He's better than God dwelling with us in a tent.
He is God dwelling with us in a person.
And so what we're seeing here is his presence.
Why you should believe Jesus is,
unlike anybody else,
the one and only,
is that he's the greater presence.
He dwelled with us in his flesh.
And he dwelt,
he came in his flesh
for a reason.
So that we could have a relationship with God.
But I want to just make one point
before we move on.
Did you know that Jesus is still incarnate?
Right now?
He's still in the flesh.
It's not like he decarnated
after his death and resurrection
when he went up to the Father's right hand.
Verse 18.
He's in the flesh now.
And so when he comes back,
he's coming back in the flesh.
And we'll see the risen, radiant,
and reigning Christ
face to face.
So the first reason why you must believe
in the one and only Jesus
is his greater presence.
He is the word become flesh.
The second reason is his glory.
And the word became flesh
and dwelt among us
and we have seen his glory.
Glory is of the only son from the father,
full of grace and truth.
When John says,
we beheld his glory,
the we is him
and the original disciples.
We saw his glory.
When he was ministering among us,
we saw his glory.
You might be wondering,
what is glory?
Well, glory is the visible
or audible display
display of God's majesty.
It's what theologians called theophany.
And so when we read John saying,
we behold his glory,
we beheld it,
John wants that to trigger something
in your mind.
Exodus chapter 33, verse 18,
where Moses says to God,
please, please show me your glory.
God dwelling in the tabernacle.
Moses wants to behold his glory.
He's like saying,
show me your glory.
And God responds,
you can't handle my glory.
Well, God says,
I'm going to cause my goodness
to pass before you
and I'm going to announce
my name before you.
But in order to do that,
you can't see me, Moses,
because if you see me,
any man that sees me will die.
So you can't see me.
But I'll tell you,
I'll put you in a cleft of a rock,
I'll tuck you in,
and then I'll show you
my backside glory.
Well, you can't see my glory
and it's full,
otherwise you die.
So here we have in John 1,
we beheld his glory.
We beheld his glory.
In that Exodus 33 and 34 passage,
it goes on.
It goes on to say
that God is gracious
to whom he will be gracious.
And then in verse 6 and 7
is this glorious words
where God goes before Moses
and he says,
the Lord,
merciful and gracious,
slow to anger
and abounding
in steadfast love
and faithfulness.
Notice what John
beholds in verse 14.
We have seen his glory,
glory as of the only son
from the Father.
That word only
is a very special word.
It means one of a kind,
one and only.
There's nothing,
no one like him.
Glory is of the only son
from the Father.
So,
so John is saying,
we beheld his glory
and it's a unique glory
to this one.
And then he tells us
what this glory is.
He says,
full of grace and truth.
Here's how you need
to interpret
full of grace and truth.
When you hear the word full,
you need to think abounding.
When you hear the word grace,
you need to think
steadfast love.
When you hear the word truth,
you need to think faithfulness.
What Jesus,
what John is claiming
about Jesus
is he is the ultimate
incarnate theophany of God
abounding in steadfast love
and faithfulness.
He is the greater glory
to be beheld,
to be seen,
a glory full of grace and truth.
You know the difference
between Exodus 34
and John 1 is?
Exodus 34,
God verbally announces
who he is,
abounding in steadfast love
and faithfulness.
And you get to see
Moses' backside glory.
John chapter 1,
John says,
we beheld all of his glory
and he was full of grace
and truth.
We saw it.
When we talk about
God's steadfast love
and faithfulness
being full of grace
and truth,
we're talking about
God's loving commitment
to faithfully do
what's good,
what's best
to his people.
We're talking about
God showing his love
to you
for you experiencing
the life
that comes
from his love.
I'm going to
stick with this point
a little longer
so hold on with me.
There is an emphasis
all throughout
the Gospel of John
on beholding
of seeing Jesus.
Last week,
Matt
helped us
understand
the seven
I am statements
of Jesus
with that added
awesome one
of before Abraham
was I am.
Well,
John contains
as well,
he documents
seven signs
of Jesus Christ
that display
his glory
so you can see
his glory
so that you can see
his abounding
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
Remember,
he turns water
into wine
in John 2.
He heals
an official son
at the end
of chapter 4.
He heals
an invalid
at the pool
of Bethesda
at the beginning
of chapter 5.
He feeds a multitude
at the end
of chapter 6
or early
in chapter 6.
He walks
on water
at the middle
of chapter 6.
He heals
a man born blind
in chapter 9
so that he can
see.
And then,
remember in chapter 11,
he waits
to go
to see
Lazarus
so that
God would be glorified.
And then he raises
him from the dead.
All for us
to see.
But the greatest
sign of the glory
of the one
and only,
full of grace
and truth,
takes place
in chapter 19
of John.
Where Jesus
up on a cross
is displaying
the abounding
steadfast love
and faithfulness
of God
when he says
it is
finished.
The incarnate
God
dying
in the place
of sinners
like you
and me.
It was a display
of God's
full grace
and truth
so that we
could have a
relationship
with him.
Experience life
in him.
His glory
is a greater glory.
glory.
It's better
than some
audible
announcement
because
when you
open up
the pages
of the
scriptures
you can
see Jesus
with eyes
of faith.
It's a visible
display.
Do you remember
at the beginning
of this point
I said
John said
we beheld
his glory?
Well,
we can be
a part
of that we.
We can
behold
the glory
of Jesus
to the
one
and only
Christ.
You just
got to
open up
the Bible.
You got to
open up
the gospels.
You got to
see him
and believe
in him
and maybe
as you're
hearing this
you feel
the dripping
of Jesus
awesomeness
in your soul
and you're
saying
oh I want
to see
that more.
I want
to see
him more.
It's not
too early
to be thinking
about reading
your Bible
going forward
in the year
2020.
Maybe you
need to
start
in the
gospel
of John
and you
start every
day by
saying oh
Lord Jesus
show me
your glory.
That's the
second reason
why we
believe in
the one
and only
Jesus
because if
you see
him,
see his
glory,
the only
response is
to believe
and to
marvel.
The third
reason to
believe in
this one
and only
Jesus is
his person
and that's
in verse
15.
And you'll
notice right
away that
it's
parenthetical.
There's
parentheses
around it.
So here
is John
the apostle
who's going
to quote
John the
Baptist.
And just
as a side
note,
if you don't
know already,
John the
Baptist was
born six
to eight
months before
Jesus.
So in
verse 15
John writes
of John
the Baptist,
John the
Baptist bore
witness about
him and
cried out,
this was
he of
whom I
said,
he who
comes after
me ranks
before me
because he
was before
me.
It sounds
kind of like
a riddle,
doesn't it?
The reason
why John
has this
here is he's
getting us
ready for
what John
the Baptist
is about
to say in
chapter 1
verses 19
through 28,
behold the
Lamb of God
who's come to
take away the
sins of the
world.
And then he
says,
he who comes
after me ranks
before me
because he
was before
me.
What's all
that about?
Well when he
says he who
comes after
me, John
the Baptist
is saying
about Jesus,
well he was
born after
me.
He's got a
later birthday
than I do.
And in that
culture what it
typically meant
is if you were
older you had
a higher degree
of honor and
respect than
someone who
was younger.
And then he
says, he who
comes after me
ranks before
me.
So he totally
flips that whole
idea.
And the
idea there is
this one who
comes after
me surpasses
me.
He's more
important than
me.
And the reason
why he's more
important than
me comes in
the next
little piece
because he
was before
me.
Do you
understand what
he's saying?
This is a
claim of
deity.
This is saying
that this
word became
flesh and who
dwelt among
us.
He is the
eternal God.
God.
It's similar
to what we
read in
John 8
58.
Before Abraham
was, I am.
Jesus is
claiming I
existed before
Abraham.
The people who
he said that
to flipped.
They couldn't
believe what he
was hearing.
They picked up
stones to
throw at him.
They were so
mad.
What this is
the claim is
his person is
a greater
person.
God.
He's the
eternal God
made flesh.
And the way
to respond to
this is John
the Baptist's
cue from
chapter 3
verse 30
where John
says he
must increase
but I must
decrease.
In other
words, if he's
greater than
John, he's
also greater
than you.
He surpasses
you.
He's greater
than any of
us.
He's the
word, eternal
word become
flesh.
The second
person of
the Trinity
become human.
That's the
third reason to
believe in the
one and only
Jesus, that he
is one of a
kind.
It is his
greater person.
He's eternal.
The fourth
reason to believe
in the one and
only Jesus is
in verses 16
and 17.
It's his
grace.
Now, I
tried to
already make
a case
saying that
when John
says that
Jesus was
full of
grace and
truth, he's
riffing off of
the Exodus
34 statement
of God
where God
says, I'm
abounding in
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
So grace is
John's way of
referring to
God's steadfast
love.
His undeserved,
unmerited favor
to people who
don't deserve
it.
Now, in
verse 16, we
read this,
for from his
fullness we've
all received.
I'm going to
come back to
that word
received in a
second, but
that word
fullness, that
abounding, he
unpacks.
It's grace upon
grace.
Do you see that
in verse 16?
This fullness is
grace upon grace
and when you
read that, it
sounds like
that those who
receive Christ's
fullness receive
measure upon
measure of
God's grace.
It's like strata
of grace building
up on each
other, but it's
not quite that.
I'm going to
make a technical
observation.
You ready?
That word
upon in verse
16, grace upon
grace, the most
frequent and
common use of
the Greek word
of that means
grace instead
of or in the
place of.
And so if you
were to take it
that way, here's
how it would
read.
It would read
something like
this.
For from him, his
fullness we have
all received, grace
in place of grace,
grace instead of
grace, which
sounds kind of
odd, right?
Until you look at
verse 17.
17 explains what
John is meaning.
He says in verse
17, for the law
was given through
Moses, a kind of
grace.
Grace and truth
came through Jesus
Christ.
There was a lesser
grace, God's
steadfast love,
giving his people
the law of Moses,
which pointed to
God, exposed sin,
and anticipated
Jesus.
And then there
was the greater
grace that
fulfilled it in
the person of
Jesus Christ, which
gets to the how.
Jesus taught in
Matthew 5 that he
came not to abolish
the law of Moses,
but to fulfill it.
All that the law
of Moses requires
and anticipates is
fulfilled in the
person of Jesus
Christ.
He's the greater
grace.
And so, that's
why we can say
if we're in
Christ, we're no
longer under the
law.
Because Jesus
fulfilled it all.
In John 3, 16,
we read this.
For God so loved
the world that he
gave the law of
Moses, that whoever
obeys the law of
Moses will receive
eternal life.
Right?
Totally wrong.
For God so loved
the world that he
gave his one and
only greater grace
son, that whoever
believes in him
shall not perish,
but have eternal
life.
Which brings me to
that word receive.
For of his fullness
we have all
received.
What does that
mean?
What kind of
receiving are we
talking about?
Well, John already
answered that question
for us in verse 12.
Would you look at
verse 12 of
chapter 1?
John writes,
but to all who did
receive him,
who believed in
his name.
To them he gave
the right to become
children of God.
to receive the
fullness of the
one and only
Jesus is to
believe in
him.
To trust in
him.
He's the greater
grace.
He fulfills the
law of Moses.
And of his
fullness we
receive by
believing.
That's the
fourth reason
why we
should believe
in the one
and only
Jesus.
He is the
source of
greater grace.
The fifth
reason why
you must
believe in
the one
and only
Jesus
is his
revelation.
In verse
18 we
read,
no one
has ever
seen God,
the only
God who
is at
the Father's
side,
he has
made him
known.
We're
immediately in
verse 18
met with a
problem.
No one
has ever
seen God.
And you
may be
thinking,
well that's
right because
you can't
see God.
And to
a certain
degree you
would be
correct.
But remember
what Exodus
33 20 says.
You cannot
see my
face for
man cannot
see my
face and
live.
The real
problem is
we can't
see God
lest we
die because
he's holy
and we're
not.
Remember
Moses only
saw the
backside glory
of God in
Exodus 33
34.
The problem
is if we
see God
we die.
And the
solution is
here in
verse 18.
The only
God.
It's the
same only
from verse
14.
The one
and only.
The one
of a kind
God.
The incarnate
God.
Jesus Christ
verse 17.
He has
made him
known.
It's a
fancy word.
Biblical
scholars throw
around the
word exegesis.
It's a way
of studying
the Bible.
It's the
making known
of what the
Bible says.
You do your
exegetical
work.
And that's
the word we
have here.
No one has
ever seen
God.
The only God
who is at
the Father's
side.
He has
exegeted
him.
He has
made him
known.
He has put
him on full
display.
time and
again in the
Gospel of
John.
Jesus says
something.
If you've
seen me,
you've seen
the Father.
Because I
put him on
display.
I am the
visible
theophany
of God.
It's where
John 1 has
been moving
all along.
This prologue
lands here.
The one
and only
God.
Fully
God.
Fully
man.
Jesus
Christ.
He has
revealed the
unseen God
whom if we
saw, we
would die.
But if we
see Jesus
with eyes of
faith, we
don't die, we
live.
He's one
of a kind.
He's the
one and only.
Our seeing
God in the
face of Jesus
Christ, when
accompanied by
faith, doesn't
result in our
death, but
results in
eternal life,
experiencing his
fullness of
grace and
truth, his
steadfast love
and faithfulness
towards us.
For God so
loved the
world that he
gave his one
and only son
that whoever
believes him
shall not
perish but
have eternal
life.
So what we've
learned here from
John chapter 1,
1 through 18,
is that the
logos, who is
Jesus Christ,
the word became
flesh, the one
and only, has
made known the
unseen God.
If you see him,
you will die.
And he's made
him known,
showing him his
glory, an
incarnate glory,
full of grace and
truth, that if we
receive, we live.
He came to reveal
the Father and to
reveal salvation in
him alone.
So why must you
believe in the one
and only Jesus
Christ?
Well, his presence
is a greater
presence.
His glory is a
greater glory.
His person is a
greater person.
His grace is a
greater grace.
And his revelation
is the greatest
revelation, ultimate
revelation of God
himself.
There's no greater.
So how do we
respond to this?
Well, let's say you
came into the
building this morning
and you had a mild
or major case of
indoxia.
Chronic, not
glorifying God.
Here's how you
respond.
You don't need a
soul care pastor to
show up to your
house.
You need to see
Jesus in his glory.
You need to see
him.
You need to open up
the pages of the
scriptures.
And you need to
call out to him,
show me your glory.
God is most
pleased to show you
his glory.
It's like the
IV of 100
CC's of Jesus
awesomeness starts
to drip into your
soul.
So you need to
see him.
But not just
see him,
you need to
believe in him.
You need to
receive his
fullness of
grace and truth.
You must
believe.
You must say
yes.
You must take
that step.
And if you're
in the room and
you've never put
your faith,
belief in Jesus
before, what a
day to do it.
Come to Jesus.
Say to Jesus, I
will receive your
full grace and
truth.
I'll receive it by
faith.
And you will
live.
See, believe, and
finally, marvel.
Marvel at him.
He is the one
and only God.
The one and only
from the Father,
full of grace,
the truth.
And when you
marvel, it
just, it just
crowds out any
indoxia in your
soul.
It moves you
from chronic
not glorifying to
God to eager
wanting to
glorify God.
God.
And that's not
just a good
place to be at
Christmas time.
That's a good
place to be for
the rest of your
life.
Jesus never gets
old.
And if you think
he does, it says
more about you
than him.
What this also
does, this
marveling at
him, not only
does it compel
worship and
glorying him in
our own
heart, it
compels us to
want others to
see, believe,
and marvel at
Jesus too.
It compels us to
want to go tell it
on the mountain
that the word has
become flesh.
It compels us to
tell people,
Merry Christmas,
happy incarnation.
compels us to
want to sing
joy to the
world.
The word
has come.
When we see
Jesus for who
he is,
the only
response
pleasing to
Father is
to believe
and to marvel.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus,
we thank you so
much for who
you are.
Spirit of God,
we know that
your ministry is
to glorify the
Son, so would
you exalt the
Son in our
lives?
Would you
help us to
not only see
Jesus, but to
believe in
him, and in
believing in
him, marvel at
him?
And God, we
ask that even
two days from
now, during
this Christmas
outreach, that
as a result of
our limited
efforts in
pointing others
to this one-of-a-kind
Jesus, God,
would you do a
work that only
you can do?
That others
would see him
and believe him
and marvel at
him?
God, we're
asking that you
would add to our
number over the
next year, and
at this time
next year, God,
we would be
singing with
more people who
marvel at the
Son.
We ask this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.