Christmas from Heaven’s Perspective

Asbury Free Methodist – By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett

December 12, 2021

John 1:1-5,9-11,14, Phil 2:5-11

Have you ever come into a movie in the middle of it? It is challenging to catch what is going on in the story. That is because the best place to start a story is at the beginning.

The beginning of the story of Jesus was not Bethlehem; it was not the shepherds and the wise men; it took place even before the announcement of Gabriel. The story begins in the heart of God.

If you come into the Christmas story in the middle, it is a beautiful story. But if you start at the beginning, you will see how this beautiful story applies to you. It can help you to live life with confidence and joy.

So come with me as we take a journey through the scripture and look at the birth of Jesus from heaven’s perspective.

John 1:1–5 (NIV)

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Skip down to verse 14

John 1:14 (NIV)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word became flesh. The Word took on a body. The Word became human and made his home among us. The Word of God lived among us as a person. The rest of the book of John is the story about this person. His name is Jesus.  So, if we go back to the first verse and read it that way, look at what we get.

In the beginning, was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Jesus all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In Jesus was life and that life was the light of all humanity. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

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With the influence of eastern mysticism, we hear a lot about reincarnation. People who believe in reincarnation say that when a person dies, they come back again as someone else. There are people you can go to who will give you a reading on your past lives. Some people claim to remember their past lives.

            Reincarnation is not a Christian belief. The Bible teaches us that it is appointed unto mortals, once to die. We did not live before we were born. We believe that if a person has memories of past lives that those memories were probably implanted from the demonic realm to confuse people.        

That being said, there was one who pre-existed his birth. Jesus was the only human to live before he was born. The Bible calls him the Word made flesh. He was not reincarnated.  But we do call the Christmas story the story of the incarnation. For Jesus lived before he was born as God. The story of Christmas is that God became human.

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Let’s take a close look at these verses. In the beginning, was the Word. In the beginning of what? In the beginning of everything. Note the word “was.” When everything began, he already was. As the theologians would say, there never was a time when he was not. He was with God in the beginning. He was God.

When John writes this passage, instead of using the name of Jesus, he uses the word “Word.” In the Beginning was the Word. The Greek word for that word is “logos.”

            This is a little challenging to get your mind around but let me see if I can explain it well. When I use the word “sky,” I am not talking about the three letters that make up that word. I am talking about the concept behind that word. It is what we see when we are outdoors in an open area and look up. The sky can be blue, or it can show a vast array of colours. It can be full of clouds or not. When I say the word “sky” you know that I am talking about something far bigger than the three-letter word itself.

            That is what “logos” is like. It is talking about the concept behind the word.

Now let me take this a little further. Here is something that you may not have thought of. — God has never had a new thought.

Now to say that about anyone else would be an insult. But God being God knows everything. God never says, “I just thought this up,” because that would mean that the moment before he thought it up, he didn’t know that concept, which would mean that he didn’t know everything. God knows the beginning from the end. There is nothing that God does not know.

When God speaks, he does not say something that he has just thought up. He speaks out of who he is. His words are not thoughts in progress, but rather they are a statement of what is. He is speaking reality.

So, when he says let there be light, he is speaking more than just words; he is speaking out of his essence. And that is why when he said, let there be light, there was light. When he speaks, he speaks out of who he is. He speaks reality. Reality must conform to his words. Let there be light. The light didn’t have a choice. The light must conform to his word because he speaks reality.

John tells us, the Word became flesh. The essence of God took on the flesh of a man.

John 1:3 (NIV)

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

The very essence of God, which spoke the world into being was Christ himself. The Word that brought everything into being is the Word that became human.  Christ is that creative Word. Christ is the reality of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 NIV)

That is why John can so confidently state (John 1:4 NIV)

 In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. Of course, there was life. For he was the author of life. He was the creator of life. He was life. He spoke the reality of life into existence.

Now skip down to verse 14 – John 1:14 (NIV)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

You and I don’t know what it is like to be God, but it has to be a whole lot better than being human. God is not restricted by time, or space, or resources. God is not insecure, uncertain, or inept. Yet Jesus chose to move out of heaven onto earth and become a human.

            Now come with me to

Philippians 2:5–11 (NIV)

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

This is another way of saying the same thing. Verse 6 says that Jesus was in very nature God. As Paul said in another place, the fullness of the deity dwelt in bodily form. Yet, being in very nature God, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. Or another way of putting that is that he did not consider equality with God something to be held on to, or something to be used to his own advantage.

God became human in the person of Jesus. Whereas He as God was unlimited by time and space, he stepped into time and space. Where he was unlimited in resources, he became a human without a home. He made himself nothing. Where he was served by the angels day and night, he came to serve. Where he was life, he experienced death. He did not consider equality with God something to be held on to or taken advantage of.

The first Christmas from our vantage point as humans was unusual. Angels normally don’t appear to teenagers. Angelic choirs normally don’t sing to shepherds. Virgins don’t usually have children. Wisemen don’t usually ring the doorbell bearing gifts. From our vantage point, the first Christmas was unusual.

But from the vantage point of heaven, the first Christmas must have been astounding. For all of heaven is centred around the throne of God. And the son begotten out of the essence of the father, left the centre of the universe, to be born into a dirty, fallen, imperfect world as a limited time-bound human.

This is what Jesus has to say about that first Christmas.

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV)

That is what was happening in heaven. A God of love sent His word so that whoever would believe could have eternal life.

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            I realize that I have laid some pretty heavy theology on you today. But I want to take the rest of our time together and tell you what this means for you. I am being like the apostle Paul. You will notice that half of his letters to the churches were theology and half were applications.

Here is how all of this applies to you.

God being God, knows EVERYTHING! He knows how you feel. He knows your joy, he knows your sorrow, he knows what your pain feels like. He is God, he knows everything.

But the fact that God became human means that he really wants you to know that he knows how you feel. He wants you to know that he knows what it feels like to be human.

He knows what it is like to eke out a living as a carpenter. He knows what it is to balance service with the bottom line. He knows what it is like to feel the exhaustion of labour. He knows what it is like to feel the pain of a stubbed toe and the grief of a lost friend. He knows what it is like to watch his friends be hurt and confused and yet not be able to help them understand.

The fact that God became human sends us a message. He wants you to know that he knows what you are going through.

For those of you who are grieving, Jesus knows, he cares, he understands. For those of you who are feeling the stress of work, Jesus knows; He cares. For those of you who face an uncertain future, or worse yet, a future with certain pain, Jesus has been there. He knows he cares; he understands.

Our God is not a God who stands a far off; indifferent, uncaring. Our God has been involved, is involved, and he wants you to know that he walks His friends through difficult times.

For those of you who face temptation, our God has been there before. For those who face the temptation to compromise your integrity on the altar of gain. Jesus has been there. He knows the pull. He has felt the struggle. He has overcome. He can help you to overcome to.

For those who face sexual temptation, I want you to know that our God became human. That meant he was attracted to people of the opposite sex. Yet, he was without sin. Our God can relate to the struggle you feel. He can relate to the temptation you face. He overcame, and he can help you to overcome.

For those of you who find yourself in the middle of conflict you would rather not be in, Jesus was there. Sometimes, with his disciples, it seemed that he should have been wearing a striped shirt and carried a whistle in his hand. He knew what it meant to be in conflict with the religious leaders of his day, who were constantly laying traps for him. He knew that he would eventually be in conflict with the government. Jesus knows conflict. For those of you who are in the middle of conflict, he knows how you feel.

God being God, He knows what you are going through. But Jesus being God lets you know that God knows.

There are some of you who have been coming to God in prayer, saying God help, God heal, God deliver, God strengthen, God be present, God I’m confused, God I’m depressed, God I’m hurting, God I’m struggling, God I’m doubting, God I don’t even know what to pray for. I want you to know that God hears, God cares, God understands.

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            Sometimes when we are going through struggles like that, we think that this is all there is to life. But I want you to know that God wants to take you past that place of hurting. God wants to take you past that place where your life is focused on pain. God wants to take you past that place where you are confused and doubting and uncertain.

Listen to the words of John

John 1:16–18 (NIV)

16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

God sent his One and Only son, or the other way that can be translated is Only begotten son so that you can know God. Jesus came to make God known. There is no way that you can know God apart from Jesus Christ. But the good news is that you can know God. And knowing God makes all the difference in your life.

Knowing God brings an eternal perspective that brings to light the things that are important and unimportant in your immediate world. And when you know God, you know what is important.

Knowing God brings meaning to our time spent on the earth. Life is more than going to work, going home, making meals, attending a meeting and going to bed. Life is more than the mundane. Knowing God allows us to know that our life has an eternal purpose. Our life has meaning. Our life is going someplace because our destiny is with Christ.

Knowing God means avoiding many of the minefields that life brings. God knows life because God created life. He gave us principles and guidelines to live this life. Following those principles can make life a lot more meaningful and often less painful. When we follow God’s principles on relationships, on finances, on living, we often find that living life is a little more straightforward.

Knowing God brings an internal sense of peace and joy. For when we live in harmony with our maker, our life seems to fit together better. God causes life to work right.

And the reason that we can know this God is that Jesus came to show us who he is.

John 1:18 (NIV)

18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

This Christmas season, as you peer into the manger, look for God. For this baby has made him known. As we read the gospels and look at the life of Jesus, look for God, for he has made himself known in Jesus.

Christmas is a wonderful time, a glorious time. But its major significance is that God became human so that humans might know God. God also wants to remind you that he knows what it is like to be you.  Don’t let the Christmas season go to waste. Look a little closer at Jesus so you can know what God is really like.