SERIES: Advent: A Light Has Dawned
TEXT: John 1:4-5
MESSAGE: “In Him”

“A parasocial relationship is a one-way emotional attachment to a public figure, celebrity, influencer, or content creator who doesn’t know you exist. You can feel close to them, know their voice, habits, humor, values, and tiny details of their lives, but they do not know you. This relationship can feel personal, but it’s not mutual. It can feel intimate, but it is built on their calculated exposure, not mutual vulnerability.” — Jon Tyson

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” — John 1:1-5

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” — John 1:14

“The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation.” — J.I. Packer

TEXT: John 1:4-5

“If the Prologue focuses on God’s self-disclosure in the Word who becomes flesh (1:14) and thereby reveals glory and makes God known (1:18), it also introduces us to the result of this gracious revelation: certain people and not others become children of God. The rest of the Gospel is much concerned to spell out who the real children of God are, who truly are the children of Abraham, which people receive the Spirit and are born again.” — D. A. Carson

Q: What do we learn about the power of the incarnation from today’s text? Three specific phrases: (1. In Him 2. In Us 3. In the End)

1. In Him (v.4)

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men….”

“…this tells us that the real God, our God, is exploding with love and relationship in his own inner being…John is talking about what the nature of God was before creation. This is an insight into the private life of God.” — Timothy Keller

“…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” — Genesis 2:7

“…But God…made us alive together with Christ.” — Ephesians 2:4-5

“John declares that this life had always been available through God’s word, which is the same word that he identifies with Jesus. Jewish teachers called many things “light”, but this title was most commonly applied to God’s law.” — Craig Keener

2. In Us (v.5)

“The light shines in the darkness…”

“…all human beings have a theological bent, whether they consider themselves religious or not. Everyone wants life to make sense. Everyone is a committed interpreter. No one leaves his or her life alone. We all pick our lives apart, trying to make sense of them.” — Paul Tripp

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…” — Eph. 2:1

“…we are as unresponsive to God as was the dust of the earth before God breathed his Spirit into it…In our natural state, we can do nothing to improve ourselves spiritually.” — James Boice

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” — Isaiah 9:2

“Spirit!” he cried, tight clutching at its robe, “hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been…Why show me this, if I am past all hope!” For the first time the hand appeared to shake. “Good Spirit,” he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: “Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!” The kind hand trembled. “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” — Ebenezer Scrooge

“The gospel is the good news that you no longer have to wander about in the darkness and despair of sin, but you can enjoy the light of righteousness through Jesus Christ. John is not suggesting we need more religion. Jesus came into a very religious world—a world where the religious leaders had memorized lengthy portions of the Bible. Yet these men were in the darkness of sin. They stumbled about, attempting to please God through their own self-righteousness. Jesus offers light and life.” — Matt Carter & Josh Wredberg

3. In the End (v.5)

“…the darkness has not overcome it.”

“Jesus, the light of the world, is opposing and being opposed by those who are in darkness. Near the end of the Gospel, we discover how Jesus was betrayed by one of his own friends. He was arrested by the Roman soldiers and brought to trial. Before, during, and after his trial, he received cruel beatings, his back whipped so many times the blood flowed freely. To make the mockery worse, he was dressed in a purple robe, and a crown of thorns was brutally smashed into his scalp. A cross was thrown on his back, and he was forced to carry it up to a hill called Golgotha where he would be hung to die like a common criminal. After having his hands and feet nailed to the cross, his cross was lifted into place and there he died, despised by those he came to save. His corpse was taken down from the cross and placed in a cold, dark tomb…If we were to stop reading after chapter 19, we could say to John, “John, you’re wrong. Jesus was not God. He did not bring life. We’re all doomed to death and darkness.” But there’s a chapter 20, and there we read about the most wonderful event to ever take place on this earth—the resurrection. After his death on the cross, Jesus did not stay buried because he is the life, and the life could not remain dead.” — Matt Carter & Josh Wredberg

TAKEAWAYS: How does Jesus’ incarnation impact us today?

• Expect the Unexpected

“We begin to notice, besides our particular sinful act, our sinfulness; we begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are…If there are rats in the cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily, they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.” — CS Lewis

• Never Lose Hope

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” — John 1:4