This is
the first Sunday in the season of Advent,
which means that we are now entering
dangerous territory — a season of dangerous
territory for our souls. These four weeks
prior to Christmas Day have historically, in
the calendar of the Church Year, been set
aside as a season of penitence, a season of
soul-searching and self-examination and
repentance, as we contemplate the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ and His judgment of
the living and the dead. It is also,
therefore, the season of longing, of
yearning, of hope-filled waiting for His
glorious appearing. With both repentance for
our sins, and with the longing for His
Second Coming, we are to have our eyes fixed
on Jesus, our hearts set on heaven, our
minds stayed on Him who is the only eternal
Son of God.
But this
season presents us with dangerous territory.
It is a landscape strewn with distractions,
busy-ness, and worldly worries. It is
territory filled with all manner of things
which obscure our view of the glory of God
in Jesus Christ. Be careful. Be watchful,
this season. As Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must
pay more careful attention to what we have
heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Whatever you do in this season of Advent, do
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him.
We are
reminded every year to “keep Christ in
Christmas,” but perhaps we need a reminder
of just what that means. Who is Jesus
Christ? In Rivermont Presbyterian
Church, we might take it for granted that
everyone here knows who Jesus Christ really
is, but maybe we shouldn’t take that for
granted anymore. And we certainly should not
take it for granted that the world around
us, even our literal next-door neighbor,
knows who He really is. And the cultural
forces at work today in our society are
doing their best to obscure His true
identity, and to rob Him of His supreme
glory and honor. And so, as the Scripture
says, “we must pay more careful attention to
what we have heard, so that we do not drift
away” (Hebrews 2:1).
So, let
us pay more careful attention to the Word of
God. The Letter to the Hebrews begins with
the declaration that, “In the past, God
spoke to our forefathers through the
prophets at many times and in various ways,
but in these last days he has spoken to us
by his Son ...” (Hebrews 1:1). This verse
refers to the two great epochs, the two
great divisions of world history: (1) the
time past, the time of the Old Covenant, the
time before the birth of Jesus Christ; and
(2) the present epoch, the time of the New
Covenant, “in these last days,” the days
since the birth of Jesus Christ. “In the
past,” says the Scripture, in the time of
the Old Testament, God spoke to our
forefathers through the prophets, but now
“in these last days,” in the time of the New
Covenant, God has spoken to us by His Son.
The prophets of the Old Testament spoke of
the promised Savior, but now God has spoken
to us through the Savior Himself, the Son of
God in human flesh and blood, Jesus Christ
(Hebrews 1:2)
The first
coming of Jesus Christ, the birth of Jesus
Christ in Bethlehem, is the mid-point of
world history, that is, the pivotal point of
world-history, the turning point of world
history. Everything that occurred prior to
the birth of Jesus was, in God’s purposes,
leading up to the birth of the Jesus, and
everything that has happened since the birth
of Jesus is the outworking of God’s purposes
for the world through Him as world history
moves forward toward its God-ordained
destiny, namely, the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ and the Last Judgment. And that is
the reason that, for centuries throughout
Western Civilization — in the nations where
Christianity has been dominant — history has
been divided into two major epochs: B.C.
(Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini,
In the Year of Our Lord).
Who
is Jesus Christ? He is the Son of
God, who came into the world to fulfill all
of the promises spoken by the prophets, and
He is Himself the living Word of God, in
whom, through whom, and by whom God the
Father has spoken to reveal Himself to the
world. But even before He divided history by
His birth in Bethlehem, the Son of God was
full of glory and power. Hebrews 1:2 says
also that the Son of God (Jesus), is the one
whom God appointed as heir of all things,
and through whom he made the universe, and
Colossians 1:16 also declares that “by him
(Jesus Christ) all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible ...” (Colossians
1:16).
Now here
is a very important point for our
understanding of who Jesus Christ really is.
His human life began with His miraculous
conception in the womb of His mother Mary
and then, of course, He was born in
Bethlehem, born of woman, a real man of
real, human flesh and blood. But the life of
the eternal Son of God did not begin with
Jesus’s conception and birth. In the realm
of eternity, the Son of God eternally lived
in fellowship with His Father. Referring to
Jesus, the Gospel of John declares,
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 (John 1:1-3).
Who
is Jesus Christ? He is the Man who
is also the eternal Son of the eternal
Father, the only-begotten Son of God, by
whom and through whom the universe was made.
This is the reason that Jesus Himself,
speaking the absolute and eternal truth,
could speak of His eternal and divine
nature, saying: “Before Abraham was, I
am” (John 8:58); and, “I and the
Father are one” (John 10:30); and “He
who has seen me has seen the Father”
(John 14:9); and so, on the night before His
crucifixion, as the man who was and is the
eternal Son of God, He could pray to God the
Father, saying, “I have brought you glory
on earth by completing the work you gave me
to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your
presence with the glory I had with you
before the world began” (John 17:5).
You see,
the One whose birth we celebrate on
Christmas Day, is the One who shared in the
divine glory of the Father before time ever
began. This is the reason the angels sang
His praise when He was born in Bethlehem!
And so we say in the Nicene Creed:
...one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of
the Father before all worlds, God of God,
Light of Light, Very God of Very God,
begotten, not made, being of one substance
with the Father, by whom all things were
made ... .
What that Creed is expressing
is the Biblical truth that in Jesus Christ, the
one and only true and living God has entered
into human history in human flesh and blood. And
so you see, the coming of Jesus Christ has
divided not only the two epochs of world history
(B.C. and A.D.), but in fact the coming of Jesus
Christ has divided the human race into two
masses — those who worship Him as the Son of
God, their Lord and Savior, and those who do
not.
Who is
Jesus Christ? The baby born in Bethlehem
is the eternal Son of God, through whom, by
whom, and for whom all things were created. He
is the reason — not only for the season —
but for the existence of the universe! He is the
reason — His honor and glory is the reason —
for your very existence. You were created by
Him, through Him, and for Him. The question is:
Do you know Him? Do you love Him? Do you live
for Him? Do you long to see Him? Have you
found the reason for your existence in Him?
Who is
Jesus Christ? The New Testament makes
extraordinary declarations about who Jesus
really is, claims which cannot be ignored but
must be either accepted or rejected. In speaking
of who Jesus is, the eternal Son of God in human
flesh and blood, Hebrews 1:3 says that “the Son
is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact
representation of His being.” Now, let’s take
that first phrase, “the radiance of God’s
glory.” Jesus radiates out of the eternal glory
of God the Father, He shines forth out of the
very light of God. To say it another way, Jesus
is the very sunlight which shines forth,
radiates out of the sun itself. And this has to
do with His very nature. Jesus Christ is the Man
— and the only Man — who is also the eternal
God. This revelation is repeated throughout the
New Testament, and so Colossians 1:15 declares
that “He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the
invisible God.” And that great passage in
Colossians continues by saying that “God was
pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him
(Jesus)” (Colossians 1:19). Jesus, the baby born
in Bethlehem was “filled up with the fullness of
God” because He was God in human flesh and blood
— “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact
representation of his being,” or, as the NKJV
translates it, “the express image of His
person.”
Expressing
the same truth, that Jesus Christ is the Man who
is also eternal God, the Gospel of John says,
“...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth” (John 1:14). The Apostle John tells us
that he saw the glory of God in the
only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ. And the
Apostle Peter tells us the same thing when he
writes, “We did not follow cleverly invented
stories when we told you about the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2nd
Peter 1:16). And when Peter used the word
majesty in that context, he meant “divine
glory.” Now just think about that! The Scripture
declares that those who saw Jesus in His earthly
ministry saw God walking around on the earth!
They saw the divine glory not only in His
miracles and in moments such as the
Transfiguration when His face shone like the sun
and His clothes became as white as light, but
also in His sinless life and holy character and
the authority with which He spoke the Word of
God. The apostles were eyewitnesses of His
divine majesty and glory.
But Jesus
said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and
yet have believed” (John 20:29). And the Apostle
Peter wrote of those who have not seen Him
physically and yet believe, who see Him
spiritually and behold the beauties of His grace
and holiness with the eyes of faith. “Though you
have not seen him, you love him; and even though
you do not see him now, you believe in him and
are filled with an inexpressible and glorious
joy, for you are receiving the goal of your
faith, the salvation of your souls” (1st
Peter 1:8-9).
Do you
love Him? Do you believe in Him, that is,
entrust your life and eternal destiny to Him?
Are you filled with an inexpressible and
glorious joy because you know that through Him,
you are receiving the salvation of your soul?
Now, you see
what is at stake here as we enter the Advent and
Christmas season. As we begin the holidays, let
us worship the Holy One. As we remember His
birth as baby in Bethlehem, let us also, with
longing and eager expectation, look forward to
His glorious appearing; for He is not only that
baby in the manger, but also the King upon the
throne, whose throne will last forever, and who
will make all His enemies a footstool for His
feet. He was not merely a good man who lived a
long time ago; He is the Lord of heaven and
earth to be obeyed today, and the coming Judge
to whom we all shall give account. And therefore
let us never forget what the Scripture reveals
to be true: that “salvation is found in no one
else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved” — the
name of Jesus Christ, the only eternal Son of
God.
Therefore as
the Scripture says, “We must pay more careful
attention to what we have heard, so that we do
not drift away.” We must not drift away into the
unbelief of the world, or drift away into
careless disobedience, or drift away into busy
worldliness or worldly busy-ness. We must pay
careful attention to what we have heard in the
Word of God, so that we do not ignore such a
great salvation, and drift away with the world
and seek our happiness, our security, our joy in
anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ, who
is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact
representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3).
Amen.
