John 1: 1-12 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the
darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness
of the Light, that all men He was not
that Light, but was sent to
bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name.
through him might believe.
We want to make Christmas just right; we don t want to leave
anything out; we make plans before Thanksgiving; we make a list and check it
twice. We go about figuring out what to buy for others. We prepare menus; we
have dinners to attend. No wonder at
year s end we re heavier, stressed and worn out. If we have missed something on
the list we feel bad. Yet we love the
hustle and bustle of Christmas. If we
miss something pertaining to Christmas let it go, but we cannot miss out on
three things. If we do we have missed
the best thing that could ever happen. If you receive nothing else for
Christmas, you can t miss these things.
In contrast to today, the first Christmas was mostly missed.
Jesus came to his own people, and they rejected him. Very few even knew he came
that night. Aside from a few shepherds,
possibly some townspeople, and the wise men, most people missed it; it was just
another day. John tells us not only about his birth, he goes back to eternity
past in the beginning there was God.
First we need to realize Jesus had no beginning. He did not come into
existence inside of Mary s womb. He was not just a human helping out another
human. We need to recognize who Jesus
is THE GIFT OF GOD. John the Baptist
said Jesus was before him. He was before
you, before me, before Adam and Eve, before creation&before it all there was
God AND his Son was there with him.
Micah says he was from everlasting.
Jesus is not just a man we trust; HE IS GOD in the flesh. Don 't miss receiving Jesus into your heart,
the eternal Son of the living God. Don t
leave him unwelcome and unrecognized.
Verse 18 states No man hath seen God at any time; the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. There are colors in the spectrum
that are beyond our capability to see with a human eye. It is like this with God we can t see
him. He is beyond our vaguest
imagination. BUT Jesus is the visible
expression of God. Through Jesus we see
God. Jesus was conceived as we were,
born as we were; he had toes and fingers.
He got hungry like we do; he laughed and cried as we do. He had bad days
and good days. He got depressed. Remember when the 70 disciples left from
following Jesus? He looked at the 12
disciples and asked them if they would leave him too. Peter lifted Jesus up when he responded with
where would we go. Jesus had a
personality. Everywhere we ve hurt he did.
He was tempted. He experienced
humanity for every man. He is different from us in that where we fail, he
succeeds. He may have been pushed down
to the ground, yet he picked up the cross and bore it to the death. No wonder the angel said unto us a child is
born, unto us a Son is given. UNTO
YOU. We have a friend! Don' t miss knowing him in a personal
relationship that is possible because he came unto you.
John says Jesus is the light in the darkness and they
comprehended him not. We treat Jesus like we do a lot of our presents we open
them and toss them aside to open the next one.
Don 't miss comprehending who Jesus is. He has everything to do with our
existence yet he is largely unknown. Jesus
is not just another thing. Don t treat him so lightly. We need to fully
comprehend who Jesus really is.
Don t miss knowing Jesus in a personal relationship. Don t
miss comprehending who He really is. Few
things hurt more than having a gift thrown back in your face. Yet we throw Jesus back; we don t want him;
we don t need him. He is the most needed
gift in life. He offered himself, and
they refused him and let him die. Don t leave him unwanted–don't miss receiving him.
Are you willing to comprehend him? Are you willing to receive the gift of God
and know him in a personal relationship?
You can today.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 