The Experience of Divine Love

(Pre Christmas 2011)

John 1:14-18

Introduction: If someone asks you to define the Christmas Spirit how would you do it? How would you inspire someone who was searching for the Christmas Spirit? Maybe you are searching for the Christmas Spirit today? Many people today are looking for a gift, a carol, a party, a dinner an event of some type, possibly a money bonus to spark the Christmas Spirit. There are many today who do not know where to look; they just know the Christmas Spirit is not part of their life. If you are a born again Christian today, you can leave this service knowing the Christmas Spirit as you may have never known it before, If you are not born again (saved) you will have the opportunity to know Jesus as Lord and savior and walk away with the true understanding of the Christmas Spirit. In case you haven’t caught on, the Christmas Spirit relates to your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Christmas Spirit is embraced in something called Divine Love. We cannot have Christmas Spirit unless we have experienced Diving Love. Look with me this morning as I preach for a little while on the thought of “The Experience of Diving Love.”

I. Divine love through the Incarnation (1:14)

How unique is the birth of Jesus? When a child is born it is the creation of a new personality, a new life, on that never existed before. However with the birth of Jesus it was not the creation of a new personality or life at all. The birth of Jesus was the coming into this world of a person who had existed from all eternity. Nothing like this had ever happened, neither has it happened since.

John tells us “And the word was made flesh” from these six words John describes the incarnation. Two of these words are the heart and soul of Christ’s incarnation; first let’s look at “word” or from the Greek it is logos and means “the divine expression.” Jesus Christ is Gods divine expression of love toward all mankind. From days of old prophets were telling the world of a coming messiah. Man in our arrogance and pride placed an expectation on the messiah. However, God had a different idea. Christ would be made “flesh” which is to say a human nature (not to be confused with a sinful nature).

Not only would Gods incarnation be His divine expression of love manifest in a human nature, He would once again dwell among us. The word “dwelt” is the next word of significance we must learn. “Dwelt” carries with it the definition of the tabernacle, the place of worship given by God to Moses in the desert and used for generations by Israel as a place of atonement, forgiveness, and meeting with God in a personal way. So was Jesus Christ our tabernacle of this dispensation, God made flesh and dwelling among us. On the outside the tabernacle appeared typical of any tent only larger than most. However on the inside it was entirely different, the Tabernacle was divine, beautiful and it shown with Shekinah Glory. Likewise on the outside Jesus appeared as any other man, on the inside dwelt God in all of His Glory.

II. Divine love through Identification (1:15)

The Apostle John recognizes John the Baptist as the one who first identified our Lord. He identified Jesus through…

A. His person

John the Baptist gave witness to the Lord’s person “John bare witness of him, and cried [cried aloud], saying, This was he of whom I spake.”

John the Baptist spoke as the last prophet of the Old Testament. He knew two things about the coming Christ. First; the Lord had absolute priority in dignity and pre-eminence, remember John said he was not worthy to untie His shoe.

B. His pre-eminence

John gave witness of the Lord’s pre-eminence “He that cometh after me is preferred before me.”

Second; the Lord had absolute authority because of His pre-existence. The Lord was one coming out of eternity, from his mother He was born a baby, however from His father He was “the ancient of days.”

C. His pre-existence

John also gave witness to the Lord’s pre-existence: “for he was before me.”

III. Divine love through Imputation (1:16)

After quoting the Baptist our Apostle now adds his own comment. From “His fullness” or plērōma [play'-ro-mah] which describes the sum totals of the attributes and powers of God. From that sum total every believer is given everything we will ever need. John refers to “grace for grace” which is new grace, continuous grace, uninterrupted grace. God’s grace is similar to a mighty Niagara that thunders from heaven into our hearts, something no Old Testament prophet ever imagined.

John the Baptist spoke as the last messenger of the Hebrew line (Old Testament). Likewise the Apostle John; last of the Apostles, the beloved; spoke as the messenger of the new line (New Testament).

IV. Divine love through Implementation (1:17)

Many wonder about the differences and similarities between the Law and Grace, here John addresses it. The law was given but truth came! The Law was impersonal, it arrived from Mount Sinai from scenes of terrifying grandeur, engraved on cold stone tablets, mediated by angels and given to Moses. Grace and truth were wrapped in warm, vibrant human flesh brought into this world by Jesus (the man) Christ (the messiah). Peter reminded us “He went about doing good” a statement that emphasizes our Lords grace. Grace was not given at the experience of truth, neither was truth given at the experience of grace, both were given in perfect proportion demonstrated through the character, conduct and conversation the most balanced person to ever live on earth. The Law of Moses contained truth and embodied grace through some 613 edicts of moral law. Human failure to keep these moral laws necessitated the giving of ceremonial law so guilt could be covered until it could be cancelled at Calvary. I wasn’t until Jesus Came that truth and grace could be implemented into human life and translated into a language all can understand.

V. Divine love through Illumination (1:18)

In the Old Testament we know God gave people visions, theophanies and angelic visits. Abraham and Jacob, Moses and Manoah, David and Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel all had manifestations of God given to them. The “glory of the Lord,” the “angel of the Lord,” “the Word of the Lord” came to patriarchs and prophets of old, however non of them God as God. Over and over John emphasizes the fact of the deity of Christ the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh. At the same time John tells us “no man hath seen God at any time.” We believe in the equality of Jesus in the Godhead, we believe Jesus was God. How could John say that “no man hath seen God.” John recognized when God came to earth as Jesus He did not lay aside His deity, however He did lay aside the attributes of deity. For instance God dwells in an unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16) God was not present as Shekinah Glory but as flesh and bone.

Major Ian Thomas put it like this” He had to come as he came in order to be what he was, he had to be what he was in order to do what he did. He had to do what he did so that we might have what he has; we have to have what he has in order to be what he was.” Major Ian Thomas is very good at this clever kind of definition. This one he expanded, “He had to come as he come (born of a virgin) in order to be what he was (a perfect human inhabited by God). He had to be what he was in order to do what he did (die to redeem us). He had to do what he did so that we might have what he has (his life, all that we lost in Adam). We have to have what he has in order to be what he was (perfect: man inhabited by God).” This is what Christmas is all about.

Conclusion: As we move closer to Christmas this year and we struggle with finding the Christmas spirit as we want to say, look no further than Jesus. I know that may sound like an expected remark from a preacher but if you take your Lord, your eternal life, your salvation, you walk with God seriously then you will want to be closer to God now than you are to any song, any movie, any carol, or any gift. Jesus is not only the reason for the season, He is the reason for our faith, our life and our eternity.