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Amen, all right well the title of the sermon this morning is John's version of the Christmas story John's version of the Christmas story And before I get started I just want to say thanks to all the people that helped with the children's choir and thanks kids you did a wonderful job and much much Improved from last year every year. I'm sure you're gonna get better at this, but thanks for the the great music It was it was great to hear it's wonderful to hear children sing unto the Lord So John's version of the Christmas story most of the time when people go to the Christmas story They don't go to John they go to Matthew they go to Luke and So this morning. I just wanted to to show that John does teach the Christmas story. It's just not exactly how Mark and Luke or I mean excuse me Matthew and Luke teach it So we're gonna focus on John chapter 1 verse number 14 throughout the sermon, but we're gonna be going lots of different places so Hang tight the food will be after the preaching so we got to get the Word of God first and then The other food later right so John 1 14 says and the word was made 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 So John number one John explains the incarnation of God becoming man So this is a focus that I mean it does say that God that Jesus Christ is God in in Matthew chapter 1 and 2 and it does explain it in Luke But this is just right from the get-go in John 1 it explains that Jesus is God look at verse number 1 It says 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 anything 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 so John in John chapter 1 it just starts out saying in the beginning was the word now the verse We're focusing on is John 1 14 it says and when the word the word was made flesh, so who are we talking about here? We're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that he is God the word was with God the word Was God the word was made flesh and dwelt among us So that's what it's talking about. It's talking about the incarnation of God becoming man so In verse number 5 in John 1 it says in the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not See Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem's manger around 2,000 years ago But really not everybody knew that he had come into the world who knew the shepherds knew Mary knew Joseph knew Simeon knew and Let's see who else knew the the wise men that came from the east by the way not the Magi Not astrologers not some kind of witchcraft Producing people those people were wise men that means they were saved because God's not gonna. Just send some heathen Astrologers that are you know in the cusp of Virgo or whatever and then they said suddenly discovered the star of Bethlehem Okay, they knew they knew the prophecy about Jesus, and I don't have time to get into that But There was a prophecy about Jesus coming and about the star that would arise, but that's another sermon for another time So what's John focus on in the Christmas story? Well he focuses on the fact that Jesus Christ is God Jesus Christ is God manifests in the flesh and a lot of people you know when you ask him They say well who was Jesus well. He was a son of God. Yeah. He was a son of God But the Bible also teaches that he was God see at this church We believe in something called the Trinity and a lot of people believe in the Trinity But you know I mentioned Jehovah's Witnesses earlier. They don't believe that Jesus Christ is God they believe that he was just a really good man Well when the when the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said what good things should I do? To inherit eternal life, and he said you know there's none good, but God so if Jesus was good. What was he? God all right, that's pretty simple right so But anyway people don't generally go to John to preach the Christmas sermon like I said, but usually the other books Matthew and Luke the Gospels all give different details from the different writers And so what details are we getting from the book of John this morning? We're getting the details that he is God I mean right out of the gate so And the book of John is focused to get people saved and I'll talk about that later But that's the purpose of John so the people would believe and so what what does John want you to believe right at the beginning? Of the book the Jesus Christ is God. There's no if ands or buts about it. He's not just a good man He wasn't you know he's either got to be who he says he is or is something easy or he's a devil And we know he's not a devil We know he's not insane because look 2,000 years later the fruit of his righteousness is still here in this building today People are still getting saved every single day God's Word is still getting thundered forth from pulpits, and it's changing people's lives and making sure that their destination is eternal life and heaven so Let's look at Genesis chapter 1 let's look at Genesis chapter 1 because not only was Jesus God manifest in the flesh, but he also Created the earth He created this world that we live in In the beginning let's look at Genesis chapter 1 in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth now Just so you know when it usually when the Bible mentions God. It's usually talking about the Father, okay, so normally I mean obviously there's the Father the Son the Holy Ghost But when it says like God in general terms, it's usually talking about the Father so look at in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water so you have God the Father God the Holy Spirit in verse 2 and verse number 3 it says and God said let there be light and there was light So in the first three verses in Genesis you have the Father you have this you have the Holy Spirit, and then you have the Son Speaking the world into existence because what is he the Word of God God said let there be light and there was light And God saw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness Now in John chapter 1 it says and the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness Comprehended it not see everything is symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ everything Points to Jesus in the Old Testament everything points to Jesus in the New Testament Jesus is the most Influential human being that ever walked the face of the planet Jesus is the only person who's ever been born in this world without sin he's the only person see Adam and Eve were made they were created out of the dust of the ground and So Adam was not born Of anybody so the only person born without sin in this life was the Lord Jesus Christ amen turn to John chapter number three John chapter number three and I find it interesting how it focuses on the fact that Jesus Christ is the light that's come into the world and The first thing he ever said in built and in starting creation was Let there be light John chapter 3 verse 19 says and this is the condemnation That light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light Because their deeds were evil So Jesus is coming to the world to be a light to people so that people could be saved so that people can see the light Of God's Word and say hey, I'm living in darkness. Maybe you don't realize you're living in darkness But Jesus wants to shine that light on you and show you That hey I've come into the world I'm here to save people I'm here to make sure that you go to heaven when you die it says But people love darkness rather than light See a lot of people won't come to Jesus because they want to live in their darkness And they don't want to give up the sins that they are doing they don't want to They don't want to live a good life They don't want to get you know people are miserable all the time people are miserable in this world, and they're like man I just wish I could you know do this and this they go to counseling they take pills They do all these different things to try to be happy, but you know what you're never gonna be happy until you're saved Because you know what is happening is impending doom is upon your life John chapter 8 verse number 12 turn to John chapter 8 verse number 12 John 8 12 says then spake Jesus again unto them saying I am the light of the world He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life See this part about light being in the world is very important focus in John chapter in the book of John in the book of Genesis and And what is it that we need to make sure that we understand that if we're not saved we're in darkness But if you cling on to that light if you accept that light if you believe that Jesus Christ is the light of the world You're on your way to salvation and Let's turn over to revelation chapter 19 verse number 11 revelation chapter 19 verse number 11 What are we talking about here the incarnation of God being manifest in the flesh the incarnation of God? Becoming a man and so was Jesus Christ a man. Yes. He was What was he God also Yes, he was I mean did the Bible say that the Word was with God the Word was God well Let me show you something that he didn't quit being the Word of God people say well You know he was the Word of God, and then he became Jesus, so he wasn't the Word of God anymore. Not true look Let's see a revelation 19 verse 11 It says and I saw heaven open up and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true And in righteousness he doth judge and make war Yeah, and Jesus does judge people see it says it right there. Hey in righteousness. He does judge. He makes war Hey look there's a war coming and guess what Jesus Christ is gonna be the leader of that army He's gonna be sitting on this horse and when he comes back You know what he's gonna do to the people that are here that are part of this beast army and be system He's gonna destroy them And people are like well Jesus is just this nice little hippie that wears a dress no, that's not the Jesus I know the Jesus. I know is has a man's haircut And he wears pants Okay, you can get mad about that all you want just because you saw a flannel graph in Sunday school That showed him in a dress doesn't mean it was actually true Jesus Christ was a man's man amen So where am I out here? I'm in verse 12 his eyes were as a flame of fire and his head on his head were many crowns And he had a name written that no man knew But he himself and he was clothed with the vesture dipped in blood and his name is called what? The Word of God who are we talking about in John chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word The word was with God the word was God Okay, so who is the Word of God? Well he's gone Right that's what it says So Jesus is the Word of God He's still the Word of God in Revelation chapter 19 verse 13, and so he didn't cease to be the Word of God he's still the Word of God Amen and Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem guess what he existed already Mary is not the mother of God Mary was the mother of Jesus God manifests in the flesh a human being okay who was also man Or I mean it was also God But he was not she's not the mother of God see God doesn't have a beginning God doesn't have an ending God has always been he always will be he exists in eternity And we don't understand that because we wake up to a stupid alarm clock every day, and we have to go by time I was almost late to church this morning because why because of time You know and time is something God invented, but you know what he lives outside of time and Jesus Christ the Word of God Was always he always was he always will be he wasn't just created or something at Bethlehem's you know in in Bethlehem when he was born so John chapter 5 verse first John 5 7 says For there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word who's the Word? Jesus and the Holy Ghost and these three are one okay, so I'm not teasing. There's three different gods here I'm saying that God manifests himself in three different persons the Father the Son the Holy Ghost you want to try to figure that out I Don't know that we really can because those numbers don't add up in a calculator do they? like if you put you know Want you know that there's three one plus one plus one was it equal it equals three But the Bible says it equals one so I don't know and one equals three, so I believe in the Trinity I believe God's Word says even if I don't fully grasp and understand it completely you know we're made up of of Body soul and spirit so we're made in the image of God so that can help us to understand that But obviously Jesus Christ was the image of God and So in John 1 14 again It says in the Word was made 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 so John explains to us that Jesus is the Word of God He was made flesh. He dwelt among us He's the only begotten Son of God and the word made flesh means that God was made into a human being okay He was made flesh so and Also, you have to understand that well. Let's look at 1st Timothy 3 16 it also explains This concept there's many verses that teach that Jesus Christ is God. It's not just in John chapter 1 I don't have time to show all those verses today because I there's more points than just one but 1st Timothy 3 16 Says and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness God was manifest in the flesh What does that mean he was shown man a manifest like if you think about a ship manifest? You know you show whatever what everything is on the ship. It shows like hey, what's on here? Well, this is the manifest here here. It is so when we look at Jesus we understand that God was manifest in the flesh, but it also says It's a great mystery, so it's a mystery how? How it came to pass, but but it's still a fact doesn't matter whether we understand the mystery or not So God became man without ceasing to be God The father the Holy Spirit they weren't they they were still you know God's omnipresent He's everywhere okay. He's everywhere and at all times. He can be everywhere at once But he was also manifested in Jesus Christ so Revelation 9 6 I'll just read it for you It says and I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundering saying Alleluia for the Lord God Omnipotent raineth, what does that mean that God is all? powerful So he's all knowing omniscience. That's one of the attributes of God. He's all knowing he knows all things He can be every place at once Why because he's omnipotent? He's all-powerful He's he's beyond the the scope of our what how our brain can think we don't fully we can't fully understand that But that's what the Bible teaches and that word omnipotent is only one time in the King James Bible, and it's in Revelation chapter 9 19 verse 6 and says the Lord God omnipotent raineth and So this is a great. This is the mystery of godliness I mean God was manifest in the flesh. How did how did how could that be? Well, God made it happen because he's all-powerful Number two this morning John explains God in the flesh is Habitation God and the foot John explains God in the flesh is habitation Look back at John chapter 1 verse 14 says and the word was made flesh it says and dwelt among us So what does it mean to dwell someplace well? It means that you live in a specified place so Christ came to dwell among human beings God came to dwell Among human beings and this we know was a temporary dwelling Why do we know it was a temporary dwelling because we know Jesus Christ after he resurrected? Went up back up to heaven and so he didn't live with us for except for 33 years on this earth So it was a temporary place, but you know this world's a temporary place for us, too It's a temporary place for us to live in the flesh see God was manifest in the flesh He lived his life here in the flesh on earth, but that's the way it is for us also Because turn to our Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 13 Hebrews chapter 11 Verse number 13 the Bible says this that all died in faith not having received the promises But having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth Jesus Christ was a stranger and pilgrim in the earth, too He only came to dwell with us for a certain time period but were also Strangers and pilgrims on the earth it says for they that say such things declared plainly that they seek a country and Truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned But now they desire a better country that is in heavenly Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a city And so Jesus Christ went back to heaven to do what prepare for us a city See he didn't ask us to do something that he didn't do himself He dwelt here for a short period of time But why so that he could save mankind so he could redeem his creation from sin and so when he died he went back to heaven, and he's preparing a place for us there and We are pilgrims and strangers in this earth, too I'm a citizen I guess in the flesh of the United States of America but you know where my real citizenship is in heaven in the New Jerusalem and Someday the New Jerusalem is gonna come down and the tabernacle of God is gonna be with men forever Number three this morning John shows his observation of Christ John shows his observation of Christ And obviously we're still working in John 1 verse 14 our focus verse it says in the word was made flesh and dwelt among us And we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father so that's in brackets right there because that's John is inserting that into into there saying that they beheld his glory the Apostles beheld his glory What is it talking about well? Let's turn to Colossians chapter 1 verse number 5 Colossians chapter 1 and verse number 5 Colossians 1 verse number 5 I Keep saying it because I don't hear a lot of pages turn out there Colossians chapter 1 Excuse me, Colossians 1 verse 15. I don't know why I said 5 Colossians 1 15 The Bible says it is talking about Jesus here who is the image of the invisible God? Think about that for a second. Let me read it again. Who is the image of the invisible God is God invisible? Yeah, so the Bible says he's invisible. He's the invisible God But Christ is the image of the invisible God It's kind of deep isn't it, but it says the firstborn of every creature For who by him were all things created that remember I said that in Genesis for by him all things are created Says it in John chapter 1 that are in heaven that are on earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him and He is before all things and by him all things consist You know the reason why we're breathing you know the reason why when you go to bed at night, and you breathe still It's because all things consist by Christ and his creation He designed our bodies to still sleep at night, and he designed everybody's eyes to blink without even thinking about it He designed our bodies to recover From sickness and things like that he designed us, and we're fearfully and wonderfully made And all things consist by by him things invisible things things that are seen Can you see the the angels no can you see the devils no can you see God no because he's invisible But see Christ when he came he was the image of God He was the image of the father and so people could say they did see God They didn't see the father though because you know what no man can look on the father and live Nobody can look in the face of God in his purest form and live And so that's why Moses was only allowed to see the hinder parts as he walked by and God covered his hand Over the top of him so he couldn't see him in the cleft of the rock Because you know what would have happened to Moses if he would have saw God's face. He would have dropped dead right there And a lot of people if they saw the face of God would drop dead and catch on fire, right so but God This says that Jesus is before all things. He's the image of the invisible God Says and he's before all things by him all things consist You know this world that we live in and the the system that we live in You know our environment and all that stuff look mankind isn't gonna save the environment You know who's gonna who keeps the environment going the Lord Jesus Christ And you know what he said those things were gonna last forever We don't have to worry about throwing a can in the right receptacle in reality Okay in reality this world's gonna keep spinning. The sun's gonna keep coming up You're still gonna have air to breathe and hey things might get tough things might get bad in the end times But I'll tell you what it's still gonna run They're still gonna be a sun they're still gonna be a moon they're still gonna be stars They're still gonna be oxygen the oceans are still gonna be there The land is still gonna be there food is still gonna be there cuz you know what God promised for those things to happen Okay, so we don't have to worry about that little brat Greta. Whatever her name is We don't have to worry about that Hey, but if it makes you feel better to throw a pop can into the right receptacle to knock yourself out But and I think it's so I think it's fine, I think we should take care of the things that God's provided for us I'm not saying that we should be you know just throwing stuff on the ground But you know who throws stuff on the ground all the time these bums that live out here And they're little homeless and camps and stuff. Hey, you know things are provided receptacles are provided. Yeah, you look at any random 7-eleven in Portland and you're gonna see trash strewn all over the front of it with a garbage can right next to it Hey pick up your trash losers Anyway, I don't know how I got off on that But it says and he is head of the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn From the dead that in all things he might have the preeminent, so you know what Christ when he was born He's also the firstborn from the dead and what does that mean well? He's the first man with a glorified body So nobody else has a glorified body right now besides the Lord Jesus Christ, and then when he comes back Everybody's gonna have a glorified body we're gonna see him for who he is we're gonna have the mind of Christ And we're gonna live forever and it not a boring place look heaven isn't just some place where Sylvester the cat you know plays a harp on a cloud or something if you've ever seen the Looney Tunes cartoons, but anyway I Think that that Looney Tune cartoon You might call me Looney Tunes for saying this But I think those Looney Tune cartoons were intentionally designed to make people think that heavens boring And I don't think heavens gonna be boring at all. I think it's me very exciting. We serve an exciting God today We serve a God that's all-powerful, and you know what I don't think he's just planning on saving us So we could be bored for everlasting life I mean that wouldn't that be pretty boring to just play hard for the rest of your life for all eternity I mean, I'm sure we're gonna be having some great worship services in heaven I'm sure we're gonna hear some great preaching in heaven, but we're also gonna have our own plot We're gonna have our own lot in our own land And we're gonna be able to do things with that land for all eternity Maybe you just maybe it's like what's that game mine hunter or Minecraft mine hunter mine craft where you design your own? Little worlds and stuff. I don't know. I don't know what's gonna be like I can't you know God wouldn't let the Apostle Paul. Tell us how great heaven is but you know he says far better than this place This is for it pleased the father that in him Should all should all fullness dwell so Jesus Christ was filled with the father Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit at all times, and he was the son of God all right and so John beheld His glory in the transfiguration John beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the father But he also beheld him in the transfiguration so Look at Matthew chapter 17 verse 2 So Jesus Christ was the manifestation of God The image of God the image of the Father the image and in him all fullness of the God had dwelt but also John saw the glorified Christ not only once, but he saw him twice All right, let's look at the first one. It says in Matthew chapter 17 verse 2 it says and was and it was talking about Christ and was transfigured before them that means his form changed One minute they're looking at a human being that looks just as normal as me or you the next minute he was transfigured before them and his face did shine as What the Sun? Don't look directly in the Sun kids ever it's a bad idea to make you go blind But it's the Bible says that Jesus's face Shined as the Sun and his raiment was white as the light So that means that Jesus Transformed his appearance before the the Apostle John, and how do we know John was there? We'll look at Mark chapter 9 verse number 2 Mark chapter 9 verse number 2 if you just flip over a few pages in your Bible you can find John Mark 9 2 It says and after six days Jesus taketh With him Peter and James and who? John and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves, and he was what? Transfigured before him then excuse me So this is a secondary witness of the fact that they saw a glorified Christ before he was glorified How does that happen? Well, he's all-powerful He's all-powerful, and he was just showing a glimpse of the fact that he was trans you know that he had changed before them and John literally saw the Glory of Christ John also saw his glory in Revelation turn to Revelation chapter 1 verse 12 John saw his glory in Revelation Revelation 1 12 So he saw him during his life transfigured he also saw the resurrected Christ Okay, when he came back to life at the end of John all the all the apostles saw him but also after Christ Ascended into heaven he saw a vision of Christ Glorified after death and verse and Revelation 1 12 it says and I turned to see the voice that spake with me and being turned I Saw seven golden candlesticks and in the midst of the seven Candlesticks one like the Son of Man which was one of Jesus's favorite Nicknames or so to speak or one of his titles or names in the Bible Clothed with the garment down to the foot and girt about with paps With a golden girdle his head and his hairs were white like wool as White as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire and his feet like unto fine brass as If they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of many waters So this is a very different Jesus that we see in the Bible. He's transfigured he's glorified here, and this is him being seen in his glory and it sounds pretty scary and John thought it was scary, too That's why he fell down and seemed like he was dead He says and he had in his right hand seven stars out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was as the Sun Shineth in his strength so John saw the glory of God in his life He saw him you know he saw him in real life and the transfiguration He also saw him in a vision in revelation, but John also saw the glory of his life and works He worked right beside him he trained John, and he's what he trained him to do well He taught trained him to leave a live a good life He also trained him to get other people saved he trained him to preach. He showed him miracles He showed him bringing people back to life He watched Lazarus be brought back from the dead after being dead for four days He watched him heal ten lepers which one only came back He watched him Kick out possess. You know he he watched him cast out devils out of people that were possessed And so John didn't just see the glory the glory of him shine before him He also saw the glory of the great works that he did here on this earth Which is what God sent Jesus to do he'd sent him to live the perfect life that we can't live Why can't we live it because we're sinners? Christ was ill and remember I said before Christ is the only one that was not born a sinner And so he watched him live that perfect life He watched him save many people he watched all the miracles that he did and he also saw the glory of his death and People normally when you see someone die. It's not something. That's the glory it's something. That's sad It's something that shows the end of something But see that wasn't the end for Christ because he was resurrected from the dead But the glory of his death Means that his death defeated hell his death defeated sin And so John saw the glory in his death look at John chapter 19 verse 25 John chapter 19 and verse Number 25 the Bible says now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene when Jesus therefore saw his mother and The disciples standing by whom he loved which I believe is John He saith unto his mother woman behold thy son Then saith he did his disciple behold thy mother and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home So John witnessed the crucifixion of Christ along with Mary and some other people that were there some other Mary's There was a lot of Mary's there it seemed like yeah, so anyway Yeah, John saw Jesus die on the cross And you know what that was a glory For him to see that because at that point and maybe John didn't understand it at that point But he understood it later that he defeated Sin he defeated the devil he defeated hell By doing that so that in purchased the redemption of his creation through his death burial and resurrection Number four John shows us the identification of Christ John shows us the identification of Christ Let's go back to John 1 14 It says in the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father the glory of the only begotten of the Father. That's the identification of Christ He's the only begotten son So God has many sons Now contrary to popular belief not everybody are sons and daughters of God But God does have many sons I was talking about the new Bible versions you know what the new Bible versions say in every single one of them That he was the one and only son is that true I? Mean Just that alone When it says in John 3 16 his only begotten son to all the modern Bible versions say something different They say his only son his one and only son So doesn't that make that an error right there Because was Jesus the only son of God No, he's the only begotten son of God. There is a big difference See I could only have one Begotten son say Remy was my only begotten son, but then I said you know what I'm gonna adopt a bunch of people I'm gonna adopt a bunch of babies that don't have a good life and bring them into my family are they still my my sons If I get a whole bunch of sons, and I just adopt them are they my sons legally yeah So doesn't that make those modern Bible versions wrong look them up look up the NIV look up the ESV look up these Bible versions that are new that people are like well. It's just easier to understand. Oh, yeah that they're lying to you It's easier to understand their lies Calling Joseph his father not true Joseph with it was his stepdad yeah But the King James Biles very clear to say Joseph and his mother several times Joseph and his mother why is it clear to call Joe because Joseph because Jesus didn't have an earthly father Jesus father was God That's why he was God manifest in the flesh God had many sons turn to John chapter 1 you're already in John chapter 1 Look at verse number 11 It says he came unto his own and his own received him not who'd he come to he came to the Jews right? He came to his own. He was Jewish And it says in his own received him not he came to the nation of Israel the nation of Judah and said Here I am I'm your Messiah, and they want they like no He's not my Messiah He's not my Messiah Didn't they they rejected him as their Messiah. They said no we're looking for somebody else Then they're still looking for somebody else and you know who they're gonna accept. They're gonna accept the Antichrist when he comes unfortunately The livers 12 it says, but as many as received him who? Jesus but as many as received him to them gave he power to become what? the sons of God Even to them that believe on his name so guess what the moment you receive Jesus Christ You become a son or a daughter of God, and it says even to them that believe on his name That's how easy it is to be born into God's family is that you just receive him you believe in him You accept him as your Savior so to speak you you say hey, I want you to save me Jesus I asked you to save me Jesus This really is that simple people are like well you got to go to church You got a repent of all your sins you got to make Jesus the Lord of your life Is that what it says no it says, but as many as received him As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name But my point was is that God has many sons God has many daughters You know, but they're just adopted you basically that's the adoption process right there. You receive Christ as your Savior and nothing else Can save you besides just believing in Jesus that's what it says right even to them that believe on his name It doesn't say believe on his name go to church stop cussing stop smoking stop drinking That's not what it says it says this means believe on his name you get adopted into God's family, and you're a son you're a daughter But what we're talking about here is the identification of Christ There's only one only begotten son of God only one That's Jesus Christ look at verse number 18 in John says no man has seen God at any time The only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him Remember I showed you Jesus showed himself. He was the image of God He was the if God if you could see God if God's invisible Jesus is the image of God the Father, okay? No man has seen God remember I told you earlier when it says no man has seen God any time What's it talking about God the Father? No, man can look in God's face and live Jacob wrestled with an angel and who was that angel the pre-incarnate Christ? Okay, so and then what did Jacob what did Jacob say afterwards? He he said I've seen the face of God and lived So he did he was God. He just wasn't God the Father all right, so Anyway, let's look at John chapter 3 verse number 18 John chapter 3 verse number 18 Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God And look I bring up the modern Bible version thing because of this because people just think that any Bible version is gonna get you Saved any Bible version is okay to study. It's just not true because look if your Bible's lying to you I Mean, that's the last thing that I want lying to me is the Bible And God's true word is never gonna lie to you It's always gonna tell you the truth, and if it's not telling you the truth, and it's not the Word of God Says he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth is not Believeth not is is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of what the only begotten Son of God it's very specific who you're supposed to believe in It's not Yehuda, it's not Yahashua It's not Yahweh, it's not any of these other Hebrew roots names that they have tried to come up with them You know it's the only begotten Son of God. What's his name? Jesus it's not Yehuda. I don't know where people get this crazy stuff Look blowing a trumpet and keeping the Feast of Tabernacles and all this other stuff. That's not gonna get you to heaven You Know what you have to do you have to put your faith in the only begotten Son of God And there's only one of those his name is Jesus and so Let's look at Isaiah 9 verse 6 Isaiah 9 verse 6 Because the Bible promised that there would be a son born all right And we have that on the front bulletin if you don't want to turn there Just look at your bulletin says for unto us a Child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful Counselor the mighty God does it say Jesus is God right there. Yeah, it does the everlasting father the Prince of Peace and So we know that there was a promise in the Old Testament And that promise was that a virgin would conceive and bring forth a son And she should and they're supposed to call him Jesus just so that's very clear number five And this is my last point Back in John chapter 1 verse look look at verse number 14 says and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us And we beheld his glory the glory is of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth So Jesus Christ was not only full of grace He was also full of truth that means he's filled you know when you say hey Phil we fill up my water It's filled right I hate it when I go to a store or a rest or you know a fast-food place And they fill it and it's like that short. You know I'm talking about They're just trying to save money or something or just being lazy Or they fill it to the brim with ice and then just you know I'm talking about and it's like you take two drinks It's gone. You're like really light ice anyway Christ was born and In the in the Bible says that he was full of grace and truth And what is grace is Grace's means that he? Bestows upon people something that they don't deserve He's full of grace hey when someone asked to please heal me did he do it. Yeah. He's full of grace Hey, maybe they didn't deserve to be healed Maybe they're a wicked sinner, but you know what everybody in this room is a wicked sinner everybody in this room Deserves to go to hell everybody in this room was born into sin everybody in this room has committed multiple sins You know what but Jesus was full of grace and truth What did he do he came to shine the light of truth upon us? And he came to shine the light of the fact that we can be saved And you don't have to be good enough to get it Nobody's good enough to get it. It's hit his Discretion you know what he paid the price for all of mankind to be saved And he's full of grace Ephesians chapter 2 verse number 7 if you want to turn there you can if not just pay attention Ephesians chapter 2 verse number 7 says that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace See they're exceeding Riches of grace of his grace and his kindness Toward us through Christ Jesus So God's kindness is manifest through Christ Jesus our Lord It says for my grace. Are you saved through faith? So what is the grace grace is something you don't deserve it's something you get for free You don't deserve it, but you get it anyway, and how do you get that grace? It says you are you saved through faith? Does it say walking an old lady across the street with the groceries does it say going to church? Does it say repenting of your sins does it say anything like that? No it just says by grace Are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It's what the gift of God? So I don't know about you, but I don't like paying for gifts So so I got a gift for you for only $19.99. You know you can get this gift. That's not a gift It also says not of works lest any man should boast so it's not the works that we do hey Working for something isn't a gift So you know what I got a job for you I'm gonna give you this great gift, but you know you gotta wash my car is that a gift if someone gives you something no If you have to do something for it It's not a gift if you have to pay for it. It's not a gift if you have to continue doing Things to get that gift. That's not a gift. That's called strings attached That's like when someone says hey girl. I'm gonna give you this dress It's really pretty and then like it's just hanging in their Closet forever or maybe they got some kind of ketchup stain or something on it never came out like I'm gonna take back that dress That I gave you because you're not treating it right Is that a gift? No It's not a gift and see people just get this concept confused look Salvation is a free gift. It's not something you can earn. It's not something you have to keep doing to stay saved That's why it's called eternal life And it doesn't make sense that you would have to keep doing something to get eternal life because once you have it That means it's forever Isn't that true if it's a gift? God gives it to you It's yours It's a little baby It's your baby gift of eternal life all right it lasts forever And nothing you can do will get it taken away from you That's why God's very careful to say it's a gift Okay in Romans 6 23 says for the wages of sin is death But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord See all the wages you do All the really the sin that you do you earn the the gift of death basically for that It's not a gift. It's you earn it It's you work for that all that sin goes into an account that you work for and guess what we're the end of that road Leads death we all have to die a physical death But we don't have to die the second death that the second death is being cast into the lake of fire And look nobody wants to be cast into the lake of fire people that say that they do Really, don't I don't I think I think they just don't they either hate God or they just don't grasp the concept of eternal punishment It's effort. It's forever have you ever been in excruciating pain, and you wish it would just go away and eventually it has But you don't forget that pain, but that pain never ends in hell that excruciating pain never ends That's not a place anybody should want to go but salvation is the ultimate grace John 3 16 for God so loved the world that what he gave His only begotten son see God the Father gave his only begotten son isn't that a gift? Is that wouldn't that be a gift if God gave something what he gave he gave his only begotten son So do you see how important it is that it's the only begotten son of God that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life You believe in Jesus You have everlasting life Pretty simple isn't it, but you know what a lot of people try to make it complicated a lot of churches try to make it complicated a lot of religions try to make it complicated you gotta believe and you do this this This this this this this oh, but if you forget to do this No God made it simple his word made it simple and the Bible says that God gave his only begotten son That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life that means guess what you don't have to go to hell You get to have everlasting life And that means it's a life that never ends ever Never ever ever ever is this for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world But that the world through him might be saved Hey, God wants everybody in the world to be saved That's why he sent the only begotten son And he wants to give you the best Christmas gift that you could ever get and that's salvation That's a pretty good gift, and that's free. You don't have to work for that So the greatest gift That you can receive is the gift that only God can give you see someone can help you and show you from the Bible Even after church today if you know if you don't know that you're saved someone could show you From the scriptures to know that you're a hundred percent saved, okay, and why well how can we do that well the Bible says? Or what am I what are we here for if it's not to hear the Bible? Now what do we come to church for did you come for the roast today? Hey, that's a that's a bonus but you know what we what we really need is the spiritual meat of God's Word and He wants to give you a gift he wants to give you everlasting life And all you have to do to get that is believe all you have to do All and once you believe the gift is everlasting life. It's eternal life And God didn't send Jesus Christ into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved Is everybody going to heaven? absolutely not Because you have to believe in who? the only begotten Son of God so John does have a Christmas story doesn't he and That ultimate script the purpose of the whole Christmas story is so that people would be saved The whole reason Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost the Bible says Hey, there's a lot of lost people in this world and there might be lost people in this room. I'm not for sure but I know that you don't have to walk out of here lost you can walk out of here saved and You know pride is the thing that stops people from being saved. They're like well. I I'm a good person That what it says that it takes to be saved you got to be a good person Now it doesn't say that does it Says you got to believe you got to believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God that name is Jesus All right, and he is God as I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt in This chapter so and God proved it God wants it that that's the number one thing He wants you to know right out the gate. Jesus is God the word is God and so this story is Ultimately showing God becoming a man to save the world sending his only begotten son the world the invisible God showing us Him through his son and the donation that he paid Was the gruesome and bloody death of Christ so that we can be saved, but the story of Christmas at the end You know the Christmas story is all you know cute, baby Swaddled the angels come and they put you know they proclaim what a great thing It was that he came into the world that was a great thing that he came in the world But at the end of the gospel Christ dies for us on the cross and he is killed in the most gruesome fashion that he could possibly be killed then He suffered greatly for that salvation You know living the perfect life after all the temptations that he had to go through that was hard enough The devil tempted him after he was starving for 40 days, right So but the ultimate thing he had to go through was the torture and death that he went through For us to be saved, and you know what God loves us So don't forget the purpose of Christmas this year. It's not all about getting Monetary gifts and and presents and hey I like getting gifts. Okay. I like giving gifts. I think it's fine I think it's great to celebrate Christmas. I have nothing against Christmas at all But sometimes we can forget what it's really about And I pray that this year. We just even just focus on it for a little while And remember what a price that Christ paid for us to be Saved to get that everlasting gift and that you know you don't have again You don't have to walk out of here without that gift. It's free All you have to do is receive it John chapter 21 verse 25 I'll end here it says and there are also many other things which Jesus did which if they Should be written every one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written Amen so the purpose of the book of John is so that people would be saved And so I mean we always think about Matthew and Mark are excuse me Matthew and Luke as the main Christmas Things that we would go to in the Bible the books in the Bible we go to but Now the book of John has some great wisdom, and it does have the Christmas story in there. Let's pray Lord We thank you so much For this wonderful day for all the the things that are going on today. We thank you for the kids That would show forth praise and we pray that you bless each and every single person here in a tennis We pray you bless the food and the fellowship to follow and the sermon Tonight Lord and I pray that Lord if there's anybody here That doesn't know for sure that they're going to heaven that Lord before they left this building They would just come up to me and ask me and make sure that they know that they're going to heaven when they die In Jesus name we pray amen