The Christmas Story in One Verse

As one who sometimes struggles with assurance of his own salvation, I find great comfort in the fact that I love God’s Word and that love is one sign that salvation is true in your life. I take it literally, except when the nuances of language clearly delineate it as speaking in metaphors and symbols. I believe it is true in its entirety, rejecting any ideas of the world that the stories are myths and fables. I believe it speaks with the full authority of God Himself, having been written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. I believe it is sufficient in itself and that it provides all the knowledge and wisdom of how to live this life, that it does not need man’s help in instructing us about the human heart, soul, and spirit.  I also believe it is a treasure trove of truth that in this life we will never exhaust its fruit and that it must be mined like a mine of precious jewels. These are but a sampling of why I love God’s Word.

Yesterday, being Sunday, was yet another opportunity to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ to hear it preached. And it was one of those sermons I always love. It was sermon that our pastor preached on one passage, one specific verse, and I am always fascinated by these sermons because they always show the depth of the scriptures, that you can spend forty-five minutes expositing and drawing out so much with just one verse.

Being the Sunday before Christmas, it was a Christmas message. Pastor Micah went a different direction than others have in the past. He chose this one verse.

John 1:14
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Not the typical scripture for preaching the Christmas story, yet it really does capture the essence of Christmas and why it’s important.

Is there a more accurate statement that describes what happened on the day Jesus was born? The first chapter of John is a vital one because in it we find the doctrine of the deity of Christ. Jesus is the Word. Because He is the Word, we know He is eternal. Because He is eternal, we can know that the truth of His deity is true. Because He is God, then the Gospel makes sense. Christmas is about God coming down to earth and doing so as a man so that He could do what we cannot; live a perfect and sinless life. This made Jesus the one and only possible sacrifice for sin. This is why He is called the lamb of God.

Jesus came down to us and when He came as a babe in a manger, it was so much more than just that part of the story. He came as this verse says, full of grace and full of truth. Both are equally important in our lives. The truth of His sinless nature and why He came must not be allowed to pass by us. We are not like Jesus. We are the opposite. He came as a sinless man; we are sin-filled. Because he came as truth we are revealed as lost sinners and as those who cannot save ourselves. But because He also came full of grace, we have hope. When we receive the Christmas story as it is in truth, we can receive His gift; the gift of salvation and rebirth into His kingdom.

The depths of theology that one can dig into out of this verse are vast and deep. They tell the real story of Christmas. I suggest each of you take that journey. Find out for yourselves the wonders of the Christmas story by committing to a life-long journey that looks deeply into the joy of salvation through the reading and the study of God’s Word. Find a church in which the leadership is committed to making disciples through the saving and transformative power of God’s Word.

There is a gift for you this Christmas. Receive that gift. The gift of Jesus. The Word, that became flesh. The Word that dwelt among us. See the glory of this Jesus. Hear the truth He brought. Receive the grace he offers. He is full of grace and of truth. We need both.

This is the story of Christmas. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Merry Christmas