“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1-3; 14)
The first verses of John’s Gospel are all about Christmas. No, John doesn’t tell us about the manger, the shepherds, the message of the angels. He doesn’t say anything about Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem. Rather, John reveals the deep-down meaning of Christmas. Christmas, according to John’s Spirit-inspired words, is getting to know God, up close and personal, by getting to know Jesus Christ.
How can we know God by knowing Jesus? Easy! Jesus is God! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
Jesus is the Eternal God. With God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, He is the Creator. Nothing that was created was created without Jesus. How did God bring all things into existence? He spoke: “Let there be!” Through His Word—through Jesus—He made all things.
Jesus is God. If you don’t know Jesus as God, then you don’t know God at all. While most people claim to believe in the existence of God, the only ones who truly know God are those who acknowledge in faith that Jesus Christ is God. In John 14, verse 9, the Savior says: “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father.”
But not only do we need to see God for Who He truly is, we need to know God up close and personal. Jesus shows us God up close. How? “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God was born.
God came into this world as a flesh-and-blood human being so that we could get to know Him in a real and intimate way. Behold your God! See Him taking little children into His arms. Watch Him tenderly putting His hands on the poor, the sick, and the lame. Remember His patience with His slow-to-trust disciples. See how He reached out to cheaters, adulterers, prostitutes, and even the proud and self-righteous. Find comfort in the fact that He befriended sinners like you and me. Then breathlessly watch, when, on a Roman cross, God took on His own shoulders the curse of our sins. He shed His blood and died for the whole world, so we can be sure we are forgiven. He rose so we can look forward to a life of endless joy in Heaven. When we look upon God in the person of Jesus, we discover this simple but powerful truth: “God is love.”
There’s a story about a prince who fell in love and wanted to marry a beautiful young peasant girl. He thought, “I will drive up to her house in a chariot drawn by six horses. I will impress her with my diamond-laced crown and woo her with my silver and gold. Or, maybe, I should just order her to marry me. After all, I am the prince.” But, would any of this win her heart? He doubted it. Finally, the prince knew what he must do. He took off his royal clothes, dressing in the ragged clothes of a peasant. Living in the girl’s village, he talked, ate and worked like a common man. Little by little he got to know the peasant girl, until she finally fell in love with him and willingly agreed to marry him.
To win our hearts, God became one of us. In Jesus—the Word—we have a clear view right into the tender heart of God. In Him we see God up close and personal, revealing God as one Who loves us from the very bottom of His heart.
Christ, from Heaven to us descending And in love our race befriending, In our need His help extending, Saved us from the wily foe. (TLH 90:2)
is pastor of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Saginaw, Michigan, and president of the Church of the Lutheran Confession.