It is Christmas Eve as I sit to write this Christmas post. I have thought all day and prayed about what to write for a Christmas message. I want to quote three texts out of the only gospel that does not talk about the birth of Jesus, then finish with Luke, our New Testament doctor and historian. Oh”, how the birth of Christ must have fascinated Dr. Luke
I will diagram these texts for you as well. But first, let’s read them together. They are John 1:1, John 1:14, and John 1:18.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we behold His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).
It is my hope that this will not be too difficult to understand, and to hopefully make it simple, I am going to diagram these three verses out.
| Vs. 1 | In the Beginning was the Word | The Word was with God | The Word was God |
| Vs. 14 | The Word became flesh | We beheld His Glory | Full of Grace and Truth |
| Vs. 18 | No one has seen God | The Only Begotten God | He has declared Him |
Here is what these three verses are attempting to say. First Going across. In the beginning, before there was a beginning anywhere the word existed. The Word was with God and the Word had equality and equity with God as in God the Father.
The Word became flesh, and we beheld his glory. His glory was full of grace and truth and this glory the Word had independent upon the Father.
No one has seen God, except the Only begotten the uniquely one of a kind who came to declare him.
Now let’s go from top to bottom on each column. In the beginning was the Word. The word became flesh because no one has seen God.
The word was with God, we beheld his glory the glory of the Only Begotten, uniquely one of a kind God.
The word was with God and full of grace and truth, and He has declared him
I want us to concentrate for a moment on the middle statement going from top to bottom. The word was with God, and we beheld His glory of the Only Begotten uniquely One of a king God. This should leave us asking a question. What does it mean to be the Only Begotten God. Does this mean God created the Word.
Dr. Luke gives us the most details concerning Jesus’s birth. We see this portion that describes what happened in Luke 1:26-38. “ow in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee name Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw him (the angel), she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’
Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’
And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’”
Dr. Luke, our New Testament historian and author, gives us the reason why John 1:18 calls Jesus or the Word the only begotten. It is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Luke answers this, especially in verse 35, where the angel tells Mary. “In the beginning, before there was a beginning anywhere, there was the Word, who was equal with God yet distinctly different than God the Father. That word became flesh, and when he became flesh, we beheld His glory, which was full of grace and truth. No one has seen God but the uniquely one-of-a-kind God who has declared to us who the Father is by becoming the son of God, He was willing to humble himself to become a little embryo implanted in the womb of a virgin to create a uniquely one-of-a-kind individual who is God in every way, yet uniquely human in every way. In this way. The angel was telling Mary of the giftGod gave to us to right the wrong, which happened in the garden when the pot that was fashioned in the maker’s hand became marred, and so the potter remade a vessel that was good to the potter. That vessel remade is a unique one of a kind that was before there was a beginning anywhere, yet humbled himself to become uniquely one like us to declare the Father and his love for us. Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you will be blessed this Christmas season as we think about the wonderful gift of the Word becoming Flesh to declare the glory of God the Father to us, that through Christ we can see the Father.
The Bible In Your Hand 