John 1:1-13

Order of Service

• Announcements
• Hymn — Angels from the Realms of Glory
• Call to Worship — Psalm 95:1-7
• Hymn — Angels from the Realms of Glory
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith (Apostles' Creed)
• Scripture Reading — Isaiah 9:1-7
• Hymn — Of the Father's Love Begotten
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — O Come All Ye Faithful
• Sermon
• Hymn — Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Incarnate Light of New Creation

Scripture: John 1:1-13

I. The Incarnate Light of Goodness

A. Light and goodness are contrasted with darkness and evil throughout Scripture

1. Sheol in the Old Testament is a place of darkness where wickedness dwells — Psalm 55:15
2. All goodness flows from God, the Father of lights — James 1:17
3. In Genesis 1:4, God saw that the light was good; Jesus Christ as the light is the revelation of God's goodness

B. Even in depravity, fallen humanity longs for goodness

1. Romans 2 teaches that the law of God is written on the hearts of all people; the conscience either excuses or accuses
2. Fallen people cannot rest in evil as evil — they must redefine evil as good to silence the conscience
3. The image of God is darkened but not entirely erased; even in sin we cannot escape the longing for light and goodness

C. Goodness is ultimately defined as God himself

1. The full manifestation of God's goodness is seen in God made man — the light incarnate
2. To be declared good by the good Creator, one must be united by faith to the very definition of goodness: Jesus Christ

II. The Incarnate Light of Wisdom

A. Scripture connects light with wisdom, especially in the wisdom literature

1. Ecclesiastes 2:13-14 — wisdom exceeds folly as light exceeds darkness; the wise have eyes, the fool walks in darkness
2. For Jewish readers, John's identification of Jesus as the light and the Logos would immediately connect to the wisdom tradition: Christ is wisdom, knowledge, and understanding incarnate

B. The wisdom of Christ is available to all, regardless of social class or education

1. The most intelligent man in the world was a carpenter, born in a manger, who dined with sinners and tax collectors
2. At age twelve he amazed the teachers of the law with his knowledge — Luke 2
3. He welcomed ignorant children and common people not to confirm them in ignorance, but to raise them up in wisdom

C. Christ relates to the lowly in order to lift them up — a warning against relativism in the church

1. Relativism says: dumb yourself down to relate to people
2. Christ's example says: humble yourself to their level in order to lift them up in wisdom, knowledge, and truth
3. He did not remain in the grave to confirm us in death but rose to lift us out of deadness; he did not enter darkness to confirm us in darkness but to bring light

D. The Son of a carpenter — Hebraic "son of" language denotes function, not merely biology

1. Matthew 13 — Jesus called the son of a carpenter, meaning he functioned as one
2. John 8 — Jesus calls the Pharisees sons of the devil, meaning they function like the devil
3. Christ became son of a carpenter, identified with servants and sinners, to give every person — scholar and dropout alike — the right to become children of God and to share in his wisdom and truth

III. The Incarnate Light of Glory

A. Light and glory are closely connected and often interchangeable throughout Scripture

B. John's prologue reveals something surprising beyond the Genesis creation account

1. In Genesis 1, the word and the light are distinct: the word brings the light as its product
2. In John 1:9-10, John uses the personal pronoun: Jesus Christ is not merely that which brings the light — he is the light

C. The light of Day One in Genesis 1:3 is the Shekinah glory of God

1. The sun and moon are not created until Day Four, so Day One's light is not natural light
2. The ancient rabbis in the Talmud identified this light as the effulgent splendor of the divine presence
3. Only the light on Day One is called good; all goodness in creation flows from this source — Jesus Christ the Son

D. The failure of the first Adam and the victory of the last Adam

1. Adam was called to obey the word of God fully and bring creation into an eternal sabbath rest in God's glory-light
2. Adam failed, plunging creation into darkness
3. Christ, the Word made flesh, came as the new Adam — born under the law to fulfill every jot and tittle on our behalf — Galatians 4
4. He accomplishes what the first Adam could not: bringing the light that is God to bear upon a new creation

E. The consummation: the Son is new creation's light

1. Revelation 22:5 — no need for lamp or sun, for the Son is new creation's light
2. The Holy Spirit is the down payment and guarantee of this future inheritance — the indwelling of Christ's light now is the foretaste of basking in his goodness, wisdom, and glory forever