We are looking at Jesus Christ as we continue looking at biblical worldview because He is central to anything about a biblical worldview. We saw last time that Jesus Christ is God. He has always been, He is eternal, He is holy, He is a member of the Godhead – we often call Him the second person of the Godhead. He is truly God.
We now move to the incarnation where Jesus Christ becomes man and comes to this earth. It is November and we are getting fairly close to Christmas, probably everyone’s favorite season and holiday. However, it is more than a holiday. It is a remembrance of what happened at a time when God became man. When Jesus Christ came among us. That is what we celebrate at Christmas. At least that is what we are supposed to celebrate if we don’t get lost in all the trimmings.
We are looking at John 1:9, “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” We saw that last time. He is the Light of the world, and He comes to bring that light. John 1:10 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” This is referring to His own people, probably speaking of the Jewish people. The gospel record is that most people did not receive Jesus Christ. Most Jews rejected Him. He came to His own though they did not receive Him.
In John 1:12 it says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” this is a great verse that I turn to often when I am talking to people about their need for Christ. What do we need to know and believe in order to become followers of Christ in order to be saved? This verse says it pretty well. “As many as have received Him” – those who have accepted Him and not simply believed about Him or had some theological themes they understood, but they actually received Him into themselves, “He gave the right,” it says, “to become the children of God.” Now we are the children of God. We are no longer the children of the devil. We are no longer of the world. We are children of God. Then it qualifies it by saying, “even those who believe in His name.” The word belief or believe is found frequently in the gospel of John. It’s an evangelistic gospel and it is telling people that if they want to know God, they have to believe in the name of Jesus Christ. Christ came as the incarnation that we might believe in Him.
We go to John 1:14 where it says, “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.” The word that was mentioned in John 1:1 has now become flesh. This is the incarnation. The God of the universe, the Creator of all things has now taken on a physical form and the nature of humans, although a sinless nature. We beheld the glory of God through Jesus Christ. So, the world most perfectly sees God through what they see in Jesus Christ which is found in the Scriptures as we study them.
