Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 6:30pm Pastor Ryan Nichols - The Gifts of Christmas pt 5 - Presenc

Isaiah chapter 7 when he says for a virgin's shall conceive and bear a son and you will call his name Emmanuel which means God with us and so the promise was always there to the patriarchs and the people that God would use greatly it was indicated through the tabernacle that traveled with them presence right in the midst, and then it was promised that not only will there be a symbol of the presence of God with you, but the presence of God will actually dwell with you, and it will be in the form of a child. And that brings us to John chapter 1, because as we see the promise of his presence, I want to take a look at the gift of his presence. Starting in John chapter 1 verse 1,

it says this, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Jump down to verse 14,

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. There's five things I would like to point out to you about the gift of God's presence that's given to us right here in John chapter 1. Four of them are about the amazing nature of who Jesus is, and the fifth one is about the miracle of his presence among us. We're told four things about

who Jesus is. Number one, we are told that Jesus is God, that Jesus is God. That he is the very essence of absolute deity. Now, I want to point something out to you. It says, in the beginning was the Word. And of course, the Word is there expressive of Jesus Christ himself. And when we use the phrase was, we think of it in the past tense. But in the Greek right here,

the word was means exists or into being. In the beginning, the Word existed. So the first thing we see about him is that he is the very deity himself. Now, what does that mean? Well, as deity, God, it first of all means that he is the all-powerful God. That he is the all-powerful being. I want you to think about the most powerful thing in the world. Kids, I want you to think about

the most powerful thing you've ever seen in your life, right? If you've ever stood at the edge of a waterfall, or if you've ever seen a tornado, or if you've ever seen anything that's just incredibly powerful, and you look and you go, whoa, that must be amazing. Maybe for some of you, it's your dad. I know for my girls it is. As you stand right there next to that very powerful being, you're like,

wow, that's amazing. God created that. However powerful it is, God is the one who created it. Meaning that as powerful as that thing is, there is still something more powerful, and that's God, and that's who Jesus is. He is the all-powerful God. But not only is he the all-powerful God, but he is the all-knowing God. You ever thought about that? I want you to think about the smartest person you've ever

been around in your entire life. For my girls, it's not me. But I want you to think about the smartest person you've ever been around in your entire life. The most intelligent, the smartest person you've ever seen. And you have to think, God created that. You know, right now in our world, artificial intelligence is a really big thing. And we think, wow, it's so fascinating

that there can be that much knowledge. And then we realize that somebody had to program that. So somebody had to be smarter than the artificial intelligence, right? Because somebody had to program that thing and what to say. Well, when you think about the fact that someone was smart enough to program that, you think about the fact that God was smart enough to create that person

and give them all of their intelligence. Because he is the all-knowing God. And so Jesus is God. He's the all-powerful, all-knowing being in the world. The second thing we learn from this is it says, in the beginning, the Word was with God. In the beginning, the Word was God. But in the beginning was the Word. In the beginning, the Word already existed. That speaks of the eternal

nature of God. Now, I want you to go with me on a trip here real quick, okay? I want you to think as far into the future as you can possibly think, right? Like I'm talking Stan Lott, like forever, right? As far into the future as you can think. We can't go very far. But now I want to really trip your mind out. I want you to think as far back as your brain can possibly go. Because as far back as your

brain can possibly go, God already existed. I tell this story sometimes, so if you've heard me tell it before, please forgive me. I only have so many illustrations. When right after my wife and I got married, we went on a cruise. And on this cruise, we were in the, not the Mediterranean, the Gulf of the Sea, but the Gulf of the Sea. And we were just cruising around there. We were just at sea the

entire time. You're just out on open water the entire time. And everywhere you look is just nothing but water. And then, of course, you're out in the middle of nowhere, so there's not very much light pollution, obviously. And so we went up to the top deck of the boat at night, and we went out and stood on the edge, and we both went like this. It was a great moment. I said, I'm the king of the

world. Anyway, so I stood there, and I thought, in all of the darkness and the fact that there's sea, and it's like, there's just this expanse that goes out everywhere. And all I could think of, is that's what eternity is like, is when you think that far back, your brain can't even do it because it's too much for us to imagine. And as far back as you can think, God already existed.

That means that Jesus already existed. He is the all-powerful God. He is the all-knowing God. He is the eternal God. But then I want you to notice the next thing it says. Number three, it says he is creator God. He is creator. I want to read something to you. This was in R. Kent Hughes' commentary. He said, there are about 100 billion stars in the average galaxy, and there are at least 100 million galaxies

in known space. Einstein believed that we have scanned with our largest telescopes only one billionth of theoretical space. This means that there are probably 10, with an incredible number of zeros behind it, 10 octillion stars in space. How many stars in space? How many stars in space? How many stars in space? How many stars in space? How many stars in space? How many stars in space? How many stars in space?

is that? Ten octillion is ten with twenty-seven zeros behind it. Listen, and Jesus created them all. That's who he is. You know what? He didn't just create space and all of the stars in space. He created everything that we can see. He created the mountains and the seas. He created the rivers and the trees. I didn't even mean to rhyme on that, right? That was just good. He created all

these things, and he created you. He created all those things, and he made us all uniquely different. Do you know that of all the tons and tons of people that there are in the world and have been at all time, everybody has a little bit of a different fingerprint? That's why they can use that to identify people. Everybody has a little bit of a different DNA. That's why they

can use that to identify people, and God created them all. Jesus is the one who created them all, and he created them all. And so he is the very essence of deity, the all-powerful, all-knowing God. He is the eternal God. He is the creator God, but he's also the giver and the sustainer of life. Did you notice that? It says, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. In him was not only the power

to create life, but in him is the power to sustain life. He gave life to everything that was created. That's why you and I could maybe sit down, and we could make something. We could build something, but that thing is not animated. That thing is not alive, because we don't have the power to give life. Only God has that power, and that's the power that Jesus had. As a matter of fact, when God

created Adam, it says that he formed him from the dust of the earth. You know what the first thing he did after he created Adam was? It says that he breathed breath into his lungs, and it speaks of not only physical breath, but spiritual breath. He breathed breath into his lungs, and it speaks of spiritual breath. He breathed life into him, and at that moment, Adam became alive, because he has

the power to give life and sustain life. And so that all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal creator God who sustains and gives life, notice what it says in verse 14, and the word, that God, 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. I want to read you a couple of different translations of this,

because I thought it was great. It says, God became human, and he made his home among us. He entered a new mode of existence and lived in a tent among us. He tabernacled literally among us. us, which is kind of an interesting thing to take note of since he gave the tabernacle in the Old Testament as that picture of his presence with them. And we're told that that creator God, that

all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal God tabernacled among us. I'll never forget holding my daughter for the first time. And on that day that my oldest daughter was born, I remember my dad telling me something. And it became so much more apparent to me at that point in time. He said, Ryan, I want you to think about something. That's what God became for us. And I remember from that moment

on, the incarnation made so much more sense to me. Because as I held my newborn daughter in my hand, all I could think was those same cries came forth from the mouth of God as he chose to become man and dwell among us. Every birth is a miracle. Every birth is the most miraculous thing that's ever taken place. But there was nothing as miraculous as the birth of the Son of God among

us. Chuck Smith told a fascinating story in his commentary on this, and I'd like to tell this story to you now. Chuck Smith tells a story of an agnostic newspaper editor whose family loved to go to Christmas Eve service every year. And he never could understand or believe in God. And he never really could understand why God would have to become man if he existed, why he would become man and dwell among us. Well, usually he

humored his wife by going along every year to the Christmas Eve service. And if that's you tonight, thank you for humoring your wife and coming along to the Christmas Eve service, or your parents or whoever made you come here tonight. But he said, one year, this guy couldn't do it anymore. He said, it just feels so hypocritical for me to attend a church service for a God that I do not believe in. And so he stayed home that night and sent his family off to the Christmas Eve

service in the middle of a major snowstorm. And so he sat down next to the fire with a book and started reading and enjoying his evening. And pretty soon he started hearing something pounding at the window. And there was a bird who was trying to get out of the storm, and the bird kept beating itself against the window, trying to get into the house where something could be warm. He said he

tried to shoo the bird away. The bird wouldn't be shooed away. And so finally he decided he would go down to the barn, turn the light on, and open the door up so that perhaps the bird would decide to fly down to the barn and find safety inside of the barn instead of beating its head continually over and over again against this window. He said he went down to the barn, and he opened up the doors, and he turned on the light, and he kept trying to shoo the bird towards the barn, and he couldn't. Couldn't shoo the bird towards the barn. Couldn't get it there. And then he thought to

himself, if I could just become a bird, then I could show that bird the way to the world. And so he didn't, but he became a little bird.

Fire. Fire. Fire.

Fire. Fire. Fire. You see, that's the miracle of God dwelling with us. And brothers and sisters, there is nothing more beautiful than to know that God, because of the great love with which he loved us, did not think it robbery to be considered equal with God. But he made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a man and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross.

And that's what Jesus did for us, is he took upon himself that form. He took upon himself that humanity. He tabernacled among us. He put on a temporary dwelling place to live among us so that he could. Ultimately, save us. I don't know the condition of everybody's heart sitting in here tonight, but I'm here to tell you right now, if you don't have any joy in your life, if you don't have any peace in your life, if you don't have any hope in your life, and if you need restoration in your life, then you need to know the presence of Jesus Christ in your life.

Nothing would make for a better Christmas than for this to be the one where eternal life. Life settles upon you. Somebody posted a clip from Chuck Smith earlier today, and he said, the greatest Christmas gift that you can receive is to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The greatest Christmas gift that you can receive is to receive eternal life from the God who decided to dwell among us, from the God who decided to become flesh and make his home with us.

Well, we've seen the promise of his presence. We've seen the gift of his presence. But, brothers and sisters, there is a continual presence of Jesus Christ that works among us. You see, Jesus was born 2,000 years ago, and he lived on topside of planet Earth for 33 years, and he lived a perfect life. And in those 33 years, he taught a lot of amazing things. He performed a lot of amazing miracles, but nothing was as amazing as the miracle that was performed through his death and resurrection in which he atoned for our sins.

But when he had atoned for our sin and was resurrected from the dead, he ascended back into heaven. And so you can sometimes find yourself saying, if he is God with us and he ascended into heaven, then how is he still God with us? You know, his disciples had that same question. His disciples were concerned about that as well. And so Jesus, in John chapter 14, told them, he said, hey, boys, just so you know, I'm going to be taking off, but I'm not going to leave you like orphans.

I'm not going to leave you without someone. I'm going to take care of you. I am going to leave you the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he will come, and he will dwell among you, and he will live in you, and you will become that temple of the Holy Spirit. And he will testify to you about me. He will keep showing you who I am. He will keep declaring to you who I am.

He will keep revealing to you who I am. And so in that way, God still dwells among us. He dwells among us through that presence of the Holy Spirit in us. But it's not just the Holy Spirit living in us that represents God among us. You see, Jesus told us, he said, I am the light of the world. He who believes in me will not dwell in darkness. But he also told us in the Sermon on the Mount something very interesting.

He said, you are the light of the world. He who has the light doesn't hide it under a basket, right? We remember singing that song as kids, hide it under a bushel. No. Go ahead. I'm going to let it shine, right? And so now we are the light of the world. And so now you and I are the presence of Jesus Christ to the people that are around us. We are the ones who come along and show people what Jesus really looks like.

We, as believers in Jesus Christ, as we enter each other's lives, are the presence of God among us. Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The light of Jesus Christ shines through us. Therefore, we do the work of Jesus Christ in the world today. Which is why if God's present in you, he is at work through you. Because the Holy Spirit continues to move in that way among us.

Isn't it a beautiful thing that God blessed us with the gift of his presence? That God blessed us with that ability to know his presence because of his work among us. And I want to challenge you to do something this Christmas. I want to challenge you to be the gift of God's presence to the people that are around you. Again, I'm going to share a story that maybe you've heard me share before.

But I'm going to share it one more time. When I was in Bible college, I went through a little bit of a season where it felt like everybody was hearing from God but me. Everybody was hearing him and knowing his presence. And I was just like, Lord, I don't know. I'm just kind of not feeling it right now. And I remember one night we were having a time of just worship and waiting on the Lord after a chapel service.

And I said, Lord, I wish I could just see you. I wish I could just feel your presence. I wish I could just have a bro hug from you right now. So I didn't think too much about it. Worshipped for another song and got up and I headed off to go back to my dorm room. And in that moment of me departing the sanctuary, another guy that I went to Bible college with, I knew him, but we weren't close friends.

He steps out, he reaches out, he wrapped his arms around me. I think he even picked me up because I'm a little dude, right? And just gave me the biggest bear hug I've ever felt in my life. And in that moment, God says, that was me. Because brothers and sisters, that's the presence of God among us. Amen? So I'm going to invite the worship team to come up and do one last song.

We're going to do one last Christmas carol together. And each of you have these candles, right? Somebody asked me before the service, why'd you give us a candle? This is why. Because in just a moment, and I think I failed to light the candles, guys. In just a moment, this candle is going to be lit down here because they're going to take care of that for me.

And all the lights are going to get turned off in this entire place. And the ushers are going to come down and they're going to light a candle. And then they're going to hit every single one of these rings. And each of you are going to pass your light on to the person next to you. To where by the time this song is done, by the time we get to the verse in the Christmas carol that says,

Son of God loves pure light, there will be nothing but light shining in this entire place. And we will be reminded of the presence of God among us. And so if we could all stand. I'm going to read John 1, 5 to you again. It says, The light shines in the darkness. And the darkness cannot extinguish it. I want you to look around. This is the difference that the light of Jesus Christ,

that the presence of Christ makes in the world. It lights your life and it lights the world around you. And so brothers and sisters, on this Christmas Eve, I want to remind you that God has blessed us with the gift of his presence. And because of the gift of his presence, we have joy. We have peace. We have hope. And he has brought restoration into our broken world.

Amen. Father, we come before you and I thank you so much for your word. I thank you so much for Jesus. I thank you for the gift of your son. And Lord, I pray that as we go throughout the rest of our Christmas celebrations, Lord, that you would be at the center of it all. Lord, keep us close to your heart. Keep us close to your side. And may the light of Jesus Christ,

truly shine in our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen. Merry Christmas.

Careful with that light.