Text: John 1:1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
9The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to what was his own, yet his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They were born, not of blood, or of the desire of the flesh, or of a husband’s will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Sermon
If you come upon an accident and see a man injured and unconscious on the side of the road, you want to immediately check if he’s still alive. What two things will you check for?
You put your ear next to his mouth or your hand on his chest to see if he’s breathing. You put your fingers on his wrist to check if he has a pulse or your hand on his chest to see if his heart is beating. Someone who is alive has breath and a heartbeat.
In the beginning, God created the mountains and valleys, the skies and the oceans. He filled the air, land, and sea with a myriad of air, land, and sea creatures. With all those wonders, God spoke his Word and everything came into existence.
On the sixth day of creation, God used his hands to form a human body out of the dust of the ground. But there was no life in it because it had no breath or heartbeat. Then God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). Man had breath and a heartbeat.
But man and woman sinned. They destroyed the beauty of God’s perfect creation. They plunged the flawless world into sin and death. Every one of the countless children of Adam and Eve who were born alive were born with lungs breathing and hearts beating. But because every one of those countless children are also sinners, they will also die. Their hearts will cease and their breaths will stop.
The Son of God entered this world of sin and death to save the countless sons and daughters of that first man and first woman. To do that, the Christmas Gospel tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us” (John 1:14).
The God who breathed life into Adam and started his heart, also took on human flesh like his first man. The Son of God became an infant in the womb of the Virgin Mary. About six weeks after his conception by the Holy Spirt, the infant Son of God’s heart started beating in the womb. About 7 ½ months later, the Virgin gave birth to the Christchild, and he took his first breaths.
The One who created life was alive in the womb for 9 months, then was born on Christmas.
The Word through whom everything was called into existence was now the Word made flesh.
The One who breathed life into the first man was now a man who needed to breathe to live.
The One who started Adam’s heart beating was the second Adam whose heart was beating.
All that was reversed on Good Friday. The very people the Son of God came to save crucified him. On the cross, the Word made flesh had his perfect flesh pierced with nails and thorns. The sun was darkened and the earth trembled as Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” Then he closed his eyes, breathed his last, and his heart stopped beating. To make sure the Son of God was dead, his heart and lungs were pierced with a spear.
For three days, the corpse of the Creator of life lay cold and dead in a borrowed tomb.
Then as the first rays of sunlight began dawning on Easter morning, the darkness and death of Friday afternoon were shattered. Everything had been quiet and still in the darkness of the tomb. One moment the tomb was filled with darkness and death. The next moment the grave was filled with life and light! One moment the Lord of Life was dead. The next moment the heart of the Son of God began beating again! He took his first breath of air after three days of not breathing. The earth quaked again. The earthquake on Friday was as if the entire earth shook with sorrow that it’s Creator was dead. Now on Sunday the earth shook again as if rejoicing that its Creator was alive.
The blood that brought us peace with God was once again flowing through Christ’s veins.
The Lamb of God slain for us was the Lion of Judah ready to roar.
He who was born and wrapped in strips of cloth and laid in a manger arose from the slab of the tomb clothed in glory, the firstborn from the dead.
Jesus took one breath and put death to death. With his first heartbeat, he defeated the devil who imagined he had killed God’s only-begotten Son.
His heart beats. His lungs breathe. Jesus will never die again.
Our lives begin with heartbeats and breaths of air. Over the lifespan of 70 years, the human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times. A person will fill his lungs with about 600 million breaths over those 70 years. Between all those heartbeats and breaths, God desires for us to believe in the Word made flesh with breaths in his lungs and beats of his heart. The psalmist says that the average lifespan for someone is about 70 to 80 years (Psalm 90:10). That is our time of grace to come to faith in the God who loved us enough to become one of us.
Because one day our hearts will stop beating and our lungs will cease breathing. Our bodies will return to the dust from which Adam was first created (Genesis 3:19).
But then on the Last Day, the Creator and Savior will return. He will call us from our graves. The Word made flesh will make our flesh whole again and reunite our resurrected bodies with our souls. Our hearts will beat and our lungs will breathe again.
The Word through whom all creation was called into existence at the beginning of time will be the One who ends time and allow his creation to enter an existence without time. The Son of God entered our world and was laid in a humble manger. The Son of Man will now be sitting on his glorious throne. The Son of God became flesh in the womb of the Virgin. He is now flesh and divine for all eternity. Through faith in the divine Son of God and the humble Son of Man, our Savior with flesh, we will be standing before his throne as resurrected flesh and holy soul.
All of this – the first man, God made man, you and I as men and women who believe in the God-Man – this all begins … and ends … and begins again with breaths and heartbeats. Amen.
The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Amen.