There are certain perceptions that those who worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth; amen?  We relate to God, then, purely on that spiritual relationship.  But Gnostics took it a step further in that they believed that because God was a spirit, and they were to fellowship with Him purely in the spirit, and all matter was innately evil, that this body was going to be destroyed anyway, and it was worthy of that destruction because of its material essence.  Therefore they could do anything that they wanted with their body, as it pertained to vices, you know.  The Epicureans of that age and others that just wanted to taste and have pleasure—“eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die.”  They believed that you could live any way that you wanted—you could commit adultery; you could live in gluttony; you could be a drunkard—and still be right with God in your spirit, because it was how your spirit related to God.  They believed that the Spirit left Jesus prior to the crucifixion on that cross, because that body, being material, had to suffer and endure this wrath and this judgment upon itself.  They came about with what they had called the “hypostatic union.”  In that thinking, they had the separation of matter and spirit as it pertained to Christ—that the Christ, the pure Spirit, came upon the material temporarily from baptism until just prior to crucifixion.

John, writing to them in this First Epistle, said, “That which was from the beginning…” (1 John 1:1). There’s a difference between the beginning of Genesis and the beginning of 1 John.  “In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1).  But there was another beginning, and it was the beginning that had to do with all that was the consequence of this eternal, pure, holy God from eternity past; the Lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world; amen?  Now, “In the beginning,” John’s Gospel, said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

We’re going to look at the incarnation and the deity of Jesus Christ, which is so vital to our salvation.  Jesus was not just a good man.  He was not a prophet alone who spoke great words and had another philosophical perspective on life.  The world has trouble with that to this very day.  Jesus Christ was God.  Amen?  As we’ll see here in Isaiah, He shall be called Emmanuel, being interpreted, “God with us,” hallelujah!  (Matthew 1:23).  Christmas is about our bodily resurrection; amen?  God, Who is Spirit, took upon Himself the form of man, the apostle says (Philippians 2:7).  He became a man and dwelt among us.  He was without sin.  2 Corinthians says He—Jesus, in His physical being—He Who knew no sin was made sin with our sin that we may be made righteous with His righteousness (5:21).  Can you say, “Praise God,” to that?  Hallelujah!  We stand righteous in that great exchange.

It doesn’t have anything to do with your efforts.  It doesn’t have anything to do with performance today.  We are saved by grace through faith, hallelujah!  That’s what Christmas is about!  Salvation by grace; unmerited favor through faith; our belief that God came in the flesh, lived a sinless life, freely became the substitutionary offering to God on our behalf, hallelujah!  Our sins absolutely were taken upon Himself, removed from us as far as the East is from the West, hallelujah!  Merry Christmas!  We can sit here redeemed, sons of God, heirs and joint heirs with Christ Jesus!  Hallelujah!  But this great miracle had to take place, and it’s rejected to this very hour.