2013년 12월 22일 성탄주일 영어설교
요한1서 3:5

(1 John 3:5)

     Christianity is not a kind of spirituality that is just floating in the mind of human beings’ religiosity. It is historically rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. And it is directly connected to human beings’ life, or the issue of dead or alive. Therefore, the Scripture says, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).” This authority and ability of the Christian gospel that is giving the real life to men is based on the Incarnation, Jesus’ birth. Today, at this Christmas season, we are going to be appreciating the main reason why Jesus came to earth.

     In verse 5, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” The Apostle John plainly says “you know that he appeared…..” Here, ‘he’ means Jesus Christ. The expression, ‘appeared’ means that Jesus’ coming is an actual event that took place in history. The Apostle John says in his other book, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God……And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…..” (John 1:1, 14). So today’s text first makes clear the fact that Jesus’ birth, or Jesus’ coming to earth is a historical event.

So then, why did Jesus Christ come to earth through the Incarnation? Today’s text says this, “he appeared in order to take away sins…..” ‘To take away sins’, this is the reason of Jesus’ birth. This is the true meaning and aim of the Incarnation, or Christmas. When it comes to the conception of ‘taking away sins’, we can approach and interpret it from a couple of angles according to the teaching of the Bible, but, today, I want to focus on ‘salvation of his chosen people’ according to the context of today’s phrase. Here, what is the sin? The sin is what disconnected the relationship between God, the Creator and men, the Creature. The sin is what brought death to human beings, which is why nobody is able to overcome the curse of death; everyone dies under the curse of death as a result of the brokenness of the relationship with God. All the predicaments and pain in this world came from the sin. The Scripture declares that everybody dies. No one has a real life, not only does no one know God but also no one is able to seek God because of the sin. Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” Even if the saving sound of the gospel of Christianity has been resounding all day and all night all over the world in history, they are not even able to move their one finger or eyeball to signal for rescue; that is, they never react to the saving gospel. This is not because they are so exhausted with their sin. This is not because they became so weak that they are unable to raise their one finger due to their sin. But this is because they are dead due to their sin. What human beings need right now is not some spiritual or moral energy for their saving. But what human beings need right now is the very new life to react to the rescue sound, or the word of God. All this is because of the sin.

So the very first thing for human beings is to take away sins. But they themselves cannot do it. Why? This is because all were dead in sins. That’s why Christmas is absolutely necessary. As today’s text says, “Jesus Christ appeared in history in order to take away sins.” How did Jesus Christ take away sins? Through the crucifixion, as the one and only God-guaranteed sacrifice, he took all the chosen people’s sins into him. He died on the old rugged cross taking all sins. All sins of us were imputed into him. All the righteousness of him was imputed into us. And through the Resurrection, he not only breaks and beats the power of death or sin, but also approves himself as the conqueror against sins. In fact, he took away all sins. Moreover, the initiation of all the marvelous historical events are the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, or His birth, Christmas. How can it be possible for Him? Today’s text is simply saying in verse 5 “in him there is no sin.”

Lastly, so then, how can we be the beneficiaries of all what Jesus has done for taking away of sins? This is possible through ‘regeneration’, as Jesus himself repeatedly emphasized, men must be reborn to get a new real life. As I mentioned before, for being set free from their sins, human beings must gain the new life, new identity, and the new sense, through regeneration, not through being more improved or sanctified as Jesus answered to the brilliant young man, Nicodemus, in John 3:3, “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” So then how can we reborn and know that we were reborn? This is by believing in Jesus Christ, specifically, believing in all the merits that he accomplished for us and what he has done for us. 1 John 5:1 says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” This is because the fact that one believes in Jesus Christ is not the result of one’s will or resolution, but the result of the visiting and working of the Holy Spirit in order for one to believe.

Everyone, what is Christmas? This is Jesus’ birth, His coming to earth in a human body as be prophesied, or the Incarnation. Why? Among so many phrases in the Bible, today’s text also plainly says, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins.” In this Christmas season, I truly hope you all enjoy, rejoice, and deeply contemplate this amazing graceful fact, ‘Jesus Christ appeared in history in order to take sins.’