Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the profound significance of Christmas for Christians, focusing on the incarnation of Jesus as the Word made flesh. He explains that Jesus, who was with God and was God, came into the world He created, yet was not recognized by it. The sermon highlights the mystery of God humbling Himself to become a man, and the transformative power of understanding this truth for believers. Beach encourages the congregation to seek a deeper revelation of who Jesus is, as this understanding leads to true spiritual growth and a heart filled with love for God and others.

Beginning in verse number one. Beloved, we are celebrating a special time called Christmas. Today's December 24th, Christmas Eve. But beloved to the Christian, Christmas has a very unique meaning. And I would like to take you to the scripture and show you what true Christmas is all about. And I'm asking that the Holy Spirit will open our eyes, that we might receive a revelation as to exactly what is being celebrated in the heart of the Christian, of the heart of the Christian. John chapter 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwell among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bear witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spoke. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." Beloved, this is perhaps one of the most profound statements in the entire Bible. In John chapter 1, we find, if we read it closely and we ask the Holy Spirit to give us an understanding of this glorious message, we find that God, eternal God, became a man. The Word was tabernacled in human flesh. Beloved, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Before time began, there was God. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. There was an eternal fellowship between the Son and the Father, between the Word and the Father. Beloved, this eternal Word of God, who is indeed God Himself, became a human being. I'd like to read verse number 10. Now think about these things. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him. Can you imagine, dear friends? He was in the world, and the world was made by Him. Who was in the world? God. Let me tell you something, beloved. Jesus was no ordinary man. When someone looked at Jesus, you know who they were looking at? God. Oh, as I began to think about these things, my heart was so stirred, I didn't know what to do. Imagine sitting in your seat, and suddenly Jesus comes walking through the door, and comes walking down the aisle. Who are you looking at? Beloved, only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to this absolute, marvelous truth. If Jesus comes walking down the aisle, and you look at Him, imagine Jesus looking into your eyes. Who is staring into your eyes? Eternal God, tabernacled in a body. Oh my God. Oh my Lord. Can you understand why Peter looked at Jesus and said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man? There, Peter's eyes were opened, and he perceived that he indeed was standing in the presence of the Almighty, eternal, omnipotent God, who was embodied in the likeness of human flesh. Listen, you can look at somebody in the eyes, and you might see the love of Jesus in them, right? And you might feel the Lord's presence in their life, but oh beloved, when you looked into Jesus' eyes, you saw nothing but God. God, God, God. There He was. The one who spoke the heavens into existence. The one who placed the stars in the sky. The one who was from eternity. The one who had no beginning or no end. The eternal, omnipotent, omniscient God. There He was, embodied in flesh and blood, walking, looking, talking. Oh hallelujah. That is a shout to my soul. Jesus wasn't a mere prophet, beloved. He wasn't just a good person. He wasn't one of the many ascended masters, beloved. He was indeed God in the flesh. He was eternal God, the Word, the eternal Son of God, who knew nothing but bliss and fellowship with his Father, left the ivory palaces of heaven, the glory and splendor of being the eternal Son of God. He left and was born of a woman. Let me tell you, beloved, when your heart sees in an ever-increasing manner who Jesus actually is and what he's done for you, it will change you, change you, change you more and more and more. I'm telling you, I'll be very honest with you, I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of who Jesus was until recently while praying and meditating. I saw for the first time in my life, though I always believed that Jesus was God, I saw for the first time in my life a greater understanding in my heart. God himself gave it to my spirit of who Jesus really was as a man. And I'm telling you, my soul was so, was so filled with joy and jubilant as I perceived that Jesus was no mere man, but he was God, eternal God. He was in the world and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. The world rejected God. Now is that a mystery? The world rejected God. The world knew him not because of sin, because of sin. And he came unto his own and his own received him not. There we have a picture, beloved. The eternal Almighty God became flesh, he dwelt in a body, and the world rejected him, and his own rejected him. But here's the good news, verse number 12, but as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. What good news to know that Christmas to the true Christian is a time when we worship and adore God, not that we don't do it throughout the year, but it's a time when we praise God because of who he is and what he did. I know this sounds to be quite elementary, but beloved, we must fix our eyes on who Jesus is and what he's done, and the more we can comprehend that, the more our lives will be fixed and solid and grounded upon the rock himself, Jesus Christ. What God did for you to redeem your soul is something you can begin to think about today, and 100,000 years from now you'll still be getting understanding on it. The depths of what God did, we think we know what humility is, we think we know what it is to humble ourself, but beloved, can you consider what God has done? The eternal God placed himself in a body of flesh. Listen, the one who says, I am the bread of life, said, I am hungry. The one who said, I am the water of life, he that cometh to me shall never thirst again. What did he say? I thirst. I thirst. Oh, what God did for you and I to redeem our souls. When God gives it to you, beloved, as a pastor, some of you may consider me your pastor, some may not, doesn't matter. As a pastor, I want to encourage you this morning. I want to encourage you and challenge you to do something. Come before God and ask him with a sincere heart and beg him to take the veil from your eyes and your heart and show you the glory of what God did by being born of a virgin. What he did, and I promise you by the authority of God's word, the more you can understand by the Spirit himself the glorious revelation of how God humbled himself and became a man. We're gonna go to that scripture in a minute, Philippians chapter 2. The more you can grasp that with spiritual understanding, the more you will be transformed and changed. Many of us are saying, Lord humble me, aren't we? How many want to stay humble in God's presence? How many want to stay low in God's presence? How many want to walk softly before God? Beloved, your soul is humbled as it beholds the wondrous redemption that was wrought for you. The more you can comprehend with spiritual understanding and the more you can see with spiritual eyesight the glories of what God has wrought for you by humbling himself and becoming a mere man, never stopping to be God, but becoming a man, your soul will be changed and transformed. The power of the gospel, the good news. What's the good news? God left heaven, came in the person of Jesus Christ, and took your sin. Friends, think. God took your sin. He took your sin. The spotless, undefiled, separate from sinners, Lamb of God, took your sin upon his body and died upon a cross for you. Wow. You want to be humble? You want to walk softly? Get a vision of that. It'll put you down on your nose, but then in Christ you'll be raised up. Verse 14, and the Word was made flesh. Oh how I wish. Can you imagine? Jesus. I know. You know what I want you to do, friends? I want you to fall in love with Jesus. That's what I want you to do. Oh to imagine Jesus come walking down here. There he is. God. What would you do? Oh I think I'd, I don't know what I'd do. I'd fall at his feet. It's just not some other man. Oh hi Jesus. How you doing? Hey buddy. No. It's God. I know, I know you keep, maybe you're saying, I know that Brother Beach. Oh I thought I did too. And I did to a degree, but it's, oh it's become more real to my soul. There he is. God. The Word. Eternal God. What were his eyes like? I mean when he looked at you, there was God looking into your heart. Wow. That's so precious. I can understand why Peter said depart from me. What about Nathanael? When you were under the fig tree, I saw you. We preached on that last week. And what did Nathanael say? Thou art my God and my Lord. Oh Holy Spirit, please make this real to us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Now let me just give you a little bit of insight here on this word, the only begotten of the Father. Okay? The only begotten of the Father. This particular statement means this, that Jesus is the only begotten of the Father, meaning there's never been nor never will be one like him. In this way, Jesus was God's Son. Jesus was God himself. Only begotten suggests that he was the one and only and unique Son, listen, that came from the very loins of God himself. We are sons of God. We are children of God by faith, but we are not the Son of God. For Jesus was God incarnate. We are indwelt by God, but Jesus was more than being indwelt by God. He was God himself in the flesh. He was the only Son of God. And John said we beheld his glory. Oh, I bet the glory of the Son of God was beautiful. You can see him now by the Holy Ghost, and I'm sure he's remembering that day of the transfiguration. Remember that in the Scriptures, beloved? When Jesus took him up to the mount, and all of a sudden, the God that dwelt, that really hid in the flesh, became evident. And the Bible says his face shined like a light. And they suddenly realized, my, this is no mere man. This is eternal God. We beheld his glory. Verse number 18, no man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Jesus came from the Father. Now let's go to Philippians real quick, and we'll read this. I am so thankful to God for his great redemption. I am so thankful to God for Jesus Christ. And beloved, I have no other message this morning but the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter 2. Now this is powerful stuff. We read it like a book, the Bible, but oh, if the Bible becomes a book of life to us, it suddenly takes on a whole new, it's no longer stories, it's a book of life. Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 1, if there therefore be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Now here we go. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Verse number 6, who being in the form of God, there you go, the man Jesus never ceased from being God. He never ceased from being God. Who being in the form of God, that's what that means, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. In other words, Jesus didn't think it was wrong for the Father to look at him and consider him to be equal with himself, because Jesus was equal with the Father. Jesus didn't consider it, though, see, though he was a man, yet he was God, and therefore he didn't consider it to be wrong, but he made himself of no reputation. Perhaps a better translation that we could understand in our day would be, but he emptied himself. God emptied himself. The word emptied himself of what? He emptied himself of being with the Father, of being in the presence of the Father, and he emptied himself and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. There you go, the mystery. God emptied himself and became a man, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. So listen to what God did for you, beloved. First of all, he emptied himself. Secondly, he humbled himself. After emptying himself from the divine glory of who he was before he became a man, he didn't stop there. Then he humbled himself, huh, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. There it is, beloved. God became a man and then humbled himself and became obedient to death, and it was for your sins and my sins that this happened. Oh, how sweet. Oh, how marvelous. God is my Savior. Is he yours? God is my Redeemer. Paul said, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Christmas. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Beloved, may I encourage you in closing, I know it's getting late, 20 to 1. Thanks for being patient. I know it's an exciting time for the kids, for many of the adults. That's who I was talking about, the kids. Beloved, may I encourage you, consider Jesus this morning. Consider him during this season. Ask God to open your eyes and see the glories of heaven, and the great God who became a man to redeem your soul from sin. Consider the gift of life through Jesus Christ. Let me tell you something. If you're a Christian, if you're a Christian, your Christian growth is not measured by how many doctrines you can spit out. Your Christian growth is not measured by how much knowledge you have. Your Christian growth is not measured by how skilled you are in communicating to another person, or how many Bible tapes you have stashed in your room, or how many books you have. I'm not interested in, God's not interested in that. That's right, he's not impressed one bit with what you think you've done for him. You want me to tell you where Christian growth's coming from? An ever-increasing understanding of the wondrous act of redemption. Practically changing and transforming you into a person that is filled with the love of God, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, with a heart that bleeds for compassion with people. Filled with a single desire to know him more and more and more, and be changed and transformed into his very likeness. There's Christian growth. Guess how that's going to happen? At the feet of Jesus, beholding his wondrous glory. As you meditate on the redemption and go beyond just a surface understanding, but let God reveal to your spirit what he has done, you will grow in grace. You will become stable. Restlessness will leave. Many of the works of the flesh that you can't overcome, that you try so hard, will suddenly be put down, as the matchless revelation of the eternal Son of God captivates your heart and mind. You'll no longer chase things, but you'll love him and sit at his feet, and you'll love people. You'll love people. You'll love people. So may I challenge you this morning? See Jesus more and more. And when you get away from Jesus and start chasing something else, beware. It's gonna lead you to what is called a dead-end road. Come back to Jesus, beloved, and let him change you by his power. Let's pray. Danielle has a song. Want to sing it now? Perfect. Thank you, Jesus. Your only Son, no sin to hide, but you have sent him from your side, to walk upon this guilty side, and to become the Lamb of God. Your gift of love they crucified, they laughed and scorned him as he died. The humble king they named a fraud, and sacrificed the Lamb of God. O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the holy Lamb of God. Oh, wash me in his precious blood, my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. I was so lost I should have died, but you have brought me to your side, to be led by your staff and rod, and to be called the Lamb of God. O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the holy Lamb of God. Oh, wash me in his precious blood, my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Oh, wash me in his precious blood, my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. No idea that she was going to sing that song. No idea. But it seems that the Holy Spirit did. And as far as I'm concerned, that's God's icing on the cake. Beloved, the message is clear from the Holy Spirit this morning to we who are here. And that is, O Lamb of God, how precious you are. Fill our hearts with the revelation of yourself, O God. Keep softening us, Lord. Keep making us tender. And keep filling us with your divine presence, Lord. We forever love you and thank you. Lord, thank you for changing our lives in such a powerful way. Keep it up, Lord, and we will forever praise you as the Lamb of God. If you have to go, go. Danielle, would you sing the chorus again? If you have to go, go ahead, beloved. Don't feel pressured. I know that you may have plans. But then again, I want to say this, if you feel moved by... Have Danielle sing this again. And let's ask the Holy Spirit to confirm it. I was so lost, I should have died. But you have brought me to your side, to be led by your step and rod, and to be called the Lamb of God. O Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God, I love the holy Lamb of God. O wash me in His precious blood, my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. O wash me in His precious blood, my Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.