"Now, even if you're not a Christian here and you're basically like, I don't even believe in God and talk about creation and stuff. I mean, wouldn't you believe though, that if there was a God, like if you were to define your own God, you would probably say, you know what God would be? God would be so big and beyond anything beyond time and space. If I believed in a God, I would believe that this God was omniscient, omnipresent, transcendent over all." [00:05:52] (24 seconds)




"Now, just get a sense of just how small we are, how small I am. And here's what John is basically saying. Do you recognize, like, in the universe, like, all of this is just but a speck to God. God is greater and grander than any of that. I was thinking of something that's grand in my life, for instance, and I was thinking of in nature, for instance. How many of you have been to the Grand Canyon?" [00:08:19] (30 seconds)








"But here's what's so explosive, because John, remember, he's hearkening back, he's running, he's like, listen, God's been silent, but I want you to know, the same God who was in the beginning, the same God who was the word, was this divine logos. Look at what he says. He says, the word, this logos became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Now, isn't that stunning?" [00:15:11] (24 seconds)




"Now, could you imagine for the Jewish listener, they're listening to this and they're like, what? He's living in it. He's the tent? He makes his dwelt? Like, he's the tent? You mean the tent? Now, there was a word that described this kind of glory. It's the word Shekinah glory. Can I hear you say Shekinah glory? The Shekinah glory, the manifest presence of God. I mean, isn't that stunning?" [00:19:54] (28 seconds)




"Jesus has come in the flesh and he has come and he knows you by name and he's closer than you think. And some of us, we think, oh, God is absent. He's far away. Yeah, he's out there in the heavens. And while that is true, what John is doing is he's positing this explosive claim that God is not just a God who is up there. God is a God who is close and near." [00:21:05] (36 seconds)




"See, but the message of Jesus is Jesus comes to us in the very midst of our darkest moments, our moments. Our most painful moments. And it's hard for us to recognize him because we're too lost in the ways that we have these preconceived notions about the ways that God. God will come to us. Surely God will come to us with health, wealth, and prosperity. And Jesus is like, no, no, no. I come into the world." [00:29:00] (30 seconds)




"The word becomes flesh, but I don't come to be this ruling conqueror full of celebrity and richness and wealth. I come as one who would die for you and for the world to show you that I am with you in the midst of what seems like the worst and darkest times of your life. Why is it that so many of us, we miss him, we miss this Jesus." [00:29:26] (34 seconds)




"John writes, yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. All it takes is to say, yes, this transcendent God of the universe, the one who has come close, I believe you. I trust you. I want to follow you. I want to be your child." [00:31:24] (29 seconds)

You may be seated, everyone.

Hey, good morning, everyone. My name is Drew. I'm one of the pastors here.

With the start of this new year, we're actually going to be starting a new message series on new beginnings. New beginnings very much describes the gospel account. A gospel account is basically a historical account of the person of Jesus.

So we're actually going to be looking at the gospel of John in all of these ways in which it reminds us of new beginnings, especially with this new year.

Now, I want you to keep in mind though, like the people of Israel, the people through whom kind of the scriptures as well as Jesus came through, the history is replete with slavery in Egypt or captivity or exile. The people of Israel are constantly wondering and longing for God to move.

Now, the end of the Hebrew scriptures is generally regarded as the book of Malachi, who was a prophet. Malachi, then it enters into this time of silence, and all this time of silence until the gospel accounts appear where Jesus now enters into the world.

Now, Jesus enters into the world where the people of Israel are actually under captivity, under Rome. So Rome has now become the world power, and Judea and Jesus are under Roman captivity.

So you got to understand, there's these years of silence that exist, wondering where is God? Is God even here? Is he even going to speak to us?

These gospel accounts, which are these historical accounts of Jesus, that he really was a person who really lived, really died, and really rose again from the grave, are actually presented to us. And John is one of those gospel accounts.

Now notice how John begins to write, especially as we start in this account of Jesus. He writes, "In the beginning." Can I hear you say, "In the beginning?" That's right, "In the beginning."

Now, you don't even have to be a Christian here to know that those words actually echo something. It echoes actually Genesis chapter one, verse one, because Genesis chapter one is the creation account of how everything in the material universe actually came into existence.

How everything was formless and void until God, through his word, actually creates the universe and everything in it. So here's what John is doing, right? There's this time of silence, and immediately for those who know Jewish theology, but even for those who don't know Jewish theology, who are somewhat aware of these creation accounts, John actually starts. He says, "I'm gonna start. This story actually starts way back when in the beginning."

And could you imagine? For the Jewish listener, they're like, "Oh my goodness, in the beginning?" He's really hearkening back to Genesis. That's right, he's speaking to this Jewish audience.

But notice what John does in addition to that. John writes, "In the beginning was the word." Can I hear you say, "The word?" Now, the word "word" in Greek is actually the word "logos." Can I hear you say "logos?" That's right, we get words like "logic" from this word "logos."

And this word "word," "logos," if you actually read through Greek philosophy in the ancient world, for instance, Plato would talk about "logos," this transcendent "logos," that in the midst of kind of whatever material world that we had, there was a pervasive abstract truth or "logos" that actually governed all of it.

And this is what "logos" was. In the ancient world, when it comes to Greek philosophy, whether it's Stoic philosophy or others, so many people would look at this word "logos," and it was the "logos" that they saw as this preeminent truth that was above and beyond time and space.

This "logos" that they would talk about and cherish. Now, here's what John is doing. John is basically taking Jewish listeners who can lean in when he says "in the beginning," but he's also speaking to those who are very familiar with Greek philosophy.

And notice what he's doing. He's saying, "Guess what? In the beginning was the 'logos.' You know that very thing that your philosophers and Plato and Stoic philosophers would talk about when they talk about 'logos?' I'm about to tell you what that 'logos' is."

I mean, could you imagine how stunning this is then for John to be presenting this to the world? He goes way back in the beginning. And notice what he writes. There was this "logos." And this "logos" was with God. And the "logos" was God.

So your hunches towards this truth that governed all things, it really did exist. It's this "logos." And notice what he's about to write. He says, "Through him, all things," can I hear you say "all things?" That's right. Not just some things or little things or just the bad things, the good things. He says, "All things, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made."

Now, even if you're not a Christian here and you're basically like, "I don't even believe in God and talk about creation and stuff," I mean, wouldn't you believe though, that if there was a God, like if you were to define your own God, you would probably say, "You know what God would be? God would be so big and beyond anything beyond time and space. If I believed in a God, I would believe that this God was omniscient, omnipresent, transcendent over all."

And guess what? That's what Christians believe. Christians believe that God is preeminent over the material universe, over everything. This God exists outside of this. And here's what John is saying. In the beginning was this "logos" that the Greek philosophers would talk about.

And this God, everything that has been made, all things were made with this God, through this God. Nothing that's been made has been without this God.

Now, I just want you to think about the grandiosity of that kind of statement. As I was thinking myself about just the grandness of everything that's been created in the material universe, I was thinking about the Milky Way.

Here's an image of the Milky Way. Now, the Milky Way, people, scientists actually guesstimate that there's 100 to 400 billion stars within the Milky Way. And one of those billions of stars is actually the sun.

The sun, of course, with the planets that circle around the sun, that's our solar system. So just imagine, even in this image of the Milky Way, our solar system is just one tiny, little dot of that.

So for instance, one analogy is that if the size of our solar system was the size of a quarter, an American quarter, and you were to put this U.S. quarter right here on this stage, or just leave that quarter right there, the rest of the Milky Way would be enough quarters that would fill the continental United States in terms of surface area.

So just imagine then, just how small, how minuscule, not only our solar system is relative to the Milky Way, but just think about the Milky Way is actually probably one of, in the known universe, one of there's probably 100 billion to 200 billion solar systems like the Milky Way in the known universe.

I mean, could you imagine, just fathom that in the known universe, that's how small the Milky Way is in the midst of the known universe and all the stars that exist within it.

Now, just get a sense of just how small we are, how small I am. And here's what John is basically saying. Do you recognize, like, in the universe, like, all of this is just but a speck to God. God is greater and grander than any of that.

I was thinking of something that's grand in my life, for instance, and I was thinking of in nature, for instance. How many of you have been to the Grand Canyon? Yes, just a stunning canyon.

Now, the Grand Canyon is actually 277 miles long. The Colorado River actually flows longer than that, but the actual canyon is 277 miles. To give you some context, it's 225 miles from here to Washington, D.C.

So could you imagine this canyon, which is so significant, actually runs from the length of here to D.C. in the United States? I mean, this is why it's called the Grand Canyon.

In terms of width, it goes from anywhere from four miles wide to actually 18 miles wide in terms of the width. So as the Colorado River carved this canyon, this canyon is so long and so wide.

In its deepest point, it's about over 600 feet down. So it's over a mile. So if you can imagine standing at a point on the Grand Canyon, looking down, you can see a mile long. That's how deep the canyon is.

Now, the Grand Canyon then, just the stunningness of it, not only the length, the width, the height, but also the biodiversity that exists within the Grand Canyon.

Now, this is just one part of the United States. And the Grand Canyon is that significant. I mean, could you imagine if you've ever been anywhere when it comes to nature and you've just been stunned by just how grand or awesome this is?

Now, I realize as New Yorkers, some of you are like, "I've been to Central Park." Listen, this is way bigger than Central Park. This is like, I mean, could you imagine? And the Grand Canyon is nothing to God. That's how small it is.

And what John is basically saying, the universe, the Grand Canyon, all of these things are just dependent on God. On a God who created it all, who's before all of it.

Now, it's not only the Milky Way. It's not only the Grand Canyon, but also here's an image. This is an image of my daughter, Avery. She's nine now. I was gonna use some images of other children or other babies in our midst, but it was too late to ask permission.

So nonetheless, I use my own daughter here. But Avery was actually born after we had a miscarriage, and just the gift that she was. Meanwhile, like my brothers, I have three brothers. Tina has one brother. Everyone has boys. We had been praying for a girl.

And Avery's like our miracle little girl. She was like, she's a girl. And we were like, "Oh." And you know, just any baby though, right? Like any babies in our midst. I look at baby Noah back there, right? Like there's such an amazing gift and a miracle.

I mean, just think about the miracle of human life. Now, I recognize that there are some people, you know, couples, for instance, where it's been difficult to have children and the pain of that.

But whenever there's a new life that enters into the world, just the miracle of that. I mean, I just think everyone in this room, you were all babies once. High five your neighbor and say you were a baby once.

That's right. I mean, isn't that stunning? Like we were all, we were all like these little babies at one point. I mean, isn't that stunning? And like just the ways that each of us have grown and somehow the miracle that you exist today.

And I mean, isn't that stunning? And like everything that's been made, like every breath that we take is dependent on this preeminent, amazing God.

But it's not only the gift of human life. I mean, just everything that's been made. I was just thinking about even human ingenuity.

Now here's a photo. It's a photo of what's called a rotary phone. Anyone ever seen these phones before? Okay, just a handful of you. How many of you, no shame here, you do not know how to work this phone? Anyone just raise your hand. You do not know. Yep. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's wow.

Now I get it. Like this phone, this is what I grew up with. I'm that guy now talking about when I was your age. I mean, this is the phone that I grew up with.

And basically the way that you run this phone is you would actually put your hand into one of the slots corresponding to one of the numbers. Then you would twirl it around and then you'd let go and it would go tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. And it would all go back and you would enter nine phone digits and then you'd be able to call somebody.

Now, I just remember the miracle of a telephone back then, right? Like, oh my goodness, I could talk to someone. Someone, like in another time and space, not time and space, in another space.

And I could do it through this rotary phone. I mean, it was incredible. Now, I recognize some of you are like, "That's not that incredible, Drew," because you're more accustomed to this image, right? An iPhone 16 and all the advancements that have been made with iPhone.

I mean, just the technology of apps and all of these ways in which technology has, and could you imagine like all of this is dependent on a God who created this phone? Created the human mind who allows this to be possible.

Now, here's an image of Steve Jobs, who's the creator of Apple and the creative genius around it. Steve Jobs, who passed away a few years ago. You know, shortly after the iPad came out, there was this New Yorker cover that came out in 2011.

And it's this image, this cartoon image of Steve Jobs showing an angel how to use an iPad. And I think in many ways, this goes like to describe just how genius human beings can be.

And even today, I mean, could you imagine that? But here's the thing. God created us, the human mind, intelligent design of the universe that we live in, it is astounding.

And what John is basically writing is he's like, he's basically giving them this clue. It's like, do you realize this God in the beginning, way before time and space and matter even existed, this God was here, created all of this.

And here's what John is basically trying to say, saying that God is transcendent. God is so beyond and other. This God is one who lives outside of even what we can think or imagine.

Now, some of you, you're probably like, "Oh yeah, that's good. If there was a God, that's what I would believe about this God, that God was transcendent, that he was above and beyond."

But here's what's so explosive, because John, remember, he's hearkening back, he's running, he's like, "Listen, God's been silent, but I want you to know, the same God who was in the beginning, the same God who was the word, was this divine "logos."

Look at what he says. He says, "The word, this "logos" became flesh and made his dwelling among us." Now, isn't that stunning?

It says the same God who created the universe, created the Grand Canyon, created human life and created like the realities of human life and all the genius of human life.

And he says, "The same God who created the universe, created the Grand Canyon, created human ingenuity, this God, he actually took on flesh. He came close."

And the word that's used is he made his dwelling among us. Now, here's what's interesting about this word dwelling because you might be wondering because this God, the word was God, and this word became flesh and walked among us, or this God was, this word became flesh and he talked to us, but no, it actually says he made his dwelling among us.

Now, it's very interesting, this word dwelling that's used here. It's actually the Greek word "skene." Can I hear you say "skene?" Now, "skene" literally means in the ancient Greek to live in a tent.

Now, you're like, "Live in a tent? Why is there that specificity to it about living in a tent?" Well, in the ancient Near Eastern world, in a nomadic culture, most people lived in tents. They would go from place to place and live in these tents.

Now, when the Hebrew scriptures were actually translated to Greek, there's a word that "skene" was translating. It was actually this Hebrew word, it's the word "shakon." Can I hear you say "shakon?" That's right, we get words like "shake and bake" from, no, I'm just kidding, we don't. Just seeing if you're paying attention.

But anyhow, "shakon" is this word for to dwell in a tent, to live in a tent. Now, the word that's used for an actual tent or what's called a tabernacle, a tabernacle is a tent, a special tent, is this word "mishkan." Can I hear you say "mishkan?"

Now, isn't that interesting? Now, here's what John is basically saying. The word became flesh, made his dwelling. He lived in a tent among us.

Now, it's this little Easter egg that's being added. What is this clue? Why is this word dwelling in a tent? You see, because in the Hebrew scriptures, there was this belief. After the people of Israel had been freed from captivity from Egypt, they were a nomadic culture, and they would set up tents wherever they would go.

And wherever they set up tents in the middle of their camp, they would set up a "mishkan." And this "mishkan" was called the tabernacle.

Now, why did they set up the tabernacle with all of its specificity, especially in the Hebrew scriptures? Because it was believed that we circled around this "mishkan," this tabernacle, because the tabernacle at the center of the camp, this is where God dwelt.

And now, look at, here's an image. Here's an image of what this looks like. This is what the camp looked like. There was this tabernacle, and they would erect this tabernacle.

And notice, there's kind of like this cloud, or there's this smoke that would emanate from the tabernacle. Now, the Hebrew scriptures describe this cloud as a glory cloud. Why? Because it was a sign of where God dwelt.

And they would follow this cloud. As they're going through the wilderness, they would follow wherever this cloud would go, because the cloud was a manifest expression of God's glory.

And they would follow this cloud. And they would follow this God's glory and presence.

So you got to understand, for the people of Israel, they could just look to the cloud, and that cloud, they could just look to the cloud, and that cloud, and that cloud, and that cloud, and that cloud. That glory cloud was what was leading them, was a sign that even though they're wandering in the wilderness, God is with us.

Now, isn't it interesting? When Jesus comes on the scene, the word took on flesh and he lived. He was living in a tent among us.

Now, could you imagine for the Jewish listener, they're listening to this and they're like, "What? He's living in it. He's the tent? He makes his dwelt? Like, he's the tent? You mean the tent?"

Now, there was a word that described this kind of glory. It's the word "Shekinah glory." Can I hear you say "Shekinah glory?" The Shekinah glory, the manifest presence of God.

I mean, isn't that stunning? What John is basically saying is the God who is transcendent. He is above and beyond. Created the universe with just a word and everything in it.

The God who created the Grand Canyon, the God who created the miracle of human life. That this God, you may have wondered where God's presence was and you saw it in the glory cloud and in this cloud where you could see his manifest presence.

And what John is writing is, "Don't you see? His presence has taken on flesh and he's here. He took on flesh and he's close."

See, John chapter one is about how God in the new beginning he has for us is that God is transcendent. But that God is also close. He's made his dwelling among us.

Jesus has come in the flesh and he has come and he knows you by name and he's closer than you think. And some of us, we think, "Oh, God is absent. He's far away. Yeah, he's out there in the heavens."

And while that is true, what John is doing is he's positing this explosive claim that God is not just a God who is up there. God is a God who is close and near.

When you think about what you're going through in life today, when you think about how maybe you feel absent with God when it comes to your career or your future or your direction, or maybe you've made your dwelling among us, he's closer than you think.

Messed up in life in different ways. And you're just, "Oh, no, God's not near to me. And God is just out there."

And what if, what if today God is closer than you think? And Jesus, the incarnation is evidence that the God of the universe has actually come close. He's close and he's near.

Now, as someone who grew up, like, again, felt kind of marginalized or just forgotten, part of it was I grew up in a larger family. And even last week, I shared about my own background as one of the few Korean Americans in my neighborhood.

But I distinctly remember a moment in my childhood that marked me forever. And it was a moment when in third grade, my teacher, Ms. Higashi, in the midst of what I was going through, I just, I wasn't going through anything crazy. I just felt like invisible as a Korean American person, as like, as a kid in third grade.

And I remember, she sat in front of the class. She's just like, "Oh, and Andrew, Andrew, I noticed how he did a good job of staying in line." It was something trivial like that.

And I just remember being like, "She knows me. She knows my name." And for her, as someone who I saw, someone with power, the fourth grade, third grade teacher, someone with power and someone who everyone looked up to.

And for her to know me, I just remember the feeling of just swelling up with like, "Wow, I'm known."

Has that ever happened to you? Where someone that you really respect or admire, maybe because they're wealthy or they're a celebrity, someone that you know and you're just kind of like, "Yeah, yeah, I know. They know me. They know my name."

That feeling of being known by who you praise. How significant that is.

You know, there was a seminal moment in the history of New York City. And that moment was called Linsanity. It happened in February of 2012. And it was one of the most glorious seasons of this city.

And I remember during that time, like, Jeremy Lin's going crazy. The garden is rocking. New York City. Everyone's like, "Who is this kid?"

And so what ends up happening is people start Googling all over the place. Who is Jeremy Lin? And they're trying to figure out who is his family.

And so people are Googling everywhere. Searches through Jeremy go through the roof. I mean, he became a global phenomenon.

And if you remember during that time, it was stunning. Now, around that time, as people are Googling, I had various friends who I hadn't talked to in years.

And a couple of media publications, they contacted me. And I was like, "What's going on?" And they contacted me because when people would Google Jeremy Lin and his family, they would get this image.

That's me with a lot more hair. Now, this photo is from 2010. That's right. I wasn't just a bandwagon fan back then. You know what I'm saying? I did my research.

In 2010, I heard about this kid from Harvard, this Asian American kid who had a chance to go pro. So of course, I was following this kid. So I bought tickets to Harvard versus Columbia.

And it just so happened that the seats that I purchased that was over up in the Upper West Side of Columbia, I was sitting right next to this woman who was Jeremy Lin's mom.

So I took this photo and I put it on my blog. I wrote about this kid, Jeremy. And who knew that two years later, people were Googling his name and my image with his mom kept coming up.

And people were like, "Oh my goodness, you know Jeremy Lin." I'm like, "Yeah, I do. I met his mom."

And I just remember just feeling so special. I feel like, "Oh my goodness, the closeness that I had to this global phenomenon."

People were Googling him and they would find my image with his mom, who she would have no idea who I am.

Isn't that interesting? Like just the swell that it got to be known or to be associated with someone of influence.

But could you imagine like the God created the Milky Way is just but a speck to him.

What you're anxious about, what you've been weeping over, what you've been struggling with in life. This God has come close. This God has come close.

You know what's interesting is this God comes close, but notice what John tells us. John says, "He was in the world and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him."

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Now, some of us immediately jump to judgment. What? Say what? Like this cat who basically was holding the Shekinah glory was the God who created everything, the universe and everything in it, and people did not recognize him.

Well, the gospel of John is gonna go over why did people not recognize this Jesus? And the answer is no surprise. I mean, because Jesus comes to us, he's close to us, but oftentimes it's hard for us to perceive it.

You know, some of us, we wonder, we're like, "How could a God allow some of the tragedies and difficulties of what's happening in Los Angeles or some of the tragedies of what's happened in my own life or some of the difficulties or the despair or the depression that I'm going through right now?"

Some of us, we wrestle with these realities. And the reason why we can't recognize God is because we think, "Oh, God is so different. He's so much over all these, why doesn't he do anything?"

And we think that what God, God is with us only when things are wonderful and peaceful. Not when things, not when it feels like he's silent and we're suffering and hurting.

See, but the message of Jesus is Jesus comes to us in the very midst of our darkest moments, our moments, our most painful moments.

And it's hard for us to recognize him because we're too lost in the ways that we have these preconceived notions about the ways that God.

God will come to us. Surely God will come to us with health, wealth, and prosperity. And Jesus is like, "No, no, no. I come into the world. The word becomes flesh, but I don't come to be this ruling conqueror full of celebrity and richness and wealth. I come as one who would die for you and for the world to show you that I am with you in the midst of what seems like the worst and darkest times of your life."

Why is it that so many of us, we miss him, we miss this Jesus? The question for me and for you is who or what?

Because the reality is in each of our lives, we all believe in something. We're recognizing something. We're giving preeminent importance to someone or something.

Maybe that preeminent importance is your career. Maybe it's towards your bank account. Maybe it's towards this relationship or the prospect of this relationship with someone.

Or maybe it's around your children. Or maybe whatever it might be, there are all sorts of ways in which we start believing other things and listening to other voices and focusing our attention on other gods.

And the reason why we don't recognize Jesus is because we don't have time to recognize Jesus. Forget it. Forget about noticing and believing.

And what if today, what if today there was a grace where God was inviting you to actually know this Jesus?

Look at what John writes. John writes, "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

All it takes is to say, "Yes, this transcendent God of the universe, the one who has come close, I believe you. I trust you. I want to follow you. I want to be your child. I want you to be the one that's the center of my life, the one that I see, I recognize, I believe in, over and against anyone or anything else."

Subject: Embracing New Beginnings: The Incarnation of God



Dear Hope Midtown,



I hope my email finds you reflecting on the incredible truth that God is both transcendent and intimately close to us.



This past Sunday, we began our new series on new beginnings by exploring the profound message of the Gospel of John. We learned that in the midst of silence and longing, God entered our world as the "logos," the Word made flesh, revealing His presence among us. John reminds us that this transcendent God, who created the universe and everything in it, chose to dwell among us, inviting us to recognize Him in our lives and to embrace the new beginnings He offers.



As we move forward into this new year, I challenge you to consider how you might recognize God's presence in your daily life. Are there areas where you feel distant from Him? What if you took a moment each day to invite Him into those spaces, trusting that He is closer than you think? Let’s open our hearts to the transformative power of His presence and the new beginnings He has in store for us.



Blessings,

Hope Midtown Team