Christmas Begins With God

1 John 4:9-10

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Christmas was God’s idea. It has never been man’s invention.

• The coming of Jesus was God’s plan, with a purpose in mind, and you are the reason for it.

• The Bible not only reveals that God exists but that He knows you.

(1) GOD KNOWS YOU

God knows you, not that you know Him. We did not look for Him. He came looking for us in Jesus.

• Without Christ, that is, without Christmas, we will still be guessing today who God is.

• Why? Because God cannot be a projection of man’s imagination. The finite can never find the infinite.

• Man can never find God unless God chooses to reveal Himself.

And this is what He did at Christmas. God sent His Son. God came in Jesus Christ.

• Phil 2:6-7 says Jesus “6 who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

God knows you even before you know Him. And He knows your problem.

• You can hide from me, you can hide from your friends, but you cannot hide from God.

• You don’t need to. He knows you. He saw your need and He came for you. You are the reason for Christmas.

• You don’t have to look for Him, He has already come. He is just a prayer away. You just need to put your trust in Jesus and you will experience His presence and love.

A multinational company celebrated her 10th anniversary with a grand ballroom banquet. They invited the former president of the United States, President Gerald Ford.

The coordinator was excited to receive the President at the airport. He turned to his boss, standing beside him, and asked if he knew President Ford.

The boss was silent. After a short pause, he said, “Jimmy, the question is not 'Do I know President Ford?' but, rather, 'Does President Ford know me?'”

It doesn’t matter if we know the President, many people do. But if the President knows you, that is different. You feel honored, you are happy. Someone important knows you.

• Dear friends, God knows you. The Word of God tells us this very clearly and repeatedly, that God knows you.

• He tells Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” (Jer 1:5)

• God is watching over you today. No matter where you are or what you are facing, you have to hold on to this truth – God is aware of your needs. Trust Him.

(2) GOD LOVES US

The stress in God’s Word goes beyond just God knowing you. The Bible says God loves you.

• Verse 10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

• There is still a difference between just knowing you and loving you.

• You are not a number among the millions on earth. You are not a statistic. Jesus says He calls His own sheep by name (John 10:3). You are not a nameless entity to God.

Jesus illustrated it very well in Matt 10:29-31

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? [It’s so cheap, so insignificant] Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

• We are valuable because we are made His likeness. Gen 1:27 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him…”

Love arises from the keen sense of the value and worth of the object of love.

• God loves you because you are precious in His sight. You are His masterpiece, made in His own image.

• Treasure your life. Don’t waste it. Don’t abuse it. Don’t neglect it.

• You are honoring that love (from God) when you treasure your life.

The Christmas story is a love story. It is the greatest love story ever told.

• In all relationships of love, there needs to be that first meeting. It can be pre-arranged, or for some, it happened by chance. However that happens, it has to start with a first meeting.

• If our lives did not cross paths, we would never have known each other and fell in love.