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.
My dear friends, Christmas is that crossing of paths. Christmas is where we find Jesus Christ, who is God, intersecting with humanity! The divine and humanity met.
• Christmas is man’s first meeting with the God in the flesh, our Lover who has desired us from the very beginning.
• It was not a love at first sight. It was not a love by chance. God’s Word says it was pre-arranged, even before the creation of the world (cf. Eph 1:4).
Without Christmas, we would never have known the intensity of God’s love for us.
• We would have known nothing about God. But with Jesus, we are able to hear, feel and communicate with Him.
• Now we know and we are glad it happened.
One of the great theologians that ever lived, Karl Barth, was asked to be a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School. At the end of a captivating closing lecture, the president of the seminary announced that Dr Barth was not well and was quite tired, and though Dr Barth would be willing to open for questions, he suggested that they do not do that, and instead, he said, “Allow me to ask just one question on behalf of all of us.”
He turned to the renowned professor and asked, “Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which is the one you consider to be the greatest of them all?”
It was the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of the most difficult theology ever put into print. The students held pencils right up against their writing pads, ready to take down this great insight of the greatest theologian of their time.
The professor closed his tired eyes, and thought for a minute, and then smiling, he opened his eyes and said, “The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’”
That is enough, to know that you are deeply loved.
• For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son Jesus.
• You can’t make God stop loving you, because His love is not based on what you do.
• Will you receive His love today? Are you willing to?
(3) GOD SAVES US
The Word says He sent His Son into the world that we might live through Him. He sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
• There is a clear purpose behind Christmas. Jesus did not come to simply pay us a visit, or tour this world He has made.
• He came so that man might live through Him. Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
• Put it plainly, He came to save you. He came to pay the price, offering Himself as the atoning sacrifice for your sins. Without Him we will die in our sin.
The challenge we have in buying gifts for people is to get the right gift.
• We want to get them something that they like, something they can use, something most appropriate. You need to consider their tastes, age and personalities.
• You need to know them in order to buy them the right gifts.
• It is not just any other gifts, it is not just the nicest thing you see on the shelf, it cannot be simply something you like, or that which is expensive.
• It must be something suitable for them, something they like, or something they need.
God knows us enough to give us what we truly need. He sent His Son and He died for our sin.
• The Lord says, “God did not send me into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”
• God wants you to know He is for you today, not against you.
Many people are afraid of God. He is holy, righteous and just, which is correct.
• But that’s the problem. We feel that we are not good enough. We are never good enough, actually.
• This is called guilt. Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
• Guilt separates us from God. “If I get close to God, He’s going to scold me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong. He’s going to tell me I’m not good enough.”
God knows about that. And that’s why Jesus has to reassure us, that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world.”
• He came to save you. He is on your side. Don’t run away from Him; run to Him.
• Put your trust in Jesus Christ today (if you have not done so). Admit that you have sinned and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Invite Him back into your life.
This is the good news. And that’s why we celebrate at Christmas.
• The angel says, it is good news of great joy for all people (Luke 2:10), that includes you.
• God knows you, He loves you and He has done all He can to save you.
• Would you accept God’s gift of salvation today?
Brothers and sisters, Christmas is a reminder to us that we are deeply loved and cared for. We did not initiate a move to look for Him, He came for us.
• He knows fully what you are going through today. Trust Him.
• He took on human form to get in touch with you. So talk to Him, every day.
• Let the joy, peace and hope of Christmas fills your heart, not just at this time but every day of your life.
• You are deeply loved, highly favored and forever blessed.
