The Story of Amazing Love | Susan Reddy | Dec 21, 2025

Devotional

Day 1: Created for Love, Given Real Choice

You were made out of love, not for usefulness. Real love requires freedom, so God gave you a will that can say yes—or no—to Him. That freedom explains both the beauty and the brokenness we see: the world still shines with God’s kindness, yet it also groans under sin’s fracture. If you’ve been running, know this: the One who made you for relationship still pursues you with patient, personal love. You are not a pawn; you are wanted. Let His invitation soften your fear and draw you home [02:22].

Look at the scale of the Father’s affection: He calls us His children—this is reality, not flattery. —1 John 3:1

Reflection: Where have you been hiding from God’s love lately, and what is one concrete way you could step out of hiding and talk with Him about it today?

Day 2: God With Us in Humble Places

Heaven rejoiced, but earth barely noticed: the King arrived in poverty, in a barn, laid in a feeding trough. Emmanuel chose the quiet path, drawing near to ordinary, weary people who knew their need. The Nativity is not sentimental; it is gritty hope—God moving into the neighborhood of our pain. Because He came low, no corner of your life is beneath His care. Expect Him in the overlooked places, and welcome Him there [08:11].

At the very beginning, before time, the Word already existed, face to face with God and fully God; then the Word became truly human and lived among us, and we saw the unique splendor of the Father’s Son, brimming with grace and truth. —John 1:1, 14

Reflection: What unnoticed or humble place in your week could you treat as holy ground, expecting Emmanuel to meet you there?

Day 3: The Cross: Extravagant Love That Rescues

Sin promises life and quietly steals it, but Jesus came to rescue, not to condemn. With all power at His command, He chose the nails and stayed—not because He had to, but because love held Him there. Isaiah foresaw it; Easter confirmed it: He paid the cost and rose, proving the debt is settled. The joy set before Him was people—real names, real faces—yours included. Receive that love personally, and let it reshape your story [11:51].

Fix your gaze on Jesus: because joy awaited Him, He endured the cross, disregarded the shame, and now sits at the right hand of God’s throne. —Hebrews 12:2

Reflection: When you imagine Jesus staying on the cross for you, what false belief about your worth is He inviting you to release today?

Day 4: Believe, Worship, and Trust the One Who Knocks

This love calls for a response: believe it, open to it, and let it overflow in worship and trust. Worship is worth-ship—declaring with words and with your life what Jesus is worth. Trust grows as you remember what He has already done; if He died for you, He will surely help you live through today’s troubles. You don’t have to tidy your life first; He meets you as you are and changes you from within. Open the door, and dine with the One who delights to be with you [20:48].

Listen: I’m at your door, knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens up, I will come in and share the table with them, and they with me. —Revelation 3:20

Reflection: What specific “door” (fear, habit, secret, or wound) could you open to Jesus this week, and what would opening it look like in practice?

Day 5: Love Like Jesus: Patient, Costly, Practical

Loved people become loving people; this is the family resemblance. To love as He loved is to die to self in daily, ordinary ways—choosing patience, choosing kindness, choosing another’s good when it costs. On our own, this feels impossible, but the Spirit makes it real in us. As we love like this, we both assure our hearts that we belong to Him and help others see how beautiful He is. Ask Him who needs that kind of love from you next, and take a step toward them today [26:31].

Love waits without hurry and acts with kindness; it doesn’t simmer with envy or parade itself or demand its own way. It isn’t quick to flare up, doesn’t keep a running tally of wrongs, and never celebrates what is harmful. Love celebrates truth, shoulders the load, keeps trusting, keeps hoping, and keeps going. —1 Corinthians 13:4–7

Reflection: Name one person who feels hard to love right now; what is one specific act of patience or kindness you will offer them this week?

Sermon Summary

I shared how becoming a parent helped me glimpse why God created us: not to use us, but to love us and be with us. Love requires freedom, so God gave us real choice. That means we could also choose to reject Him—and we did. Sin shattered our harmony with God, each other, and creation. The world remains beautiful, yet it groans under the weight of our rebellion. God will not force Himself on us; if we spend our lives saying “leave me alone,” He will honor that. But love does not stand idly by—He came after us.

This is the wonder of Christmas. The eternal Word became flesh. The King of all set aside His glory, took on frail humanity, and was born into poverty—gritty, unadorned, largely unnoticed on earth, yet celebrated in heaven. Jesus lived our human life—joys and sorrows, hunger and friendship, rejection and temptation—yet without sin. In His words and ways we finally see the Father’s heart: gracious, just, compassionate, pursuing the lost. Sin always promises and never delivers; Jesus came not to condemn but to rescue.

At the cross, Love went to the very end. With infinite power at His disposal, Jesus chose to stay on that wood for the joy of bringing us home. It wasn’t the nails that held Him; it was love. He rose, proving that our debt is paid and the way back to the Father is open to any who believe. This is not dry religion; this is transformational love. When truth overflows the mind into the heart and will, everything changes—like John who never got over it, and Mary who poured out costly devotion because she knew how deeply she was loved.

So how do we respond? Believe. Open the door when He knocks. Worship—worth-ship—by offering our words and our very lives. Trust the One who gave Himself for us; if He would die for us, He can surely carry us. And when suffering makes His love hard to feel, remember Emmanuel: God with us, in our mess and pain, until the day He returns and wipes away every tear. Until then, we love like He loved—patient, costly, self-forgetful, empowered by His Spirit. This is the true joy of Christmas: Love come down to rescue and make us His forever.

Key Takeaways

1. Love requires freedom; sin fractures everything. Real love is chosen, not coerced, which means our refusal of God has real, world-shaping consequences. The fallout isn’t just private guilt; it distorts relationships, systems, and even creation’s rhythms. Owning this reality is the first step toward receiving rescue rather than managing symptoms. [04:10]
2. God comes low: Emmanuel in our grit. The incarnation isn’t sentimental; it’s God entering poverty, rejection, and obscurity to be with us and for us. He dignifies our ordinary places and names them holy by His presence. When you feel unseen, remember the manger—God does His deepest work in earth’s quiet corners. [07:38]
3. The cross reveals joyfully costly love. Jesus stayed on the cross not from weakness but from a will anchored in love and joy—the joy of having you. Costly love is not performative; it bears pain to bring life. If His love held fast there, you can trust it will hold in whatever nails you today. [11:13]
4. Respond with belief, worship, and trust. Belief is not intellectual agreement alone; it’s opening the door when Love knocks. Worship is declaring His worth with both words and a poured-out life. Trust is the daily refusal to let fear be lord when the Crucified-and-Risen King has already pledged Himself to you. [20:48]
5. Suffering does not silence His presence. Pain can make love feel absent, but Christmas declares the opposite—God has come near in our affliction. He meets us where we actually are, not where we wish we were, and He will one day end all suffering. In the waiting, His with-ness is our hidden strength. [24:22]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:22] - Made for relationship and choice
[03:22] - The fracture and its fallout
[04:39] - The Father runs after us
[05:30] - The Word becomes flesh
[06:59] - A King born in poverty
[09:36] - Jesus reveals the Father
[10:36] - The cross: love measured in wounds
[11:51] - Resurrection and the open invitation
[18:46] - Believe: letting love in
[20:48] - Worship, worth-ship, and trust
[22:47] - When pain clouds God’s love
[24:52] - Hope: He will end suffering
[26:31] - Love that dies to self
[29:36] - Closing hymn: Noel

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- John 1:1-3, 14
- John 3:16-17
- Hebrews 12:2

Observation questions

In John 1:1-3, 14, who is “the Word,” and what does it mean that He “became flesh and made his dwelling among us”? What contrasts do you notice between His eternal identity and the gritty details of His birth in poverty and obscurity (see [07:38])?
According to John 3:16-17, what is God’s stated purpose in sending His Son? How do these two verses hold together both God’s love and the reality of perishing without Him?
Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before him.” What does the text list as the steps He took (endured, despised, sat down), and what does that sequence show about His mission?
Name the three relationships that were fractured by humanity’s rebellion, as described early on (see [03:22]). What evidence of that fracture can be seen in the world around us?

Interpretation questions

“He will never force himself on us” (see [04:10]). How does the claim that God honors human freedom shape an understanding of both judgment and grace? In what way might someone’s lifelong “leave me alone” become their eternity?
If the eternal Word truly “became flesh” and entered poverty and rejection (John 1:14; see [07:38]), what does that reveal about where God chooses to work and whom He draws near to today?
Hebrews 12:2 teaches that joy motivated Jesus’ endurance. How might joy-in-love (rather than mere duty) be the only power strong enough to sustain costly obedience?
John 3:17 declares that the Son came “not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (see [05:30]). How should that aim shape a believer’s posture toward people trapped in destructive patterns?

Application questions

Where might you be telling God, in big or small ways, “leave me alone”? What would it look like to actually “open the door” this week—one concrete step to welcome His presence (see [20:26])?
When do you feel most unseen or ordinary? How could remembering that God came low—into poverty, rejection, and obscurity—reframe your week in that very place (see [07:38])?
What are the “nails” in your life right now—pressures, fears, or pains that feel fastening? How does trusting the love that kept Jesus on the cross change how you face those pressures today (see [11:51])?
If suffering makes God’s love hard to feel, what simple practice could help you remember “Emmanuel—God with us” in the middle of it (a breath prayer, a psalm at bedtime, asking a friend to pray)? Choose one to try this week (see [24:22]).
Worship means worth-ship. What is one “costly” thing—time, attention, comfort, resources—you sense God inviting you to pour out in love, like Mary did? What would obedience look like, very practically, in the next seven days (see [21:21])?
Name one anxiety that keeps returning. If the One who died for you will also carry you, what is one trusted action you could take to practice trust instead of fear (a journaled surrender, a phone call, a step of generosity) (see [22:03])?
Love that looks like Jesus dies to self. Who is one person Jesus might be inviting you to love sacrificially right now, and what “dying to self” would that require—listening longer, serving quietly, forgiving, showing up again (see [26:31])?

Sermon Clips

Because here's the thing that we have to understand about our God. He will never force himself on us. And so if we spend all of our lives telling him we don't want him, he will honor that decision for us when we die. But here is the other thing. This is now where we see the extravagant love of our God. He loved us, loves us, too much to have his children separated from him. Imagine, what would you do for your children if they had run off? If they didn't want you, wouldn't you run after them? That is what our Father does for us. [00:04:15] (40 seconds) #GodPursuesUs

You know, we have all kinds of nativity scenes, don't we, that make it look very charming and quaint. And I have a lot of them. You can just ask my kids. I like to collect them. I love them. But the reality was actually far more gritty than that. It was poverty. It was rejection by family. It was having a baby, two young people having a baby on their own in a barn. The most precious gift we have ever been given, Emmanuel, God with us, came humbly, came quietly, and came to grow up to save us from our sins. [00:07:27] (40 seconds) #HumbleManger

And here's the thing that we have to understand about sin. Sin is not that great. Sin always promises us something that it can never deliver. Sin always destroys and hurts and damages us and sucks the life and joy out of us. And so Jesus came to rescue us from it. And then he did that. When he was 33 years old, he truly showed us the depth of his love. He who had all the power of the universe at his fingertips allowed himself to be arrested, to be beaten and abused and nailed to a cross and die for our sins. [00:10:15] (43 seconds) #RescuedFromSin

``For all the people he was going to save, he thought of you and me when he was hanging on that cross and dying for us. It was not the nails that held him on the cross. It was love. He is God. He could have come down any moment. Imagine how much strength it took to stay. [00:11:33] (21 seconds) #ItWasLove

But he didn't stay dead after he died. He rose again three days later telling us, proving to us, he is God and he had paid the price for our sin. And all we have to do is believe. That's it. All we have to do is believe that he did that for us personally. And then we are cleansed and set free of that relationship we were created for by God, our Father. It is restored to us. We are restored to him. [00:11:55] (28 seconds) #HeIsRisen

We get to have life with him, joy with him, satisfaction with him. Yes, this world still is hard. Yes, this world still has struggles. But we are with him now. And he comes to live inside of us. And we are changed. And this is our rescue story. This is a story that began before the creation of the world. [00:12:23] (23 seconds) #LifeWithHim

This is not just about going through the motions with God, just going to church because you feel like you kind of have to, obeying him out of some sort of sense of duty. And then when you do that, you think, well, I worked really hard. Surely God owes me something now. And it's, or it's not thinking, you have to earn something from God. Like if you're good enough, you could earn your way into his good books. That is just dry, dusty religion. That just sucks the life out of us trying to live that way. [00:17:13] (32 seconds) #NotReligionButRelationship

What is truly what God wants for us is transformational love for him. Truly understanding that God's love for you is personal. It changes your heart. It's life-giving. It makes us want to stand in awe. Respond in love. This love our Lord has for us cannot be measured, cannot be contained. And when we see it, truly see it, we are never the same. [00:17:44] (41 seconds) #TransformingLove

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