The Real Reason for the CHRISTmas Story

Devotional

Day 1: Love Planned Before the World Began

Before a star was lit or a garden planted, God’s love had already moved toward you with a rescue plan. Your failures do not surprise Him, and they cannot undo what He purposed in love before creation. He made you, knew you would stumble, and still chose adoption through Jesus as His delight. Let this steady, initiating love quiet your fears and anchor your hope. Rest today in the truth that salvation begins with God and is sustained by God. [07:38]

Ephesians 1:3–6: All praise to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has already given us every spiritual good in Christ. Before the world was laid, He chose us in Him so we would stand holy and clean. Moved by love, He marked us out for adoption through Jesus because it pleased Him, and this puts the beauty of His grace on display in the One He loves.

Reflection: What past misstep still makes you wonder if you’ve derailed God’s plan, and how might trusting that He loved and chose you before creation change one decision you make today?

Day 2: The Almighty Became a Child for Us

The Maker of galaxies became a fertilized egg, entered a womb, and passed through the pain and mess of birth for love. He who spoke worlds into being let Himself be wrapped, warmed, and rocked by human hands. The Son who had infinite power embraced the limits of learning to walk, talk, and work. This is not sentimental; it is the blazing humility of God bending low to lift us up. Worship today by receiving the nearness of a Savior who became small so He could bring you home. [15:26]

Philippians 2:5–7: Let the mindset of Christ shape you—though truly God, He did not cling to divine privileges. He released His rights, took the role of a servant, and became fully human for our sake.

Reflection: Where do you feel most limited right now, and how could you honor Jesus’ humility by embracing that limit rather than resenting it?

Day 3: He Felt Thirst, Slept, and Obeyed

God needs nothing, yet Jesus chose to feel need—thirsting by a well, napping in a storm-tossed boat, and growing under the care of Mary and Joseph. He, who crafted trees, lived under a carpenter’s roof and obeyed. He who knows all entered time and increased in wisdom. Your human limits are not failures to hide but places where Jesus has already walked with kindness. Ask Him to meet you in your need, teach you in your growth, and strengthen you in obedience today. [27:01]

Luke 2:51–52: Jesus went down to Nazareth with His family and lived in obedience to them. He kept on maturing—gaining wisdom, growing physically, and enjoying favor with God and with people.

Reflection: Which daily need—rest, help, or guidance—are you most reluctant to admit, and what simple practice could you adopt this week to ask your Father for it?

Day 4: Love That Endures Betrayal and Sin

Jesus invited a betrayer to His table, washed imperfect feet, and walked toward a cross for people not even trying to be good. He loved first, not after we cleaned up. This love stayed the course when misunderstood, resisted, and rejected. Marvel that the Holy One set His heart on you while you were still running the other way. Let His mercy reshape how you see yourself and how you respond to those who fail you. [28:21]

Romans 5:8: Here is how God puts His love on display—while we were still in our sin, the Messiah gave His life for us.

Reflection: Think of one person who has disappointed you; what is a small, wise act of Christlike goodwill you could offer them this week without denying healthy boundaries?

Day 5: Receive and Live the Gift of Love

A gift only changes you when you open it. Some have admired the story from a distance; others opened the gift once and then set it aside; still others are weary and trying to live on their own strength. Hear this afresh: “For God so loved [your name].” Jesus came to save His people from their sins, and His finished work is enough to cleanse, steady, and lead you. Open or reopen the gift—trust Him, return to Him, and walk this week in what He has done, not what you can do. [41:04]

John 3:16: God loved the world in this way—He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who puts their trust in Him will not be lost but will share in unending life.

Reflection: What would “opening the gift” look like for you this week—setting a time to pray, confessing a sin, talking with a trusted friend, or returning to Scripture each morning?

Sermon Summary

“For God so loved” becomes the doorway into a holy wonder: how much love did it take for salvation to be planned before creation, for the eternal Son to embrace time, limitation, and loss so that sinners might live? Beginning with John 3:16 and echoing Ephesians 1, the focus rests on God’s initiative—love conceived “before the foundation of the world.” That love moves from eternity into a manger, where the One through whom all things were made chose to become a fertilized egg, to be born in weakness, wrapped because He was cold, and to cry because He was truly human. Philippians 2 frames this descent as voluntary self-emptying; the Lord of glory took the form of a servant.

This love went further still. He who needed nothing chose to feel need—hunger, thirst, and fatigue. He who authored authority placed Himself under it, living in obedience to Mary and Joseph. He who knew Abraham before Abraham existed also grew in wisdom and stature, learning to walk, work, and wait. He called and fed a man destined to betray Him, and then gave His life for those who did not want Him. Romans 5:8 names this plainly: while enemies, we were loved unto death.

Such love is not vague or general. “World” includes names. It includes the one who has heard the story a hundred times and never opened the gift, the one who opened it and then set it aside for lesser lights, and the one who is weary from trying to run on self-effort. The call is simple and searching: take the gift personally, return to it if you’ve drifted, and rest in what He has done rather than what you can do. Christmas becomes more than sentiment; it becomes a summons to behold the love in the manger, the love on the cross, and the living love that still seeks, saves, and leads. This is not novelty; it is reality—God’s holy love, given wholly, calling for a whole-life response.

Key Takeaways

1. Love planned before creation God’s saving purpose did not begin at Bethlehem but in eternity. Election “before the foundation of the world” means grace is not a reaction but a design, and therefore cannot be undone by human failure. This gives a settled assurance: the same God who planned redemption will finish what He started. [07:24]
2. Infinite God became dependent child The Word who spoke galaxies into being chose to become a fertilized egg, to enter the trauma of birth, and to be wrapped because He was cold. This is not symbolic humility; it is real limitation freely embraced. Such condescension reveals the weight of love: greatness measured by how far it stoops to rescue. [09:17]
3. Love that embraces human limits He who owns the cattle on a thousand hills chose to be thirsty at a well and sleepy in a storm. Need, fatigue, and hunger were not signs of weakness in His character but of love in His mission. When He shares our limits, He sanctifies them and meets us in them, not just above them. [22:14]
4. Obedience in hidden Nazareth years The Creator submitted to created parents, honoring authority He Himself authored. Hidden obedience prepared Him for public surrender; small yesses formed the path to the great Yes of the cross. True discipleship often looks like faithfulness in the ordinary before it looks like courage in the extraordinary. [25:26]
5. He loved the resistant and betrayer Jesus washed the feet of a traitor and died for those who would not receive Him. Divine love is not sentimental acquiescence; it bears the cost of another’s good even when scorned. This exposes and heals our grudges, inviting us to love beyond reciprocity. [27:44]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:57] - Why this is different
[03:15] - Zooming in on “loved”
[06:42] - Chosen before the foundation
[08:44] - From cosmic power to embryo
[12:12] - Birth in Bethlehem’s humility
[15:58] - Growing in wisdom and favor
[22:14] - Thirsty at the well, weary in storms
[25:26] - Submitting to Mary and Joseph
[27:44] - Judas and dying for sinners
[30:47] - “For God so loved”—make it personal
[34:53] - Open the gift, don’t admire it
[38:17] - Return to the gift you forgot
[39:30] - Stop striving; lean on His love
[42:08] - Prayer of surrender and desire

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Observation questions

In John 3:16, what four movements do you see linked together? (God loved → God gave → we believe → we have life)
What exact phrase was highlighted about the timing of God’s plan? “Before the foundation of the world” [07:24]
What choice did the eternal Son make, according to Philippians 2 language that was quoted? He “emptied himself.” [09:17]
Name two concrete ways Jesus took on our limits that were mentioned (for example, He was “thirsty”). [22:14]

Interpretation questions

If God chose to save “before the foundation of the world,” what should that do inside a person when they fail or fear failing again? [07:24]
Why is it such a big deal that the Lord of all chose to become “a fertilized egg”? What does that say about what real greatness looks like? [08:44]
If Jesus embraced being “sleepy” in a storm, what does that teach about how love meets us in our tired places? [24:30]
What does loving someone who will betray—“one of you will betray me”—reveal about the nature of holy love and our grudges? [27:44]

Application questions

Try putting your name in John 3:16: “For God so loved [your name].” How does that change the way you will approach God this week? What one step will you take (prayer, confession, obedience)? [31:09]
Where have you been tempted to “open that gift” halfway or just admire it from a distance? What would fully receiving Jesus look like today—in a clear, simple step you can name? [35:32]
If you’ve “set the gift aside,” what specific habit will help you return—time in the Word, a daily prayer, accountability with a friend? When will you start? [38:17]
Where are you “running on what you can do”? Describe that place. What would it look like, this week, to lean on “what He has done” instead—practically? [39:00]
Think of your “Nazareth” spaces—ordinary, unseen places. What is one small “yes” of obedience you can give there (home, work, school) as an offering of love? [25:26]
Name someone resistant or hard to love. What is one costly and concrete way you can pursue their good this week, remembering “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”? [28:21]
What limit are you facing right now (fatigue, time, money, energy)? Instead of despising it, how will you meet Jesus in it this week, since He was “thirsty” too? [22:14]

Sermon Clips

For god so loved, we might say so. That means the word so means how much or this much or this way loved and and as I get to that word, I kind of get stuck. When it comes to Christmas What does it mean for god to love? You ever stopped and thought about that question? Maybe maybe this way, have you ever stopped to wonder how much love it took for Jesus to be born? [00:04:54] (41 seconds) #GodSoLoved

But imagine being God, because let's make no mistake. There's God the father, God the son, God the holy spirit. They are three, but yet they are one. And he takes upon himself the limitation, the physical limitation of going through birth. How much love did that take? How many at what point would you have said, time out. I'm done. [00:15:04] (31 seconds) #GodBecameHuman

Say, well, if god doesn't need anything, why are we always asking people for offering? It's because we need to give. So, well, well, if he doesn't need anything, why does it seem like everywhere we look? It's all about, give me, give me, give me. It's not. It's about who's going to be your god? God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And by the way, if you are a follower of Jesus, you belong to him too. But how much love do you think it took for him to limit himself to the point where he was hungry? [00:21:49] (39 seconds) #HeHumbledHimself

And Jesus didn't shake his finger at her. He didn't harangue her. He loved her. And she was so overcome and so overwhelmed by that that she went and told everybody whom she had been hiding from, come see the man who told me everything I've ever done. And I think insinuated in that statement is, and he still loves me. [00:23:50] (30 seconds) #GraceNotJudgment

Here's the amazing part. What would you do, parent? What would you do if you offered your child as a sacrifice, and the way that people responded was they spit in your face. They punched you in the face. They rejected the gift that you gave them and treated your sacrifices though were nothing. Can I be honest? I would not be happy. [00:28:51] (44 seconds) #LoveInSacrifice

So, that love in the manger were for those outside of his family. He died even though there would be people who would say, that's not for me. He died for those who are not yet in his family. How many of you have ever asked the question or wondered, why hasn't Jesus come back yet? The clock's ticking. Why hasn't he come back yet? But yet, how many of us that ask that question are thankful he waited until you believed? Right? [00:32:05] (36 seconds) #LoveWaitedForYou

For some here today, you've you've opened that gift. Maybe you've begun a relationship with Jesus, but you got distracted by the other lights and tinsel and and and trimmings on the tree, and you've taken that gift and you just set it off to the side, and you're looking for something else to fulfill you. Can I encourage you to do something? Just pray to god and say, god, bring me back to that gift. Bring me back to that gift. [00:37:56] (36 seconds) #UnwrapTheGift

I'm using that gift. I don't know that I'm great at it yet but I'm trying but I'm just running out of strength. I'm running out of patience. I'm running out of energy and endurance. Maybe god brought you here today to remind you of how much he loves you to say, stop running on what you can do and start leaning on what he has done. [00:38:48] (31 seconds) #LeanOnGod

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The Real Reason for the CHRISTmas Story

Devotional

Day 1: Love Planned Before the World Began

Day 2: The Almighty Became a Child for Us

Day 3: He Felt Thirst, Slept, and Obeyed

Day 4: Love That Endures Betrayal and Sin

Day 5: Receive and Live the Gift of Love

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

The Real Reason for the CHRISTmas Story

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