Love Came Down: The Heart of Christmas Eve

When Christmas Eve arrives, something shifts. The world slows down just enough for us to catch our breath. The lights glow a little softer. The noise fades into the background. And in that sacred space, we're invited to remember something profound—something that changes everything.

Christmas Eve isn't just another holiday tradition. It's the night we celebrate the answer to one of humanity's deepest questions: *Does God really love us?*

The answer doesn't come through slogans, commercials, or even our most cherished traditions. The answer came wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger in Bethlehem.

The Love That Came Near

Scripture tells us clearly: "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" (1 John 4:9).

Think about that for a moment. God didn't demonstrate His love through distant promises or abstract concepts. He didn't send a message or a philosophy. He sent His Son. Love took on flesh. Love entered our world. Love came down.

Every year, culture tries to redefine Christmas. We're told it's about generosity, kindness, family togetherness, or spreading goodwill. And while those things are wonderful, they're not the heart of Christmas. Christmas is not primarily about what we give to each other or even what we give to God.

Christmas is about what God has given to us.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

That single truth transforms everything. Christmas Eve is not about proving our love to God. It's about God revealing His love to us.  It is a love that is so deep, so complete, that it required nothing less than the incarnation of the divine.

Born Into Our Darkness

Jesus wasn't born into comfort. He didn't arrive in a palace with servants and security. He came into a world marked by fear, political unrest, economic hardship, and spiritual longing. The world He entered looked a lot like ours.  A broken, uncertain, and one desperate for hope.

And that's precisely why His arrival matters so much.

God chose to enter our mess. He came into the darkness because that's where we were. He came near because distance wouldn't save us. He took on human flesh because anything less wouldn't bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity.

The phrase John uses is critical: "that we might live through him." Without Christ, sin brings separation, brokenness, and death and I don't mean just physical death, but spiritual death. Life apart from God is no life at all. And no amount of trying harder, being better, or doing more could fix that fundamental problem.

We needed someone to be what we could not be. We needed someone to do what we could not do. We needed someone to stand in our place.

The Manger and the Cross

Even as we gaze at the manger on Christmas Eve, we cannot miss the shadow of the cross. That's not meant to dampen our joy.  It is meant to secure it.

The baby born in Bethlehem is the Savior of the world. The hands that would one day be pierced were first wrapped in strips of cloth. The head that would wear a crown of thorns first rested on straw. The body that would be broken for us was first cradled by a teenage mother.

This is why the angels could proclaim with such confidence: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward mankind."

Peace didn't come because the world suddenly became peaceful. Peace came because God made a way to reconcile sinners to Himself. An atoning sacrifice restores what was broken. It brings enemies back into relationship. It covers what separated us from God.

Christmas is the beginning of that rescue mission—a mission that would culminate in resurrection and eternal life.

A Love That Changes How We Live

The love of Christmas doesn't end at the manger. It continues to work in and through us today.

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:12).

Christmas changes how we live, but only because it first changes how we are loved. We don't love others to earn God's favor because we already have it. We don't show kindness because it feels seasonal instead we show kindness because Christ has shown mercy to us.

We love one another because God first loved us.

This is the Christmas message that doesn't fade when the decorations come down. This is the truth that carries us through every season of life. God's love came for us. God's love remains with us. God's love will carry us into eternity.

A Light That Cannot Be Overcome

Long before Christmas traditions, long before Advent wreaths and candlelight services, Scripture promised that light would come into the darkness. And that light is Christ Himself.

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." And then He said something remarkable: "You are the light of the world."

The light we receive is meant to be shared. Like a candle flame passed from one person to another until an entire room glows, the love of Christ spreads from heart to heart, life to life.

This is the beauty of Christmas Eve and it must remind us that we are not alone. That love has entered the darkness. That hope is not wishful thinking but a person named Jesus. That peace is possible even in the middle of trouble because Christ is present.

Love came down. And the light still shines.

Blessings,

Pastor Jay