Anticipating Christ: Love | Resources
Devotional:
What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? Is it cards and cider, trees and traditions, nutcrackers and nativities, or stockings and snow? I know all of these things come to my mind when I think of Christmas. After all, it is my favorite holiday. But to stop there would be to miss out on the one aspect of Christmas that matters most: love.
Now, I’m not talking about love in the way we typically use the word (i.e. I love caroling, or I love Christmas lights). No, I mean love in the truest sense of the word—an action displayed for us in the form of a baby boy.
To truly understand this act of love, we need to go back—back to before that baby was born. All the way back to before anything even existed.
Did you know that the baby we celebrate at Christmas existed before the creation of the world? That he participated in the creation of everything, including man? That he knew, when Adam was created, that his creation would sin, and that the plan for the redemption of mankind would require him to sacrifice himself? Ponder this truth for a second—that even though he knew all of this, he still condescended to leave heaven and wrap himself in our skin.
See, when we see the baby in the manger, we assume that it’s the beginning of the story, yet it actually is the continuation of a story, a story of love. A love that motivated the God of the universe to walk among us, live a perfect life, and die an undeserved death for us on the cross. Love in action. True love on display in the form of a baby swaddled in a manger.
Christmas is a season of joy, hope, and love. Love perfectly displayed in the birth of a baby boy who would live and die as a substitute for sin. So celebrate Christmas, but remember: it’s not just a birth story; it’s a story of the faithful love of God on full display.
by Grant Nason
Memory Verse:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:7–9
Discussion Questions:
What makes you feel loved? How do you show love?
Why is God’s love for us the epitome of all love?
Who is a person or group of people that is difficult for you to love? How can you work on loving them better?
Where do you see the love of God in your life currently?
How can you abundantly spread the love of Christ this next year?
How can you make this Christmas about God’s love for us?