Christmas Long, Long Ago
John 1:1, 14
Introduction
Well, I don’t know if you can tell or not — but the Christmas season is in full swing!
With winter nearly upon us, the weather has gotten colder, frost has moved in. Sweaters and coats have been pulled out of the closets.
And if you house is anything like ours — then Christmas has made it’s mark there as well,
At our house, you can tell from the moment you step through the door that the season has changed.
Gone are the pumpkins and fall leaves — they’ve been replaced by the wreaths and candles, and bells and snowmen.
Just curious, how many of you have put your tree up already?
Well, our’s is up — it went up the Saturday after Thanksgiving! In fact, our entire living room has had a face-lift. It’s been rearranged to make space for Christmas!
This is just a part of our annual routine. Something I’ve come to both love and hate.
I mean, I love the beauty of the decor, but I always hate having to crawl through the attic to pull out the boxes that hold it all. But once the boxes are pulled out and the containers opened, the joy quickly returns. Every year, as we unpack the old ornaments and settle into familiar traditions, I’m reminded that Christmas has a way of carrying us back — back to our childhood, back to past moments, back to days when the kids were small, and back to those precious memories of long ago.
But as nostalgic as Christmas may seem today, the original Christmas story reaches back much further than our memories. It took place long ago. Long before the shepherds looked up and saw a sky filled with angels, long before Mary and Joseph traveled the dusty road to Bethlehem, long before a manger held the newborn King…there was Christ!
And that’s because Christmas did not begin in Bethlehem. Christmas began in eternity!
And if we are going to fully embrace the wonder of Christmas and Christ’s birth, we must go back to Christmas long, long ago.
Transition
Today I want us to explore the wonder of Christmas by looking at John’s gospel. It’s here that we find a reminder of the true beginnings of Christmas. So, if you have your Bible, turn with me to John chapter 1.
As John opens his Gospel, he does so with a very different approach than all of the other gospel writers.
Rather than begin with genealogies, or prophetic announcements, or even angelic visits, John chooses to reach back beyond time and space and tells us,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1 (NIV)
With just a single sentence, John opens a window into a time, before time. He calls us to step back into eternity past. He wants us to understand that the infant lying in the manger is actually the eternal Son of God, one who has always existed.
And if we want to worship Him fully,we must begin where the Bible begins.
So today, I challenge you to:
1. Lift Your Eyes to the Christ Who Has Always Been
Look again at John’s opening line in chapter 1. He writes,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1 (NIV)
With these words, John declares right from the start, that long before He took His first breath in Bethlehem, that Jesus breathed life into Adam and all living things. He wants us to understand that before Mary held Him in her arms, that He (Jesus) held the entire universe in His hands.
As the apostle Paul would later describe in his letter to the Colossian believers, Jesus was the creator and sustainer life. Listen to Colossians 1:16-17,
16 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” — Colossians 1:16-17 (NIV)
This is the same message of mystery and majesty that John describes in His telling of the Christmas story.
He states emphatically, Jesus was “with God” and at the same time, He “(the Word) was God” (John 1:1).
Now, I know this sounds crazy, but that doesn’t lessen its truthfulness. Before time began, Jesus was with God and at the same time, He is God.
And what’s more — John will go on to say that He (the creator and Son of God), left the expanse of the eternity to step into time and space and come close to bring us hope.
So before we stare at the manger, or picture shepherds and angels gathering in Bethlehem, Scripture calls us to look up — because:
Christmas doesn’t begin with the birth of Jesus, it begins with the eternal, pre-existence of Jesus.
This means Jesus is not just a part of the Christmas story. He’s the author of the Christmas story.
As A. W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
Christmas is meant to shape what comes into our minds when we think about Christ.
And when we look back through the Old Testament with this understanding, we begin to see Christ everywhere.
- We see him all the way back in Genesis as He walks with Adam and Eve in the Garden (in Genesis 3). And again in when He speaks with Abraham under the night sky (in Genesis 18). And we see Him wrestling with with Jacob all night long (in Genesis 32).
- And what we find in Genesis, we can find throughout each book of the Old Testament. Just consider the story told in Daniel 3, where Jesus shows up in the most unlikely of places — in the midst of the fiery furnace as He stood alongside Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- Or, what about the divine visitation in Judges 13, when the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife (who had been barren). And he spoke to them, assuring them that they bare a child, a Son who would be used to begin the deliverance of Israel from hands of the Philistines. After this encounter, Manoah confessed, “we have seen God”. And shortly after, Samson was born.
My point is simToday I want us to explore the wonder of Christmas by looking at John’s gospel. It’s here that we find a reminder of the true beginnings of Christmas.
John (if you recall), was one of Jesus’ disciples. But more than that — he was one of the closest three.
He takes us beyond the familiar scenes of shepherds, angels, and a Bethlehem manger. He brings us back to the true beginning of Christmas, the place where the story actually starts. So if you have your Bible, turn with me to John chapter 1.
At its heart, Christmas is an invitation to celebrate Jesus and to worship Him with a whole and undivided heart. But to worship Him rightly, we must see Him clearly. We must understand who He is and why He came.
That means we don’t enter this season simply through memory, tradition, or nostalgia. To grasp Christmas in all its beauty and fullness, we must begin where Scripture begins.
So tonight, I challenge you, as you enter into this Christmas season:
1. Recognize the Eternal Jesus
As John opens his Gospel, he does so with a very different approach than all of the other gospel writers.
Rather than begin with genealogies, or prophetic announcements, or even angelic visits, John chooses to reach back beyond time and space and tells us,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1 (NIV)
With a single sentence, John pulls back the curtain on existence before creation even began. He calls us to step back into eternity past. He wants us to understand that the infant (we celebrate), lying in a manger is actually the eternal Son of God, one who has always existed.
With these words, John declares right from the start, that long before He took His first breath in Bethlehem, that Jesus breathed life into Adam and all living things. He wants us to understand that before Mary held Him in her arms, that He (Jesus) held the entire universe in His hands.
As the apostle Paul would later describe in his letter to the Colossian believers, Jesus was the creator and sustainer life. Listen to Colossians 1:16-17,
16 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” — Colossians 1:16-17 (NIV)
This is the same message of mystery and majesty that John describes in His telling of the Christmas story.
He states emphatically, Jesus was “with God” and at the same time, He (the Word) “was God” (John 1:1).
Now, I know this sounds crazy, but the fact that is’s mind-blowing, or difficult to conceive, doesn’t lessen its truthfulness. Just because my mind my struggle to understand (or figure something out), doesn’t mean that its untrue.
There are plenty of things in life I don’t fully understand, but I trust them anyway. Things like:
• How an engine turns fuel into motion, (I don’t understand the science behind it, but I still drive my car)
• How electricity moves through wires, (yet I still flip switches, and expect the lights to come on).
• How a cell phone can transport my voice to someone miles away, (yet I rely on it constantly).
My point is, there are a lot of things that I can’t fully explain or even comprehend — but that doesn’t stop me from believing or trusting in them. And the same is true with this — the doctrine of Christ’s eternal deity, His preexistence, His divine nature as the Son of God who has always been.
So, Jesus was “with God” and “was God.”
But that’s not all. John goes on to say that He (the creator and Son of God), left the expanse of the eternity to step into time and space and come close to bring us hope.
So before we stare at the manger, or picture shepherds and angels gathering in Bethlehem, Scripture calls us to look up — because:
Christmas doesn’t begin with the birth of Jesus, it begins with the eternal, pre-existence of Jesus.
This means Jesus is not just a part of the Christmas story. He’s the author of the Christmas story.
As A. W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
Christmas is meant to shape what comes into our minds when we think about Christ.
And when we look back through the Old Testament with this understanding, we begin to see Christ everywhere.
- We see him all the way back in Genesis as He walks with Adam and Eve in the Garden (in Genesis 3). And again in when He speaks with Abraham under the night sky (in Genesis 18). And we see Him wrestling with with Jacob all night long (in Genesis 32).
- And what we find in Genesis, we can find throughout each book of the Old Testament. Just consider the story told in Daniel 3, where Jesus shows up in the most unlikely of places — in the midst of the fiery furnace as He stood alongside Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
- Or, what about the divine visitation in Judges 13, when the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife (who had been barren). And he spoke to them, assuring them that they bare a child, a Son who would be used to begin the deliverance of Israel from hands of the Philistines. After this encounter, Manoah confessed, “we have seen God”. And shortly after, Samson was born.
My point is simple — Christ did not begin in Bethlehem; Bethlehem was just the place where He chose to step into human history!
When I was a kid, I used to love pulling out the old photo albums that my mother kept. They were thick and heavy, filled with pictures for long ago and far away.
I remember seeing a picture of my mom’s daddy — a tall slender man, a man weathered by hardwork and difficult days.
Even though I had never met him, he looked familiar to me. I recognized his face in that of my mom and her siblings. You see, my granddaddy died when my mom was just 12 years old.
And even though I had never met him, I loved looking through the pictures (sort of peering back in time), to see the man who made my story possible. Seeing his pictures made the stories I had heard about him even more real.
In like manner, this ancient story of Christmas makes the stories of Jesus’ time on earth even more real!
That’s why John begins his story by pointing back to the beginning of time. Because the eternal existence of Jesus helps us see Him as He is: eternal, glorious, uncreated, and sovereign.
That’s Christmas long, long ago! It begins before time — with Christ’s eternal existence.
Which leads us to the next challenge of the Christmas story (and our understanding of Jesus).
Which is this:
2. Marvel At His Incarnation
Having been introduced to the Eternal Jesus — John then shifts our attention to what we most often think of when we think of Christ. He moves from eternity — into history…and he tells us about the incarnation.
Look with me at verse 14. Here John writes,
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” —John 1:14 (NIV)
I have to admit, these ten words are equally as my mind as the first line of this chapter.
If you thought it was a struggle to understand Jesus’s eternality — try wrapping your mind around the fact that God (in His fullness), could compress Himself into the confines of a human being. More than that, into the framework of an infant! A baby!
Again, I can’t explain this — not fully. Not to your satisfaction.
I can explain it — I can only PROCLAIM IT!
And that’s why I invite you to join me in MARVELING AT HIS INCARNATION.
To marvel is to pause in the presence of something so extraordinary, so beautiful, or so far beyond ordinary understanding that it awakens a deep sense of wonder within you. It’s that sacred moment when your heart seems to slow, your breath catches, and your spirit whispers, This is greater than me.
To MARVEL is to let the greatness of God wash over you until worship becomes your response.
In this verse, John connects the wonder and majesty of God with the miracle of virgin birth.
And this point, and the incarnation of Christ is important because it’s the foundation of our salvation and the clearest revelation of God’s heart toward us.
Without the incarnation, we would have no Savior (one who is both fully God and fully human), able to bridge the gap our sin created. But, in Jesus, God comes down — leaving heaven to enter time and space, to rescue us from our sin (up close and personally).
The incarnation shows that God didn’t leave us to struggle alone; He entered our pain, shared in our humanity, and made redemption possible through His perfect life, death, and resurrection.
That’s the story of Christmas! God came near —and Jesus was born!
I know it’s easy to picture the manger through the lens of nostalgia — picturing that “silent night” of Christ’s birth as if “all was calm – all was bright”, or as that “holy night” where the cattle were lowing and the baby awakes — the little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.” Right? The animals were calm, the stall and straw were clean. the angelic halos were shiny and bright. Everything perfect.
But the real scene was probably nothing like that. It was probably rough and cold, and loud and dirty. It was earthy. It was humble. It was a place of soiled animals, unsanitized, smelly — and into that kind of setting, a place no earthly king would ever choose, came the King of kings.
Years ago, author and pastor, Max Lucado made a statement that continues to astonish me. Describing the incarnation, he said, “The maker of the stars would (come to) sleep under them.”
And that line really captures what John tells us in verse 14. The eternal Christ did not simply visit humanity — He immersed Himself in our experience.
He took on flesh. He moved into our world. And He voluntarily chose to walk among us — sinners, sufferers, and skeptics alike.
This is why thinking biblically about Christmas matters.
If we settle for nostalgia, we miss the miracle!
Christmas is not merely a charming nativity scene; it is the staggering truth that God became man.
But why? Why did He do it?
He did it to save us. To redeem us. To free us from our sin — and it’s penalty of eternal death!
And that brings us to the final challenge today. And it’s this:
3. Celebrate the Gift of Salvation
Just as John makes it clear who Jesus is, he also makes it clear what He came to do.
He tells us (again and again) throughout his gospel, that Jesus came for one purpose. He came to save!
InJohn 1 he quotes John the Baptist when he pointed to Jesus and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” —John 1:29 (NIV)
And inJohn 3:17 he says,
“God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” — John 3:17 (NIV)
And them inJohn 10:10, he quotes Jesus as saying,
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” — John 10:10 (NIV)
And in verse 15, Jesus clarifies how he will save us — when he says,
“I lay down My life for the sheep.” —John 10:15 (NIV)
The apostle Paul sums it up like this (inGalatians 4:4), he says,
“When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son… to redeem those under the law.” —Galatians 4:4–5 (NIV)
Those words remind us that Christmas is not simply about God coming near— it’s about God redeeming mankind. He came to save us. Because we needed saving!
We needed someone to pay the high price for our salvation! And Jesus came, as God in the flesh, to do just that.
He didn’t enter the world to be admired. He entered the world to be offered.
He didn’t come to give us a holiday. He came to give us hope.
He did not come to make life easier. He came to make salvation possible.
And that’s the good news of Christmas long, long ago.
And here’s what I want you to understand, if Jesus would choose to enter the brokenness of this world, then He will also choose to enter the brokenness of your life.
If He would step into the mess of the manger, then He will also step into the mess of your circumstances.
And that’s good news! That’s the message of Christmas!
So,
Recognize His eternality, Marvel at His incarnation, and Celebrate the gift of His salvation!
Conclusion:
As we close tonight, I want to remind you that the things we’ve discussed tonight are not just doctrines to affirm — they are realities to experience.
So this year, let your heart be filled with wonder — and welcome the promised, abiding presence of Jesus into your life.
Would you bow your head and join me in prayer before we go?
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Christmas — Christmas long, long ago!
But we also thank you for the Christmas we get to celebrate and experience again today, and throughout this season. Thank you for the reminder that your existence didn’t begin in a manger — but that you are eternal. Thank you for leaving heaven and entering our world to save us — to redeem us, and to draw close to us.
Would you do that again tonight. Come close, meet us in the mess of our circumstances, bring hope and healing and help to everyone here. Give us strength and comfort and fill us with joy! And, open our eyes to see Jesus clearly this season, not simply as the baby in the manger but as the eternal Lord of all. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen!