{"id":2757,"date":"2026-01-26T17:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T17:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chuckhilltoday.com\/?page_id=2757"},"modified":"2026-01-26T17:41:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T17:41:20","slug":"god-with-us-long-before-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chuckhilltoday.com\/index.php\/god-with-us-long-before-us\/","title":{"rendered":"GOD WITH US, LONG BEFORE US"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

God With Us, Long Before Us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1:1, 14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good evening everyone, and Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is so good to be with you tonight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas has a way at tugging at our hearts, especially as it brings to mind long forgotten, fond memories. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the sights and sounds \u2014 or traditions we share, but it has a way of taking us back to earlier days (to cherished memories). But as meaningful as those memories are, Christmas is about MORE than nostalgia!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real Christmas story takes us back to a time before our earliest memories. It takes us back to the very beginning\u2026to a moment that precedes time and space (and creation as we know it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so tonight, instead of telling the story of Christmas from the point of Jesus\u2019s birth, I want to tell it from a different perspective. If you have your Bible, turn with me to John chapter 1.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other Gospel writers, John<\/strong> doesn\u2019t start with shepherds, angels, or a manger scene<\/em>.<\/em> John<\/strong> takes us back to the beginning. Look with me at John 1, verse 1. <\/strong>Here John writes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.\u201d <\/em>\u2014 John 1:1 (NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John reminds us that the One we celebrate at Christmas<\/em> is more than a baby in the manger. He\u2019s the Eternal Son of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if we\u2019re going to understand Christmas correctly, we must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Recognize Jesus as Eternal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice again, John<\/strong> opens his Gospel by echoing the words of Genesis<\/strong>. Just as Moses opened the book of Genesis, John opens his gospel, when he says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the beginning\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with those words, he takes us back to a moment that preceded creation. A time before time. As John puts it,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That single line is so full of deeply challenging thoughts. But it\u2019s because John wants us to recognize that Christmas didn\u2019t start with a baby lying in a manger, it began with the eternal Son of God who existed long before that moment. Before He was ever arrived in Bethlehem as Emanuel, He was already reigning over creation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the message of Christmas is not simply God with us,<\/em>\u00a0it is \u2014 God with us, long before us!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer of Hebrews affirms this when he writes in Hebrews 1<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut in these last days (God) has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God\u2019s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.\u201d <\/em>\u2014 Hebrews 1:2\u20133 (NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, understand this \u2014 Christmas <\/em>isn\u2019t about Jesus being created, it\u2019s about Jesus being <\/em>REVEALED!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t get his start in Bethlehem \u2014 He\u2019s always existed! I know this sounds crazy, but the fact that it\u2019s mind-blowing, or difficult to understand, doesn\u2019t lessen its truthfulness. Just because my mind my struggle to understand (or figure something out), doesn\u2019t mean that its untrue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of things in life I don\u2019t fully understand, but I trust them anyway. Things like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n