When I was a kid, we kept an old radio perched on the top shelf of a bookcase—one of those bulky, metal-antenna relics you had to bend like a lawn chair just to pick up a signal. One night a violent storm swept through our town and knocked the power out completely. The house fell into a heavy, pitch-black silence.
I grabbed the radio, turned the dial, and caught the emergency broadcast system explaining the situation. Hearing the updates helped…but it wasn’t what calmed me.
What steadied me was the moment my dad walked into my room with a flashlight. He sat down on the edge of my bed, looked at me, and simply said, “I’m right here.”
The storm didn’t stop. But his presence changed the room.
That, in so many ways, is the heartbeat of Christmas.
Christmas is not God shouting encouragement from a distance. It’s God stepping into our storm. It’s God moving toward us—not with advice, not with theories, not with distant sympathy—but with Himself. The message of the manger is God saying, “I’m right here.”
And before we talk about being a “sent people,” we have to sit in the miracle that Jesus was sent to us.
John 20:21 says, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” Every mission we embrace as followers of Jesus begins with the mission He came to accomplish. John 1:1–14 opens that mission to us with breathtaking clarity.
1. The Word Created — Jesus Came in Full Deity
John 1:1-3
John’s Gospel doesn’t begin with Bethlehem—it begins before time itself.
“In the beginning was the Word…”
It’s a direct echo of Genesis 1:1. Before anything existed, Jesus already was. Bethlehem wasn’t His starting point; it was His entrance point.
John goes further:
“…and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
This is not poetic flourish. It is a declaration of Christ’s full deity.
He is eternal, not emerging. Creator, not created. God, not a guesser or guru.
John adds:
“All things were made through Him…”
Every success story, every breathtaking view, every longing in the human heart flows from the One who designed us. Which is why nothing in creation can ever fully satisfy us. We were made by Him and for Him.
Christmas announces that the Creator has stepped into His creation.
The One who formed galaxies has come to redeem human hearts.
2. The Word Confronted — Jesus Came to Conquer Darkness
John 1:4–5
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
Jesus didn’t come to merely inspire us—He came to confront the darkness of sin, despair, and spiritual blindness.
And then John gives us one of the most hope-filled statements in the entire Bible:
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Darkness always threatens, but it never wins.
Flip on a light switch—darkness doesn’t fight back. It simply vanishes.
This is why missions matter.
This is why churches serve their cities.
This is why believers go to the nations.
Light still shines, and darkness still cannot overcome it.
3. The Word Called — Jesus Came to Bring Us Into God’s Family
John 1:6-13
John says Jesus is the true Light “who gives light to everyone.” Every person you meet carries a need only Christ can meet.
But there’s a tragedy in the story:
“He came to His own… and His own people did not receive Him.”
You can grow up in church and still miss Christ. You can be religious and remain unchanged.
And yet the most beautiful promise follows:
“But to all who received Him… He gave the right to become children of God.”
Salvation isn’t earned. It isn’t inherited. It isn’t God rewarding the impressive. It’s God adopting the willing.
Becoming a Christian is not just being forgiven—it’s being welcomed. Not just acquitted—adopted.
You are sent into the world not as a spiritual employee, but as a beloved child carrying the heart of your Father.
4. The Word Who Came Near — Jesus Came to Make God Known
John 1:14
Here is the climax:
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
He moved into the neighborhood.
The God of Genesis 1 became the baby of Luke 2.
The eternal “I AM” became the infant who cried.
Immanuel—God with us.
Jesus didn’t redeem us from afar. He came close. And because He came close, we go close—to our neighbors, our city, our state, and the nations.
The incarnation is not only a doctrine—it is God’s strategy for mission. He came near so His people could go out.
Conclusion
Christmas is not sentimental nostalgia; it is divine invasion. God stepped into the world, broke into our darkness, and offered us life.
And now the risen Christ says:
“As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.”
Before we join His mission, we must meet the Messiah who stepped into our storm.
He came for you.
He lived perfectly for you.
He died sacrificially for you.
He rose victoriously for you.
And He invites you into the family of God.
This message was shared by Pastor Chris Dupree, Lead Pastor of Baptist Temple Church in McAllen, TX.
