The Greatest Gift: Why Christmas Is About God Coming Near

Dec 22

Pastor Kyle Veach

I love Christmas time. There’s just something different about it. The lights feel warmer. The mall music somehow feels more tolerable. The movies are better. Kids are hyped. Parents are tired. And no matter what kind of year you’ve had, most people show up carrying at least a little hope. Some arrive full of joy. Some come full of grief. Some are here because someone else brought them. Wherever you’re coming from, you’re in the right place.

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Christmas isn’t about religion. It’s not about pressure or behaving better. Christmas is about a gift.

The Meaning Behind the Best Gifts

I love gifts. I’m fun to give a gift to because I usually have a good reaction. When you think about the best gift you’ve ever received—whether as a kid or an adult—it probably wasn’t just about the object itself. The best gifts communicate something deeper: I see you. I know you. I love you.

That’s why one of the most well-known verses in the Bible continues to matter so much. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” That word gave matters. God didn’t hesitate. God didn’t hold back. God didn’t offer leftovers. He gave His very best—His one and only Son. Christmas begins with a God who gives.

The Greatest Gift Arrived Unexpectedly

The arrival of Jesus didn’t happen the way most people would expect. When you flip from the last book of the Old Testament to the first book of the New Testament, there’s a 400-year gap of silence. No prophets. No announcements. No updates. Then suddenly, the story resumes.

Matthew opens with genealogy. Mark skips the birth story entirely and jumps straight into ministry. Luke, however, leans into the details. Luke shows us how unexpected this moment really was. Even today, only about 4% of babies are born on their exact due date. There’s uncertainty surrounding timing, circumstances, and preparation. That’s exactly what we see in Luke 2.

Luke 2:6–7 says, “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

Let that sink in. The Savior of the world was born in a borrowed space, placed in a feeding trough, surrounded by animals, with no spotlight, no palace, and no fanfare. If we were writing the story, this is not how we would do it.

God Chose Humility and Closeness

God could have chosen power and prestige. Instead, He chose humility. He chose closeness. He chose accessibility. Jesus didn’t enter the world from a distance. He came near.

Love moves toward. Love comes close. Jesus’ first powerful moment wasn’t a miracle or a sermon—it was His presence. The manger was God’s way of saying, I’m not afraid of your mess. I can handle your questions. I’ll meet you right where you are.

We needed Him near us to save us, because all of us miss the mark.

Why We All Miss the Mark

Trying to get it right all the time is impossible. We mess up, we hurt people around us, we fail, and it’s all because we’re human. The Bible calls it sin, but not in a shaming way. Sin simply means missing the mark. We try to be patient and miss. We try to be kind and miss. We aim for generosity, faithfulness, and love, and we still miss. No matter how hard we try, we can’t hit the target on our own.

That’s why Jesus came. We needed saving.

A Savior, Not a Self-Improvement Plan

The good news of Christmas isn’t that Jesus showed up to tell us to try harder. He didn’t come to hand us better advice or demand more effort. He didn’t ask us to keep throwing snowballs until we became experts.

Luke 2:10–11 tells us what the angel announced: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

A Savior—not a coach yelling instructions from the sidelines. Love doesn’t shame you for missing. Love steps in when you can’t make it.

This Is What Grace Looks Like

Grace means that what we couldn’t do on our own, Jesus did for us. John 3:16 doesn’t say God gave advice, rules, or even just another chance. It says He gave a Savior.

Jesus entered our world knowing exactly where the story would lead. The same Jesus laid in a manger would one day lay down His life. Christmas points forward to the cross, where love would fully step in on our behalf.

This is why Christmas matters. God didn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up. He came close. He met us in the mess. He did what we could not do.

Christmas Is an Invitation

Christmas Eve invites us to receive the gift, not earn it. It invites us to stop striving and start trusting. The story of Jesus reminds us that hope is not an idea or a feeling—it’s a person.

If God was willing to come this close, then there is no part of your life He’s unwilling to enter. There is no question He’s afraid of and no failure He can’t redeem. The gift of Christmas is God with us, and that changes everything.