The love of Christmas is explained in one of the Bible’s most familiar verses – John 3:16. “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Now the very idea that God should love the world is itself amazing. It’s not like God needed our world or us. The Bible makes it quite clear that we humans have a history of sinful rebellion against God. We think that we can get along quite well without him. That “God so loved the world” is amazing beyond comprehension. He loved our world so much that he gave his only son to come to earth, become human and be prepared to die.

John 3:16 is actually a quote from Jesus recorded by St. John. Several years later John wrote a letter to Christians to further explain what Jesus meant. He wrote, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. We love because he first loved us.”

This is one of the central teachings of the Bible. We did not love God first. God first loved us. We did not choose God. God first chose us. We did not seek God. God first sought us.

The only way to fully understand what the Christmas story is all about is to understand this truth: God loved first!