Love Came Down at Christmas

Posted On December 18, 2022

“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 NCV

“‘Don’t be afraid, Mary,’ the angel told her, ‘for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.'”

Luke 1:30-31 NLT

This week’s post is inspired by the video for “Love Came Down at Christmas” released in 2007 by the Christian rock group Jars of Clay. I saw it for the first time this week, and I fell in love with the quirky animation! Here is what one viewer had to say about it:

“When I saw them in concert, Dan was talking about how when you were a kid and you drew a picture of the nativity scene and there was Mary and Joseph and Jesus; then on the side there was like a tank and a ninja and above the manger was a spaceship and the tank was shooting the spaceship. He said this video was like a little kid telling the Christmas story!”

Jacob Cano

All the pictures this week are screen shots from “Love Came Down at Christmas,” and I have included the complete video at the end of this post, so you’ll see what he’s talking about. The images are a little odd and maybe not what we’re expecting, but they’re powerful and sweet and beautiful . . . just like the Christmas story itself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The overall message of the artwork, the lyrics, and the Christmas story is the same:

💗 LOVE 💗

” . . . the Bible is a love story. It’s the story of a God who will not give up, who shakes off all of man’s rebuffs and who persists in his efforts to bless us. . . . Moreover, this is a purposeful love. It is not some romantic, sentimental concern. God wants to restore man to his rightful place in the universe, for man was made in the image of God. And all heaven and earth will be shaken in an effort to bring man salvation.”

W. A. Poovey

“‘A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.'”

Matthew 1:23 CEV

I think what I love so much about this video is the way that anything the artist imagined became part of the Christmas story: dinosaurs, unicorns, rocket ships, even flying tacos! It really spoke to my love of sci-fi and fantasy, and reminded me that God is always right here with us, not just in our everyday lives, but also in our wildest dreams, crazy ideas, and wacky imaginations.

I think we tend to understand this better as kids. As a child, I prayed really hard for superpowers like Wonder Woman, because I knew God could do anything. And then I grew up and brushed that off as completely childish and silly. But the older I get, the more I realize that my faith back then was right on track with how God wants us to live. I no longer have a desire to leap to the top of a skyscraper or deflect bullets with super-powered wristbands, but I do still long to see God do the impossible. And I do still believe that He can. Because He already has. The angel Gabriel made that clear when He told the virgin Mary she would give birth to God’s own Son: “Nothing is impossible for God!” (Luke 1:37 CEV)

“This God who came at Christmas comes in every strand of ordinary life. . . . God lives in palaces and stables. No area of the human lot escapes him. Life is more ordinary than it sometimes seems and he knows it all. And so we identify this man Jesus as Immanuel: God with us.”

Kent S. Knutson

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

1 Timothy 1:14 NIV

God poured out His grace and love on all of us when He sent Christ to earth. He didn’t abandon us when we repeatedly turned away from Him. Instead, He came to us. And the most amazing thing of all is that He’s still here. He’s here in our world and as followers of Christ, He’s here in our hearts. So let’s keep Him front and center in all aspects of our lives: in our homes, in our jobs, in our relationships, and in our daily tasks. And let’s have the courage to take that a step further and invite God into our desires, dreams, and hopes for the future as well. He will lead us on fantastical journeys if we will let Him, maybe not with unicorns and flying tacos (although He could do that if He wanted to!), but with adventures that are just as amazing.

Does this sound crazy and impossible? Absolutely! But nothing is impossible for God. And He already did something that sounds crazy: He sent Jesus, who is also God, to come right down here with us. Jesus came to show us how to live, to experience everything we do, and ultimately to save us. Why? Because of His crazy love for us!

“What do we learn of the God who comes at Christmas? We learn that God is here. We do not travel beyond the stars or engage in soaring wisdom or turn inward in ecstatic experience to meet God. . . . He is in public view in the history of man. He came into our time, into our existence . . . .
As little as we understand of what is real and what is illusion, we understand most of all what we are ourselves, and thus he came as one of us. If you would meet God, you must meet him here . . . .”

Kent S. Knutson

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:7 NKJV

So what’s the takeaway from all of this? For me, it’s a reminder to keep viewing the Christmas story with fresh eyes, to make it personal, to let it encompass all aspects of our lives, and to remember that God does crazy, impossible things out of His love for us. This kind of power and love is hard for us to believe, but it’s true. So let’s keep reminding ourselves of the greatest story every told. And let’s open our hearts to the love that came down at Christmas!

“The story is so amazing, so overwhelming that we need the entire Bible to convince us of the truth of this love by God. One example of God’s concern will not suffice. We need the broad sweep of history to convince us that this God loves.
Thus the Advent message is not just a call to repentance. It is also a call to respond in love. The Lord of the universe woos us. The Son of God stands humbly before the door of our heart, seeking entrance. We dare not refuse . . . .”

W. A. Poovey

This week’s Scripture passages remind us that God is love and He keeps no record of wrongs. So He came down to save us and be with us forever. Like Mary, let’s treasure these things and ponder them in our hearts. Let’s make the Christmas story our personal story, because it is. Let’s see it and share it in new ways. And let’s never stop being amazed at what God did for us:

Love came down at Christmas . . . to you and to me!

“Christmas means that this is a God-invaded world: Christ has come to be with us now and forever. Since it is a God-invaded world, it changes the way we look at life and the world and everything. . . .
This is what Christmas says:
Christ comes again to look you in the eye and to say, ‘I love you.'”

Hugh Litchfield

References:

• Cano, Jacob. Comment on “Jars Of Clay – Love Came Down At Christmas [Official Music VIdeo].” YouTube, 2007, https://youtu.be/zIr5th0d44Y.
• “Jars Of Clay – Love Came Down At Christmas [Official Music VIdeo].” YouTube, uploaded by NettwerkMusic, 18 October 2007, https://youtu.be/zIr5th0d44Y.
• Knutson, Kent S. “The God Who Comes at Christmas.” a Child is born: Messages for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, edited by John McCollister, Augsburg Publishing House, 1972, pp. 43-47.
• Litchfield, Hugh. Preaching the Christmas Story: Ideas and Sermons for the Christmas Season. Broadman Press, 1984.
• Poovey, W. A. Let us Adore Him: Dramas and Meditations for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany. Augsburg Publishing House, 1972.

Images:

• All images taken from “Jars Of Clay – Love Came Down At Christmas [Official Music VIdeo].” YouTube, uploaded by NettwerkMusic, 18 October 2007, https://youtu.be/zIr5th0d44Y