MIDLAND – At Christmas, we celebrate the hope that has come. We celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We rejoice in his coming to earth, born of a virgin, laid in a manger. The Jews had been waiting in expectation for the Messiah to come. He would bring hope, peace, and justice. He would establish a new kingdom and reign as King. But it had been a long 400 years since God last spoke through the prophet Malachi.
I’m sure there were many times when they cried out to God asking how much longer they must wait; wondering if he had forgotten them. Indeed, it was a joyous miracle when Jesus had finally come. He willingly took on flesh, leaving heaven’s glory to come to a sin-stricken earth. So we join with the angels, shepherds, and wise men to celebrate Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem thousands of years ago. Hope has come. Oh, what a glorious day!
But our hope does not end there.
You see, we’ve gotten to know more of the story. We know in more fullness what Jesus came on the earth to do. We know he lived the life we could not live and died the death we deserved. He willingly laid his life down as the perfect sacrifice so we can be with God. We know Jesus rose from the grave, defeating sin and death. And we know he is coming back again. We know there is hope that has come, but we also know there is hope that is coming.
We live in the space of the already and not yet. Christ has already come and is already King, but he is not yet reigning in the manner that he will one day, with every knee bowed and every tongue proclaiming Jesus is Lord. Christ already restores hearts and makes us new, but he has not yet restored all creation to the fullness of glory to come.
As Paul said, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In his grace, God allows us to experience glimpses of heaven on earth, but it’s just a taste of what is to come.
So, like the Jews, we are back in a period of waiting. We eagerly wait for Christ, our living hope, to come back again. He will right every wrong, wipe every tear from our eyes, and make everything perfect. Indeed, sometimes, as we look around at our world and experience the reality and effects of sin in ourselves, others, and all creation, we can feel much like the Jews did in that period between Malachi and Matthew. Where is God? Has he forgotten us? How long, O Lord, must we wait? Yet we wait with hopeful expectation and confidence that the Sovereign One keeps his promises.
It could be argued that the Christmas story began back in Genesis when God first promised to send a Savior to redeem mankind and crush the serpent’s head. And Revelation is where the Christmas story ends: when God will complete the work to save his people and destroy that serpent forever.
So Christmas reminds us of the mystery of ages, revealed in Jesus Christ. We celebrate the hope that has come, and we look with joyful expectation to the hope that is coming.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Betsy Yurgaites is the church-planting wife of Nate from Damascus Church in Midland. She is the mother of 5, going on 6, and is also a homeschool mom. Doing dishes and changing diapers for the glory of God.
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