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I'd like to preface this post by sharing that this is an excerpt from a little devotional series I put together for the ladies' Bible study group at my church last Christmas. There were four devotions, one for each week of Advent, and each was based on an ornament I had found and wrapped for them to put on their tree. I thought I would share them here with you also over the next four posts. Though we don't have the ornaments to pass along, I hope you will find joy in the comparisons. May you and your families have a wonderful, and most meaningful, celebration of our Savior's birth.
Based on a circular ornament adorned with the silhouette of a Christmas tree:
Circles represent God... eternity... things that have no end. Advent didn't just begin as time drew near for the baby Jesus to enter our world, our flesh, our existence. No, Advent really began way back in the Garden, just after the Fall.
There was a promise made by the Creator Himself to one day send a Rescuer to deliver us, to save us in every way it's possible to be saved. The waiting. The watching. The longing began that very day. The salvation story was put into play, and all the earth would hold its breath in anticipation.
God desires us, His prized creation, to come full-circle.
The perfect harmony we had with Him at the beginning of days was shattered by the saddest of moments in the Garden, but God - in His love, mercy, and fierce determination - refused to give up on us. He enacted a plan to move us from broken to redeemed. From lost to found. From sinner to saint... from dead in our trespasses and sins to alive in Christ... forever. Full-circle.
Advent began with that first promise. Jesus fulfilled it when He died in our place two thousand years ago and rose victorious three days later. Now we eagerly await that full-circle moment, that glorious time when we will once again walk in the cool of the day with God, face to face.
When we look at so many of the old, familiar hymns and carols of the season, we find lovely, deep theology. Law and Gospel hold hands. It is impossible to celebrate the joy of Christmas without also feeling the weight of the cross. They are inseparably intertwined. Jesus came, yes! He came and we rejoice, but we also remember the purpose for which He was born...
...to die
... to rescue you and me and to restore that broken relationship between us and our Heavenly Father.
The Christmas story is beautiful... and poignant. It is the story of a love so strong, so committed, that it simply would not quit until it brought us...
full-circle.
The Advent hymn for this week's reflection : "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" Feel free to read it, sing it, meditate on it, or use it as a prayer. I especially love the emphasis on salvation in the second verse, "By Thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne."
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free,
From our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art,
Dear desire of ev'ry nation, Joy of ev'ry longing heart.
Born Thy peple to deliver; Born a child and yet a King!
Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit, Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.
May you find rest in Him this season. Rejoice! He comes!!
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