Advent Week 5
by Becky Davey
Yes, He has come, the Special Someone God said He was sending: the snake crusher, the Savior, the Good Shepherd, the Rock, Immanuel (who is God with us), Messiah, Jesus Christ. His birth has been celebrated. We feel a certain relaxing, perhaps a feeling of letdown, anticlimax. But! remember, way back in the beginning of Anticipating Advent, we began to look at God’s plan—a plan that would cover all time. God desired fellowship with His own created people so much that His plan was to provide the way for fellowship with God to be restored when it was lost.
The plan doesn’t end with Advent, the coming of He who would provide the way of restoring fellowship. Now, instead of the anticlimax of a long-anticipated promise fulfilled, we find an amazing, beautiful new adventure, a new beginning. It guarantees not only fellowship with God now in this life, but the fact that the fellowship will grow stronger and more fulfilling as we experience the continued unfolding of God’s plan. This new life in Christ carries new blessings, new responsibilities, new possibilities we had never imagined. A new hope embodied in Jesus. He lived, He died, He rose again and returned to heaven where He is making a place for us to be for all eternity (John 14). When He left, God the Holy Spirit came to be in us if we respond to His plan with trust in Jesus, and—He will return to take us to be with Him forever! This is a forever promise that we can rely on. Just as surely as all those promises over time ended up being fulfilled in the birth of baby Jesus, so these further promises will come true for us if we place our trust in Him.
Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27); God in us, security, comfort and the warmth of continued experience of being involved in His plans, never deserted no matter what happens (God has said, never will leave you; never will I forsake you—Hebrews 13:5) and—the promise of an eternity spent in the presence of God (Revelation 22:5). From the beginning of God’s revelation to us of who He is, we have seen Him always busy, always available to us, listening to our hearts, answering prayer, keeping the universe going. Knowing He is this kind of God, surely there will be things for us to do in eternity, fascinating new things to learn, and more than anything else learning more and more about the wonderful God who loves us personally and continues His plans for us—remember His words.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” (Jeremiah 29:11). Christ says, “I am coming soon,” (Revelation 22:20) and we respond with confidence and true hope: Come Lord Jesus.
Photo credit: Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash