Anticipating Christmas

I was asked to share a devotion at the moms' group I attend last week.  I wrote it out because I would much rather write than speak.  (You know, writing gives me a chance to change what I've said before I put my foot in my mouth if it doesn't sound quite right.)  As I thought about what I wanted to share, the miracle of Christmas was on my mind.  Since I already had my thoughts written out, I thought I'd share them here.

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The days leading up to a baby's birth are filled with anticipation and excitement. It is so hard to wait for that due date to finally arrive, and it's absolutely killer when your baby ignores his or her ETA all together. The last weeks before a baby is born are filled with many special moments: attending baby showers, putting the finishing touches on the little one's room, and debating over the last two names on the baby name list.

Everyone who knows the expectant parents – and even people who don't – are eager to join in the celebration. As mamas, we remember those special days....the goofy shower games; the shopping for tiny outfits; and, most important of all, the birth of our precious little one.

At Christmas time we remember another baby's arrival – a baby whose arrival was anticipated by millions of people for thousands of years. A baby named Jesus.

The anticipation surrounding this baby's birth begins with the very first people, Adam and Eve. In the beginning, God created a beautiful garden, filled with trees and animals. The garden was a paradise designed for God's most treasured creation: humans. In this garden, everything was perfect. There was no heartbreak, no deceit, and no sadness. Adam and Eve had a beautiful friendship with each other and with their Creator God.

Unfortunately, this beautiful paradise did not last. Adam and Eve believed a lie from the evil one – the serpent – and chose to disobey God's one command to them: to not eat the fruit from one of the trees in the garden. When that happened, the perfect world was broken and so was man's friendship with God.

At that moment, God set a plan in motion to restore the world and his relationship with mankind. In Genesis 3:15, God tells the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; 
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

God's promises of a Savior echo throughout the pages of the Old Testament: in his words to Abram in Genesis 12 (“I will make you a into great nation...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”), his promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 (“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever”), and the truths spoken by his prophets (words like those found in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. 
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”).

Throughout the pages of scripture, the anticipation builds. God's people wait in eager expectation for the Redeemer to appear. And then, it happens...in the most unlikely way. The God of the universe puts on flesh and is born in a stable - tiny, pink, and helpless.

As moms, we know the joy that a baby's arrival brings. Imagine that joy multiplied by thousands, millions. When Jesus is born, the angels sing. Shepherds come to worship him. History is torn in two forever.

In the birth of a tiny boy, God keeps his promise to his people. This little one is the long-awaited Savior – sent to restore God's broken relationship with humankind. This baby boy grows up to proclaim God's truth, heal the sick, and mend the broken. He grows up to walk the long road to Calvary where he hangs on a cross for a multitude of sins he did not commit. He pays the price for your wrongs and mine and, in so doing, extends each one of us an invitation to be reconciled to our Heavenly Father. He is buried in a tomb, but he does not stay there. On the third day, God in the flesh – this tiny baby grown up - conquers death and rises from the grave.

What's more, the story doesn't end at the resurrection. God's plan wasn't complete when Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus' death restored God's relationship with mankind, but our world is still broken. We still live with hurt, sickness, and injustice.  We live in a world where politics often take precedent over the needs of innocent children.  Where babies starve.  Where tragedies tear lives apart in the blink of an eye.

There is another part of God's plan. Jesus came once as a baby, and he is coming again as a King. When he returns, the wrongs in the world will be made right and those who have trusted Christ as their way to a right relationship with God will live with him forever.  When he returns, God will live with his people "and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

And so, just as the world anticipated the arrival of a Savior 2,000 years ago, we anticipate the arrival of a King.  This is what we celebrate at Christmas! We rejoice in the greatest gift ever given – a gift that came wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger.   And we wait eagerly for our Redeemer to return as the King who will wipe away our tears and live with us forever.