Anticipating the Messiah
It can become easier to forget the hardness of this world when surrounded by Christmas cheer and busyness. But when I turned on my computer this morning and began reading the latest news stories about the persecution of Christians around the world, I was reminded once again that it is because of all the pain and suffering that we celebrate Christ’s coming. Even when covered in tinsel, this world remains flawed. I find the following excerpt helpful in remembering the importance of this Advent season:
Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the cries of oppressed slaves and brought deliverance!
It is that hope, however faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings to the world the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice and righteousness over His people and in His creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world.
Without Christ, the woes of this world would render us hopeless. Yet we are assured through the birth of Jesus Christ that God indeed hears our cries, just as He heard the cries of His children long ago.
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3 comments:
Let us all be encouraged that the hope that Christ brings is here, for He was born and He lives and He saves. Praise God. Good article.
The part of the article were the writer says: It is that hope, however faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems.
It does not really instill confidence, a bit like waiting for a bus on a rainy night, faint chance this bus will turn up, this is not the God I know, Jesus is never a faint hope to me, the writer need to draw nigh to God and God will draw night to him.
The key word here, Kevin , is "seems". The author was not suggesting that God really was distant. But in the midst of trials, it may seem that way and it is then that we draw nigh to Him, knowing that He really is close by, regardless of how we may feel at the time.
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