Life truly is one giant waiting game. We wait in traffic, we wait in line, we wait for the promotion, we wait for the news from the doctor, we wait for the perfect opportunity. Most anything that is worth anything to us requires some kind of waiting on our part. Waiting is nothing new. Waiting wasn't invented when Apple decided to make us stand in line for the new iPhone or when Chic-fil-a opened up a second drive-thru lane that really only serves to create a bigger parking lot problem. Since the beginning of time, man found himself waiting.
Abraham waited for God to fulfill his promise of a child who would be the first of many offspring. Jacob waited seven years as he worked for his wife Rachel and then seven more after he was deceived by her father Laban. Joseph waited from the bottom of a pit and then from the deepest part of prison to see the fruition of his dreams come to pass. Moses waited for God to soften Pharaoh's heart to see the release of his people from slavery. Joshua waited for the Lord to deliver his people into the Promised Land. David waited to become king as he fled from Saul. Esther waited for the Lord to save her people. Daniel waited to be delivered from the mouths of lions… And all of these people received the promises of God.
Then, for 400 years after the latest Old Testament prophet delivered his message from God, the world waited in silence to once again hear God speak. Man waited to be delivered from his sin problem. He waited to be set free from the chains that had bound him since before the time of Abraham and Jacob and Joseph and Moses. Creation cried out for a deliverer, and the time had finally come.
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shone… For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore." Isaiah 9:2,6-7
The waiting was over. God not only opened his mouth, but the WORD BECAME FLESH and dwelt among us and showed us his glory. That baby, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. He began to reveal himself as the perfect solution to the sin problem that we had been waiting for. He found himself at the age of 33 years old hanging on a cross, fulfilling his own plan that he had since the beginning of time for our redemption. He overcame death, and he eradicated the sin problem for all those who were willing to believe both in that moment and these moments that we are living in now.
Christmas, Christmas is the celebration of the end of the waiting game. We don't have to wait for another savior. We don't have to wait for another redeemer. We aren't facing the possibility of another 400 years of silence. Jesus already came and sealed the deal with his Holy Spirit. THIS IS MY FAVORITE GOOD NEWS. The end of this waiting game signifies a beginning of a whole new way of life-- full of PROMISE, HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and PURPOSE. And now, now we wait for something different. We wait for the moment that we get to stand face to face with Jesus, whole and complete, perfected in every way. This time, we do not wait alone, unsure of when his promise will be fulfilled. We wait FOR Jesus WITH Jesus, knowing that in the blink of an eye when this world passes away, when we breathe our last breath, the waiting is over and a whole new day begins… again.
CHRISTMAS. IS. AWESOME.
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