Advent Devotional - December 17, 2014

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining / Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth /
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
 /For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!”

-Oh Holy Night

Any celebration of the Christmas season must be accompanied by reflection on the very reason Christ came to this earth: for our sin. Ever since Adam and Eve took that seemingly simple bite from the forbidden fruit, the world has suffered from the distance that our sin created between God and us. Yet the beauty of Christmas is that when Christ appeared, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feeding trough, humanity is graced with the presence of God Himself. This “thrill of hope” is the promise of a future utterly different from our past. Creation itself was “subjected to futility...in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption” (Romans 8:20-21). The world, weary in its captivity to sin, is elated with the possibility of new life through the life of Christ.

In His coming to the depths of our humanity He is a beacon of hope in the midst of utter darkness. Imagine you are in a dark room. Your eyes eventually adjust to the lack of light. Suddenly, the door flings open and you are lit up with a spotlight! This is but an imperfect analogy to the message of the gospel captured in this stanza of “Oh Holy Night.” Christ has come into out night and brightly shines the light of His mercy and love to sinful humanity, who has long “loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19).

During this season of expectation and joy, remember the hope that Christ brings. In taking on our humanity He shows Himself to be our only hope in the midst of the darkness of our sin.