God of the Promise
Matthew 1:21-23
“She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet Isaiah saying “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” which means God with us.”
Today we light the Christ Candle and stand on the Eve of that wondrous day Christ was born.
All of creation was hushed in anticipation. Prophets, being divinely inspired, foretold the things to come and yet even they didn’t fully understand what the words meant.
The foretelling was important because it revealed a mysterious plan. There was a higher power in control of the events of mankind, and this higher power was not some distant, uncaring entity.
Rather, he was God. All loving, all-knowing, all-seeing, all hearing, all-powerful and yet intimately aware of me. Aware of my name, my circumstances and my desperate need of a Savior. All those years ago God was thinking about me when he inspired the prophets to foretell the coming of the Messiah.
Why? Because he wanted all of us to know he is a God who always keeps his promises.
And so on that night long ago the stage was set. The curtain ready to go up. Everyone was in their place and prepared to play their part in the largest production the world had ever seen.
The hope that the prophets longed to understand was about to become reality. Mary & Joseph of limited means, their lodging of limited comfort and the shepherds of limited education were the ones chosen to usher the Son of God onto the world stage.
Advent culminates with the Eve of Christ’s birth. The waiting and preparing have come to an end, the promise is about to be fulfilled. The promise of forgiveness for our sin, the promise of communion and deep fellowship with him. Eternity, the promise of spending forever with him.
Have you prepared your heart? Are you ready for God to keep his promises to you? God proves through history that he will and the birth of Jesus Christ his son is proof that he always does what he says.
2 Corinthians 1:20 says “For all the promises of God find their YES in him. That is why it is through him (Christ) that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”