The Long Awaited One

Patience is a funny thing.

Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

In reality, patience is the ability to wait on what I want.

My fleshly patience revolves completely around me. And your fleshly patience revolves around you.

Well, as we approach Christmas, there is a lot of patience and impatience exhibited.

Kids hold/shake/check their gifts early.

Parent’s pull up to their homes, looking/gazing at their front door for the Amazon Package that was supposed to come while they were away.

The commercialism of Christmas makes it all about us.

Christmas, even in my own heart, becomes all about the things that make me feel like it’s Christmas.

Tradition, People, Gifts, Trees, , Snow, Food, Songs

And although I’m willing to wait on the present, the late family member, the undercooked ham, or the delayed Amazon Package - my virtue of patience (or lack thereof), actually reveals my own flesh-bent toward selfishness. Christmas can (and has) turned out to be all about me.

In our house this year, Heidi has displayed my mom’s nativity set. Delaney has loved to play with it and set the characters up in various ways.

It’s fun to come in and see how her little imagination worked as I was away.

The funniest thing so far is how she projects herself as the baby Jesus.

You can walk through the story with Delaney. You can tell her about all the characters, but when you come to this little figurine of baby Jesus, she stops you and says, no - this me!

This little baby in the hay is not Jesus, it’s her!

And although the characters around may be mom, dad, pop, sissies, Mary, Joseph, whoever - it doesn’t matter - the baby in the manger is - this me - DD.

As I was sitting this week looking at that nativity, I couldn’t get away from the idea of how we tend, even in our sincerety to make this holiday about everything and everyone else, we actually make it all about us.

Our hearts tend to promote ourselves to the manger, and the subsequent throne where only Christ deserves to be.

Now, not all anticipation is wrong. And friend, spirt-enabled patience is a fruit of Him being involved in your life.

And Although our lack of patience has a tendency to reveal our lack of willingness to wait, as we study the whole of the Bible, we know that it is built on anticipation of this holiday we celebrate in December.

As you may know, the story of Christ doesn’t begin in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It actually begins in Genesis.

God who has always been, created everything there is. In a nutshell, that creation rebelled against Him and because God is holy, just, and righteous He must judge that rebellion.

Here we find our first glimpse into why Jesus had to come in the first place.

Romans 5:12 NKJV

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

With the fall of mankind in Genesis 2-3, we find the purpose of Jesus coming.

Luke 19:10 NKJV

10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

You see we come to this season of tinsel and lights, and we run from Christmas Party’s to Christmas Pageants, we stuff our stockings with trinkets and our faces with fudge and peanut-butter balls - yet tend to miss the severity of it all.

Now don’t get me wrong - Christmas is a time of celebration but at it’s core it requires an honest look at humanity in general, and most importantly, an honest look at ourselves .

You see Jesus’ birth had a purpose - much deeper than a reason for a few days off of school, or a reason to indulge into some peanut butter balls (trend here, I know).

As Ron Hamilton wrote it:

Born to die upon Calv'ry Jesus suffered my sin to forgive Born to die upon Calv'ry He was wounded that I might live

As we visit the purpose of Christ’s birth, we will have a deeper appreciation for celebrating it.

And that purpose begins in Genesis 3.

For many of us, we love the effects that a relationship with God produces:

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

But sometimes we forget what all of us are capable of without Christ:

Galatians 5:19–20 NKJV

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

A good study in Genesis 2-3 reveals three key truths:

1. Sin is severe and results in judgement

2. Sin separates us from a Holy God

3. Sin has been defeated by Jesus

Understanding that God was with us, but that sin changed that relationship, is the first step in truly appreciating this Christmas Season.

Now, God wasn’t surprised by our need of His grace. In fact, Jesus was the plan from the foundation of the world.

God in His omniscience knew that Christ would mend all things, before they were even broken.

You see friend, as you walk through the Bible, there is anticipation building to coming of the Messiah - the One who would make all things right.

In Genesis 2 - we see the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam. Later on in Genesis, you find part of the Abrahamic Covenant Abraham was called by God, received God’s covenant promises, and believed that God would keep his promises (Genesis 15:6).

Genesis 15:6 CSB

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

You find Abraham’s story in Genesis 11-25

And in Chapter 22 you find Abraham being promised a descendent who would bless all nations.

Genesis 22:18 NKJV

18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

So this is crucial truth to understand, how through the ages, God has always had a plan to express His love and His glory. And Matthew begins His gospel account with that explanation. As he writes to Jews waiting for the Messiah, He starts with, THIS IS HIM!!! He is the promised blessing of Abraham’s seed, and He is from the royal line of David. All throughout the Bible we see God laying out, bit-by-bit the unfolding of His plan:

A brief study of the OT gathers that The Messiah would be born of the family of Jesse

The coming of this Messiah was foretold 700 years before He came in:

Isaiah 11:1 CSB

1 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

The Messiah would be born of the house of David

Jeremiah 23:5 ESV

5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

The Messiah would be born of a virgin

Isaiah 7:14 NKJV

14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:2 NKJV

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”

God was not, and is not, caught off guard. He had a plan to proclaim His glory.

Ephesians 1:3–6 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Before the foundation of the world - that time before there was time.

Before the fall, God had a plan to redeem His creation.

We are revisiting this truth this morning to remind us that God has always been and will forever be in charge. He is in control of

You see… Jesus was Immanuel before the foundation of the world…

Revelation describes the names in the “book of life” as being written before the foundation of the world.

Man failed, God had a plan - and that plan was Jesus!

Acts 4 - says There is no other name given among men by which we may be saved!

John 14 6 - No one comes to the Father, except through Jesus…

God’s plans are never thwarted, nor His glory ever stopped – He sovereignly rules and reigns.

Dear friend, You and I are in need of God’s Grace this Christmas. We are broken and hopeless in our sin - but I’m thankful that the Gospel doesn’t end with my need - but clearly portrays the provision for my deepest need.

Christmas is not a plan B – it is God’s plan of redeeming His creation from the destruction of sin.

Bethlehem is more than a place, it is a reminder that God is in control.

Now, if you would, join me in John 1.

The book of John is the gospel account of Christ according to the Apostle John written for the purpose to persuade people to believe in Jesus.

In some versions of the english bible, you will notice headings above the passages. These are put their for our benefit to segment the passages and understand the main point of what we are reading.

As you walk through John 1, it is all about Christ. You will notice:

The Deity of Christ

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.

The Preincarnate Work of Christ

3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Forerunner of Christ

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

The Rejection of Christ

9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

The Acceptance of Christ

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Incarnation of Christ

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

We find here in v. 14 the reality of what we celebrate.

That is the Word - Jesus Christ who has always been

Jesus Christ - God the Son

Jesus Christ - who made all things

Jesus Christ - the light of the world

Jesus Christ - who was foretold of and rejected

Jesus Christ - Who, when received, gives the right to become a child of God

Jesus Christ - Who became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus - The fulfillment of all expectation, leading up to His coming - actually came.

God said He would come and He did.

Have you ever been surprised by something you knew was coming

Jack in the Box

The arrival of a friend or family member

A prayer request

You see friend, John 1:14 teaches us that deity became humanity

This speaks into the hypostatic union of Christ

He was fully God and fully man

This God, who became flesh, chose to dwell with us.

Jesus who has eternally existed as the Son of God, came to dwell with us.

And as He came, John says - “We beheld His glory.”

Those who saw Him, beheld (to gaze upon in an astonishing way) his glory.

You see Christ was not like everything else that could be gazed upon.

It is the Christmas season and we drive around and gaze upon lights. We gaze at pretty wrapped gifts. We gaze at the wonder in the minds and hearts of youth. We gaze at those electric bills following the Christmas lights and the bank statements following those pretty wrapped gifts. We gaze at the disinterest of those kids in wonder two weeks after the newness wears off of their new gift.

Friend we understand beheld. That gaze of astonishment...

But what we find here is a gaze that isn’t bound by time - it is not to be seasonal and it is not to wear away. This gaze is of astonishment deals with the glory of Christ.

Glory - speaks of his perfection.

You see we anticipate a lot around this season.

We give hints to the gifts we want, and we get hints from our loved ones.

But all the anticipation of what circles the humanity side of Christmas won’t last forever. In fact, they can be down right discouraging.

ILL - Heidi told me the gift she was wanting for Christmas months ago - A Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I planned for it, bought it online, had the perfect anticipated plan of her unwrapping the gift, giving me a huge hug, telling me I was the best, then making me some cookies!

Continue Story!

You see this season can bring a lot of great memories. And I don’t want to detour you from those memories, but I do have an obligation to remind you that many of those things are fleeting. Friend, if you are going to gaze at anything this Christmas season, may it be on Christ. The One who alone deserves your astonishment.

The One Who came, in spite of what we deserved.

The One Who came, as a fulfillment of everything we need.

More than people. More than gifts. More than memories. Everything we need is found in Christ.

Friend, the manger is not all about us. It’s all about Him, the long awaited King of everything - Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.