The Light has Come (pt 4)

He has Come – He is coming

Is anybody here a fan of the Back to the Future movie series with Michael J Fox and the quirky Doc played by Christopher Lloyd? I remember the second installment of the series where they travel into the future, which interestingly was October 21, 2015. Remember how they depicted that future? Flying cars, hover boards, self-adjusting clothing, the Cubs win the World Series. Even though I was an adult when the series came out I was mesmerized by the possibilities of what the future might look like.

But the reality is that from when the movie came out till today, 2016, there hasn’t been that much change as the movie might depict. Yes, we do have a hover board but ours has wheels. Yes, the Cubs have won the World Series. Yes, in a very rapid way we have gone from analog rotary phones to where most people have a smart phone. We’ve gone from enormous 1000 lb. tube TV’s to 30 lb LED HD TV’s.

But if you have been around for any length of time you may feel some disappointment in that many things have not changed. You may feel that by now, with all the medical advancement, we should have a cure for cancer. Or maybe by now racism would not be an issue in our culture, or by now starvation and hunger would have been made extinct. Or maybe by now things like loneliness or depression would be the stuff that we read in history books.

I mean we have come a long way but in some ways things haven’t changed very much. In fact, I would say that many of us who have been around for some time are still waiting for things to change. There is STILL A LOT OF SICKNESS AND SUFFERING THIS CHRISTMAS EVE and we simply in hope & pray that things will change.

It WASN’T A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENT THAT FIRST CHRISTMAS EVE. For thousands of years faithful Jewish people held on to 300+ prophecies that spoke of a coming messiah - A deliverer of his people. THEY LONGED IN ANTICIPATION FOR THE MESSIAH TO COME AND CHANGE THINGS. They prayed, they waited, they hoped.

They had waited so long that on the night of that first Christmas most of them were not prepared. You can’t totally blame them because the birth of Jesus was so ordinary. The circumstances around it in many ways was so understated that it was missed. You read about this in

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Okay, that was the Son of God’s entrance into this world. So understated, so ordinary, so easily missed. I mean the people had been waiting, had been longing but when it happened it seemed like nothing really changed.

I think we find ourselves in this same dilemma today. Yes, tonight as we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the reality of that Jesus has come but in the same breath we find ourselves waiting again for Jesus to come.

You know, if you study church history you will discover that almost always the birth of Jesus was talked about in the same context of the return of Jesus. That you could not talk about the little baby Jesus being born in a manger without talking about the future return of Christ the King. That remembering the birth of Christ was meant to fill our hearts with anticipation of his future return.

And so this Christmas Eve service should be a reminder that one day Jesus is coming again to make things right.

The birth of Christ should cause us to CELEBRATE – the return of Christ should cause us to PREPARE.

So today, I just want to touch on a few similarities on the way Jesus came the first time and the way he will come again.

For example when Jesus was born and when Jesus will return, both of those were appointed times.

I spoke about this two weeks ago out of that JESUS CAME AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME. It was an appointed time. From the people’s perspective God was running late. From the people’s perspective it had been a long time coming for the Messiah but GOD HAD THE DATE CIRCLED ON HIS CALENDAR. It was an appointed time and so it will be when Jesus returns.

You see when we look at the birth of Christ now with a 2000-year vantage point we can see that God was preparing the world for the birth of his son. Let me illustrate this.

Let’s go to 400 BC – The Persian Empire is expanding and spreading towards Greece. It started to get a little too close to Greece so Philip of Macedon united the Greeks and lead them to battle against the Persians.

After Philips death, his son Alexander took over (350 BC). We know him as Alexander the Great because he conquered the entire known world in just 12 years.

As a result of Alexander’s conquests the world became Greek in thought and language. For the first time since the tower of Babel there was a common language. Everybody spoke a little Greek. So God was making a way for Jesus to be born into a world where everybody spoke Greek and the Good News of Christ could spread quickly.

Another reason this was important was because the OT had been translated into Greek (LXX – 280 BC) and was readily available for the entire world to read about the one true God and his coming Messiah.

In 63 BC, the Romans conquered the Greeks and took over the duties of ruling the world.

Probably the best-known emperor was Julius Caesar. There was a civil war under his rule and he was assassinated in 25 BC. Virtually ended the Civil War

Caesar Augustus came to the throne and with him came peace for the next 200 years. It was called the PAX ROMANA.

This pax romana changed many things. It changed how people travelled. Romans were road builders. They built an extensive system of highways throughout the Roman Empire. They even established a type of highway patrol for safety during travel. This enabled many people to freely travel throughout the empire. You know the saying, “all roads lead to Rome.”

AND THIS ALL HAPPENED TO BE DURING THE TIME THAT JESUS WAS BORN AND CHRISTIANITY WAS ESTABLISHED.

Here is the point; all of this came AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME for Jesus to be born, for prophecies to be fulfilled and for the Good News of the Gospel to spread throughout the known world. It was all at just the right time.

Well, Jesus tells us that the same is true for when he returns. That God is preparing the world for his second coming.

(NLT)

…no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!

Jesus is telling us that there is AN APPOINTED TIME and that we need to be expecting it, anticipating it. Be on your guard! Stay alert! He says. For God is preparing things. It’s on His calendar.

There are a lot of passages that speak to this…

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus says, “the Good News of salvation will reach every corner of this world and then I will come back.”

Do you realize that with the advent of the internet and the bible translated into almost every language in the world in our generation we may see this Gospel preached to all nations as described in the scriptures?

Listen, HE CAME and HE IS COMING AGAIN.

Now, I realize that often we don’t really want to look at Christmas through this lens. That we would rather pretend that life is going to go on as usual. Why talk about this? I mean it’s fine to talk about the birth of Jesus but this return of Christ is just a little too heavy for a Christmas Eve service. And I would appeal to you this Christmas to pray the simple prayer, “God, open my eyes, open my ears…”

Christmas for our culture is closely associated with gift-giving. So I was looking at some the trending gifts this year

You have the motion activated toilet night-light. Now at first glance this may seem a bit ludicrous but if you think about it, is there anything worse than needing to get up in the middle of night to use the bathroom and you turn on the lights and they just burn your eyes out because they are so bright? It takes you 30 minutes to get back to sleep. So for those of you that care about the middle of the night welfare of your loved ones buy them the glow in dark toilet seat.

Some of you younger people here are like, “you get up in the middle of night to use the bathroom?” Don’t worry, your time is coming.

There is the selfie toaster. This is a legit item. If it is not enough to just eat regular toast and you need to look at yourself while you eat breakfast then this is the gift for you.

But the one I want to draw your attention to this afternoon is the ostrich pillow. The reviews are quite good. It allows you to breath but pretty much blocks out everything else. No light, no sound, I mean it’s the ostrich pillow.

Now that’s not a bad metaphor for how many of us approach the return of Christ. I’m certain that there are many people who don’t want to come to a Christmas Eve service to hear about the return of Christ. We want to hear about the birth of Jesus not the return. There is something REALLY COMFORTING about little baby Jesus in the manger – it’s a BIT UNSETTLING to think of Jesus as the returning King.

So the birth of Jesus and the return of Jesus are similar in that they both have an appointed time. But also in that MANY PEOPLE WILL BE UNPREPARED. Peter tells us…

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…

It’s like a thief in the night in that it will sneak up on people. It will seem like just another day. Just another day at work or at the gym or at home watching the game…just another day.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

And NOBODY will miss the second coming. You may be unprepared but you will not be unaware.

You see, I think at Christmas we have the Ricky Bobby mentality about Jesus. We like the baby Jesus because what is not to like about that?

But I think it’s appropriate for us, in the true spirit of Advent, to think about the return of Christ and ask ourselves the question, “AM I READY?”

In it says that Jesus will DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT.

And in light of the fact that we are waiting for the world to change and that we are waiting for some things to be different than how they have been – I wonder what Jesus would shout? Maybe, just maybe his shout will be “NO MORE!”

No more Parkinson’s

No more Heart disease

No more Cancer

No more Divorce

No more Rejection

No more Loneliness

No more Depression

No more Cast or crutches

No more Wheel chairs or pacemakers

No more Chemotherapy or radiation

No more Terrorists attacks

No more Anxiety medication

No more Middle of the night phone calls

No more Child abuse

No more Rape

No more Coughs and colds

No more Flu shots

No more Acne

No more Love handles

No more Saddlebags or cottage cheese thighs

No more Double chins

No more Body odor

No more Deodorant or deodorant stains

No more Shaving or waxing or plucking

No more Addiction

No more Drama

No more Hormones

No more Crash diets

No more Doctors

No more Doctor’s Bills

No more Needles

No more Mechanics

No more Plastic surgeons

No more Dentists (thank God!!!!)

No more Politicians or elections

No more Funeral homes

No more Court rooms

No more Divorce papers

No more Pink slips

No more Tiny caskets

And the list goes on…

I can’t help but imagine that when Jesus returns, that is what he will shout. NO MORE!

So we remember the birth of Jesus today and it prompts us to hope for the return of Jesus when he will finally and fully say, “NO MORE! Things are going to change.”

JESUS CAME, JESUS WILL COME AGAIN.

It will be different. The first time he came, he came in weakness as a baby in a manger. The next time he comes he will come as a mighty King to rule and reign.

The first time he came, he came to die but when he comes again, the dead will come back to life.

The first time he came the world barely noticed, the next time he comes, AND HE WILL COME, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!