O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
The holidays are one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. People are traveling to see family and friends or just to get away. Over years of travel around this time of year my wife and I have realized that I make a terrible road trip companion… I’m not patient enough. Growing up, we would take a 12–hour trip every Christmas to see family, and that was okay because I would plan it so I could sleep most of the time. This was before cell phones, so my options were sleep, read, or stare out the window. Sleep was my preferred choice.
Now my wife and I dream about taking a family sightseeing road trip out west. The problem is… we all know I’ve got about a two–hour window in the car before I start getting antsy and turn into a kid crying out “Are we there yet? How much longer?”
For generations, the people of Israel were looking for the coming Messiah. We tend to read scripture and gloss over hundreds of years of waiting as it’s just a historical footnote. But have you ever stopped to imagine what it would have felt like to live in those centuries of waiting for the coming of Christ? Generation after generation passed with what must have felt like no end in sight… like a seemingly never-ending road trip, leaving Israel wondering if the Messiah would ever come.
Then Jesus arrives on the scene as the promised Messiah.
In Luke 4, Jesus reads from the book of Isaiah, declaring His mission:
Luke 4:16–19
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.
17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Even though Christ came to bring us salvation, I don’t think I need to work hard to convince you that our world is broken… that something’s not right… that the world in its present state is not the ultimate goal for God’s creation.
We call this the “Already / Not Yet Kingdom of God.”
GotQuestions.org summarizes it this way:
“The kingdom… is described in Scripture both as a realm presently entered and as one entered in the future. … The kingdom of God is both present and future.”
The Gospel Coalition likens it to that time of year when the calendar says fall, but the weather still feels like summer: “So it is with the kingdom of heaven/God: it has been inaugurated, but it has yet to be consummated; it has come, but it is still coming.”
Jesus illustrated this same principle in his teachings. In Mark 1:14–15 he says that the kingdom of God is at hand meaning he is here as the promised messiah to save the people from their sins. Yet, in John 18:36 He says His kingdom is not of this world. Meaning this world is not operating by His principles there is something better to look forward to… His Kingdom
Because Jesus came and His Spirit is at work on the earth, we see glimpses of His kingdom breaking through. But it has not yet fully come—we are not yet living in the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21
In other words, we can and do experience God’s kingdom now, but we also long and pray for the day when Christ returns and His kingdom comes in full.
So where am I going with all this? Isn’t this supposed to be a Christmas devotional?
November 30th is the first Sunday of Advent—a season where we celebrate the coming of Jesus to earth at His birth, but also look forward to His return, when He will set right all that is wrong in the world and fully establish His kingdom.
Our prelude this week is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Each verse recognizes something that is broken in our world and something that can only be truly set right by the presence of Emmanuel—God with us.
Verse 1
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
What’s Wrong: We are exiles in a foreign land
What’s The Cry: For God to save us from exile and bring us home
Most of us don’t have a clear concept of what it means to live in exile as Israel did. We often feel content with our present situation rather than crying out for God to save us. The truth, however, is that we—like Israel—are living in a kind of exile. Israel was free but had not yet arrived in the promise land. Our sin has separated us from God, and although those who trust Christ have fellowship with Him – were free, but are not yet home.
Romans 8:22–23
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves… groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Verse 2
O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
What’s Wrong: Sin and death cast a shadow of gloom.
What’s The cry: For God to rid the world of sin and death and that we may dwell in his presence
“Dayspring” is poetic language for dawn—light breaking into darkness. The only thing that can brighten our spirits and dispel the gloom of a world marked by death is the presence of God (“Thine advent here”), shining like the sun breaking through clouds on a dark morning.
Isaiah 9:2
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…
Verse 3
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things far and nigh
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go
What’s Wrong: The ways of this world are flawed.
What’s The cry: For God to reorder the world as it would be in His kingdom.
This verse recognizes that God’s ways are higher than ours.
Isaiah 55:8–9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…”
We cry out for God to rule our thoughts and guide our steps.
James 1:5, James 3:17, Proverbs 3:5–6 all reinforce this truth.
Verse 4
O come Desire of nations bind
All peoples in one heart and mind
Bid envy strife and quarrels cease
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace
What’s Wrong: There is a lack of unity and a lack of peace.
What’s The Cry: That God would bring all of creation together united under Him.
Revelation 8:9-10
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”’
Only when all things are brought into union under Christ will there be peace.
As we start this Christmas season, I want to encourage you to take a moment and think about this: Where does your hope really lie? Are you putting your hope in the treasures of this world, or is your hope found in Christ?
To quote my writing partner Sean Wagner “O Come O Come Emmanuel can be sung as a declaration of Hope and trust for Jesus to bring our ultimate deliverance and salvation”
As we move toward Christmas, may this season not only be one of comfort and joy, but also a season of intention—seeking to bring Emmanuel, God with us, into every facet of our lives. To cry out for the principles of God’s eternal kingdom to be on display in our world and for us to order our lives by them for His glory and our good.
Adam