Christmas Eve

We read this in Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria,

and all went to be registered, each to his own town.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea,

to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,

because he was of the house in lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,

who was with child.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes

and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night,

and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,

and they were filled with great fear.

And the angel said to them,

Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David our Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Let's pray.

God, we thank you so much, Lord Jesus, for taking on flesh,

for remaining in fleshed,

for coming back in fleshed.

God, would you bless our time in your word tonight?

In Jesus' name, amen.

Tonight I want to say to you,

Fear not,

For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people

that Jesus is coming back again.

We are living in between the advents,

the first coming of Jesus Christ and the second coming of Jesus Christ,

and in between the advents.

If you've got any time on this planet,

you know we experience both the goodness of God

and the hardness of sin.

Sin affecting our relationship with God.

Sin affecting our perception of ourselves.

Sin affecting our relationship with others.

Sin affecting our relationship with a creation

that is now a threat.

Sin affecting our relationship with a person.

It's good to look back on Christ's first advent.

Just think of Luke 1 and 2.

Think of all the little vignettes of people

building in anticipation of Christ coming as a man.

Zachariah, Mary, Elizabeth,

the shepherds out in the field by night,

the multitude of angelic hosts

singing glory to God in the highest,

peace to men.

And then there was Simeon and Anna

who had lived long lives

and they were waiting to see the Christ.

There is much anticipation leading up to Christ's first advent

when God took on flesh

and he walked this sin-hardened planet.

And he walked it

to live a perfect life,

die as a substitute,

been raised from the dead

in order to reclaim this for himself.

There is this similar building of anticipation

leading to Christ's second advent.

This Christmas time,

we have been purposefully looking forward

to the second advent

of the incarnate King, Jesus.

And so I just want to remind you

of some of the ground we've covered.

Early in December, on the 8th,

we asked if we're living between the advents,

between the first coming

and the second coming of Jesus,

where is Jesus now

and what is he doing?

Well, according to our Bibles,

Jesus, after he died on the cross

and was raised from the dead,

he ascended to the right hand of God

and he sat down.

And he's presently seated

at the right hand of God

and all things have been put under his feet.

So where is Jesus right now?

He is in heaven at the right hand of God.

What is he doing?

What is he doing?

He's upholding his creation

with the word of his power.

Hebrew 1.

He's expanding his kingdom of grace.

He said in Matthew 16,

I will build my church

and the gates of Hades

will not prevail against it.

He is receiving his due praise.

Have you read the book of Revelation?

It is one big praise manual.

And he is awaiting his return.

In Matthew 24 and Revelation 22,

he speaks of his coming back.

In fact, in Revelation 22,

he says three times,

I am coming soon.

So Jesus is right now

at the right hand of God.

And then on the 15th,

we asked,

when and how

will Jesus come back?

When will the incarnate king come again?

And what will that be like?

Well, when it comes to the when question,

Jesus himself addressed that

in Matthew 24, 36.

And he said,

no one knows the day or the hour,

not the angels nor the sun,

only the father.

So the time that Jesus spoke that,

only the father knew

the day and hour of his return,

which means this for us.

We know he's coming back.

We just don't know when.

His return is promised,

yet unexpected.

And that puts us in a state of suspense,

a suspenseful anticipation

of seeing Jesus again.

And we must be ready for his return.

When Jesus spoke about that in Matthew 24,

the first way he illustrated is that,

is like,

remember the days of Noah?

When everybody was getting married

and giving in marriage,

and they were not ready,

they were not aware

that the promised flood

was coming unexpectedly,

but Noah and his family were ready.

In Matthew 24, 30,

Jesus then tells us,

he tells us how

he's going to come back.

He's promised he will,

we don't know when,

and then he tells us how

he will come back visibly

on that day.

All the nations will see him.

He will come back bodily.

He'll come back incarnate.

Just as the second person

of the Trinity

took on flesh

and was incarnated

and lived an incarnate life

and died incarnate on the cross

and then was raised incarnate

from the dead

and then ascended incarnate

to the right hand of God

where he reigns right now,

he's going to come back incarnate.

Bodily.

And when he comes back bodily,

he's coming back gloriously.

With power and great glory,

says Jesus himself.

It will be a brilliant spectacle.

Just think about his transfiguration.

Just think about Revelation 1

and this vision that John has

of this risen,

reigning,

and radiant Jesus.

Just think of Revelation 19

of this one on a white horse

whose eyes are ablaze.

He's coming back.

He's coming back in glory.

And when he comes back,

he's going to be

coming back provocatively.

All the nations on the planet,

everyone will respond

in one of two ways.

You will either wail

at his coming.

You'll mourn at his coming

because you know

who he is

and why he's come

and you're not ready.

Or you will rejoice

and you will worship

because your name

is in the Lamb's book of life.

You've put your faith in him

and he has rescued you

from your sins.

So though we don't know

when he will return,

we know he will return

and he will return

in all of his glory

for all to see

and so we've got to be ready.

We've got to stay awake.

We've got to be faithful

because our master's gone

but he's going to come back

on an undisclosed time.

This past Sunday,

we asked the question,

what will the incarnate King Jesus

do when he returns?

What will happen then?

And we looked at

Matthew 24 and 25.

We looked at Revelation 20,

21 and 22

and what we know

from those passages

is that when Jesus comes back,

he will gather all.

And when we read that

in our Bibles,

that gathering of all

is not just all the people

on the planet

at the time of his return.

It's all people

who've ever lived

on the planet

for all time.

There will be this great,

the resurrection

of the last day

and all will be gathered

around his throne.

He will gather all

and then he will judge all.

In Matthew 25

and Revelation 20,

there's this great throne

with Jesus sitting on it

and books are open

and he separates people,

all people from all time

as the sheeps

from the goats.

Casting those

who have not believed

in him

into eternal punishment

and those who do believe

in him,

he welcomes

into the new Jerusalem.

And following the judgment,

he will restore all.

And that is going

to be phenomenal.

As far as the curse

is found,

he will make

all things new.

Full,

final,

forever peace.

Forever shalom.

Not just the absence

of hostility,

it's the fullness

of God's good.

Good with your relationship

with God.

Good in your relationship

with yourself.

Good in your relationship

with everybody else.

Good in relationship

with all of creation.

It is this comprehensive

restoration

of all things.

And only he can do it.

And then if that's not enough,

he will reign

forever and ever

with us.

all whose names

are in the Lamb's book

of life

on the new earth.

We will be in his presence.

We will see his face.

We will feel his hand

wipe away our tear

in his presence,

with his people,

in his place.

So do you know

what that means

for us now

living in between

the Advents?

We take courage

because even though

this life

is both good

and so hard

at the same time,

we know we're

one day closer.

One day closer.

On that day,

he will make all wrongs

right at the judgment.

And then he will make

all things new

as the creator of all.

For the last few weeks

in December,

we have covered

a lot of

Second Advent ground.

Because I've been

wanting to get

into your mind

something that's going

to be in your mind

after the Christmas season.

That you will have

a hope

going into January

and February

and March.

Now I can imagine

many parents

of young children

tonight

having a particular

kind of conversation.

they're going

to repeat

some instructions

before bedtime

tonight.

And they're

going to repeat

this for emphasis.

It's going to go

something like this.

Okay kids,

tomorrow morning

is going to be

super fun.

We are going

to exchange

gifts

and we're going

to give each other

presents

and we're going

to give each other

gifts and presents

because God

has given

the greatest gift

in Jesus Christ

to us.

But don't forget

you must stay

in your room

until 7am.

Let me just

repeat that for you.

You can't go

downstairs

until 7am.

You've got to stay

in your room.

You know what?

You tell me kids.

What time

can you come

downstairs?

7am?

In a similar

way

at the end

of the book

of Revelation

the very last

book of the Bible

Jesus

repeats

something

for emphasis

just like

a parent

repeating

themselves

to prepare

their kids

for Christmas

morning.

Our risen

king repeats

something for us

to prepare us

for the second

advent.

And you know

what it is?

Three times

in Revelation

22

Jesus says

I am coming

soon.

Revelation

Revelation 22:7

chapter 22

verse 7

behold I'm

coming soon.

Revelation

Revelation 22:12

22

verse 12

behold I'm

coming soon.

Revelation

Revelation 22:20

chapter 22

verse 20

surely

amen

verily

I am

coming

soon.

He wants

us

his people

to be

knowing

and banking

on that

he is

coming

soon

soon

soon

I know

what you're

thinking.

Didn't

Jesus say

that 2,000

years ago?

2,000

years

isn't

what I'd

consider

soon.

That's

a really

long

soon.

Has

anybody

else

asked that

question?

Jesus

why do

you wait?

Why do

you tarry?

the apostle

Peter

addresses

that

very

question

in 2

Peter 3

of why

Jesus

hasn't

come

yet.

And this

is what

he says.

He gives

two reasons.

He says

first consider

this

with the

Lord

one day

as a

thousand

years

and a

thousand

years

as one

day.

So why

hasn't

Jesus

come

back

yet?

Why

is it?

It's

been

2,000

years.

The

answer

the

first

reason

is

well

Jesus

is

on

God

time.

His

timing

is

not

our

timing.

2,000

years

to us

seems

like a

long

time.

To

Christ

it's

nothing.

His

timing

is not

our

timing.

But

I want

to let

you know

there's

another

reason

why

he

is

apparently

delayed.

There's

another

reason

for this

long

soon

that

we're

living

in

in

between

the

advents.

And

that's

found

in

2

Peter

3

9.

The

Lord

is

not

slow

to

fulfill

his

promise

as

some

count

slowness

and

the

promise

he's

speaking

of

is

the

return

of

Jesus.

The

Lord

is

not

slow

to

fulfill

his

promise

of

coming

back

as

some

count

slowness

but

is

patient

toward

you.

All

of

his

elect

all

of

his

blood

bought

all

who

would

one

day

believe

in

him

he's

not

slow

but

is

patient

toward

you.

Not

wishing

that

any

should

perish.

He

doesn't

want

any

of

his

blood

bought

to

perish.

Rather

he

wants

all

coming

to

repentance.

All

coming

to

know

him.

What

we're

learning

is

he

will

not

let

any

of

his

elect

any

of

those

he

loves

and

pursues

and

calls

by

name

as a

good

shepherd

and

they

will

hear

his

voice

and

follow

him.

All

those

written

in the

Lamb's

book

of

life

none

will

perish.

All

will come

to

repentance.

repentance.

Jesus'

second

advent

will

take

place

only

after

the

full

number

of

his

blood

bought

people

from

every

tribe

tongue

and

nation

are

brought

into

his

one

flock.

He's

got a

really

good

reason.

Reasons.

he's

gathering

a

people

for

himself

to

worship

him.

And

maybe

you're

in the

room

and

you're

thinking

am I

in?

Do you

know how

you can

be sure

your name

is written

in the

Lamb's

book

of

life?

You

put

your

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

alone

for

salvation.

You

trust in

him

alone.

Trust in

his payment

for your

sin and

that he's

been raised

from the

dead.

He's

alive.

And he's

right now

at the

right hand

of God

the Father.

He's

expanding

his

kingdom.

He's

delivering

sinners

from the

domain of

darkness

and bringing

them into

the kingdom

of his

beloved

son and

we get

to join

him in

what he's

doing.

So in

between the

advents,

our

incarnate

king is

patiently

gathering a

people for

himself.

And when

all of his

people repent

and believe,

then the

end will

come.

Christ will

return.

He will

gather all

and he will

judge all

and he will

restore all

full final

forever peace

and he will

reign for

ever and

ever on a

new earth

with his

blood-bought

people.

love.

I come

bearing good

news of

great joy

of the

second coming

of Jesus

Christ

tonight.

And may

these words,

surely I am

coming soon,

may they fill

your heart

with an

anticipation,

not a fear.

You don't need

to fear him.

You trust

him.

May they

fill your

heart with

anticipation of

seeing him

face to

face and

experiencing the

peace of the

Prince of

Peace.

He's our

hope in

between his

advents.

Living in

between the

advents,

well,

there's a lot

of good,

but there's a

lot of hard.

And tonight,

I just wanted

to point you

to these

repeated words

of Jesus.

Behold,

I'm coming

soon.

Behold,

I'm coming

soon.

Surely,

I am coming

soon.

Emmanuel is

coming back.

And do you

know what we

say in

response?

Amen.

Come,

Lord,

Jesus.

Let's pray

together.

Emmanuel,

our King,

we live in

between your

advents.

And though we

are so

grateful of

your first

advent,

we are

longing more

and more

for your

second,

where you

will make

all wrongs

right,

and you

will make

all things

new,

and we

will be

with you

in your

place,

experiencing

your

comprehensive

peace

forever

and ever.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.