Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/1189422
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again! For over five hundred years this great three-fold affirmation has centered the Church's worship on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Take a moment now and just say it aloud to center your heart and mind on Jesus. Isn't it powerful to speak and hear these words? The tense of the verbs is important. Christ has died! That's a historical reality. His death on the cross is the centerpiece of human history. Every human being's identity is formed in relationship to the cross. And every human being's destiny is shaped by it. Christ is risen! That's our present reality. The resurrection validates that Jesus' death on the cross secured His victory over sin, death, and evil. It is God's shout to the world, "Jesus is Lord of all." Christ will come again! That's our future reality. It's not just something that we wish will come true. It is the certain future promised by God. That certainty creates for us a hope-drenched faith that directs our eyes to that day when the risen Christ will return to make everything that's wrong in the world right, everything that's broken in the world whole, and everything that's ugly in the world beautiful. Oh, what a day that will be. Alleluia! But we're still waiting for that day. Advent is a season of expectant waiting. It draws us back into the anticipation of those who waited for Christ's first coming. They longed for Messiah to come; we long for Jesus to come back. They were convinced that when He came, the world would be set aright; we know that when He comes again, all things will be made new! (Rev. 21:5). Expectant waiting. I bet there's a lot of that going on in your household this season. There is in ours. My prayer is that the daily readings in this devotional will draw us back into that sense of longing for Messiah's first coming and steer our gaze forward with eager anticipation for His second coming. Waiting,