Christmas Eve is always a day of anticipation. Between Christmas Eve church services, retellings of The Night Before Christmas & singing Silent Night, little children awaiting the visit of Santa Claus, and the final preparations of Christmas festivities and celebrations to take place, there’s a lot to both prepare for & reflect on on this day. Most importantly, it is a time of reflection on the miracle & amazing fulfillment of Scripture’s promise in the birth of the Lord Jesus as man, God humbling His son to endure life and death as we do, ultimately receiving a gruesome end on our behalf. We reflect on that incredible anticipation & excitement of a long-awaited Savior finally arriving, both back then for the first time, and as we do now for the second.
For the believer, there is no sweeter promise than the return of Christ. Revelations 10 demonstrates this: can you imagine how horrifying it would be to witness with your own eyes the final wrath of God? In Revelations 9, the apostle John describes witnessing the fifth & sixth trumpets of God, signaling the First and Second Woes of man. Horrible demonic creatures roving the earth & torturing those without God’s blessing; a vast army of fallen angels vested in horrible armors, leading a rampaging charge killing a third of mankind. Regardless of the disobedience of God’s enemies inviting this judgement, to fully witness & comprehend the full wrath of God on display must not be a pleasant display.
Revelations 10:10 reveals both sides of God’s love & wrath. John describes the angel of God instructing him to consume this scroll, representing what was to come on the final trumpet: “I took the scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.” While the wrath of God is great, how sweet and delightful is His victory & His vindication against His enemies! Christmas is a celebration in part of this victory: Christ Jesus, fully flesh and fully God, the King arriving in Jerusalem to finalize God’s victory over death through death on a cross. As Psalm 119:103 says of God’s law: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Or Psalm 19:10: “More to be desired are they than gold, even fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” Honey’s often used as a symbol of the sweetness and joy of God’s provision & deliverance of His people; what greater & sweeter celebration do we have of God’s deliverance from evil than Christmas, the celebration of Christ on earth with us.
But the flip side of Revelations 10 – the bitterness of knowing what awaits the nonbeliever. Romans 1:18 says “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” While God’s judgement is just, and reaps the deserved wages of death, imagine the sorrow and hopelessness of knowing that is what awaits you, instead of eternity at God’s side. But Romans 6:23 encapsulates pretty well what our gift to those in this sorrow should be this time of year: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For many, the Christmas season is not a time of anticipation and joy, but a time of pain and sorrow. From loneliness, the remembrance of past loss, damaged relationships, frustration & stress, and a general aversion to the truth of this season, many are reminded of the hurt they carry this time of year. But what greater gift do we have to share than this truth, that Jesus came walk among us to offer salvation to anyone who would give their life to Him? That we could take our pain, our past, our hurt, our selfishness to Him & trade the certain death that awaits us for eternal life? As Tracy put earlier this week, what kind of “thank you” seems appropriate for such an invaluable gift? In the spirit of Christmas, what can we do with this gift of eternal life but share this gift with those who need it. There are many who react to God’s truth only with bitterness and sorrow, because they do not yet know & accept His love. Imagine how much sweeter life could be knowing God walks it alongside you!
So please, enjoy a peaceful Christmas Eve wherever you are, cherish the anticipation of a wonderful Christmas Day with your loved ones or whoever may need the warm words of Christ’s love. Consider how you can share the sweet promise of a priceless gift of God’s victory over death with those who need it, now more than ever. And be thankful for the wonderful news of the birth of a Savior, who would die so we may know the mystery of God and be able to joyfully anticipate when He declares His final victory, knowing we have been redeemed through Christ Jesus to be by God’s side.