‘God appears on earth to reign’
We’ve considered a little already the remarkable facts of
Jesus’ first advent, his mission to overturn ‘curse’ and that his birth on
Earth was announced as a great blessing to humans. But how? Through what means
was God going to achieve these things? The answer is quite simple – God was
going to re-establish His reign on Earth through Jesus.
Did it work? That we still see so much suffering, distress,
faction and discord over 2,000 years after Jesus’ advent can tempt us to dismiss
God out of hand, and certainly any notion of ‘success’ in overturning the curse
of this world. But that is to have too small a vision, for ‘God’s appearing on
Earth to reign’ is not yet fully complete, which is why today’s carol – Charles
Wesley’s masterful ‘Lo! He comes with clouds descending’ – focuses unashamedly
on Jesus’ return to Earth in the future. This will complete the work of
restoration began in Bethlehem
all those years ago.
But where does that leave us today? The good news is that
the project is not ‘on hold’. Jesus is the Lord today, and God calls all humans
to believe on Jesus as Lord and our lives to be a genuine response to this. Amidst
the sorrows and evils of today, there is still much blessing being countenanced
to us through Jesus. So are we prepared this Christmas season– like Mary – to
humble our hearts to receive our Lord and his blessings?
Lo! He comes with clouds descending - words by Charles Wesley. The lyrics can be found if you click on the 'show more' button under the video description.
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