With Christmastime comes the familiar traditions of good friends, food, gifts, and sometimes surprises. It’s a challenge sometimes to keep the surprises a mystery. I’m usually guilty of trying to figure out what presents I got and my wife likes to respond – “Don’t ask so many questions before Christmas.” She likes me to be surprised. One of the fun parts of Christmas is indeed the element mystery involved.
Scripturally, when we think of God sending a Redeemer, it was shrouded in mystery for many years. Who would the Messiah be? When will he come? How will we know when he is here? The gospel is described as a mystery many times in the Bible. It’s mysterious in a sense that it is astounding that God, the one who was wronged, would send a Redeemer to rescue a sinful people who rebelled against their Creator. As the great theologians/artists Andy Mineo and Tripp Lee write “What love is this? To send His own; To die for sin and take us home; Got me feeling good forget my feelings; When you hear the story about the hero dying for the villain.” (For the song – click here.)
In Colossians 1 we see two descriptions of this redemption – both in a broad sense, and in a narrow sense.
“…the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:26–27 ESV)
- First the broad sense – in v26 “The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints.” What is this mystery? In the overall perspective the mystery is the coming of Jesus and the revealing of Him as the Messiah – the one God promised to redeem. The mystery that has been long concealed but now revealed. This is the incarnation – Jesus coming in the flesh of man. Fully God and fully man = Christmas!
- But in a narrower sense…the smaller picture of the mystery is that Christ lives in each of us by faith. This brings us unlimited HOPE as the biggest need we have is to be forgiven of our sin and restored to a right relationship to God…Christ has done that in the gospel – lived the perfect life, died a sacrificial death in our place, and rose again from the dead. We have the hope of glory! As Martin Lloyd Jones wrote – “When all other counterfeit hope has gone, a Christian is never without hope because we have a hope that isn’t fixed on this world, but one to come.” Christmas reminds us of the hope of God that goes beyond everything this life can throw at us.
So what? Welp – this Christmas – be HOPEFUL. Christmas in and of itself is a season of hope. Hope can be in the immediate (narrow) sense as I really hope I get a new Tundra for Christmas, or see family, or get to be off work…or it can be in the larger (broader) sense of the true hope of Redeemer Jesus, the mystery revealed to bring us hope that goes beyond this world.
But more particularly to HBC. As we plant a church – be excited! The gospel is not old news, tired news…its what is exciting about a new church – a freshness to the message – Christ in us the hope of glory! Pray to remain excited and filled with energy and anticipation to power us thru the hard work and to see God change lives in Vernon community!
