Christmas Hope: Expect the Unexpected

​Expectation is a key element to Christmas.
In the wait there is hope.
Hope for what is to come.
Hope for what the coming will bring.
In the meantime, we live our lives.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and all there was in it. He pronounced everything to be good and very good. It was obvious to Him. Shouldn’t it be obvious to His two image-bearers who occupied this precious parcel of earth?
With only a tease and a lie Adam and Eve traded the Perfect and Good for a burdened life not blessed by God. They couldn’t see the Truth until it was out of sight: God really HAD given them GOOD, from the very beginning.
In their sin they rightly expected judgement from God. Why else would they cower in the shadows, prisoners already to sin’s bondage? Knowing now the “Truth” they thought God hadn’t given them, Adam and Eve came to know just what the knowledge of good and evil does to a person.
Better to choose Life God’s way.
But God knew. He always knows.
Watching His treasured creation choose what was against His will, God did the unexpected.
What that merciful prophecy God spoke to Eve in Genesis 3:15 cost Him is unimaginable!
Love Divine graciously and mercifully stepped in.  He gave to Eve’s seed the mission of undoing the wrong that had been done in the garden.
A promise given. A consequence rendered. In the fullness of time, it would come.
God would cloak Himself in human flesh so that mankind could be ultimately robed in His righteousness.
God loved so much that He gave Himself.
This promised gift of salvation and eternal life is here. Have you received it?
It comes with a price. It has already been paid by the blood of Jesus on the cross. Therein lies our Hope. It is the humble and frail and sinful who know they need help. Acknowledge this, in Jesus’ name, and the gift is yours, full and free.
This Christmas, expect the unexpected. Sounds perfect for a year like 2020, doesn’t it?
How will we find our footing and mission in the coming days?
We must step out of the familiar and safe place that simply keeps us afloat and, with our gaze steadily fixed on the author and finisher of our faith, follow Jesus wherever He leads.

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