We read this in Luke chapter 2.
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria,
and all went to be registered, each to his own town.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea,
to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house in lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,
who was with child.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night,
and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David our Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Let's pray.
God, we thank you so much, Lord Jesus, for taking on flesh,
for remaining in fleshed,
for coming back in fleshed.
God, would you bless our time in your word tonight?
In Jesus' name, amen.
Tonight I want to say to you,
Fear not,
For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people
that Jesus is coming back again.
We are living in between the advents,
the first coming of Jesus Christ and the second coming of Jesus Christ,
and in between the advents.
If you've got any time on this planet,
you know we experience both the goodness of God
and the hardness of sin.
Sin affecting our relationship with God.
Sin affecting our perception of ourselves.
Sin affecting our relationship with others.
Sin affecting our relationship with a creation
that is now a threat.
Sin affecting our relationship with a person.
It's good to look back on Christ's first advent.
Just think of Luke 1 and 2.
Think of all the little vignettes of people
building in anticipation of Christ coming as a man.
Zachariah, Mary, Elizabeth,
the shepherds out in the field by night,
the multitude of angelic hosts
singing glory to God in the highest,
peace to men.
And then there was Simeon and Anna
who had lived long lives
and they were waiting to see the Christ.
There is much anticipation leading up to Christ's first advent
when God took on flesh
and he walked this sin-hardened planet.
And he walked it
to live a perfect life,
die as a substitute,
been raised from the dead
in order to reclaim this for himself.
There is this similar building of anticipation
leading to Christ's second advent.
This Christmas time,
we have been purposefully looking forward
to the second advent
of the incarnate King, Jesus.
And so I just want to remind you
of some of the ground we've covered.
Early in December, on the 8th,
we asked if we're living between the advents,
between the first coming
and the second coming of Jesus,
where is Jesus now
and what is he doing?
Well, according to our Bibles,
Jesus, after he died on the cross
and was raised from the dead,
he ascended to the right hand of God
and he sat down.
And he's presently seated
at the right hand of God
and all things have been put under his feet.
So where is Jesus right now?
He is in heaven at the right hand of God.
What is he doing?
He's upholding his creation
with the word of his power.
Hebrew 1.
He's expanding his kingdom of grace.
He said in Matthew 16,
I will build my church
and the gates of Hades
will not prevail against it.
He is receiving his due praise.
Have you read the book of Revelation?
It is one big praise manual.
And he is awaiting his return.
In Matthew 24 and Revelation 22,
he speaks of his coming back.
In fact, in Revelation 22,
he says three times,
I am coming soon.
So Jesus is right now
at the right hand of God.
And then on the 15th,
we asked,
when and how
will Jesus come back?
When will the incarnate king come again?
And what will that be like?
Well, when it comes to the when question,
Jesus himself addressed that
in Matthew 24, 36.
And he said,
no one knows the day or the hour,
not the angels nor the sun,
only the father.
So the time that Jesus spoke that,
only the father knew
the day and hour of his return,
which means this for us.
We know he's coming back.
We just don't know when.
His return is promised,
yet unexpected.
And that puts us in a state of suspense,
a suspenseful anticipation
of seeing Jesus again.
And we must be ready for his return.
When Jesus spoke about that in Matthew 24,
the first way he illustrated is that,
is like,
remember the days of Noah?
When everybody was getting married
and giving in marriage,
and they were not ready,
they were not aware
that the promised flood
was coming unexpectedly,
but Noah and his family were ready.
In Matthew 24, 30,
Jesus then tells us,
he tells us how
he's going to come back.
He's promised he will,
we don't know when,
and then he tells us how
he will come back visibly
on that day.
All the nations will see him.
He will come back bodily.
He'll come back incarnate.
Just as the second person
of the Trinity
took on flesh
and was incarnated
and lived an incarnate life
and died incarnate on the cross
and then was raised incarnate
from the dead
and then ascended incarnate
to the right hand of God
where he reigns right now,
he's going to come back incarnate.
Bodily.
And when he comes back bodily,
he's coming back gloriously.
With power and great glory,
says Jesus himself.
It will be a brilliant spectacle.
Just think about his transfiguration.
Just think about Revelation 1
and this vision that John has
of this risen,
reigning,
and radiant Jesus.
Just think of Revelation 19
of this one on a white horse
whose eyes are ablaze.
He's coming back.
He's coming back in glory.
And when he comes back,
he's going to be
coming back provocatively.
All the nations on the planet,
everyone will respond
in one of two ways.
You will either wail
at his coming.
You'll mourn at his coming
because you know
who he is
and why he's come
and you're not ready.
Or you will rejoice
and you will worship
because your name
is in the Lamb's book of life.
You've put your faith in him
and he has rescued you
from your sins.
So though we don't know
when he will return,
we know he will return
and he will return
in all of his glory
for all to see
and so we've got to be ready.
We've got to stay awake.
We've got to be faithful
because our master's gone
but he's going to come back
on an undisclosed time.
This past Sunday,
we asked the question,
what will the incarnate King Jesus
do when he returns?
What will happen then?
And we looked at
Matthew 24 and 25.
We looked at Revelation 20,
21 and 22
and what we know
from those passages
is that when Jesus comes back,
he will gather all.
And when we read that
in our Bibles,
that gathering of all
is not just all the people
on the planet
at the time of his return.
It's all people
who've ever lived
on the planet
for all time.
There will be this great,
the resurrection
of the last day
and all will be gathered
around his throne.
He will gather all
and then he will judge all.
In Matthew 25
and Revelation 20,
there's this great throne
with Jesus sitting on it
and books are open
and he separates people,
all people from all time
as the sheeps
from the goats.
Casting those
who have not believed
in him
into eternal punishment
and those who do believe
in him,
he welcomes
into the new Jerusalem.
And following the judgment,
he will restore all.
And that is going
to be phenomenal.
As far as the curse
is found,
he will make
all things new.
Full,
final,
forever peace.
Forever shalom.
Not just the absence
of hostility,
it's the fullness
of God's good.
Good with your relationship
with God.
Good in your relationship
with yourself.
Good in your relationship
with everybody else.
Good in relationship
with all of creation.
It is this comprehensive
restoration
of all things.
And only he can do it.
And then if that's not enough,
he will reign
forever and ever
with us.
all whose names
are in the Lamb's book
of life
on the new earth.
We will be in his presence.
We will see his face.
We will feel his hand
wipe away our tear
in his presence,
with his people,
in his place.
So do you know
what that means
for us now
living in between
the Advents?
We take courage
because even though
this life
is both good
and so hard
at the same time,
we know we're
one day closer.
One day closer.
On that day,
he will make all wrongs
right at the judgment.
And then he will make
all things new
as the creator of all.
For the last few weeks
in December,
we have covered
a lot of
Second Advent ground.
Because I've been
wanting to get
into your mind
something that's going
to be in your mind
after the Christmas season.
That you will have
a hope
going into January
and February
and March.
Now I can imagine
many parents
of young children
tonight
having a particular
kind of conversation.
they're going
to repeat
some instructions
before bedtime
tonight.
And they're
going to repeat
this for emphasis.
It's going to go
something like this.
Okay kids,
tomorrow morning
is going to be
super fun.
We are going
to exchange
gifts
and we're going
to give each other
presents
and we're going
to give each other
gifts and presents
because God
has given
the greatest gift
in Jesus Christ
to us.
But don't forget
you must stay
in your room
until 7am.
Let me just
repeat that for you.
You can't go
downstairs
until 7am.
You've got to stay
in your room.
You know what?
You tell me kids.
What time
can you come
downstairs?
7am?
In a similar
way
at the end
of the book
of Revelation
the very last
book of the Bible
Jesus
repeats
something
for emphasis
just like
a parent
repeating
themselves
to prepare
their kids
for Christmas
morning.
Our risen
king repeats
something for us
to prepare us
for the second
advent.
And you know
what it is?
Three times
in Revelation
22
Jesus says
I am coming
soon.
Revelation
chapter 22
verse 7
behold I'm
coming soon.
Revelation
22
verse 12
behold I'm
coming soon.
Revelation
chapter 22
verse 20
surely
amen
verily
I am
coming
soon.
He wants
us
his people
to be
knowing
and banking
on that
he is
coming
soon
I know
what you're
thinking.
Didn't
Jesus say
that 2,000
years ago?
2,000
years
isn't
what I'd
consider
soon.
That's
a really
long
soon.
Has
anybody
else
asked that
question?
Jesus
why do
you wait?
Why do
you tarry?
the apostle
Peter
addresses
that
very
question
in 2
Peter 3
of why
Jesus
hasn't
come
yet.
And this
is what
he says.
He gives
two reasons.
He says
first consider
this
with the
Lord
one day
as a
thousand
years
and a
thousand
years
as one
day.
So why
hasn't
Jesus
come
back
yet?
Why
is it?
It's
been
2,000
years.
The
answer
the
first
reason
is
well
Jesus
is
on
God
time.
His
timing
is
not
our
timing.
2,000
years
to us
seems
like a
long
time.
To
Christ
it's
nothing.
His
timing
is not
our
timing.
But
I want
to let
you know
there's
another
reason
why
he
is
apparently
delayed.
There's
another
reason
for this
long
soon
that
we're
living
in
between
the
advents.
And
that's
found
in
2
Peter
3
9.
The
Lord
is
not
slow
to
fulfill
his
promise
as
some
count
slowness
and
the
promise
he's
speaking
of
is
the
return
of
Jesus.
The
Lord
is
not
slow
to
fulfill
his
promise
of
coming
back
as
some
count
slowness
but
is
patient
toward
you.
All
of
his
elect
all
of
his
blood
bought
all
who
would
one
day
believe
in
him
he's
not
slow
but
is
patient
toward
you.
Not
wishing
that
any
should
perish.
He
doesn't
want
any
of
his
blood
bought
to
perish.
Rather
he
wants
all
coming
to
repentance.
All
coming
to
know
him.
What
we're
learning
is
he
will
not
let
any
of
his
elect
any
of
those
he
loves
and
pursues
and
calls
by
name
as a
good
shepherd
and
they
will
hear
his
voice
and
follow
him.
All
those
written
in the
Lamb's
book
of
life
none
will
perish.
All
will come
to
repentance.
Jesus'
second
advent
will
take
place
only
after
the
full
number
of
his
blood
bought
people
from
every
tribe
tongue
and
nation
are
brought
into
his
one
flock.
He's
got a
really
good
reason.
Reasons.
he's
gathering
a
people
for
himself
to
worship
him.
And
maybe
you're
in the
room
and
you're
thinking
am I
in?
Do you
know how
you can
be sure
your name
is written
in the
Lamb's
book
of
life?
You
put
your
faith
in
Jesus
Christ
alone
for
salvation.
You
trust in
him
alone.
Trust in
his payment
for your
sin and
that he's
been raised
from the
dead.
He's
alive.
And he's
right now
at the
right hand
of God
the Father.
He's
expanding
his
kingdom.
He's
delivering
sinners
from the
domain of
darkness
and bringing
them into
the kingdom
of his
beloved
son and
we get
to join
him in
what he's
doing.
So in
between the
advents,
our
incarnate
king is
patiently
gathering a
people for
himself.
And when
all of his
people repent
and believe,
then the
end will
come.
Christ will
return.
He will
gather all
and he will
judge all
and he will
restore all
full final
forever peace
and he will
reign for
ever and
ever on a
new earth
with his
blood-bought
people.
love.
I come
bearing good
news of
great joy
of the
second coming
of Jesus
Christ
tonight.
And may
these words,
surely I am
coming soon,
may they fill
your heart
with an
anticipation,
not a fear.
You don't need
to fear him.
You trust
him.
May they
fill your
heart with
anticipation of
seeing him
face to
face and
experiencing the
peace of the
Prince of
Peace.
He's our
hope in
between his
advents.
Living in
between the
advents,
well,
there's a lot
of good,
but there's a
lot of hard.
And tonight,
I just wanted
to point you
to these
repeated words
of Jesus.
Behold,
I'm coming
soon.
Behold,
I'm coming
soon.
Surely,
I am coming
soon.
Emmanuel is
coming back.
And do you
know what we
say in
response?
Amen.
Come,
Lord,
Jesus.
Let's pray
together.
Emmanuel,
our King,
we live in
between your
advents.
And though we
are so
grateful of
your first
advent,
we are
longing more
and more
for your
second,
where you
will make
all wrongs
right,
and you
will make
all things
new,
and we
will be
with you
in your
place,
experiencing
your
comprehensive
peace
forever
and ever.
Amen.