All Really Is Well

Advent is such a special time of year for believers.

We may gather around a tree to dish out gifts and gadgets to one another. We might huddle near the television to enjoy the sporting festivities of the day. We could find ourselves feasting at the dinner table until our bellies can hold no more.

Our celebration is exuberant. We’ll laugh and share stories of this year and yesteryear. And we find great pleasure in all the events and traditions of the season.

But these are just byproducts of the more modern holiday experience.

For believers, it means so much more. This is the time for us to remember the God who came to us and for us.

If you have walked with Jesus for any time, this isn’t really news to you. But perhaps it would do us well to take a few moments to wash ourselves afresh in the overarching theme that runs throughout the pages of Scripture.

You see, when God created humanity, He made them perfect. At the beginning, all was well. But that perfection diminished the instant they chose disobedience and sin. And the world was plunged into deep darkness as we attempted to navigate ourselves back to our Creator, to make up for our failure(s).

We tried building our way to him (Babel). We even committed ourselves to living the kind of life He demanded of us in the Law. But we couldn’t pull it off. And we still can’t.

So this God, despite our manifold infractions against His holiness and immaculate design, chose to come to us and for us. Unable to bridge the divide ourselves, this compassionate, loving yet just God took it upon Himself to send us a lifeline that would make our return possible.

In a stable 2000 years ago, God loudly exclaimed “All is well!” as He gives His Son Jesus to us in the depths of our depravity. Unfortunately for us, He came unexpectedly in a quiet corner of the world. We were the ones who weren’t expecting Him. We were simply slogging through life, hoping to reach the breaking point or live up to an impossible standard that would usher in the messiah’s arrival.

Advent is all about adamant anticipation. And eager expectation. And limitless, yet humble hope. And it culminates with endless joy when those things are realized as Christ Jesus steps onto the scene in a stable in Bethlehem.

As you anticipate this season and feel the urge to manufacture joy that gifts and lesser gods may promise, we humbly invite you to look to Christ and remember the greatest joy that is available to you, a joy far surpassing any of these others combined.

Other than that His mother had known no man, Jesus was born just like you and me to completely humble and vulnerable citcumstances. But He came to rescue. He came to save. He came to redeem and make whole. Christ came to bring us back to God.

Your life may be complete chaos, but that is exactly the kind of environment where Christ shines most brightly.

So as you walk through Advent over the next month, rejoice in the coming King who arrives right on time, coming to us and for us. And take the time to remind yourselves anew that in spite of all the chaos and frustration and sin we see around us, all really is well.

It’s a present tense reality. Because God has proven time and time again that He’s got this, and we will choose to trust Him.

As we embark on this ADVENTure together, enjoy this video of the Christmas song All Is Well.